——     ▸▸ her smile seemed to fade slightly as he spoke. did he know how he came off sometimes ? probably not. that was just him on any given day. usually she would shrug it off . . but maybe it was because she showed no signs of slowing down on the alcohol . . but his words were actually chipping away at her. ❝ yeah . . it’s stupidly lame. i mean i think you’re right . . no one really these days would do something like that . . ❞ she felt silly . . how was she to explain her thoughts now, knowing just how he felt about them. would he think her lame for finding small things like that . . endearing ? ❝ you have to admit . . it’s something else watching them not care how the look to others. ❞ coming from a girl in a see through lace dress where most of her skin was exposed. whatever confidence she did have was seemingly destroyed unknowingly by diego. his nudge seemed to snap her from her thoughts as she lightly nudged him back with a breath. ❝ start looking here . . in this room for someone to talk to ? if i didn’t know any better i would think you were trying to get rid of me. ❞ reluctantly she glanced around, most people had someone . . or seemed to have a good time conversing with others and she was just . . in her own way. she was stuck on someone that didn’t know she existed outside of a partnership . . a work partnership. maybe she needed to just give it up. they’d known one another for years . . worked together for years, spent hours together and he just, didn’t see it. at this point he never would and it was just a fact that she’d have to accept. ❝ thanks D . . you look good as well, in your own way. ❞ slipping her fingers through her hair, she waited on some answer from him. however, when she got it . . she surprisingly felt no better. ❝ no . . nothing um . . no reason . . don’t worry, i’m not going to force you into a dance or anything . . ❞ she feigned a smile before looking down at her toes. ❝ two left feet . . ❞ she mentioned. times like this she wished she were more like patch . . straight forward and confident. sure, she had those qualities in her own way when it came to work . . but with guys . . with diego, she clearly didn’t hold a candle next to a woman like her. ❝ it’s okay . . you’re a focused guy and it’s hard to see anything else besides that one goal . . i’ve seen you like this for years. but maybe take your own advice and go talk to someone . . talk about normal things like the crappy weather here . . or things you like to do ? ❞
diego only laughed more. matching...what a thought. either way he gave her a grin, happy to see her agree with him about the whole thing. it was not anything he’d be caught dead doing. not since he was a child at least and he had a dress code for his own home. but that was the past and god did he hate it. “yeah i mean, to not care what people think is one thing but i do that and im not matching with someone now, am i? you constantly tell me that i look ridiculous, it’s not going to make me wear jeans and a sweater though.” diego pulled at the black outfit he wore. he knew it looked ridiculous, but he didn’t wear it to impress, it was a style all on comfort and being able to move with it when he fought. and it was the final touch of a never ending rebellion to the man who always dressed him like a fool. “i’d never try to get rid of you nancy. you’re good to me, i need you around.” nancy had always been the more spontaneous between the two, but now it was less of that and more of a confusing toss and turn of things she seemed to want until he’d respond. someone more obvious would have taken note and not said what they were thinking but diego didn’t even see harn in what he was saying. first she wanted to dace and at the drop of a hat is all seemed metaphorical to her. he shifted from his leaning position, suddenly that alcohol rushed a bit too his head but it was nearly just the beginning of a good buzz. “look, if you really want to dance, i will. like you said, no work...so im kind of stuck in this place with nothing better to do, right?” diego shrugged and rose a brow. now she wanted him to go and find himself a date? diego wasn’t great with reading people, but he always thought he knew nancy...only lately he was starting to think he couldn’t get her at all. not with how strange she’d been recently. “im not here to date, nancy...one night off work. that was the deal, remember? im not going to go around and pretend like i want to date anyone here.”Â
