I needed to explain things to Keziah. My mind kept bugging me and putting me at a discomfort, I just needed to clear the air. I couldn't her having another questionable impression of me, my reputation mattered to me and it was at stake.
I took another sip of my cup of coffee waiting for Keziah to step out of her room.
'I tell you, Anne, by the time I come back to Charlotte, I won't be able to fit most of my pants. Yes, it's my butt.'

I inhaled at the wrong time sending my coffee down the wrong and sending me into a coughing fit.
I set my cup aside and grabbed a paper towel from the island wiping the coffee from my lips. Keziah ignorantly continued in her conversation. She was dressed in an Ann Taylor Blazer and a matching pencil skirt that hugged her butt- figure nicely.
My eyes followed her progress to down the stairs to the car. They both looked expectantly at me standing at the door. It took me a minute to realize that  I cursed myself after I realized I'd been staring.

After her phone call with Anne, Keziah kept her earpieces making it obvious that she was trying to avoid speaking to me.
And because I've constantly preached about professionalism, I didn't t dare bring the topic up at the offices during work hours, it would make me a hypocrite.
So at the lunch break, I decided to give it a try.

'Ms. Mills, wait.' I called her before she left the room.
'We need to talk.'

'About last night?'

I couldn't remember the last time I'd felt so hot in the face, I could feel the tip of my ears burning up.

'There's nothing to talk about. You are a grown adult and you are entitled to do whatever... whoever you want.'
She sounded so rational, irritatingly so.

'You're not wrong, but you're not right either that's why we need to talk.

Everybody seemed to be having this horrible timing thing on lock because Hae walked in.
'Oppa, do you want to grab lunch?' She asked in her excellent English.
She looked surprised to see Keziah too.
'Oh, Ms.Mills, I didn't see you there. You can join too if you want.'

Keziah looked at me and then back to Hae, 'I'll just grab something with Eun Soon.' Keziah waved and left leaving our conversation unfinished.

'I'm sorry Hae, I'll be having lunch with Eun Soon and Kay... Miss Mills. So I'll kindly decline your invitation.'
I made my exit without waiting for her response.

My phone buzzed in my hand bringing my attention from Keziah and Eun gleefully chattering at the elevator doors to the screen.
My blood ran cold and my eyes automatically go to Keziah.
It would be better if Keziah and Eun ate alone, I'd suddenly lost my appetite.
I found my hand caught in Hae's hold as she dragged towards the opening doors.
'Hold on, Oppa and I are joining you two.'

I tactfully pulled my hand away from hers.
'I'd prefer if we acted accordingly in a business setting, understand Ms. Young?'
She at least had the decency to be ashamed at my light admonishing. And Keziah saw the whole thing. The slight glimmer of a smile in her eyes made me feel so proud of what I'd done.
My chest was puffed as I got into the elevator; it took a lot of effort to keep me from smiling.
Keziah's hand smoothed along her hips.
The way I saw it, her butt wasn't growing, it looked the same to me. The skirt didn't look too tight it was the right fit. Gave it the right firm look it needed without making it look sexy as hell. Not that she wasn't sexy. Keziah still managed to look good in anything. She could be wearing a sack and her curves would still stand out.
Maybe I wasn't seeing the growth of her buttocks because she was in a skirt. If she was wearing a pair of pants or jeans maybe I'd get a better look.
Then I proceeded to imagine her bottom sculpted in denim pants and shorts.

'Have you changed your mind about lunch with us, Oppa?' Eun asked holding the elevator from me.
Dammit, it had happened again. I had to make a conciliatory effort to keep my eyes above Keziah's waistline. Naturally, my eyes landed on her breasts.
So I came to the conclusion that I needed to just not go for lunch until I got my wayward brain in check.
'I remembered I left something in the office. I'll join you later.'

'Okay. We're going to Ra Yu's down the street.' Eun said as the doors closed. I repeatedly pressed the button to the fourth floor where our office was. Come on man, she's taken, she hates you and she's taken.
I sat in my chair and spoke to myself until my brain got a clear picture of the damn message I was trying to send.
'We do not go after other people's women. We do not mix business with pleasure.' Lines I promised never to blur but had done so once or twice before. And one of those incidents involved Keziah, in a dark room, with loud music and a stolen kiss.
I scrubbed my face with hands trying to forget the memory because it was only making matters worse in my head.
Why was I worrying? She saw me as her enemy and so long as she was being clipped towards me, I had nothing to worry about. A friendship between us was as likely as... as likely as.. well something that was unlikely.

I felt better about that.
'Now, David, you already know her eyes are up there in her head.' The last conversation took all of my lunch hours until my brain figured it out.
Their voices could be heard from the office when they stepped out of the elevator just in time because he was better now.
Keziah laughed at something someone must have said. She walked into the room with Eun,
'Spicy my a-s-s.'
That spelled ass! Gosh, I felt sixteen all over again.

                              ************

'They are all looking at me as if I'm going to bite.' Keziah mumbled to Eun's hearing but I heard it.
She wasn't far off, the older Korean women avoided coming up to her and talking to her about the event.
We stood at a public street sharing and handing out fliers announcing the upcoming affair. Keziah and I had volunteered the team to spread the word this way since it put out in direct contact with the people whose community we were trying to help. Our entire team was spread out, standing at different points of the neighborhood. This was all Keziah's idea and it was a brilliant one. Yet, so far she seemed to be having a hard time handing out her fliers because a total of three people had spoken to Keziah and they had all been men who were unabashedly attracted to her.

'I'm not proud to admit it, but some Koreans are a little racist.' Eun paused and spoke again,
'Maybe racist is too strong of a term. They are wary of African Americans and Africans.'

Keziah sighed, 'I'd heard about a few incidents before but I didn't think it was anything serious. But this is ridiculous.'
An ahjumma stepped out of her way to avoid walking near to Keziah.
Four children led by an older woman approached Keziah.
Keziah politely greeted them in Korean.
'Oh, you speak Korean well.' The older woman said in surprise.
'I don't think it's polite to come to a foreign country and expect them to all speak English.'

Pleased with the reply, the older woman listened to Keziah's pitch about the community event.
The entire time the children kept staring at her as though they'd seen a unicorn.

'Yes, children, She's beautiful. And she's just like you and me the tone of her skin does not change that. Everyone deserves to be treated with respect.'

'Brown, black, white, yellow or red.' Keziah jingled causing them children to laugh.

'Red?' They echoed after each other.

'Of course.' The children train their eyes on me that's when I see that Keziah was looking right at me.
'He's white and sometimes he's red like in the cartoons.'
The children looked disbelieving.

'I'll show you.' She joined me squaring on the ground and facing the children.

'Mr. Welsh this is purely for business.'
Her lips said but her eyes glittered with mischief.
She clapped down on both my cheeks and then pinched it.
'Stay still. This is an educational demonstration.'
I only obeyed after I opened my eyes and found her face closer to mine, my lips did a quick dip to her supple lips and I can see a little of her cleavage in the v neck.  Her eyes are in her head, I mentally reminded myself. Keziah removed her hands from my face as though she'd been electrocuted.
'Wow, the Miss was right he's turning red. Look, grandma.'

'He must be feeling really hot.' The ahjumma the last joke, I found, was rather tasteless in this situation.
I got on to my feet with my fliers in hand and put enough distance between Keziah and me.
Next week couldn't come any sooner. We'd be done with this project and then we can both return to our regular lives where I could suffocate this fledgling attraction to Keziah before it grows out of hand. I have done it once before, a second time should be a breeze.
I spot Hae in the distance talking to another work colleague and in a second of insanity, I entertain the thought of her in my bed. I shook my head to dispel the undesirable thought.
Hearing Keziah laughing with the children open the door to several doubting Thomas' in my head however, I was too distracted to answer all of them. I'd have to deal with them later right after I dealt with my truant thoughts.