Dandelion Lover

My surroundings were extremely quiet, so much that I was tempted to fall asleep standing in front of my door. Using the last of my energy I managed to find the keys in my bag and entered the house. Not long after, a bright light rendered me useless and the shrill of my grandmother which spread painfully clear through the silent night.

"Where have you been until now? What happened to your dress? Are you listening to me?"

A barrage of questions and admonishments were thrown my way but I could not pay attention. I looked at my dirty dress, and without giving a response, I walked slowly to my room letting my clothes fall off me.

"Who were you in the car with?" I heard this question clearly among all the other useless ones.

"I told you I was going to a company dinner, why are you making such a fuss?" I became irritated although I knew they my grandma was only worried about my safety.

"So a colleague brought you home... the least they should do after keeping you out for so long..." she grumbled.

"It was actually my boss, the company is very carrying towards their employees..." I defended although there was no need. Silence suddenly settled among us and I heard the question I was fearing most:

"Do you have something going on with your employer Katty?"

I felt my heart freeze and my heart constrict. I could not tell her the truth, I could not tell anyone what went on just an hour ago.

"Of course not, he's a married man and my employer, you know I would never do that as it goes against my own rules. He simply offered a ride since it was on his way" I replied without stopping to think if I really meant it.

"Well that's good then, you're so young and pretty, there's no need to mess in someone else's life where you'd be the outsider."

This simple statement hurt more than I thought. My grandmother probably suspected something, but I did not have the strength to admit it or the right to be upset at what she said. After all, she was right. It was not my place to become involved with a married man, no matter how much attraction there was between us.

Although I knew of the immorality of the situation, my thoughts started to drift back to the heated moment we just had. I could not control my thoughts as his scent lingered on my skin, the darkened eyes filled with want haunted my dreams that night along with a throbbing headache that encouraged me to just lounge on the bed for the rest of the day but the memories from a day before stopped me.

I needed to find out what happened with Mr. and Ms. Roman as well as with Jonny, Ann, and Rob. But first, I needed to get some coffee into my system and a really strong painkiller.

After my daily routine was done barely successful, I dialed Vivian's phone number and waited for her to pick up.

"Hey Kate, how are you feeling?"

"Like I was drugged and dragged a full circle in the washing machine. How are you and Jonny?"

"We're fine, Mr. Roman intervened at the police station and explained so Jonny got pardoned with a short admonishment while Rob left in a huff highly insulted that Mr. Roman took our side."

"Glad to hear that was solved, with the way this ended I'm sure they won't be in business together anymore but I hope this doesn't reflect badly on the company."

"Don't worry, I'm sure Mr. and Ms. Roman liked you more than Rob so they will definitely side with us. On another note, I assume Luke took you home safely yesterday. To be honest I would not have left him with you in the state you were in but I had little choice."

"What do you mean? I was just shocked for a bit, nothing a good night, or maybe two good nights of sleep would not fix."

"Oh... did you not feel strange yesterday evening? For example without strength, sleepier than usual? Did you not have a huge headache when you woke up?"

"Yeah, the usual signs of me drinking a bit more than I should have. I guess I was nervous after all."

"No dear, what you experienced was the feeling and repercussions of being drugged. I saw Ann slip you something in the drink... I tried to signal you but you did not seem to notice."

"Drugs? What kind?"

"From the signs, you showed it was probably Rohypnol so something similar. Which is why I was hesitant in leaving you with Luke, but then again I had to trust him as he was not under the influence of anything."

"I appreciate the thought. I was not expecting that of Ann, but then again I was not expecting Rob to blow his chance at a contract for her. Maybe in their twisted minds, they do care for each other."

"Well, they surely suit each other perfectly."

"Sure enough..." Vivian said and we both started laughing. It was a relief knowing that things did not get screwed up more because of us, but with my heart, at rest regarding the company, my thoughts once again started to circle around Luke and our relationship if one could call it as such.

The truth of the matter is, whether Luke was happy or not in his marriage, I should not be involved in any way with his decision regarding his personal life. With the hint from Ann that she knows of our closeness and my grandma's reminder, I believed it was time for me to make a decision. One which was hard for me to do, but I could not simply pretend to be ignorant of the impropriety of the situation.

That very same day, I prepared an official resignation letter and I was prepared to deliver it next Monday.

My mind had decided. Nevertheless, my heart was breaking with every beat as the minutes grew closer to the start of the week.

I knew it was a wise decision to distance myself from Lukas, a distance which will allow me to give a name to these feelings, be them simply a basic attraction or something more, something worth fighting for. But no matter what the results were, I had to believe that if there was something more to the connection we shared, things would fall in their rightful place sooner or later. If that place for me will be beside him or away, I did not know yet.