It never occurred to Felix that he would have a shot at Alexi. There were so many things that made it nearly impossible. First, nobody in the office was friends with her. Second, she was his boss. Third, she probably never knew he existed.
And yet, he still dreamed of dating her. When he steps through his office door, his eyes would trail at her frosted glass door and he would dream of gallantly stepping in to give her daily bouquet of peonies or whatever flower she would prefer. As he sits on his swivel chair, he daydreams of exchanging emails of sweet nothings with her. In a few minutes, he would anticipate her casually coming out of her office, passing cubicle by cubicle. Making queries and softly reminding people of deadlines to beat. Then, her stiletto-clad footsteps would be heard approaching.
“Felix?” her voice dulcet to his ears. “How’s the Turner Project doing?”
“Looking pretty good, Boss.” He would type a few digits on his computer then turn his chair to properly face her.
“Looking very good.” He reiterates as he appreciates the view.
“All right. Send the files in my office. I would personally love to hear a full report.” Alexi says. She sends him a tiny smile before she leaves.
He grinned stupidly at the thought.
“… Lix….? Felix?” A voice brought him back to consciousness.
“Ye---yes!” He sprung out of his chair.
“Alexi needs the full report for the Turner Project. Have you finished it?” It was his supervisor asking him. Judging by how irritated her face was, she had been trying to call his attention for a while now.
“Umm.. Yes, the Turner’s.” He began to scour his folders for the files he needed. “I just have to print them, Mich. Please give me two minutes.”
“Okay. Pass it to me in an hour. I’m fully aware that you aren’t done with it, not with all the go-go eyes you did for five minutes. “Mich huffed and walked away. He sighed.
-0-
“Times up, Felix.”
“Well, shit.” He murmured as he heard his supervisor got near his cubicle.
“So? Are you done yet?” She sounded haughty as she peered through his monitor. “Are you kidding me? It’s been two hours now, Felix.” He silently winced in his seat.
“Just a minute, Ma’am.”
“I gave you TWO hours, Felix. What is taking you so long? Alexi will have my head for this.” Mich grumbled, her heels clacked repeatedly on the linoleum floor.
“For Pete’s sake! This is the third time a report’s been past the deadline this week! I’m sick of explaining to Alexi why you guys couldn’t make it on time. Plus, I still have my own paperwork to finish. You know what, Felix? YOU go to the Boss’ office and explain yourself.” Mich marched out of his cubicle and went straight to her own office, closing her door with a not-too-subtle slam.
Felix had never been so embarrassed in his life. He could feel the peering gazes of his officemates.
Numbly, he rose from his chair, tucked the needed files on his side and slowly walked towards the General Manager’s Office.
-0-
“Alexi? Umm… I mean. Good morning, ma’am.” Anxiously, he spoke.
“Have a seat.” She spoke tonelessly, not sparing him a glance as she scribbled something on the files she was holding. Felix cautiously approached the nearest stool by the door and sat. He watched as Alexi shifts file from one hand to another. Her eyebrows would furrow from time to time. Her red lips, natural and devoid of any lipstick, would shift from a pout to a tightlipped smile.
This time, those furrowed eyebrows slacken and those tight lips curve into a smile at the sight of him entering her office.
“Hey, handsome.” She would playfully say, one hand cupping her cheek in a leaning position. Pearly white teeth displayed in a happy smile as he casually locks up the door.
“So, I got your full report on the Turner Project right here, Boss.” He said cheekily, shuffling files in his hands.
“Hmm. I can’t hear you.” She said, her dainty manicured fingers motioning him to come closer. Confidently, he sauntered towards her table. He sank in the guest chair, stacked the files haphazardly on the table, and leaned his full weight on the arm braced on the table, just slightly brushing that leaning arm of hers.
“I said I have your full Turner report, Boss.” In voce sotto, he spoke. He couldn’t help but grin at how playful she looked at him. He marveled at how sexy those eyebrows arched at him. His hands were aching to palm those soft rosy cheeks.
“That can wait.”
-0-
“Mr. Felix?”
“Oh crap.” He muttered under his breath. His hands slapped his cheeks to wakefulness. It happened again. In the Boss’ office no less. This was so humiliating.
“Are you alright?” Alexi asked, worried.
“Ye-yeah, boss. Sorry.”
“Sit on a nearer chair, please.” Her hand motioning to the guest chair on her left as she busied herself with files again.
“Right.” He nearly toppled over as he quickly stood up from the stool he was sitting on. With shaky knees, he walked himself to the guest chair and gratefully sat on it.
“So, is there something you need to tell me?” She inquired as she casually dialed some numbers on her phone, one hand still clutching a pen and signing documents.
She didn’t know yet. Felix’s mind raced. How does Mich do this? He would never have imagined it would be this difficult to tell a blunder to the boss. Alexi was usually calm, cold even. However, he heard rumors of how that calm façade would vanish when the boss gets pissed. She was the last person he would dare piss off and it’s not only for his job either.
One fine afternoon, he saw her face on the feature section of a business magazine he was reading --- a promising young woman with a six-digit figure salary to boot. She was an inspiration to young upstarts like him and that was how he ended up here, working in the very company she herself established.
He wouldn’t dare lose this chance over a stupid delayed report.
“Felix, is it? Is there something you needed?” She asked for the second time. Hands busying themselves in stacking documents she had recently signed, whilst her phone tucked between her left ear and shoulder. Her eyes glanced at the digital wall clock by her right, made a tsk sound, and frowned. Unceremoniously, she stood up.
“Because if there’s none, I have a meeting in five ----"
“Would you please go out with me?”
Slacked-jaw, Alexandra dropped her phone and the papers she had carefully stacked.
-0-
Never in his wildest dreams did Felix thought he’d be the very first person to shock the calm and collected Alexi. There were so many things that made it nearly impossible but here he is now, making her drop everything she was holding because he managed to ask her out.
“What did you say?” She tensed. Her blue-grey eyes narrowed as she glared at him. She looked ready to slap him for anything else stupid. He gulped, unsure what to do.
Well, might as well finish this then.
“Well, I haven’t told HR this but I applied for this job because I’ve read about you in a magazine.” Felix started. “I’ve wanted to know more about you, how you became so successful at such a young age. We’re the same age, you know? Well... you’re two months older than me but that’s not the point, I ----” He glanced up to her and saw that she was rigid, on the verge of retaliating whenever he’d take one more step closer to her.
“I sounded like a stalker just now, didn’t I? I’m not a stalker. Well for the most part, I am not one but I just got so curious about you and I --- I saw how booming this company is but you were always alone…” He spoke the last bit in a softer tone. He exhaled loudly as if he just ran a marathon.
“And then, I thought to myself, you’re not supposed to be like that. That’s why I wanted to know more about you… Then, I found out that nobody in the office actually knows who you really are so I got discouraged. I truly want to know you that’s why I’m asking you on a date.” He explained as level-headedly as he could. He knew he sounded like an obssessed stalker but he didn't care. He just simply had to let those thoughts out. More so now because of the fact that at anytime, this would be his first and last encounter with her.
“That’s not going to happen.” Alexi said. Admittedly, she was taken aback by his gutsy proposal. She could press the security button anytime, or whip out her taser from her sleeves to protect herself. But there was something inside her that allowed her to humor this guy. Creepy but she somehow trusted him.
“Why not?”
“Because you’re my employee.” She crossed her arms in front of her chest and rolled her eyes. Well, that was dumb. It was just as dumb as what he had said since the last minute.
“Haven’t you heard of that adage, ‘Don’t dip your pen on company ink’?”
“I could resign right now.” She just stared at him silently. “No, and I’m perfectly sane if that’s what you’re asking.”
“What you’ve read in that magazine was just all the good stuff about me. That’s how media works because it sells. There’s a lot of things about me that you wouldn’t like.” She got down of her knees to grab all the things she had dropped. Felix bent low too, eager to help her pick them up. Then, a voice crackled from the table.
“Alexi? They’re waiting for you at the boardroom.” Her secretary said through the intercom.
“Yes, I’m coming.” She spoke as she got up. His hand held out her phone for her.
“Thanks.” She said as she took her gadget from his hands and finally got up to restack her files again. This time, she secured them by placing them inside a brown envelope. “I am not as you think I am. In fact, I wasn’t born a woman. It wasn’t only sometime in my twenties when I had doctors to make me as such.”
As soon as she finished her explanation, Alexi saw how Felix’s eyes bulged out from their sockets and how his mouth stupidly hung open. This is why she’d never let anyone get close to her. She had seen this kind of reaction a couple of times already but it still hurts. She gave him a curt nod of understanding and walked towards the door.
“I don’t care what you are. I just want to be your boy—girl--- …partner.” He said, determined. From the forlorn look on her lovely face, he knew that that wasn't a bluff to drive him away. She froze and smirked.
The silence lasted for minutes. And then, the intercom went back to life again.
“Miss Alexi? Are you okay? The board is waiting for you.”
“Yes everything’s fine, Sharon. I’ll be there.” She walked back towards her table, gingerly tore a piece of paper, and grabbed a pen. Felix grimaced at the sound of the paper tearing. He silently watched her scribble something on the paper. He closed his eyes, maybe she’s writing his immediate dismissal from this company.
Just great.
She walked over him and handed him the note. Defeated, he reached out, took it, and crumbled it in his fist.
“I guess this is the part where you ask me to clear out my desk, huh?”
Alexi didn’t say anything. He stood there, motionless. She never considered saying a word to him and it felt ten times mortifying. He listened to the sound of her heels walking towards the door.
“Just one date, okay.”