Alicia

Tired but happy, I trudged through my apartment lobby to the elevators, reliving each moment from tonight. Even my run-in with Zach wasn't enough to put a damper on the evening.

Slipping off my high heels, I slinked into the elevator in my stockinged feet and pressed back against the wall. The whole evening had been amazing, but it was our goodbye's in the car that was stuck on repeat in my head.

"Thanks again for tonight Colin. I haven't had that much fun in a long time."

"I don't think I've ever enjoyed myself as much at that event."

"What changed?" I asked, cocking my head. "You seemed pretty relaxed to me."

"You," he stated simply. "You made it different Alicia. It's like I'm a whole other person when you're around."

I blushed and looked down. If only he could see the effect he had on me. I've never felt so cared for and protected with another man until tonight.

A strand of my hair fell forward over my eyes. His hand reached out and tucked it behind my ear. The contact forced me to look at him. His gaze was so intense that my breath hitched. His eyes flickered to my lips, making me wonder if he was going to kiss me.

But instead of coming closer, he shifted away, averting his gaze to the windshield. "I'll see you Monday morning."

It was like the spell over the night had been broken. It was back to being co-workers who didn't hate each other.

The elevator pinged that it had reached my floor, pulling me back to the present. Deep down, I knew it was better this way. If Colin's reaction to when I shared my testimony was any indication, it was that he had no interest in God.

"But you would, wouldn't you? If it weren't for your faith?"

Liam's words continued to haunt me. I couldn't deny that I had feelings for Colin. But would I really be willing to sacrifice my faith just to be with him? I felt the answer was a resounding no but it bothered me all the same.

Unlocking the door, I shuffled in only to find the lights still on with Cameron scrolling on her phone at the kitchen island.

Seeing me enter, she put down the phone and gave me a once over. A sly smile formed. "Now there is someone who was definitely on a date."

I scoffed and moved into the living area to put my sore feet up. "I already told you it wasn't a date."

Cameron joined me, falling down onto the couch. "Uh huh," she said like she didn't believe me. "Did you kiss him?"

"Of course not," I said a little too quickly but at least it was honest.

"So are you guys like a thing now?"

I get up to go into the kitchen for a glass of water. "We can never be a thing Cameron. Not when he doesn't believe in God."

"Why does that matter?"

I looked at her incredulously. "Cam, my faith is everything to me. My whole identity. Imagine trying to be with someone who wanted nothing to do with plants."

"Okay, now you're just taking it too far."

I shot her a look. "You get the point. A relationship just simply would not work."

Cameron gave me the "I'm staring into your soul" look and I knew she was reading into everything I wasn't saying. "But you want it to work, don't you?"

Instead of answering her, I abandoned my glass of water and headed to my room. "It's late, I'm going to bed." Cameron looked wistful as I shut my bedroom door and for once I'm glad that she could read into my unsaid words.

+++

Going back into work, I was expecting another week of Colin avoiding me. We seemed to do that dance a lot. Get close then push away. So I was surprised to find in my work email that Colin had requested a meeting with me that morning. Hopefully not to fire me.

At the allotted time, I headed over to his office. I cleared my head of any misgivings what this meeting might entail. If he wanted to talk about Friday night, I could say confidently that I in no way acted inappropriately towards him.

I gave Sandy a nod in greeting and she just waved me in, a phone pressed against her ear.

Knocking firmly first, I strode in, not wanting Colin to think that I was afraid to be there. "You wanted to see me?"

I found Colin not working on his computer but fiddling with what looked like a piece of paper. At my entrance he stopped what he was doing and stood to his feet.

"Alicia, thanks for coming. Please have a seat."

I moved to sit in a chair at his desk but Colin headed for the couch instead. The hairs stood up on the back of my neck. This was apparently going to be more personal than business.

I joined him on the leather couch but made sure to leave plenty of space between us. I waited for him to explain what this meeting was about.

Instead of speaking, Colin rubbed his hands up and down his legs and looked anywhere but at me. If I didn't know any better, I would say Colin was nervous.

"I told my mother about you," he blurted out.

My body froze. What did that mean? "O-oh," I said because I wasn't sure what else I was supposed to say to such an outburst.

"She wanted me to invite you down when I go to visit her next."

Colin finally looked at me but my face must have shown my surprise because he leapt off the couch and paced the room back and forth.

"I made it very clear that we weren't dating, that we had only gone to the gala as friends. But she insisted that I invite you. Something about that she's never met any of my city friends."

I suppressed a smile at Colin's ramblings. It's a side I've never seen of him before and I found it quite endearing.

Still going on, I knew I needed to interrupt him. "Colin." He stopped pacing and looked at me. "Sit."

Stomping over, he flounced back down on the couch.

"Now, let me get this straight. Your mom wants to meet me?"

Colin gave a curt nod.

"And she knows that we're not an...item?"

Another nod.

On one front, I didn't see any harm in a visit to his mother. Colin had become a friend but with the undercurrent of attraction I felt towards him, it could also spell out disaster. "Can you give me a few days to think about it?"

Colin finally relaxed, leaning back into the couch. "That's fair. I just hated having to drop it on you like this."

I chuckled. "Your mom is obviously not someone to trifle with. I'll try and let you know in the next few days." I rose off the couch and headed back to my office before things got too close and personal. And wasn't Erica begging me to come down for a visit? I definitely had some praying to do tonight.

Just as I sat back down, my cell phone rang with an unfamiliar number. "Hello, this is Alicia Hannigan from Hope Digital."

"Alicia, this is Lincoln Faust from the Gadget Guys. We met at last Friday night's Tech Gala."

Recognition lit up my brain as I recalled talking with Mr. Faust about his company that specialized in high-tech gadgets. "Hi, Mr. Faust, I do remember. Though I must say I'm surprised by your call."

"I'll cut to the chase then. The Gadget Guys is in need of a major marketing revamp. I researched the work you've done with CyberSecurity and I'm impressed. Not to mention that Evans is a stickler of a businessman. If you're good enough for him, then you are for me."

"Th-thank you Mr. Faust," I stammered. "Would you like to schedule a meeting to talk further about Hope Digital's services?"

"That would be splendid. Would a lunch meeting today work for you? My assistant and I can meet you at a restaurant downtown."

"That sounds perfect," I said, unable to keep the giant grin off of my face.

+++

Colin

I was glad that was over. Once I knew Alicia was out of sight of my office, I sat forward and put my head into my hands. I never had to ask a girl to meet my mom before and it was not something I would want to do again.

For one, what was Alicia supposed to think about me inviting her back to our hometown? Our time at the gala together had been indescribable. But that night had fanned a spark into a small flame, only I wasn't sure if Alicia felt it too or not.

When my mom phoned me on Saturday for our weekly chat, it didn't take long for her to weasel out of me that Alicia had been my plus one.

"Why don't you bring her up with you next Saturday so I can meet her?"

"What? Mom, no, that would be awkward. She's just a friend."

"And friends meet each other's mom's. She can visit her family too while she's up here."

There was no use in arguing with my mom. So when Alicia said she would think about it, I almost groaned in relief. I was half-expecting her to laugh at me but mostly that she would be horrified that I would even ask such a thing. That I thought we were more than just friends or wanting to be. Did I want to be?

My intercom pinged from Mrs. Lee. I'd never been so glad to be interrupted. "Yes, Mrs. Lee?"

"I was wondering Mr. Evans, if you wanted me to go grab your coffee from the cafe around the corner?"

I had gotten into the bad habit of sending Mrs. Lee on coffee errands. The Keurig in the photocopy room just couldn't compete with an americano. "Yes, Mrs. Lee. Thank you. Just the usual." After the morning I just had, a good cup of coffee sounded like a god send.

The phone on my desk rang and I immediately picked it up. "Evans here."

"Mr. Evans, it's Rowan."

"Any new developments?"

"Negative. We've reviewed all the security footage, which isn't much. But so far nothing was out of the ordinary."

I grunted more out of annoyance than frustration. This wouldn't be a problem back at HQ where the security detail was top notch. But this was a second-rate office building and I had so little control over the security beyond the floor I rented.

"What about the cleaners?"

"We questioned them but they all said that they didn't touch your blinds."

I dragged a hand through my hair, trying not to lose my cool over the situation. I almost lost my company once, I wasn't going to allow it to happen again.

A shrill noise blared overhead. It was so loud I almost covered my ears.

"What's that?" Rowan asked.

"Fire alarm. Something's not right here Rowan."

"I'm in the vicinity. I can be there in five. In the meantime, exit the building with everyone else."

"No," I said. "It's obviously a ploy to get me to leave my office."

"And there's a chance it might not be," Rowan countered. "Not to mention that we don't know who we're dealing with. They could be dangerous."

"I'm not leaving Rowan. I'm tired of playing these cat and mouse games. I want to see once and for all who we're dealing with."

"Your safety is my number one priority, sir," Rowan growled.

"No, my company is your number one priority. Just get up here as fast as you can." I slammed the phone down before he could argue any further. The fire alarm continued to shriek throughout the floor. I left my office to do a quick sweep to make sure everyone had left and that no one was hiding, waiting for my office to be left unattended.

When everything looked clear, I went to wait back at my office for Rowan to arrive. My eyes jumped from each cubicle, trying to guess who would go to such lengths to gain access to CyberSecure's Intel. I assumed it was one of the employees, for who else could get into the building without raising suspicion? But what if I was wrong and it was somebody from the outside?

Movement caught my eye, so I leaned over to try and see around the boardroom towards the door to the stairwell. The fire alarm still hadn't ceased, making it hard to hear any other sounds. Was there someone? Or was it just my imagination?

A part of me itched to go and find out but Rowan's words of caution made me hesitate. There! The door slowly opened and a figure in a black hoodie and sunglasses began to slip into the room. Before they were even fully in, they spotted me and with a soft gasp, quickly exited.

It all happened so fast, I was dumbfounded. My adrenalin finally kicked in and I found myself chasing after the hooded figure. Banging into the stairwell, I leaned over the railing, hoping to catch a glimpse of the intruder. Snippets came into view as they darted down but not enough to identify them. The only thing I could see was that the profile looked feminine.

I raced down after them. I knew I probably wouldn't be able to catch them but Rowan might be able to corner them. It felt like ages but I reached the ground floor and sprung out into the lobby. Surprisingly, all was quiet. I zipped my head around, searching for any clues as to where they could have gone. But I saw and heard nothing. Where could they have gone?

A crowd of people stood outside on the sidewalk surrounding the building. They were probably waiting for the firefighters to arrive to give the all clear so they could go back in. I thought to check in with my employees, maybe someone saw something. Someone running out of a building in disguise would definitely raise suspicion.

Walking out into the summer heat, I found the office employees all huddled together, talking amongst themselves. As I came closer, I didn't see Alicia's pink blouse.

"Has anyone seen Alicia?"

Amir piped up. "She left before the fire alarm went off. Something about a lunch meeting."

My heart dropped into my stomach. It couldn't have been Alicia up there. She wouldn't do something like this, would she? I checked off all the employees in the vicinity. Amir, Sandy, Trevor and several others. "And what about Casey?"

"She called in sick," Sandy said.

I relaxed but only slightly. The fact was, Alicia was now a suspect. Not the only one but a suspect nonetheless.