“Actually, I am just starting, but I forgot something in my apartment.” He explained why he was also rushing back. “If you don’t mind, maybe we could run together. It would be nice to have some company.”
She contemplated for a few seconds about it. She never had someone running with her before. She tried to encourage Jacky several times before but she always declined.
“Sure, why not?” She thought that it might be fun. He seemed harmless and friendly enough.
“Is it ok if you wait for me here while I run fast to my apartment?” When she nodded. “Just give me a second.” He moved fast towards his home, while she waited by the elevator.
She wondered why she never bumped into him before. Except for the incident in the elevator, this was the second time she had seen him. Anyway, they must have different work schedules or something. Besides she was always busy to notice most of her neighbors.
A minute later, Troy was back and they rode the elevator together down to the lobby.
“I hope I did not make you wait too long.” He tried to make conversation because the silence was deafening inside the small space they were in.
“Nah, it was ok. At least I was able to do some stretching while waiting for you.” She always used her spare time to do something productive.
“Good. Do you jog often?” He was genuinely curious about his neighbor. He had barely seen her and her companion. Thrice if he would count. This would be his fourth. But this would be their second time to converse.
“Not much lately. I have so much work to do this past few days that I barely had time to do anything else.” She found it odd that she was feeling comfortable talking to him about her life. He was still basically a stranger to her.
Their conversation halted when the bell chimed inside the lift, indicating that they reached the ground floor. He held the door of the elevator open while he allowed her to go out ahead of him.
Outside, she could feel the nice morning breeze. Something she was looking forward to, every time she went out on a run. This was one of the few things she liked about her place. Its proximity to the park.
“Hey.” Troy tapped her in the shoulder when they were halfway around the park.
“Oh! Sorry, you were saying something.” She was so engrossed with the music that was playing in her ears that she did not notice that he was already talking to him. In truth, something else was going through her mind and she wanted to quash it out of her mind.
“I said maybe you would want a break.” They both stopped in front of a bench to get a breather.
“Ok.” She suddenly felt her muscles complaining after a long run without stopping. She grabbed the water bottle that was strapped in her waist and drank enough to quench her thirst. He did the same.
“You run decently. I seldom find a running partner who could keep up with me.” Although he did slow down a bit from his usual pace, still she was able to catch up with him and ran this long without stopping.
“I love to run. It is one of the best exercises for me. At the same time, I like the fresh air. Never like being coop up in a gym with sweaty bodies.” She never did like going to gyms. If she wanted to work out, she might as well do it in her place. But running was still her favorite.
“Same here. I guess we have something in common.” He gave her a friendly smile. “I also love to run. It releases all my frustrations. It felt like you are leaving your problems behind.”
“Yeah, I know how that feels.” She agreed with him. “But, I think we better get back. Don’t want to get late.”
They hit the path back to their building. Running at a comfortable pace this time. But keeping their thoughts to themselves.
“It was fun. Maybe we would run into each other again sometime.” Troy said as he left her at her doorstep.
“Yeah, I had fun too.” She was not committing to a running buddy. But if they would run into each other again, maybe she would not mind joining him again. She did enjoy his light humor.
“Where you out with the boy toy next door?” Jacky just appeared from nowhere, which gave her a slight fright.
“Whoah, you almost gave me a heart attack.” Finding Jacky standing at the door just when she was about to close the door of their apartment. “How long have you been standing out there?”
“Just a few seconds ago, I just came out of the elevator when I saw you talking to our hot neighbor,” Jacky said as she closed the door behind her.
“We just happened to run with each other. And please, stop giving him a nickname. His name is Troy.” She reminded her as she grabbed a fresh bottle of water in the chiller.
“Fine, but I still think he is hot.” Jacky insisted as she went to the fridge to look for something to prepare for breakfast.
“I’m going to hit the shower. I want you early at the office. I have tons of work that needs to be done today.” She instructed her friend and her assistant too.
“Sure, boss.” Jacky gave her a salute. “By the way, what happened with your date with Mr. Hotty?” Jacky asked excitedly, quite interested.
“Again, with the nicknames.” She had to shake her head at her friend’s antics. “Nothing. We just talk, learn a few basic things about each other.” She did not want to elaborate more. Closing the door to her room to avoid further inquisition.
“You’re so boring. You’re no fun.” Jacky shouted outside her door, but she ignored it. She went to her bathroom to shower and prepare for a long day at the office.
She needed to get ahead of her schedule since she would be away this weekend. Although she was not officially working on Saturday and Sunday, it did not mean that she had nothing to do on those days.
She usually took some files to review so that the following week, she could be prepared to handle her work much easier. Nothing beats a person that was always prepared.
“Seriously, nothing happened interesting in your date.” Jacky continued to pester her when she grabbed a toast and a cup of coffee after getting dress.
“Nothing.” She was not about to spill to Jacky what truly happened to her in his apartment because she would not hear the end of it. She was sure that if Jacky ever got the whiff that she was slightly attracted to him, she would be playing matchmaker in no time.
She could not let that happen. She was sure that after this charade of theirs and she got what she wanted. She would not want anything to do with this man. She believed that he was operating in shady business. That was the reason he got so rich that fast.
Why would he need that goon to work for him? She was sure that he was working for someone or even masterminding something that was beyond the law but was too good to be caught.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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