Nicky panicked when she happened to glance at her wristwatch. She gave a loud wail of despair startling her immediate colleagues around her.
"What's wrong?" one of them asked in deep concern.
"I'm late!" she wailed again, picked up her handbag and rushed off like a speeding bullet.
"That's so typical of our Nicky," another colleague commented good-naturedly.
"Watch out for traffics!" Yet another one shouted laughingly after her.
She overspent her time counseling Alanna, the girl she tried to rescue last evening but she didn't mind it at all; every minute was worth it. At least she knew Alanna didn't want to do what she was forced to do and had promised to call Nicky should her good for nothing pimp of a boyfriend ever looked up for her again. Then she had taken too long to prepare Alanna's report, which resulted in almost forgetting her mission, to
harass
Eric so she could persuade him to come to the clinic adjacent to the agency for treatment.
She wondered what Eric's reaction be when he found her at his work place today when clearly it was not their appointed day. She would probably be snubbed or at worst - get an earful from him, but what the heck? It would definitely make a good excuse for her to thank him
again
for saving her life. Yes, she knew she was being unscrupulous but she wouldn't let such an opportunity slip by. Any chance of an excuse just to see him and get him to come down to the agency she would try it.
Her mind drifted back to last evening incident where Eric had acted like a madman pounding away on the burly youth when she was being attacked. Eric had even offered to tend to her wound. She was amazed at how gentle his administration was despite his disability and that proved her suspicion; his disability was more of a psychological issue than a physical one. She absent-mindedly slid her tongue over the still bruised spot on her lower lip and flinched slightly at the smarting pain.
She was so deep in thoughts that she didn't notice someone was directly in her path and walked right smack into them. The impact was so strong she almost lost her footing. Had the person not reached out to grab hold of her; she would've tumbled to the ground.
A bit dazed but otherwise unhurt, she immediately offered an apology without even looking at the person's face, "Oops! I'm so sorry," and turned her face to look up at the pedestrian. Whom she saw took her breath away. It was Eric himself, larger than life standing there right in front of her. She was so stunned all she did was stand there with her eyes wide and mouth agape.
"Trying to mow me down again?"
Did her ears deceive her or did Eric just try to tease her?
"Cat caught your tongue?" There it was again. Even though his face showed no emotions, there was definitely that subtle teasing note in his voice.
Finally she managed to collect her wit and countered, "No, of course not. I didn't notice you're in my path!"
Eric was dressed in his usual daily clothes; simple white t-shirt, faded jeans, windbreaker and gloves but everything about him spelled clean and fresh. His hair was shorter and gleaming and tied back in a ponytail. He no longer sported a bushy, scraggly beard and moustache. Both were decently trimmed and cropped close to his face although not without some nicks here and there. She could even make out his lips now. The change was astounding and she couldn't stop herself from staring.
"Didn't your mother teach you not to stare so blatantly?" Gone was the light teasing tone earlier. Instead there was irritation in his voice now.
"I'm not staring!" She sputtered guiltily.
"Oh, come on, don't deny it. So does my overall appearance pass your inspection or do you need to put me under the microscope?" Eric snapped sharply at her clearly getting agitated now.
"Ok, ok, I'm sorry. Maybe I did stare...just a little but you surprise me," she admittedly sheepishly.
"Yeah, I surprise myself, too," he snorted in sarcasm. He was about to berate her some more but his heart softened when he saw her embarrassment. "Look, can we find a place to talk? It's about my counseling program," he continued in a more cordial tone now. He wondered briefly why on earth he had to put himself through this ordeal again but since he was already here he might as well get it over with.
Nicky thought she had just hit the million-dollar jackpot and her face immediately brightened up. She almost wanted to jump up in joy. For the past three months she had almost exhausted her energy in trying to get Eric down to the agency to no avail but today he had turned up so unexpectedly and even wanted to discuss about his counseling! Who would have thought of that?
She didn't want to question him why the sudden change of heart but she suspected it had to do with last night's little episode. The punch was really worth it after all.
She could hardly contain her excitement and bubbled enthusiastically, "Yes sure! Come on in to the agency."
As Nicky scrambled that few short steps up the door leading into the agency, Eric had a good look at her back view. Today she was wearing a white cotton sleeveless blouse that was tucked neatly in a pair of red silk pants (He noticed she like red a lot. Very unconventional color for social workers) and he could just make out the outline of her bra. The back of her forearms looked silkily smooth and tapered down to nice slender wrists. Then there was her small waist, which flared down to a pair of delicious globes that hugged her pants and jiggled seductively whenever she moved.
I bet they feel as firm as they look!
His hands itched and wanted so much to reach out to squeeze them. Suddenly he realized his lewd intention and snapped out of it. He felt absolutely appalled with himself for behaving like a lecherous bastard and quickly turned his attention to the back of her head instead.
They went through the main door and Eric found himself in a well lit, cool and comfortable reception area quite unlike what he had pictured in mind–noisy, stifling, cramp and full of unfortunate souls like the vagrants, unwed pregnant girls/women, drunks, druggies or some disabled sitting around waiting for help. Surprisingly, they were the only ones in the reception area. Well, possibly the lack of clients was due to late afternoon heat, and most probably everyone was having a siesta except him. He was being stupid for braving the heat to come down here like a lamb to be slaughtered. He was beginning to wonder if he might have developed some kind of madness disease.
They approached the reception counter where a cute, plump blonde was seated. Upon seeing them, she flashed Nicky a toothy smile, and then eyed Eric curiously as her gaze ran appreciatively up and down his length.
"Back so soon?" The receptionist asked in a too saccharin sweet voice, her eyes never leaving Eric. Earlier she had seen Nicky rushing past her in haste but within fifteen minutes she was back and with a tall, though a bit lean guy. Still, Eric was quite fetching with his ponytail and beard. It made him devilishly, darkly handsome.
Nicky did not reply to her question but inquired if there was any meeting room available instead.
"Room B is still available," said the plump blonde after giving the pad in front of her a quick glance.
Nicky thanked her and gestured Eric to follow again. They walked along the corridor with glass paneling where one could observe the ongoing activities of the other social workers busy at work. On the other side were doors upon closed doors. It looked like Room B was situated far down at the end, as their walk seemed endless.
Eric could feel panic rising up inside of him. He felt as though he was walking to his doom and each step he took seemed to get heavier by the second. He had the urge to turn around and run the hell out of there. Before he could put his thoughts into motion, they came to a halt in front of a brown door with the sign 'Room B' etched on it. Nicky grabbed the knob, turned it and pushed it open before stepping aside to let him in. He had to twist his body sideway to enter the room in order not to knock into her. He was getting even more nervous now. To curb his skittishness, he concentrated on surveying the surroundings instead.
The room was simply furnished with the usual office chairs and a long table. A white board hung at the far end of one wall while some low cabinets stood at another side but what caught his attention were the numerous pictures that were pasted on the walls. For a moment he forgot his fear as the pictures captivated him. The pictures consisted of children, teenagers and adults in all shapes and sizes smiling happily with the staff of the agency. However he noticed Nicky was in almost every picture.
"They were our former clients benefiting through our various programs," she announced proudly to him.
Eric turned back to look at her. It was obvious she took pride in her job. The look on her face told it all – she was beaming.
Nicky could see he was very uptight and tense, and shifted his hands into his windbreaker's pocket.
