"I can't believe you actually agreed to another date with, Lee." Victoria gushed loudly, spinning around in her chair. I stapled the last stack of papers in front of me before setting it down in the pile on my desk.

"First of all, the last time we ate out wasn't a date, I was just eating lunch with him, and secondly, we're just hanging out Saturday. Nothing crazy. He offered and I had nothing else better to do." I said with a shrug. Just as she started to open her mouth, Jason stepped out of nowhere, a cup of water in his hand and a large smile.

"Morning ladies." He greeted brightly, smiling over at us. I smiled back.

"Hey, Jason."

"Yeah, hey, Jason." Victoria replied back in a bored tone. Jason was obviously oblivious to her tone and continued to smile.

"I called you yesterday to see if you wanted to have lunch, but you never picked up."

I bit my lip. I was out with Lee when he had called and I had forgot to call back. "Yeah, sorry, I was out eating with a friend." I replied.

"Yeah, her boyfriend." Victoria added slyly.

Jason's eyebrow quirked up in surprise. "Oh, I didn't know you were involved with someone. That would, uh, explain that ring you had the other day. I wish you would have told-"

"He's not my boyfriend." I said quickly, shooting Victoria a look, telling her to shut up. "Victoria just likes to joke around."

Jason seemed happy with that answer, "Oh that's good. Not that you don't have a boyfriend," he quickly amended, "Just that you aren't seeing anyone."

I felt heat rise to my cheeks as Jason rubbed the back of his neck. "Hey, Simone, could I talk to you privately for a second?" He questioned almost timidly.

I absentmindedly nodded, pushing myself up from my chair and following him to the end of the hall where the copy room was. He shut the door behind us before turning around.

"Are you romantically involved with anyone?" He rushed out quickly, never moving his brown eyes from mine.

I rocked back and forth on my heels. "No, I'm not seeing anyone," I replied softly, "Why?"

Jason took in a deep breath before releasing it. "I don't know why I'm so nervous. I never get nervous about anything." He said jokingly, laughing awkwardly as he ran a hand over his hair. "Well, I know we just kind of started talking to each other and everything at work, and we hung out that one time, but I was wondering, if you were interested in starting a relationship with me. You know, actually dating." He got out.

My mouth formed in an 'o' shape. My stomach tingling.

"We don't have to rush or anything, we can take our time." He said immediately, when I hadn't replied to his offer.

"Um," I started, inwardly kicking myself. This is what I had wanted, right? To finally get Jason to notice me and ask me out. Now he was, and I couldn't even reply back properly. "Uh, I'll have to get back to you on that. You know, with work and everything, I just haven't had the time to think about having a serious relationship right now." I trailed. What are you doing? You have all the time in the world to be thinking about a relationship, this is what you wanted, JASON is what you wanted, my mind screamed. I pushed the thoughts away, biting the side of my lip. "I'm sorry, I just don't think I'm ready for a relationship right now."

Jason's confidence faltered slightly, his smile turning into a frown, before quickly turning into a grin. "Oh, no, don't feel sorry. I understand," he laughed, grabbing his cup of water off of the shelf behind him. "I'll, uh, talk to you later, yeah?" He asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, i'll talk to you later." I replied as he exited the room, leaving me by myself.

I grabbed the sides of my head. What in the world is wrong with me? Jason had asked me out and I had said, No. Was I crazy?

Yes, my mind replied.

"Oh shut up." I said to myself, my internal fight being cut short as my phone began to ring. I quickly answered it, bringing it up to my ear before I could even see who had called me.

"Yes," I replied.

"Hey, having a good day?" Lee's voice came through the receiver, the same music from yesterday playing softly in the background.

My heart thumped against my chest. "Yeah, just um, taking a break right now. What are you doing?"

He didn't miss a beat as he replied, "Thinking about you."

"Seriously?" I snorted, even though my heart was now beating erratically in my ears.

"Seriously." He replied.

A grin slipped onto my face, no matter how much I tried to push it away. "So is that the only reason you called?" I questioned, trying to break the silence that had settled between us.

I could hear the smile in his voice as he replied. "That, and I wanted to hear your voice." He said honestly, changing the subject. "Are we still on for tomorrow night?"

"Yeah, hanging out, right?" I replied.

"Yeah, hanging out." He said, a slight tone of distaste in his words. "Do you still want to?"

I nodded, even though he couldn't see me. "Yeah, I'll still be able to make it."

"Good." Lee said back, "Well, I'll let you get back to work. Bye."

"Bye," I called back into the phone, although I really didn't want to hang up.

"I'll talk to you later." He promised, ending the call.

I slowly pulled my phone away from my ear, holding it close to my chest.

Next time I need to make sure to check the caller id before answering to get myself mentally and emotionally prepared before talking to him, I chided to myself, before laughing as I exited the copy room.

As if that would even help.