He intended to drown his lust in liquor so it wouldn’t be able to resurface too soon. Yes, it would resurface. Colin was never one to deny the inevitable. He just wanted to delay it.
Six
She was fully encased in her Princess Jihae armor as she waited for her elevator. She needed it more than ever as she headed to her meeting with Colin. It’d been a couple of weeks since they’d run in to each other at Pendulum, but she still felt raw and exposed when she thought of how she’d behaved.
Jihae had no excuse or explanation for her impulsive actions that night. She’d just done what she wanted to for once. She hadn’t cared about anything but being in his arms. Being pressed against him. And wanting to kiss him.
Remembering how Colin pulled away from her made her blush with mortification, but she also felt another, more troublesome emotion. Regret. Despite everything, she wished she’d kissed the hell out of him, and the ferocity of her desire scared her. She’d had a couple of discreet affairs before, but she had never felt the thrill she experienced with Colin.
Did she regret the partnership with CS Productions? No. The project was proceeding like a dream and her excitement grew every day. It was worth the physical and mental toll of denying her attraction to Colin. He’d asked her to come to his office, which probably meant he had a presentation ready for her. She was looking forward to the meeting.
But it would be a shame to be indoors on such a beautiful day. And...that was the strangest thought. When had she ever spent a workday enjoying the outdoors and the sun? The answer was never. Unless she was scouting a location, but she would be too focused on what she was doing to appreciate the experience. Wonky. She gave herself a mental shake.
After tasting a bit of fun, she craved it like an addiction. Well, enough of that. Today was going to be a day of air-conditioned offices, dimmed lights and PowerPoint presentations. But she was still excited to find out about prospective directors. She had a few ideas of her own, but Colin had the insider knowledge.
As she drove toward his office, she decided now was a great time to enjoy some sun and rolled down her top, uncaring about what the wind would to do her low chignon. Maybe she could wear her hair down today. Go bonkers. She laughed and let the breeze carry it away. What kind of life was she living when she couldn’t even choose her own hairstyle? But the sun was warm on her neck and arms, and the breeze was cool without being too cold. She didn’t feel like she was a prisoner in her own life at the moment. She felt free and vibrant.
Jihae briefly regretted her impulsivity when she parked at Colin’s office and checked her appearance in the rearview mirror. She had loose strands of hair framing her face and falling down her back, and her cheeks were as red as spring blossoms. Her princess armor had gone askew. She gave up trying to fix her hair and got out of her car. No one was going to notice a bit of windblown hair.
When she walked into the office, she was immediately greeted by an eager, fresh-faced young man. “Hello, Ms. Park. I’m Ethan. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you. And this is my colleague Kimberly.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” Kimberly said.
“I’m so glad to meet CS Productions’s team members. I think we’re going to have an amazing time working on this film together,” Jihae said, shaking their hands.
She was subtly scanning the open-plan work space and wondering where Colin could be when he strolled out of his office with a messenger bag strapped across his shoulders. He was in a casual button-down shirt, rolled up to his elbows, and a pair of khakis. He looked tanned and athletic. She, in her usual white dress suit and python heels, probably looked boring and anemic beside him.
“Come on, Jihae,” he said, leading her to the exit by a gentle hold on her elbow. “We have to go.”
“Where are we going?” she asked, waving hastily at Ethan and Kimberly. “I thought we were having a discussion about the potential directors.”
“We are,” he said, not bothering to elaborate. He was up to something, and she was dying to find out what it was.
She lengthened her strides to keep up with Colin as they left the office “Then where are we going?”
“To the zoo.”
“The zoo?” She skidded to a halt, a few feet from what she assumed was his car. “Whatever for?”
“I think better when I’m walking, and the zoo is a great place to walk. It’s never too crowded on weekdays and it’s quiet.”
Jihae’s heart flipped. Another adventure. She glanced at the easy grin on Colin’s face and felt her heart melt a little. Doing business didn’t mean you couldn’t have fun. She appreciated and admired his way of thinking and his easygoing manner. She could get used to working with him in this new way. Much too easily, in fact.
“Well, what if the lions roar and drown out our conversation?” she joked, her heart beating faster.
“Nah. California lions are way too chill to roar.” He walked a few steps to his car and held open the passenger door. “Besides, they’re too cool for school, so they stay inside their caves most of the time.”
She sat down and buckled her seat belt, and bounced the tiniest bit in her seat. She had actually been to a zoo in Korea when she was a child, but it was before the zoo was open to the public. It was just her, the zoo administrator and her tutor in the spacious animal park. The grounds had been shadowed in the early morning light, and the animals had seemed too sleepy to play.
Visiting a zoo in daylight with Colin by her side filled her with giddy anticipation. But, of course, this was still a business meeting and they had work to get done. She shouldn’t forget that or think that he was doing this for her benefit in any way.
“So how often do you go to the zoo to work?” she asked.
Colin shifted in his seat and coughed into his fist. “Not often enough.”
Hmm. Was he embarrassed about being a regular at the zoo? “Where else do you go to think?”
“Um...the museum,” he blurted. “The museum is another great place to walk and think.”
Jihae absolutely loved museums but she hadn’t had an opportunity to visit the ones in Los Angeles yet. “Oh, that sounds lovely. I’ve been wanting to go to LACMA and the Getty Center.”
“We could have our next meeting at the Getty Center.”
She nearly clapped her hands and cheered. But she held herself in check. “Perhaps.”
He shot a glance at her and smirked like he could see right through her. She turned up her nose at him and held her answering smile in check. They drove the rest of the way in comfortable silence with random observations here and there, but anticipation wound up her stomach.
The zoo looked like a wonderland in the glorious California sunshine, and Jihae felt her spirits rise even higher.