It's Friday night and I'm standing in the elevator, fixing up my makeup using the mirrored back wall of the elevator to try and make myself look like a bit less of a mess as I prepare to meet with Theo. I have approximately one or two minutes till the elevator reaches the lobby and that's not nearly enough time to make myself look half decent but it will have to do. We had agreed to meet in front of my work building, seeing as I had a meeting to go with Monique to till late while he could finish at any time tonight and walk on over. I have no idea where we're going as Theo had told me tonight's events would be a surprise. This was apparently his way of ensuring I would show up, because I would allegedly be too curious to back out.

I can't lie, it worked.

My overthinking over our current arrangement had definitely persevered throughout the week, especially as I pondered over how exactly what we were doing bordered the line between friendship and dating. Plus, work had also been stressing me out and didn't exactly make me want to go out and be a social person. But not knowing what Theo might have planned and what I could be missing out on definitely kept me motivated to not call it quits.

There are definitely some down sides to just how distracted Theo has had me lately through things such as this. I've been so ridiculously caught up in all of this that I've mistakingly ignored the massive question mark hovering over my career- one that I'm supposed to be answering to Monique soon, one that I need to answer to myself. What do I actually want to do once I eventually, or hopefully, move past my role as an assistant in the not so distant future?

Monique had given me a golden opportunity in her offer of support in whatever I choose to do next, as a reward for my service. Yet, I find myself incredibly uncertain about the future, having given myself the time in this assistant role to figure out my career but not having used this time to actually do so. At university I had chosen a broad degree and major, having had this issue of uncertainty even then. Upon graduating, I applied for pretty much any job in the media industry in the hope that I could even find a job in such a competitive industry and eventually find my way to what I wanted to do. I ended up in this assistant role and, although it wasn't as exciting as some other roles out there, it was a foot in the door and would give me the time to explore. But now the time has come to take the next step and I'm still not certain that I know where I want it to go.

Maybe it's a good thing that I'm not allowing my career anxiety to completely overwhelm me due to my concentration on my Theo situation; that Theo is still bringing small moments of joy and distraction into my day. Or maybe it'll just inevitably make the issue worse.

Once I depart the elevator and eventually the building, I find Theo leaning against the glass of the building's exterior, the lights of the New York City streets reflecting in the dark blue depths of his eyes as he quietly observes his surroundings. His arms are wrapped tightly around his body, keeping himself warm under his black coat and grey scarf in the chilling winter air.

"Hey."

He flashes his head in my direction, the sound of my voice quickly breaking him out of his reverie.

"You made it." he says with a grin, eyes lighting with alertness. Bouncing off the building, he turns to his right and outstretches his arm before me, skipping any further greetings. "This way madam."

I hesitantly follow his lead, observing him with skepticism. However, I find that Theo's pace of speed walking surpasses even mine as he enthusiastically makes his way down each street.

"Can I now know where we're going?" I ask, basically sprinting to catch up to his side.

"You'll just have to wait and see. Just follow me." he answers with a mischievous grin and twinkle in his eye, not even giving me a hint as he continues to walk briskly with the bounce ever-present in his step.

It takes some effort to keep up with his pace, and it makes me further wonder what could be inspiring such excitement. I'm about to ask him if he's starving or needs to urgently pee or something when he suddenly stops, making me come to a halt beside him.

"We're here." he announces, turning to his right and gesturing with his hands to the building before us. 

I follow his direction and look up at the building, the sign hanging above our heads reading Flame. More notably, the word sushi stands out within the description below the restaurant name.

"Sushi?" I ask, amused by his decision following the revelations made on Saturday night.

"Well, you said you'd never had sushi before, so I guessed there was a good chance you've never experienced the wonder that is teppanyaki either." he explains, a proud grin present on his face.

I chuckle at his reasoning, heartened by the degree of thoughtfulness in his decision making process.

"Well, you did guess right." I admit abashedly.

He makes a little fist pump after hearing he is correct before leading us in to the restaurant. We settle into a spot right before the iconic iron plate which is set to be utilised by the chef, Theo insisting on nothing less than the ultimate teppanyaki experience. We make some small talk about our work days, however, it is as the flames, food and steam bounce around before us that we finally get around to talking about last week.

"So, did you make it to your lunch with Lexi?" he asks as he swirls his finger around the rim of his drink which has just arrived. I've noticed that he does this often, a habit of his when engaging in a discussion he may be hesitant about. I've also definitely noticed his affinity towards alcohol in such situations, with the more difficult conversations I've had with him nearly always accompanying a glass of scotch or something to ease him. I can't exactly make any judgements yet about his coping mechanisms though unless I was to see more.

"I did, although I was late." I answer once I silence my random stream of thoughts. I contemplate whether I can avoid elaborating my response but ultimately decide that certain topics can no longer be avoided. "I also got an interrogation."

"Yeah?" he questions, looking up from his drink to me with curiosity.

"Yeah, she thinks I have a secret boyfriend." I reveal.

Theo's mouth forms into an O shape, before he bits down on his lower lip with consideration. "Oh really?"

"Yep, she sees no other reason why I'd be sneaking around and coming home with hickeys, thanks to one indiscreet person." I explain, not missing my chance to remind him of his stuff up. 

"Sorry again about that- well actually I'm not really sorry- but I don't get why you couldn't just be seeing someone casually or even hanging out with friends." he questions, adding in a smirk at the end. I know he enjoys how easily I had buckled to his revised definition of being just friends on Sunday morning. I must admit that I did give in rather easily but I'd like to see someone else stand before a guy like him, saying and doing the things he was, and not surrender. 

"She claims I don't do casual... and she's not really wrong." I add, figuring I may as well be upfront about my history coming into this discussion.

"Is that so?" he enquires, tilting his head to the side as he observes me upon learning this new information.  I can't tell whether this reaction is one of worry, that I might be a girl looking for something serious with him despite claiming that I don't want it, or curiosity.

"Well, I've been on dates with three guys in my life and two of them ended up as my boyfriends. Other than you, I've only ever kissed or done anything at all with those two guys. So, yeah, this is unfamiliar territory and certainly something Lexi would never expect, but I'm going to guess it's not the case with you." I say, intentionally refraining from mentioning Damon in this conversation knowing how he may react. 

"Ha you're not wrong," he answers dryly and timidly, though I'm not really sure whether I should interpret his response as humour or pride or maybe even, dare I say, shame? "At least she won't be suspicious. That is, if you are sticking with not wanting her to know about our interactions."

Interactions. I scoff at Theo's simplistic summary of what has happened between us and question from his wording whether or not he is assuming that it will continue.

"I'm sticking with it. Not that I exactly know what the deal is with these interactions. I thought we had somewhat come to an agreement that this was nothing more than a unique friendship arrangement, but isn't this a kind of date-like outing?" I question, gesturing to our surroundings, this whole get-together and all it entails.

"Well, not specifically." He conspicuously replies, quirking his eyebrows and reasoning with his hands. 

Genuinely curious as to how he may argue it is not, I continue on with my questioning, hands down flat against the table top as I attempt to get a grasp of what I'm hearing from him. "You've taken me out yet again after we did... intimate things." I begin, slowly whispering the last part. "How is that not date-like exactly?"

"Well, do you not go out and do activities with your friends like Jess?" he reasons, as if the situations can be juxtaposed.

I find myself scoffing yet again in response to his unreasonable comparison. "Yes, but Jess and I also don't do the other things that we have." I reply incredulously. 

"Okay, but we're just doing those things alongside all the other friend-type activities you do with Jess." He argues, notably saying doing rather than using past tense which intrigues me. "Those things don't have to just be associated with relationships. We both understand that this isn't a relationship and don't expect anything more because that is what you requested, right?" he questions, eyes squinting at the end as though analysing me.

I've gained no further clarity from his convoluted response but I answer, "Right." I begin to wonder though whether he is testing me; once again checking to see if I possibly have other intentions with this arrangement. Maybe he is suspicious that I am using this as an attempt to get closer to him, knowing that he hasn't exactly been a relationship kind of guy to the best of my knowledge.

"Great." he succinctly replies, his gaze strictly fixated on me and not his drink as he seems to assess my responses. 

"Great." I respond, head high with determination as I maintain our Mexican stand off.

Only once those who surround us begin clamouring with excitement, due to the chef's display of skills, do we break our staring contest. I allow myself to get caught up in it too, having only seen this in movies or on TV before, proving Theo right in his decision to bring us here. That'll probably only boost his ego more since he clearly has a great desire to be right all the time and he's not shy to admit it. 

 I notice Theo having to run his fingers through his hair to push it off of his forehead as the sweat develops across it due to the heat. Though I am feeling the heat, especially under all these layers and with my thick mane of hair surrounding my face, I am too busy having a wide grin across my face as I am captivated by the scenes before me. Maybe I'm easy to please, or maybe because it's my first time seeing this, but I truly find it fascinating seeing the chef basically perform a dance with the food. Plus, it helps that once the food finally makes it our way it is delicious. 

"You liking your first teppanyaki experience?" Theo asks, as I notice him from my peripheral vision ripping his eyes away from the chef to observe my reaction.

"I am. It's great." I answer, enthusiastically and honestly, as I quickly look to him with a smile before I return my attention to the chef . "And it certainly tastes extra good after a long day of being dragged along to meetings."

We settle into some small talk about work once again, both eager to steer away from the mess of a conversation that had just been attempted. I don't know if we've actually clarified much tonight. I believe we seem to have entered into some form of an arrangement; one that agrees that activities such as those we undertook on Saturday night and Sunday may or may not happen again, but if they do they have to be kept secret and are purely of a casual nature. 

God, even saying that in my mind is confusing.  

Thinking about it all reminds me of something I had urgently recalled following our meeting on Sunday.  "By the way, you wouldn't happen to have found an earring at your apartment?" I ask, as the last bites of our meals are taken. 

"I can't say I have. Why?" he replies, meanwhile gesturing for the bill. 

While trying to make sure I'm ready to see the bill too and split the bill with him, I clarify. "I put on these new earrings my grandmother got me for my birthday on Sunday morning but at lunch later on I realised I only had one on. So, I figured my best chance was to check with you."

"We can have a look for it together if you don't mind stopping at my place on your way home." he suggests, quickly opening the bill and reading it over as he says so. I take a peek at the bill, noticing that it says we can't split the bill and hoping that we won't have to engage in a tug of war like I did with Damon. 

"Yeah sure, that sounds good." I agree, although very aware of what our recent track record suggests will happen when I visit Theo's apartment. "I'm supposed to go visit her this weekend so it'd be good to show her that I like and am wearing the earrings, not just one earring. Can you just remember to send me your bank details so I can transfer you some money for tonight's dinner?"

"Oh, it's okay. I invited you so I've got it." he attempts to assure me as he dismissed my suggestion with a wave of his hand and we make our way over to where he pays the bill with his card. 

"No, it's fine. I'll pay my fair share." I persist, not wanting anyone's pity.

"Okay. But next time I invite you it's my shout." he maintains, having given in relatively easily. I'm relieved that he actually heard me out, unlike Damon, while simultaneously intrigued by the mention of next time. 

And so, with our meals complete and our bill paid, we make our way over to Theo's apartment. Once we eventually arrive I realise that for the first time I am actually walking into it having been invited by Theo, rather than barging over or inviting myself. The apartment is yet again basically spotless, having not been otherwise even when my visits have been unplanned. I envy his ability to keep it this clean when he's got such a busy work schedule because Jess and I certainly don't, and certainly not on a workday. 

"Any idea when you last had the earring on?" he asks as he welcomes me in and closes the door behind us. 

"Uh, I know I had it on when I came in because I had been adjusting them in the elevator on my way up. But I don't know when I lost it, just that I didn't have it when I was at lunch and that I went straight there." I explain. 

"Right, so I'm gonna guess it's somewhere around here then since we didn't really get too far from here." he suggests, making me blush as he gestures to the space around the dining table and kitchen where we had certainly been preoccupied.  "Do you have the other earring with you for me to see?" he asks.

"Oh yep, I do." I answer, digging through my handbag for the other earring which I had zipped up in a compartment as it waited for its companion. "This is the one." I say once it is in my hand for Theo to see.

"Okay, great. Here, take a seat while I have a look." he tells me, offering up the stool at his kitchen island before he begins his search. As I look in the direction of the kitchen, I realise my thoughts of it are forever corrupted by what had happened last Sunday.

I oblige, taking a seat on the stool, not wanting to ignore his suggestion in case he doesn't want me to snoop around his house even if it is just his dining space and kitchen. He begins moving around the furniture, eventually going down on his knees as he checks beneath the dining table and then around the floor until he shouts a victorious "Found it!".

Lifting himself up from the floor, he comes back over to me to show the rose gold Pandora stud that Lexi had helped Baba choose. 

"This the one?" he checks. 

Enthusiastically, I nod as the relief settles into me. I thank him as I eagerly grab the stud from the palm of his hand and zip it away in my bag so it can't disappear again. 

"Now that you're here, are you up for a nightcap?" he offers, pointing back with his thumb over his shoulder at the drink tray beside his dining table. 

I swiftly weigh up my options and ultimately decide that I'm up for it, agreeing with a nod, since it isn't too late and I wouldn't mind ending my strenuous day with a quick drink. 

He makes his way over to the tray where I last see him grabbing two tumblers before I childishly begin to spin myself around on the stool. When the spinning comes to a halt and I am facing the direction of the kitchen, I rest my elbows and hands on the cold stone; sending goosebumps across my skin as my body recalls the feeling of the cool surface meeting with the exposed skin of the small of my back.  

"So, you have any plans for the rest of the night?" Theo calls out,  breaking me out of my spell. 

"Besides going home and getting in bed? Nope." I answer, quickly attempting to calm down the heat I could feel swelling up in my cheeks. God, my body responds so quickly to even just the memories of last weekend. 

"Jess isn't waiting for you at home?" he asks as I think I hear his footsteps coming closer. 

"Jess is working. Why?" I cautiously ask.

"I guess I just thought you might want to stay a little longer then." he says, evidently right behind me now as the air which comes from each of the words he utters into my ear tickles my skin. He places two glasses on the bench before me before he lays his hands flat against the stone, looking my body in between his arms. 

"Oh yeah?" I ask, tempted to turn around now to look at him and prove my assumptions right that he has a smug grin proudly displayed on his face right now. But I don't because I don't doubt that my blushing has yet to subside, if it hasn't increased by now. 

"Yeah, have some good bonding time between friends." he teases, lightly grasping the hairs that cascade down over my shoulders and moving them aside so that they brush against my skin and send shivers down my spine. There is something about not knowing what he is going to do next as he continues to stand behind me that has me figuratively and literally sitting on the edge of my seat. With the skin of my neck now exposed, he next resorts to what appears to be his favourite move with his lips making their way across my skin delicately. 

With his hands leaving the bench top to