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12:32 p.m.

That's what the clock on my phone blinked as I stared down at it.

Time was moving slow. The day hadn't gone as fast as I had wanted it to, but regardless that didn't mean that it had been a bad day. It had just been a long day, a very long and boring day filled with the tedious work of creating party invitations for the upcoming Christmas party that our Boss was throwing in a month.

I added the date and time to the card, sighing in relief when it finally looked as good as I wanted it to. I saved it to my desktop and then sent it over to my Boss's email for his approval. After I had finished that I glanced up from my cubicle to catch a couple of my coworkers walking by with their lunches. I pulled at the sleeve of my white blouse as my stomach started to growl. I immediately placed my hand against it.

I really needed to eat something before my stomach started to eat itself.

I turned to the empty desk besides me, frowning when I thought about Victoria. She was still sick. Turns out what she had thought was just a stomach bug turned out to be the Flu. The doctor had suggested that she stay away from people for another three days until her symptoms were fully gone. Hopefully that meant that she would be back to work next week, because even though she got on my nerves at times, I was starting to feel lonely without my best friend.

As the clock on my phone hit 12:40, I grabbed my purse and began to head down to go and grab some lunch at the cafeteria by myself when I ran into Jason.

Why was I always running into him, I thought, readjusting my shirt and taking a step back from him.

"Sorry," I mumbled.

Jason waved his hand, holding up his cup of coffee that was still intact. "No harm done." He smiled widely, before nodding to me. "Heading to lunch?" He asked knowingly.

I nodded. "Yeah, since Victoria isn't here, I was just going to head down to the cafeteria and grab a sandwich or something and head on back up and finish some work." I told him.

"Mind if I join?" He asked. I opened my mouth before closing it.

"Yeah, sure." I replied, not wanting to seem rude.

We walked down to the cafeteria in silence.

After I grabbed my sandwich and a bottle of water, I turned to him. "Okay, well I'm gonna head back up. Enjoy your lunch." I said, getting ready to turn in the opposite direction.

He frowned. "Oh, I thought that maybe we could-" he said before a familiar voice cut off whatever he was going to say next.

"Hey, Simone. Hope I didn't miss your lunch." Lee said, walking over to my side, smiling. He was wearing that red baseball cap again and a pair of black sun glasses so that he wasn't as noticeable.

I turned to him confused, but happy. I hadn't expected to see Lee today, much less at my job, so him being here shocked me. I took him in. "Uh, no. I'm glad you came." I replied softly, "Where's Summer?" I replied, noticing the lack of a baby attached to his side.

He smiled. "She's at home with my cousin, Shi. She said she'd watch Summer for a while, while I came and saw you."

I wanted to pull him into a hug, but that was when I remembered that Jason was still there.

"Who's this?" Jason asked curiously, studying Lee as if he were trying to figure out something.

Lee stuck his hand out and Jason grabbed his. "Nice to meet you, my name's Lee, i'm a friend of Simone's."

"Friend?" Jason questioned looking to me.

Oh, what the heck. "We're friends that are dating." I clarified, obviously shocking Lee a little bit.

Jason scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Oh, I didn't know you were seeing anyone." He replied nodding to me. "Well, I'm gonna head back up. You two have a good lunch." He said before heading in the opposite direction.

Lee turned to me grinning, one eyebrow raised. "Friends that are dating? I'm surprised."

I rolled my eyes. "Jason was the guy I was talking about. The one I had a major crush on." I said embarrassedly.

Lee watched me. "Do you still have a major crush on him?" He asked.

I shook my head. "No." I said truthfully.

He shrugged, "Then I don't see the problem."

"You're too trusting."

He shook his head. "No, I'm just good at reading people. I'm usually not wrong though."

"A little cocky aren't we?"

He smiled. "Always the optimist."

I made a face. "So where do you want to sit? I don't want anyone to notice you. Do you want to go outside?"

"Yeah, that's fine." He said following me out of a door and out to the outside seating area before sitting down at a table across from me. "I really hope I'm not being a bother. I had some time to myself since my cousin dropped by, and I wanted to see you. Did you sleep well last night?"

"I did. Did you?"

"For the most part, it took a while though."

I frowned. "Why?"

"Because I kept thinking about one beautiful woman and how lucky I was to know her." He said making my cheeks heat before he added, "and I probably didn't get much sleep because Summer wanted to play 'How long can I make incomprehensible noises until I drive uncle Lee insane.'"

I grinned. "She did not."

Lee held his head up. "She went on trying to mumble words for three hours." He shook his head. "The only person I know that can talk about nothing for that long is Thomas, so I'm not surprised that she mumbled all night long."

I laughed. "Well, it's a good thing your cousin showed up. Sounds like you needed the break." I replied, taking a bite of my sandwich. "Is your cousin from around here?"

Lee shook his head. "No, she lives a few states over, but no matter where I am, she always makes sure to check up on me. We're like siblings." He said, smiling, "I'm pretty sure that I drive her up the wall sometimes though. I can be pretty annoying."

I frowned not believing it. "What could you possibly do to be annoying?"

"It's the fact that I do the opposite of what she deems appropriate for my life. She loves me to death, but she hates the fact that she can never anticipate what I'll do next."

"Then I guess I feel the same as your cousin."

"You love me to death?" He asked cheekily, knowing that wasn't what I meant.

I almost choked on a piece of lettuce from my sandwich. I coughed a couple of times before taking a sip of water. "No, I meant I feel the same as her in the fact that it seems like I never know what you'll do next. Just when I think I have you pegged, you go and do something that seems out of character for you. Like showing up today during my lunch break." I pointed out.

Lee's eyes met mine. "What can I say? I like to surprise people." He replied. "But enough about me, I actually have something to ask you."

I raised an eyebrow, "Yeah?"

"I wanted to know if you were busy this upcoming Saturday?"

I shook my head. "No, my day is pretty uneventful."

Lee smiled. "Great. Do you think I can convince you into going on a date with me?"

"A date?" I repeated.

Lee laughed at my nervousness. "Yes, a real date this time. Thomas and Natalie will be back this Friday to pick up Summer, and I have to leave town Sunday to meet with my manager, but I'll be back Monday. I figured I could take you out before I have to leave. So what do you say? Think you're up for it?" He asked.

I felt my hands grow a little sweaty and my mouth start to dry as I replied. "No, that would be great. Do I need to meet you Saturday or," I started when he cut me off.

"Don't worry about all of that. I'll text you Friday with all of the details." He said, glancing down at his watch. "It's one o'clock, do you need to get back to work?"

I quickly looked down at the time, silently groaning. "Yes, sorry. I didn't realize how fast the time had gone by." I said, standing up from the table as Lee walked around to meet me.

"It's fine. I understand that you have a job." He smiled. "Do you want me to walk you up?"

I thought about saying 'yes' when I thought it through. "I think it's best if I walk myself back. I wouldn't want anyone figuring out who you were and then making a big deal out of it."

Lee nodded his head in understanding, although something passed through his eyes before quickly disappearing. "No, I understand." He said, "I'll call you tonight. Hope you have a great rest of the day." He said, bending down to drop a kiss on my forehead. He chuckled when he say my shocked expression. "Get used to it, we're dating remember?" He teased before straightening himself back up. "Bye, Simone." He waved, walking towards the parking lot.

I gingerly held my hand to my forehead, my heart threatening to jump out of my chest as I watched him disappear into the distance.