Chapter 54: The Hints

Marco Fernando Jr. watched her expression, feeling her heart beat faster and her palms sweat. She was so beautiful, the brilliance of her brown eyes and white skin, wonderful.

Hershey's eyes darted to her desk, glancing at the papers there. Holding the stacks, she cleared her throat, "We should get started with our day."

Marco Junior nodded, "Yeah."

Hershey lifted the papers to her chest and strode toward the door. With that step, her hip bit the papers that were left behind and knocked them down. Whispering under her breath, she whispered, "Owww." Bending down to pick them up, the ones in her hands were also sent flying. She closed her eyes. That's what she got for not paying attention.

Marco Junior bent down to help her pick up the papers, a smile on his face. "How did you do that?"

Hershey glanced at him, her eyes meeting his bright green eyes. "It was just an accident."

He grinned, "Are you paying attention Chocolate?"

He watched the glow on her cheeks and then spread across her face in embarrassment. She rolled her eyes and sighed, "Whatever."

This made him laugh even louder, causing him to withdraw from his personal space. He sighed, "You're beautiful, you know that?"

She cleared her throat, "You always say that."

After a while, someone knocked on the door and they turned around. Hershey cleared her throat and began pulling the papers into a stack. Marco Junior helped her and within thirty seconds the papers were in a neat pile on her chest.

Another knock on the door, and Hershey went to it.

Tyler Gomez was on the other side, "I was wondering if you'd gotten in or not."

Hershey nodded, "Yep."

Tyler laughed, "Derek Marquez said he wants to come by and have lunch with you at three, if that's okay."

Hershey gave a tight smile, running a hand through her hair. "Thank you."

Marco Fernando Jr. raised an eyebrow at the speculation. Who is Derek? Hershey glanced at him, feeling awkward, a little shy.

Tyler Gomez narrowed his eyebrows. He could clearly see from her behavior that she had someone in the room with her. He opened the door fully, he entered the office. His eyes widened, "Do I know you?"

Marco Junior looked away from Hershey and smiled at Tyler.

Tyler sighed, "Oh brother Marc, I'd know that smile anywhere. When did you get here?"

Marc Junior shrugged, "About three days ago."

Tyler nodded and entered the room. He took Marc's hand in a firm shake, "Welcome back, man!"

Marc Junior sighed, "Thank you, it's just summer again."

Tyler raised an eyebrow. "Not for good?"

"No, I have something to take care of. Then I'm going back to Manila..then Shanghai."

Hershey felt her heart sink at this recognition, but then told herself that she shouldn't feel that way because she had Derek. He and Marco Fernando Jr. are in the past. Surely he wouldn't come back for her, no way.

Marc Junior looked back at Hershey, watching the expression on display. The look of confusion was obvious. He sighed and then turned to Hershey again, "So, how long have you been running this place?"

Hershey smiled at him, "Come on, I'll explain while I show you around."

Tyler looked back at Hershey. She held up her papers, "I have a lot of work to do, go ahead."

She looked back at Tyler with a smile and they left the room together.

Derek came to pick up Hershey around three o'clock as promised. When he knocked on her office door, she was sorting through the files in her cabinet to update the years. The last time she removed them was a year ago, taking files of children who graduated from the program.

Derek entered his office after answering, greeting her with a kiss.

Hershey smiled at him. "Ready to go?" Derek asked.

She looked into warm brown eyes. "Yes, I'll just get my wallet." He shook his head, placing a brown hand on top of hers, "Let me get it."

"No, I have the money, I can take care of myself." She stated, going to her desk drawer.

Derek stopped her. "Why don't you let me do it?"

Hershey sighed, she and Derek had been friends for almost a year, and he was forcing her to go out with him. He did it so subtly, that she, for the most part, was never annoyed. Glancing into those earnest brown eyes, she felt sympathy for the look of admiration in them. She was upset that she couldn't return her feelings. He's such a nice person it's unbelievable. She tells him no because she doesn't want him to think there's nothing between them but friendship.

He quickly returned this thought, by patting his hand and saying, "I understand we're just friends. I can handle that, Hershey. Just have lunch between friends, no expectations."

Hershey took a long, thoughtful breath. "Alright, Derek. Let's have lunch."

As they drove into the Boulevard Café & Restaurant, Derek pulled into the parking lot and opened his door, and got out of his 2021 Mini Cooper. He closed the door behind him when he arrived and met her at the front entrance of the restaurant. Derek held Hershey by the door as he entered the building. "Thank you," she politely replied.

Derek smiled, "You're welcome."

As they entered the lobby area, a greeter greeted them, "Table for two I presume?"

Derek nodded, "Yes, please." They followed the waitress as she led them to a section of the restaurant. When they sat down, Hershey looked at Derek with a sweet smile. "How are things at your work?"

Derek smiled, "Pretty good. Mags Global Corp is thinking about hiring me permanently." He said.

Hershey nodded, "that's great. Have you thought about whether you want to post graduate status?"

Derek sighed and looked down at his menu. "Yes, I think I will do my program online, that way it will make it easier for the students to study."

Another smile, and then, "Good. I heard that's the thing now, going to school online."

Hershey looked over while shrugging his shoulders. "Yes, any day is in the classroom."

Hershey's eyes landed on Derek's hair, dark curly brown hair, deep mahogany brown complexion, lightly trimmed mustache, and no beard. He remembered that she had deep-set brown almost opal eyes, and beautiful eyebrows that sometimes lined a gentle face. Derek thought he was really handsome. He was slightly slim, with a good build that was perfect for his five-foot eleven-inch frame. Sighing, she looked back at the menu.

"I didn't know you were here." The tone of Tyler's voice made Hershey look up from her choices. She looked up into bright black eyes, "Hey, what are you doing here?" He congratulated him.

Tyler laughed, "Well, Marc Junior and I decided to drop in for lunch. Fancy meeting you here." He stated, his eyes looking suspicious. Tyler has long since given up weight lifting but still holds onto a nice stack of muscle. He stared at her with broad shoulders and a slim waistline. His hair is growing, which he dreaded years ago. The long locks hang right over his shoulders, giving him the allure of a straight man. He walks straighter than he did in high school and has long since given up his boy persona for a man. He looked at every inch of the man, with his voice, clothes, and mannerisms. Because of the way his parents reacted to his fancy feminine mannerisms, he learned to tone it down a lot, not mixing his lifestyle with reality.

Hershey nodded, "Yeah, I know, right? We just came here, because it's one of our favorite places."

Tyler nodded, "favorite place huh?" He nodded knowingly.

Hershey laughed, "Not like that."

"She won't give me time... about a day," Derek stated, standing up. He shook hands with Tyler.

"Hey, Derek." Tyler greeted returning his handshake.

Derek smiled, "Did you get your table yet?" Derek asked.

Tyler shook his head. "Not yet, I'm waiting for Marc Junior to come out of the bathroom."

"Oh, is he a new prospect?" Derek asked with a suggestively different tone.

Tyler's eyes flicked to Hershey just to get her reaction. The glint in his eyes spoke of his anger at this sentence, even if it made him uncomfortable.

"I'm not gay." Came a deep tone, sending up red flags in Hershey's mind. Derek watched as a man named Marco Fernando Jr. approached them.

XXX