Chapter 9 - A Salsa Dilemma
"How gullible do you think I am?" I asked Dennis the next day when I saw him at his workplace, trying my best to suppress my anger.
"I'm sorry Cadence, I didn't mean for it to happen. Something important came up─"
"And you didn't think to tell me? Instead of running off and letting your twin fill in for you?" I interrupted him.
"I'm really sorry Cadence, I mean it. I promise I won't let it happen again."
"Again?" I asked, to which he nodded his head. A mirthless laugh escaped my lips as I looked at him, shaking my head in disbelief. His face fell slightly before Elisa joined us.
"What's going on?" she asked, looking from me to Dennis.
"It's nothing," I said, turning to her and looking at her in the way I usually did when I wanted her to drop a topic. Thankfully, she got the idea and slowly nodded her head before backing away.
"You seriously think I'm going to go on another date with you? You must be out of your mind," I told him before turning and walking towards my table. I heard him call me several times but there was no way I was going back, I was not going to give him the chance to repeat his actions.
I slid into my seat once I reached my friends and drank my soda which had been diluted since the ice melted. Lexxie and Elisa exchanged looks before looking at me questionably.
"What happened with Dennis?" Lexxie asked, looking slightly worried. I stopped drinking and sat back in my seat before releasing a sigh.
"You don't need to worry about it," I told her, trying to sound convincing. But from the look she was giving me, I could tell that she wasn't buying it.
"Seriously Cady," she said.
"Can we just not talk about it?" I asked. She sighed as she continued to look at me. I looked everywhere but at her face as I tried to avoid it but it wasn't long before the sound of my phone ringing interrupted us. I reached into my bag and answered it, surprised to hear Nate's voice on the other side of the line.
"Cadence, I hope I'm not interrupting anything important. Do you mind returning to the office? I have another urgent project for you," he said. I smiled slightly, grateful for receiving an excuse to leave this awkward situation. However, I wasn't as grateful at the thought of having more work.
* * *
I stared blankly at the file which Nate had handed to me an hour ago, unable to get any work done. Thoughts of what had happened with Dennis stayed in my mind, causing my anger towards him to cloud my ability to do anything.
I was so deep in thought that I didn't notice someone had entered my office until I heard the sound of someone clearing their throat.
I looked up and was slightly surprised, but also embarrassed, to find Nate looking at me.
"Did you finish what I asked you to do?" he asked, taking a seat across from me. I looked away awkwardly and shook my head.
"I'm sorry."
"Cadence, is there something bothering you?" he asked. I looked at him questionably.
"Why do you ask?" I asked, looking away from him. He cleared his through slightly awkwardly before replying.
"I don't know much about you but you've been acting a little different. And I noticed that after, well, your date with Dennis and Dylan." As soon as I heard the name of the twins, my head snapped up.
"So you noticed the change?" He looked away as if he refused to answer.
"Nate-I mean Mr Wells," she corrected herself upon remembering where they were, "please answer my question." He appeared to be debating with himself as he sat in his seat, not looking at me; until her door opened to reveal Elisa with a bag in her hand.
Nate turned to face her and as soon as he did, her eyes and mouth widened in surprise.
"I'm so sorry, I didn't know the two of you were busy. I can come back later then," she began to say. But Nate shook his head and stood up.
"It's okay, we were just finishing up anyway," he told her before turning to face me.
"Please have the finished copy on my desk before you leave." Unable to say anything, I just nodded my head as I watched him leave before Elisa entered.
"Why were the two of you alone in your office when everyone else was at lunch?" My friend asked even before she took her seat. I rolled my eyes at her suggestive question.
"We were just talking about a project that he gave me," I replied nonchalantly. She sat down and placed the bag she had been holding on my desk, looking as if she didn't believe a single word I had just said.
"What's that?" I asked her instead, eyeing the bag before me. She pushed it towards me and smiled slightly.
"Dennis told me to give it to you. He said and I quote-'I'm sorry for the way I acted. I don't know how to make it up to you but I'll do that as soon as I figure it out. Until then, here's your lunch since I probably ruined your appetite'."
She looked at the food slightly angry when she heard that it was from Dennis. But her growling stomach reminded her that she hadn't gotten the chance to touch her food before she had returned to the office. And because of that, she couldn't reject it.
* * *
"There's a competition coming up and I think many of you would do really well in it─even our newbie Cadence," Ryan said at the beginning of our Salsa class later in the evening. I couldn't deny the fact that I was improving with each class and hearing Ryan's last words had done more than boost my ego.
I smiled to myself as I continued to listen to him.
"So the competition will be held downtown but I recommend that you stay at the hotel across the venue mostly because 1. You get a discount if you're a contestant and 2. Driving there on the day of the competition will be a pain. This competition is voluntary but I highly encourage all of you to attend because even if you don't do well, it'll be a fun experience."
I looked over at my friends just as they looked at me. Lexxie mouthed the words "are you doing it?" to me, to which I eagerly nodded my head. However, as soon as I stopped nodding, I realized that there was going to be a problem: I didn't have a partner.
As if he had read my mind, Ryan walked over to me and patted my shoulder.
"Everyone's partner is pretty much already decided but you get to choose between Nate and Dennis."
And although Ryan tried to make it seem as if I was lucky for having two choices, I knew that picking between the two would be a problem.
Because no matter whom I picked of the two, it was going to be awkward.
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