Nyla leaped back and nearly crashed into the standing table but caught her footing the last minute.

"If you do that again, I'm going to tie bells around your neck," she warned Darius.

He merely smiled. "I'd love to see you try."

"Don't test me."

He gently took her elbow. "I won't, but you promised me a dance."

"Did not."

"Did too."

They went back and forth for a few minutes until Nyla was exasperated. "We can't dance anyway because the music is finished!"

Darius turned around and Nyla knew he saw the same scene as her. The D.J was packing away his equipment. With a determined looked in his eyes, Nyla watched as Darius approached the D.J. They chatted for a few minutes and then funnily enough, the D.J placed back some of his equipment and music began to flow in the now empty backyard. Most of the guest had left and the cleaning crew had come in.

"There's music now." Darius said in a matter-of-fact-tone.

Nyla knew she wouldn't be winning this battle, so she grabbed his hand. "Fine, if I step on your expensive shoes and ruin the crease—don't blame me."

"I'll just make you order me a new pair," Darius said smoothly.

Nyla sighed. She didn't really know where to place her hand, but Darius gently removed her fingers from the air and placed it upon his right shoulder.

"It won't be to bad," he whispered noticing Nyla's frantic glance.

He stepped closer and Nyla got a whiff of his cologne. It smelt tangy and she noted the slight scent of peppermint. It was unexpected—but it still smelt like him. With the distance closed, she could see his eyes flickering between blue and black with the lighting. Ultimately, she decided that his eyes had swirls of both.

"Follow my lead." Darius said as he guided her through the steps slowly.

She didn't know what dance they were performing, and she stepped on his toes more than once. To his credit, he didn't flinch but instead slowed day even more so she could keep up. Towards the end of the dance, she was starting to get a hang of the steps and was able to hear the music clearly now. Her rhythm matched the crescendo of the music and it was clear that Darius knew what he was doing.

The two of them were silent for most of the dance and it was over before she knew it. The music died down slowly, the last notes hanging in the air for seconds longer. As the two of them parted, Nyla was surprised to find herself sad that it was over.

Noticing her contemplation, Darius chuckled softly. "Don't be sad, I'm sure I'll whisk you away for a dance some other time."

Nyla returned to her haughtiness. "Good luck trying that."

Darius eyes crinkled but he didn't say anything else.

"Do you need a ride home?"

Nyla looked at the time before nodding. "Yes please."

He held out his elbow and Nyla looped her arm through it. "What a nice gentleman," she teased.

"I do try." He replied.

The two of them walked to his car before Nyla slipped into the passenger seat.

For the most part, they were quite during the ride and Nyla watched the tall buildings blur past her one by one.

"You know," she said turning towards Darius. "I haven't actually seen your office."

"That can't be possible, you've come to the G Health headquarters a few times."

Nyla racked her brain for the memory of those meetings. "Nope, I've never been in your office. For the couple of meetings, we've had, its usually been in the conference room."

"We could go right now." Darius suggested.

Nyla whipped her head towards him. "Are you crazy, at this time?"

Darius' eyes twinkled. "Why not, it's not like you have anything else to do."

"Don't be stupid," Nyla said, even though a part of her was looking for an adventure. "Just drop me home so I can sleep."

Darius ignored her and instead choose to speed up. Taking matters into her own hands, she punched his shoulders and the car swerved towards the left. Honks immediately filled the air and Nyla screamed.

"Why are you punching the driver?" Darius shouted.

"Pay attention to the road!" Nyla yelled back.

"I was, until you punched me!"

Nyla didn't respond to him. She had to admit it had been a stupid idea to punch him while he was still driving the car. Calming her self down, she apologized a few seconds later.

Darius merely nodded. A little while later, he stopped the car.

"We're here."

Nyla tugged the sash on her coat tighter. She couldn't believe she was doing this. The building was dark and not a single light could be seen. The two of them crossed the road and an eerie chill went up Nyla's body.

"Let's go back in the car," Nyla whispered.

She didn't know why she was speaking so quietly. There was nobody standing in front of the G Health headquarters. Darius ignored her as he punched in a couple of numbers into the keypad before pressing his palm on the scanner. Nyla was surprised that he had so much access to the building.

"Sometimes I end up locking the building myself." He explained the unasked question.

She nodded and took a deep breath before the two of them stepped inside the building. It was ice cold.

"D-ont you tt-urn on the heating?" she stuttered.

Darius shot her an apologetic smile. "Sorry, cost saving measures. Nobody is expected to be in the building. However, my office does have its own control settings so it should get better."

Nyla rolled her eyes, but she followed him to the elevator. It was weird being in a place that she was used to seeing crowded with individuals. The faint street light was reflecting through the glass panels.

They rode in silence and the little beep indicated that they were on the top floor. Darius led her past the conference room in which they usually had meetings to a more isolated corner. The glass was see-through, and she saw the engraving on the door.

Darius Giordano, CEO.

Darius inserted a key before pushing the door open. Automatically the lights flickered on. Nyla step inside and her eyes began roaming around the room. In the middle stood a standard oak desk with two screens covering most of the surface.

Files covered the other side. A comfortable looking chair was in the middle. The back of the office was lined with shelves and tons of books.

"What genre are all of these?" Nyla asked in awe.

Darius shrugged his shoulders. "There's a little bit of everything. Some are textbooks from university and while others are biographies and other inspirational stories."

Her fingers traced some of the tittles. She moved onto the plush grey couch that was pushed towards the side.

"Something tells me that is not your design."

Darius grinned. "It was a gift from my mother."

Nyla laughed.

"Can I get you something to drink?"

"Sprite will be fine."

Darius nodded and he walked towards the fridge in the corner. Meanwhile Nyla took a closer look at his desk. There was a stack of playing cards lying around.

She picked them up. "Why do you have this here?"

Darius passed her the can of sprite. "It's something we do around the office to relax, play a couple of games to get our mind off of things." Darius pointed towards the smaller white board behind his desk which Nyla hadn't notice before. "We have a tally running and everything."

Nyla took a sip of her drink and stepped towards the window. If she thought her view was amazing, Darius' was something else. The empire state building could be seen from this height as well as the Brooklyn bridge.

"Want to play?"

Nyla spun around to see Darius on the sofa twirling around the stack of cards like a pro.

"You any good?" she asked in a teasing manner.

His eyes glittered with the issuance of the challenge. "Guess you'll have to play me to know the answer to that."

Nyla sat down on the plush carpet that lined the floor and kicked off her heels. Her coat was still wrapped against her body tightly because despite Darius' promises of having a warmer office, she had been quite cold.

Darius took off his jacket before rolling up the sleeves of his dress shirt. Nyla tried not to stare but there was just something captivating about men with rolled up sleeves.

"What game do you want to play?" Darius asked.

"Anything really."

Darius began shuffling the cards and Nyla took in the moment. If someone said that they saw the CEO's of two multimillionaire companies sitting on the ground and playing cards—nobody would believe them. Yet it was the truth.

"Let's start by playing gin and rummy." Darius suggested.

"Okay, but you're going to have to explain the rules because I don't know how to play."

Darius' raised an eyebrow. "We could play a game that you know the rules to."

This was the part Nyla was dreading. "I don't know how to play card games..."

Darius' gaze pierced her. "You're bluffing right?"

Nyla shook her head. "No, my dad didn't like us playing card games." She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Apparently, his father gambled a lot and he was worried that we might form a gambling habit if we played cards."

"That" spluttered Darius, "is simply preposterous."

Nyla shrugged her shoulders to indicate that it was what it was.

"So, you were never tempted to play any cards?"

Nyla laughed. "Oh no, me and my older sister played Uno all the time. The only issue he had was with playing cards—for most of my life I didn't even know they existed. When I did, I was already too old, and it was embarrassing telling other people that I didn't know how to play basic card games."

Darius didn't look at her with pity. Instead he began dealing the cards. "Well, it looks like we have to make up for lost time."

Nyla lost track of time as they played. It didn't just stop with one game. Darius introduced her to many more. Each time, he would explain the instructions before giving her a practice round in order to understand it better. Then, they would start playing for the real stuff. Somehow in the midst of it all, they had settled on a bet.

The winner of the most amount of games would be permitted to have the looser do whatever they wanted for a day. Nyla knew if she won, she would definitely turn Darius into a house elf. She could imagine him in an apron cooking her a meal before proceeding to clean out her entire closet.

As if seeing where her thoughts were going, Darius' eyes narrowed. "Don't start counting your chickens before they hatch."

Nyla simply placed the cards down winning that round. It had taken a short amount off time for her to grasp the games as they were relatively easy. She was having fun tonight. Between the game of cards, they joked around but also talked about everything. Art, the economy, their goals—it was as if Nyla had met her perfect match.

Darius placed the last card down with a smug smile. "And that, ladies and gentlemen, brings me to a totally of twenty-nine victories and thus I am the clear winner."

Nyla threw her cards in annoyance and watched as Darius continued celebrating his victory. An inner part of Nyla wanted to smile. He was acting like a complete child. But it was also nice to see the pure, joy on his face. It made him look much younger than his thirty-one years of age.

"What do you want as your prize?"

Darius stopped his celebrations as if remembering that Nyla was still in his office. He contemplated for a while.

"I'm not going to do anything stupid." Nyla warned him.

"There is a golf tournament next week. I need a partner—would you be willing to fill in the spot?" Darius laughed. "Oh wait, you don't have a choice because I won, and you have to do what I say."

Nyla rolled her eyes. "You won a childish game, stop bragging."

Darius raised his eyebrows. "Next time, we can take this to a casino and then play the real adult games."

"Fine," Nyla agreed, mostly to shut him up.

She wasn't a casino person. If she wanted to gamble, she did it on things in which the house didn't hold all the power.

Nyla yawned and stretched out her limbs. She looked outside to see the lights still twinkling in the darkness. The clock in the room suddenly glowed and Nyla was startled to realize that it was three o'clock.

As if noticing her gaze, Darius stood up before offering his hand. "Come on, it's late. I'll drop you off."

Nyla stood up, "No it's okay. I'll take a taxi, it's late."

"Don't be stupid, just get in my car."

Nyla thought about protesting a bit more before she realized that she didn't want to go in a random taxi at night. Especially when she was so well dressed. There were a thousand possibilities of things that could go wrong.

"Thank you," she said softly.

Darius smiled at her and Nyla found herself smiling back. He understood that she wasn't just thanking him for the ride but for everything after as well.

"If you ever need a card player, I'm your guy." He said.

Nyla placed her hands in the coat pocket and settled herself in the seats. They weren't comfortable but as soon as Darius' pulled out of the parking, her eyes began drifting off. Soon she was in a deep sleep, dreaming about playing poker in San Monica—with Darius.

--------------

I'm not exactly sure when the next update is going to be because I have a ton of projects and exams coming up. But after that i'll be free to update :) Tell me what you guys thought of this chapter? About Nyla and Darius' card games? Do you like the two of them as friends?