Reiner – Entertaining the Expert

“Ok…” I mumbled.

The line clicked dead, and I looked around the still-empty office as I tried to collect my thoughts. Don’t panic, Natalia. Reiner will be back soon…

How soon? The expert is literally on the way here right at this instant. I looked at the clock hanging from the wall and found out that the expert was perfectly on time. Where is Reiner now?!

“Knight? Where you are right now?” I asked after the line connected.

“I’m in the car. I’m on the way back to the office,” Reiner replied.

“How much longer?” I asked anxiously.

“10 minutes or a little more…depending on the traffic,” Reiner replied casually.

That’s a long time, isn’t it?

“Ok. The expert is taking the elevator up here as we speak,” I reported.

“Good luck, Natalia…” Reiner said.

I stared at my mobile phone after Reiner had suddenly hung up on me. Guess someone just threw me under the bus here.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. The expert is here!

This is it, I thought to myself as I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath. Honestly, I had no idea why I felt so nervous in meeting this expert, but I was nervous nonetheless. I opened my eyes and quickly plastered my most perfect smile on my face before opening the door.

“Welcome…” I said sweetly.

“…Natalia?”

Huh? Why is he here?

My perfect smile quickly transformed as my mouth hung open in shock. The voice that called my name was all too familiar and so was the man standing behind the senior secretary.

“Wow. Do you two know each other by any chance?” the secretary quickly jumped in.

Doesn’t she know how to read the atmosphere or the mood?

“Charles…” I whispered when my mouth could finally move.

Why is Charles here?

“You work here?” Charles asked and it was clear that he was finding it hard to believe too.

I found it hard to believe that the expert that we planned to rely on for our project was none other than Charles. Since we never really talked about our jobs, I didn’t know much about his work, and he didn’t know that I worked at this company. But seriously, this is such a small and round world that we live in.

“Yes, I work here. Oh, excuse my manners, please come inside. I…I’ll serve you tea and…healthy snacks…” I spurted out the first thing that came to mind.

What the hell am I saying? I know that I practiced this but why am I offering healthy snacks to Charles like he was some old professor or something?

Charles laughed a little at me and my nervousness as he followed me into the room. Reiner wasn’t back yet which meant that I had to entertain Charles until he arrived. The woman quickly excused herself, leaving me to take care of Charles. The door closed and it was just the two of us.

“Umm…” I murmured.

“There’s no need for tea…or healthy snacks, although I do appreciate it,” Charles said, sounding really amused.

“Oh…right. Sorry…” I apologized nervously.

That must have sounded very weird to him. I used to offer him beer at the bar and here I am offering him tea and healthy snacks.

“Why are you apologizing? There’s no need to act so shocked or nervous,” Charles said casually.

“I guess you’re right. I just…you know…I didn’t expect that it would be you…” I admitted truthfully.

“I didn’t expect Knight’s secretary to be you either,” Charles replied casually as he sat down on the sofa.

“Right. Good point, I guess,” I whispered, still shocked.

Wait a second! If Charles is the expert, then doesn’t that mean that he’s going to meet with Reiner, and it seems like they know each other? How small is the world seriously?! Then again, Charles knew Queen…

I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to feel. Everything was just so complicated. I mean, Reiner and I wasn’t dating or anything like that. Neither was Charles and I. Reiner wasn’t interested in me, but I guess I still am interested in him. He was engaged to someone else, though. His fiancée is super pretty and has beautiful hair. Charles is interested in me, and we kiss and made out a bit in his car.

Why do I have a feeling that this meeting is going to end in a full-scale disaster?

“Natalia…Natalia?” Charles called my name a couple of times.

“Y-Yes?” I replied with a stutter.

“What are you doing spacing out in the middle of work?” Charles teased.

“Sorry. I was just thinking of…random things…” I replied apologetically.

“You were talking about having a difficult time with your boss before. I guess that ‘boss’ that you were referring to was Knight, huh?” Charles said as he connected the dots with ease.

“Oh, yes. I didn’t know that you two know each other…” I replied while feeling uncomfortable of that fact.

“I know him quite well. We started working at around the same time,” Charles said with a firm nod.

If what he’s saying was true, then Charles must know a lot about Reiner and his work. What he used to work on and all that. I wondered if he would tell me more if I asked. I looked at Charles to find him smiling at me and I returned his smile with ease. Apart from the fact that Charles and Reiner would run into each other here, it wasn’t so bad that the expert turned out to be Charles. I was used to conversing with Charles and he was definitely knowledgeable about this topic. I just never thought that he would be considered an ‘expert’ at it.

If the meeting with Reiner goes well, then Charles will probably work with us on this project. That will mean that I’ll get to work with Charles, and I’ll get to see him more. I sighed when I thought about what the work dynamic between us three would be like.

“Why the depressing sigh?” Charles asked with his eyes on me.

“Oh…work is busy,” I replied, half honestly.

“I’ve missed seeing you at the bar,” Charles said quite seriously.

“Oh…you went there? I was so busy that I could only go on the weekends. I’m trying to sort out my work here so that I can help out more often over there…” I replied with a shy smile.

“That’s great. I look forward to spending more time with you…” Charles said brightly.

--To be continued…