Denver
Olivia glanced down at her phone once more as she tapped her foot, waiting for the cab to pull up. She’d landed about forty minutes ago, collected her bags, and managed to corral Devon and Farrah to meet her at the arrivals curb in time for their designated pickup, except there was no cab in sight. The flight had been bumpy and she had been sandwiched between two rather unfriendly passengers, both of whom took turns falling asleep on her shoulders. The last thing she wanted to be doing right now was wait around for some cabbie to get her. All she really wanted was a shower and a stiff drink, the order of which was negotiable.
“Thank God for technology. I hate flying,” Devon grumbled and cracked his neck while playing with his phone. He had been whining off and on since they’d met at the gate in LaGuardia, and Olivia’s patience with him had run out about an hour ago.
Farrah stood behind him, brushing lint off his shoulders before fixing her hair in the window of the terminal behind them. “Hey, Liv? Are we meeting everyone at the hotel or…?
“Yeah, when the cab finally gets here, we’ll check in and meet briefly to discuss the schedule for the next few days.” She looked at the clock on her phone again but she just got more annoyed when she saw the time. She really should stop doing that.
Just as Olivia was about to blow her stack, a large black SUV with tinted windows pulled up and out of the passenger side popped Savannah with a large smile on her face.
“Welcome to Denver.”
Olivia let out a heavy sigh, her shoulders relaxing a bit at the sight of Savannah. She’d been looking forward to seeing her again. She’d had this nervous energy buzzing through her for the whole flight. She shouldn’t have been surprised that she felt much calmer now that Savannah was here. She knew damn well that part of that nervousness was about seeing Savannah in person after their recent text exchange. “I thought there was a cab picking us up.”
“Why? Are you disappointed?” Savannah teased her as she helped Farrah lift her suitcase into the back hatch. The driver emerged and began helping Devon with his bags on the other side of the vehicle.
“No, no, not at all. I’m sort of relieved.” Olivia placed her own luggage in the back. “My only cab experiences are on the mean Manhattan streets, so I wasn’t sure what to expect.”
“Well, I figured you guys would be tired and I heard the weather wasn’t ideal on the flight out, so I commandeered the hotel’s shuttle and Ernesto here.” Savannah nodded toward the driver. “Ernesto seems to know all the best restaurants in town.”
As Olivia settled into the back seat of the van, she let her mind wander. Over the past few weeks, she and Savannah had communicated daily via email or phone. Sometime along the way they had swapped numbers and begun texting outside of work. At first it was just about work details, things they had forgotten to include in interoffice memos or little notes on some design features that Olivia had late-night inspiration about.
The conversations were harmless and innocent, until the last few days, when their texts had more to do with seeing each other again than about work. Olivia had started things three days ago, sort of unintentionally. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. She’d had a feeling that maybe Savannah was flirting with her at the bar that last night before she’d left town, something about the way she was looking at her. There wasn’t anything in particular, but something just told her that maybe her immediate attraction to Savannah was reciprocated. She’d thought about this a lot. So when it came time to pack, she figured there wasn’t any harm in asking Savannah what she should wear. No harm there, right? hey, what’s the weather like there? what do I pack for clothes?
Olivia didn’t think it was too odd a question, although she was aware she could just look it up on her weather app. This was more of a…conversation starter of sorts. You know, get Savannah thinking about what she might be wearing.
There was a pause before Savannah answered. It’s warm, dry. Pack sunglasses, it’s bright here
She added some specificity for round two. so like, skirts or pants?
Savannah’s reply came fast. She had her attention. This was good. oh definitely skirt weather, pants for cooler evenings. altho I can see if formal gowns are necessary…
It took exactly three seconds for Olivia to type a reply. formal gowns? R we attending something fancy?
Savannah replied: well, I expect a certain standard of dress when in my presence
Well then, that was something. She could practically hear those words coming out of Savannah’s mouth in that husky voice which made her feel all sorts of things. She hesitated for a moment, writing and deleting her text before settling on something playful as a response. She added the winky face for good measure. oh i c. someone should tell Randal that. Ok, i will make sure to up my packing game ;)
Savannah texted back: I’m excited to see the final selections.
Suddenly, Olivia was much more excited about this Denver trip. So much so, that the following morning, with a little too much caffeine and some downtime, she texted Savannah again. Just to see if yesterday was a fluke. ok, so i think im all packed. what’s the coffee like there? should i pack some?
The response was immediate. it’s good. i will make sure they have 1% milk at the ready
Olivia jumped right in for the full flirt. oh, u remember how i like my coffee? that’s sweet. :)
There was a pause and Olivia wondered if maybe she’d crossed a line. The ellipses bubble hovered next to Savannah’s name, until: do u remember how i take mine?
Booyah. That was definitely a flirt back. Of course she remembered how Savannah liked her coffee. She’d spent the better part of a week staring at Savannah’s mouth the whole time they had their morning meetings. She could probably pick her lipstick color out of a lineup without any trouble as well.
Olivia: skim milk, one splenda ;)
Savannah: u got it. :) hurry up and get here, we have work to do.
She remembered smiling the rest of the day, feeling victorious. But she knew her victory would be short-lived. Their relationship needed to stay light and playful. The flirting couldn’t go anywhere. And as she looked up to catch Savannah smiling at her in the rearview from the front seat of the SUV, she reminded herself that she would not flirt with her client’s liaison, she would not stare at her lips when she talked, and she most definitely wouldn’t start falling for her.
* * *
The ride from the airport to the hotel was quick. Ernesto pointed out interesting sights along the way and told them little facts about the Mile High City and about fun hiking trails near the hotel. Savannah watched Olivia and Farrah in the rearview from the passenger seat of the SUV. Farrah was nodding and smiling at all the information, occasionally leaning back and saying something to Devon, who had put in an earbud and was zoning out. Olivia was reclined in the seat, her sunglasses pushed up onto her head, loose dark curls hanging freely, each curl more perfect than the last—soft looking and gorgeous. Her eyes were directed toward the mountain view as they drove along, occasionally flicking toward Farrah from time to time.
Savannah found herself staring. She averted her eyes and slipped on her shades when she caught Olivia glancing up and smiling at her in the mirror. Olivia had the most beautiful smile; she had small dimples and perfect teeth with full lips. Savannah let the near-black lenses of her sunglasses hide her appreciative gaze. She was surprised when they finally pulled up to the hotel, not realizing that she had spent the better part of the ride entranced.
Savannah waited in the lobby while Olivia and the rest of her team checked in to their respective rooms. It was late in the day and the construction workers had gone home, but when they arrived at the design space, Randal and Daniel still had on their hard hats and were poring over some graph paper with a calculator. Reagan was firing crumpled paper basketballs into the waste bin and posing with every successful completion.
“Liv! Thank God you guys are finally here.” Reagan swept an arm across her forehead dramatically. “These guys have been boring me to death.”
She jerked her thumb toward Randal and Daniel, rolling her eyes when they grunted in response. She sidled up to Olivia and hooked her arm. “Anyway. How was your flight, girl?”
“Bumpy. And cramped. But we made it.” Olivia adjusted the bag on her shoulder as she glanced around the skeleton of the room. “How’s it been here?”
Randal cleared his throat. “It’s good, Liv, everything looks good. They’ll put up the dividing wall over there, tomorrow. And they’re taking orders for fabrics and plants tomorrow, too, so they’ll be here by the end of the week.”
Daniel nodded and adjusted his hard hat. “Yeah, everything looks totally manageable. The crew here is really good.”
Savannah stepped forward, pulling out a rolled-up blueprint and draping it across the nearest drafting table. “This is the outline the guys and Reagan have come up with for the construction schedule. We’re hoping that Devon and Farrah can look at some samples in the morning and have some firmed-up plans by the early afternoon.”
Savannah watched as Olivia slipped her arm out of Reagan’s and walked toward the drafting table. She placed her bag on the floor and appraised the print as Reagan and Devon began playing an aggressive one-on-one paper basketball game nearby. Savannah’s gaze followed Olivia’s fingers as she outlined the dividing wall and walked her fingertips along the layout for the wall of glass that would be controlled by the computer system to adjust its tint and the scene viewed on it. When Olivia paused at the dotted lines at the edge of the room and looked up at her, Savannah had to remind herself that she was there to work, not ogle.
Savannah stepped forward and pointed to the far corner of the space. “This is where the water feature will go. It will require less plumbing here and it will help separate the zones of the room.”
Olivia nodded and leaned closer to the print once more to examine the details. Out of the corner of her eye, Savannah saw Reagan make a crazy jump shot toward the trash and careen into Olivia, sprawling her forward toward the table. Savannah barely got her hands on Olivia’s waist in time to prevent her from face-planting on the blueprints.
Olivia looked a little stunned, her hands settling on Savannah’s still wrapped around her waist. She took a breath and stepped toward Reagan with her fist raised. “Seriously, Reagan? What are you, five?”
Reagan spun on her heel, waiting to see if she made the shot before checking to see if Olivia was okay. “You good, Liv? Did you see that shot?”
Savannah loosened her grip on Olivia, but kept her hand at Olivia’s lower back surveying her cautiously before shooting a glare at Reagan. It seemed as though Reagan was going to be more than a handful.
She cleared her throat and pulled her hand away as Devon and Reagan resumed their game, oblivious to the annoyed mutterings of their team leader. Savannah distanced herself from Olivia in that moment. She used a conference call with a vendor as an excuse to be noncommittal when they invited her to dinner. It was better this way. Although she might have entertained a little flirtation with Olivia over the past few weeks, actually touching her sparked a different reaction in Savannah. She enjoyed the feeling of Olivia in her arms far too much even though it was brief and arguably protective in nature. She wasn’t even going to delve into the momentary flames she saw when Reagan was so flippant with Olivia’s safety. That was an introspection for another day. It was decided. Touching Olivia was something else entirely, and Savannah needed to keep her hands and mind in check.