Chapter 23

23 Secret Date

‘Are you heading home now?’ read the text.

My heart skipped a beat when I saw that I had received a text from him. I have been so busy with my work on the first day and so focused that I didn’t realize that we haven’t communicated since this morning.

‘I just got off work’ I texted back.

I took the elevator down to the lobby of the building. And just when I arrived on the first floor, my phone started vibrating in the pocket of my suit. I took it out and found that Kyle was calling.

“Hi Kyle,” I said once the line connected.

“Where are you right now?” He asked.

“I’m at the office lobby,” I replied.

“I’ll meet you there soon,” Kyle said before hanging up.

I was slightly confused at his sudden appointment, but I was glad to meet him, nonetheless. I could feel my heart beating slightly faster in anticipation of meeting him. After a short while, I spotted Kyle walking out from an elevator. I waved at him to make sure that he saw me. There wasn’t anything for me to worry about on that front because he saw me immediately and approached me.

.....

“Sorry, I got off work a little later,” Kyle said apologetically.

I didn’t see why he had to apologize at all.

“Are you going to go home now?” I asked him.

“I’m quite free,” he replied.

“I see,” I said a little softly.

“Do you want to go out for dinner?” he asked before he showed me a hopeful smile.

I was personally surprised by his sudden invitation and then I felt like it was me who was acting strangely. I guess it’s normal for my boyfriend to ask me out for dinner, except for the fact that we’re not supposed to be dating and that we were supposed to keep our newly formed relationship with secret. Overall, I wasn’t yet used to fact that we had started dating. It just seemed too good to be true.

“I’m not sure...” I murmured as I looked around nervously.

Kyle caught on immediately that I was worrying about the ‘no dating’ rule in our company.

“Don’t worry, we can eat somewhere far from the office so that we don’t run into any of our colleagues,” Kyle suggested reassuringly.

I nodded my head slowly at him. Leaving together from the company might look suspicious to the other people too, so we decided on a restaurant and a time and then agreed to meet there. Kyle picked a very casual restaurant that was quite far from the office, and I met him there around 40 minutes later. When I arrived, Kyle was already seated at the table. He waved at me once I walked in through the door. After ordering our food, Kyle got down to business immediately.

“I actually invited you out here to discuss about plans for Saturday,” he said, getting directly to the point.

My eyebrows shot up in wonder.

“You want to meet me on Saturday?” I asked, unable to hide the curiosity in my voice.

“Yes, if you’re free. I thought I could help you pick out an apartment,” he replied.

“Oh, that would be great,” I said excitedly.

“I actually took the liberty to contact a couple of real estate agents and they came up with a couple of options based on your requirements and also your budget,” he said before grinning at him.

“Wow, that’s amazing,” I said, truly impressed.

“Here this is the list you can take a look if you’d like,” Kyle said as he slid over some papers across the table towards me. I thanked him before picking up the papers and looking through it. There were more than 10 properties on the list. Each with detailed description, location, photographs and rent rates.

“Wow, this is so detailed” I complemented.

“I suggest you pick a couple of places that you’re interested in, and we can go check it out together on Saturday. I have a car so I can drive you around,” Kyle suggested helpfully.

He was right. It would be a lot more convenient for me to travel around these places if I had a car.

“Which places would you pick if you had to choose?” I asked.

“Let’s see. I will go with this one because it’s close to a subway station. The rent is a little higher than other places, but I think the location is worth it. Then also this one, because it’s also close to a bus stop and a grocery store. This one as well has convenient location, although it’s a little pricey,” Kyle said as he made a thoughtful face.

I followed his finger as he pointed out the options that he mentioned. After reading the description and looking at the photos of the options that he had preselected, I nodded my head in agreement. These do look like very sensible options.

“Let’s check them out together on Saturday. Thank you so much for doing all of this for me. I really do appreciate it,” I said before smiling sweetly at him.

“That’s not a problem at all,” Kyle said with a warm smile.

I had to acknowledge once again just how kind and caring Kyle was. We had just started dating and he was already doing so much to help me out. After that, we discussed plans for our Saturday. Then I told him that I would rather go home a little early today since I didn’t go home last night. Honestly, I was slightly worried about my mother, and I felt more than a little guilty. Kyle offered to cover for the food, but I refused.

“You don’t have to pay for it. I’ll pay for my share,” I offered.

“You’re my girlfriend now, and this is sort of like a date. So let me cover it,” Kyle countered with his own logic.

I felt a little uncomfortable, but in the end, I decided to let him take the bill. I can’t even begin to explain how lucky I felt that I had a boyfriend like Kyle, although our relationships just started, I felt like he was the right man for me. After paying, Kyle took my hand and led me to the front of the restaurant.

–To be continued...