Bosco waved a hand in front of Charmaine’s face and when she still sat there staring blankly off to the distance he cleared his throat loudly to get her attention.

Charmaine was startled by the sudden noise and looked up to find Bosco looking down at her with curiosity.  “What?” she said as she straightened in her chair and pulled a file in front of her.

“I’ve been watching you,” Bosco said as he continued to look at her with probing eyes while taking a seat.  “You were totally gone before.  I’ve been standing in your office for five minutes and you didn’t even see me.  What or who was on your mind just now.”

Charmaine closed her eyes briefly to clear her thoughts but it was useless.  Raymond was constantly on her mind and no matter how hard she tried to push him aside, he pops up again and again.  And to add to matters, whereas before she thought Steven perfect, now she finds herself comparing the two with Raymond outranking Steven in every category.  She was driving herself crazy.  Under Bosco’s scrutiny, she quickly wiped all expression off her face and asked casually, “Don’t you have any work to do or some place to go?”

Bosco gave her a lopsided grin and said, “I’m done with all my reports and I don’t have any plans this evening.”

“Hi guys,” Ron greeted cheerfully and waltzed into Charmaine’s office.  He saw Charmaine’s stern face and Bosco’s wry grin and asked, “What are you guys talking about?”

“Great,” Charmaine muttered then looked up at Ron with irritation, “Please don’t tell me you have nothing to do and no place to go as well.”

“Okay I won’t tell you that then,” Ron responded smartly and sat down on the chair beside Bosco.  He leaned towards Bosco and asked, “What’s with her attitude?  What were you guys talking about?”

Bosco bent his head towards Ron and said in a hushed tone, “I was standing in front of her for five whole minutes and she didn’t even notice me.”

Ron whistled loudly, “Wow… something is definitely going on with her.”

“See?  Even you think so,” Bosco said.  “I’m trying to find out what it is.  Give me a hand here will you.”

Ron dared a quick glance at Charmaine and saw her glaring at them.  Turning back to Bosco he said, “Do you think it has something to do with Steven?”

Bosco shrugged, “I don’t know.  Why don’t we ask her? ”  Ron nodded and the two turned to look at Charmaine whose annoyance was written all over face.

Testily she asked, “Are you guys done?”

Ron chuckled and sat forward in his chair.  “Are you going to tell us what’s on your mind or do we have to pry it out from you?”

Charmaine swiveled her chair around to face the window giving them her back.  “You guys are extremely nosy,” she said gruffly.

Ron chuckled again and walked over to her chair.  He perched on an armrest and placed an arm around her shoulders.  “You may call us nosy all you want but I think the proper word to describe us is caring.  That’s what friends are for.”

“Well your caring is not needed,” Charmaine retorted and abruptly swiveled her chair back to face Bosco.  Giving them each a reprimanding look she said, “Seriously, don’t you guys have something better to do than to harass me?”

Ron’s grin widened as he sat back down on his chair, “Nope,” he turned to Bosco, “Do you?”

“Nope,” Bosco answered with a silly grin.

“You two are…” Charmaine’s words were cut off by the ringing of her desk phone.  Keeping her eyes trained on them she answered the phone, “Madame Sheh speaking.”

“It’s me,” the voice on the other end said softly.

Charmaine recognized the deep voice and her heart slammed against her chest.  She looked away from Bosco and Ron and tightened her hold on the phone, “How did you get my number?”

Raymond answered in a low voice, “I called the station’s general number and asked the operator to transfer me.”

“Why are you calling me?” Charmaine asked and glanced over at Bosco and Ron to find them looking at her with unconcealed interest.

“I’ve been thinking about you and found myself in your area.  I thought I take a chance and see if you’re still at work.  Can you come out for a drink?”

Charmaine’s heart was beating so fast and hard she was sure it would burst right out of her chest any second now.  But she knew what she had to do, “Uh… I’m busy.”

“Next time then,” Raymond said softly but Charmaine could tell by his tone that he didn’t believe her.  “Goodnight.”

Charmaine replaced the phone back onto the cradle and found Bosco and Ron looking at her with over eager gleaming eyes.  Before they could say a word she said brusquely, “Don’t ask me any questions about the call.  It’s none of your business.”

Ron’s smile didn’t falter as he said, “We were going to ask if you wanted to join us for a quick bite to eat.”

“Yeah,” Bosco chimed in, “That’s all.”

Charmaine didn’t believe that for one second.  She knew them too well.  With a heavy sigh she retrieved her bag from the draw and stood up.  “Come on then.”