Chocolate Girls with Golden Hair Read Free Page B

the red tulips, chocolates, desserts, and even books,
she couldn't help but wonder what significance a clock held. Then
again, maybe it wasn't supposed to mean anything. What mattered
most was that Lee had mastered the ability to make her feel so
special.
    Bianca lifted the clock from the box
and set it on the table. Not only was it a special gift, but it was
her favorite color─red. And that made it even more
special.
    "There's something else," he
said.
    Bianca gazed inside the gift box and
underneath the red and white designer papers was an immaculate
red-faced watch with a black leather band.
    Bianca's eyes lit up with joy. "This is
gorgeous."
    "I know you don't wear a lot of
jewelry, but this is special."
    "And what makes it so
special?"
    "Because it's from me to
you."
    She didn't quite know what to say
because it was such a unique collection of gifts, a clock and a
watch. There was obviously some type of symbolic meaning behind it,
no matter how subtle.
    "Is this watch supposed to mean
anything?" she asked him.
    "Not really, just a gift from one
friend to another."
    She was no dummy. There was much more
to that watch than Lee led on to believe, and though she couldn't
quite figure it out that day, eventually it would all come
out.
    Bianca studied the watch, not certain
whether to accept it or not. "It's just a friendship gift, right?
It doesn't mean anything other than that?"
    "Nothing else," he said.
    "Well in that case, thank you." She
leaned across the table and kissed him on the lips. Though it only
lasted a second, it was the first time she ever shared a kiss with
him on that intimate scale.
    She found herself flirting with the
idea of someday possibly being more than just friends with Lee, but
she and Lee shared a dynamic friendship. And she didn't want to
change a thing. So many other things had changed in her life, and
what she valued and needed most was consistency, which would soon
end if they moved in a more intimate direction.
    Bianca always lacked the tolerance for
intimate relationships, which explained why none of her previous
relationships lasted longer than a few months. At the first sign of
trouble or imperfection, she would bail out, and she didn't ever
want that to happen with her and Lee.
    They would be friends
forever.
     
     
    The engraved wall read: Whitley &
Austin.
    Bianca stepped off the elevator on the
forty-fourth floor of the office building where she worked and
strutted past the reception area and down the corridor. Past
several secretarial workstations, she made her way to the walk-in
closet and removed her coat. She wore a black and red polk-a-dot
dress, which stretched down past her knees over her dark tights.
She favored dark colors, especially red and polk-a-dots, any shade
of red and any style of polk-a-dots. Her black hair was neatly
pulled back into a bun, and not a trace of makeup could be spotted
on her narrow face. Wearing flat shoes and black tights, she knew
she was plain looking, but it was by choice. Who would be
interested in her anyway?
    When Bianca reached her desk, the
silence and lack of motion indicated that she was one of the first
few to arrive that morning. She enjoyed arriving early, and getting
a jump-start on any work her boss, Lillian, may have left for
her.
    Most of the secretaries in her group
worked for two attorneys, but since Bianca's other attorney left
the firm, she was one of the few secretaries with only one
assignment. Her boss was one of the most well liked attorneys at
the office. Not only was Lillian independent and did most of her
own work, but she was lenient and extremely appreciative, making
her more like an acquaintance than a boss.
    Twenty minutes passed and the office
was transformed as Bianca's coworkers filed in one by one. While
Bianca capitalized on her idle time by organizing her desk,
Michelle Moore, a fellow secretary, approached her desk. She was a
tad taller than Bianca, with the same slim body frame, and the same
dark chocolate