My door is always open

If I hadn't heard Pete yelling seconds before I opened the door, I wouldn't have believed that he was angry at all. He had a huge smile plastered over his face as he asked me how my morning went.

"Great!" I said, hoping he couldn't read my mind. No matter what he was yelling about on the phone, I didn't understand how he could totally just change his mood with a knock on his door. Was I dealing with a person suffering from Bipolar Disorder?

We talked for a while about everything that I had learned that morning. I felt a little on edge the whole time, even though I know whatever conversation he was having before I entered his office obviously wasn't about me. I still wondered if he was going to explode at any moment.

He didn't, though. After discussing a few work related things for a while, I felt like I had a good idea of what I'd be working on for the next few days. I was excited to get back to my cubicle and could sense the conversation dying down when Pete leaned forward on his desk with his hands clasped together.

"So, how are you liking Santa Monica?"

My heart skipped a beat. I swear, it was not because of his smile as he asked the question. I was caught off guard. I had been so work focused that I totally forgot people might be interested in me as a person.

"It's beautiful," I replied. "I hope I can get my work done with this view!"

He turned his head to look toward the window and I got another view of his beautiful profile. "Yeah, it's pretty nice, isn't it? We recently moved here. Our last office was a dump, but we've really grown since then."

"How long have you been with the company?" I asked.

Pete looked up and pressed his lips together. "Um," he began. "It's going to be five years soon, actually."

"Wow," I replied. "That's a call for celebration!"

He laughed. "Yeah, I'll have to plan a company outing. You'll get the first invite."

I smiled and tried to suppress the red that I felt rising to my cheeks. "Sounds good," I replied before changing the subject. "It's definitely an adjustment from New York, but I mean, who wouldn't want to live in California?"

Pete silently nodded. "Yeah, I went to college in Colorado. I got my fair share of the cold weather and while I love winter activities, like snowboarding, there's nothing like good ol' vitamin D."

I nodded and then an awkward silence fell over the room. I jumped at the opportunity to be the one to break it before Pete kicked me out of his office.

"Well, I have a lot of work to do," I said as I rose to my feet. "Thank you so much for all your insight. I'll be sure to let you know if I have any questions."

"Please do, Caroline," Pete replied as he intertwined his fingers and rested his hands behind his neck. "My door is always open."

I smiled, even though his tone left me questioning what that actually meant, before walking back to my cubicle.

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. I finished my work and had the rest of my week pretty much planned out. I got a chance to meet Shelby and we made arrangements to get lunch together the next day. I figured the only way I would make friends the first couple months of being here would be through work, so I hoped Shelby was at least a little bit normal.

As soon as I got home, I called Scott. He had texted me around 2 o'clock wishing me a good first day, but I didn't look at my phone all day. With my luck, the second I pulled out my phone, Pete would've shown up behind me.

"Babe, I miss you," I said as soon as Scott picked up the phone. I began unbuttoning my shirt as I walked over to my bed. I was really looking forward to laying on my bed and not moving for a few hours.

"I miss you, too," Scott replied. "How was your first day?"

I went on for about 20 minutes about all the tasks of the day. I only briefly mentioned Pete, but Scott asked what kind of boss I thought he'd be.

"He seems really nice," I honestly replied. "There was one weird thing." I told him about hearing him scream on the phone, which didn't fit in with his nice guy persona at all, but left out the semi weird vibes I got from the rest of our conversation.

"Eh, I'm sure the guy was just having a moment," Scott replied. "You don't know what he's dealing with in his personal life."

"True," I replied with a sigh. "I'm going to keep my guard up a bit, though."

"Good idea," Scott replied. "So," he began before pausing. "What are you wearing?"

I smiled as I looked up at my ceiling. Was Scott about to try to have phone sex with me?

"Well, a button down shirt but it's open. I'm just laying on my bed."

"Mmm, I wish I was there."

"Oh, really?" I playfully asked. "What would you do if you were?"

"I'd start unbuttoning your pants also and undress you until you were in only your underwear. Then I'd kiss your body all over."

Scott was never this verbal or articulate with sexy talk. I began wondering if he looked up some pointers on how to keep long distance relationships alive or something.

"I'd like that," I replied. The conversation continued and to my surprise, I actually got really into it. Scott definitely enjoyed himself, too.

It was nothing compared to the real thing, but I was starting to believe that Scott and I could definitely survive a long distance relationship if we had plenty of these long conversations.