The charger and the truth

I made it to work okay, which wasn’t exactly newsworthy, except apparently it was—at least to Tara. She looked up from her desk the second I walked in and blinked like I’d just risen from the dead.

“You’re here,” she said.

“I am.” I placed my bag down and gave her a half-smile.

“I mean, you’re actually here. In the office. Upright. Breathing.”

“Good morning to you too.”

She stared. “You okay?”

“I’m fine.”

She didn’t believe me. She was the only one in the office who knew the full extent of the mess I’d been crawling through the past few months—me and Randy, me and Sarah, Sarah and Randy, both of them and me. The web was thick and tangled and exhausting, and she’d been the one person who hadn’t pried but still noticed everything. And yet, she’s the only one in the office that I fully trusted.

Now, as I moved past her and into my personal office, I caught the way her eyes followed me. She looked surprised. But more than that—curious.

“You’re smiling,” she said, getting up and trailing behind me.

“Maybe I’m just in a good mood.”

“You haven’t been in a good mood in wees,” she said. “What happened?”

I opened the door to my office and let her follow me in. “Nothing.”

Her eyes lit up. “Oh my God. It’s my Uncle Dominic.”

I didn’t say anything, just headed toward my desk. That was all the confirmation she needed.

“He spent the night, didn’t he?” she said, dropping onto the arm of the couch in the corner like she was settling in for story time.

“You’re impossible,” I said, smiling despite myself.

“Tell me everything.”

I dropped into my chair. “We met a couple of years ago when a friend dragged me to Dom’s restaurant - back when it was still kind of a secret spot and not how packed it is now. I hadn’t visited for a bit and when I did about ten years ago, Dom remembered my ordered and remembered what I wore – he even remembered my name. We started texting and eventually, that turned into something steadier. We became friends. He just… showed up when I needed him to.”

Tara crossed her legs and sipped her coffee like this was the best thing that had happened to her all morning. “So what changed?”

“Everything fell apart with Randy. Dom was there; you know how he is…..quiet, patient and kind. I didn’t expect it to turn into anything physical, not really. But then it did.”

“You have that glow,” she said. “You have that glow like people do when they’re truly in love…you didn’t have this glow with Randy but you were close to having it with Vic and Vince.”

I gave her a look, but she just grinned.

She let out a laugh and stood. “Okay. I’ll leave you alone. For now.” She reached for the doorknob but paused. “I’m really happy for you.”

I nodded, trying not to show how much that meant.

The door closed softly behind her, and I sat back in my chair. My whole body was sore in a way that made me grin. A fifth round of sex later, and here I was pretending to do work while my brain replayed every last second of him.

Dominic’s voice….his mouth. The things he whispered into my ear while he moved inside me.

I bit the inside of my cheek and forced myself to open my inbox.

Ten minutes later, a knock broke me out of my work mode.

Before I could say anything, the door opened.

Dominic.

Black polo. Grey sweatpants. That same quiet confidence that had followed him out of my bed and now somehow walked straight into my office.

He gave me a crooked smile. “You left your charger in my car.”

I blinked. “You drove all the way here for a charger?”

“No. I came here because I wanted to see you in your element….and because I couldn’t stop thinking about you.”

I stood, not even trying to play it cool. “You’re unbelievable.”

“Only for you.”

He walked toward me slow and deliberate. I met him halfway.

Behind him, I saw Tara through the glass, pretending to organize a stack of papers she’d already filed last week. She looked up, caught my eye, and gave me a thumbs-up before disappearing into the back.

Dominic leaned in. “I’ll see you tonight?”

“You’d better,” I said, brushing my fingers over the side of his jaw.

He kissed my forehead, pressed the charger into my hand, and turned to go.

As the door shut behind him, I leaned against it for a second and smiled.

I was definitely in a good mood.