"You seriously need to learn to relax, Meka. You are going to pass out one day from the pure exhaustion of worrying about everyone, but yourself," Mike said, slowly massaging Meka's shoulders. "You do realize that you are as tense as hell, right?"
"Yeah, I know I am. I seriously don't know how to relax Mike, you should know this about me by now. After all, we've been friends for over 15 years now."
"Well, one of these days you will need to learn. It's not healthy for you to be worrying about everything underneath the sun and not take care of yourself. All you are doing in the end is burning yourself out. You really need to take a vacation," Mike stated, as he stopped massaging Meka's shoulders and sat down next to her.
"Now, you honestly tell me when I'm going to have time to take a vacation? You know there is too much going on around here for me to do something like that just now. You are aware that IT program is coming up in 2 weeks and we can't seem to get the bugs out of it. Linda is going to be leaving in about 2 months for her maternity leave and we can't bombard her too much. Jesse is breathing down my neck to make sure this program is working by Friday; I haven't even laid eyes on it yet and today is Monday."
"Meka, you are starting to ramble," Mike said, turning Meka to face him. "You have to remember that you are not the only one that is dealing with the same stuff. We are both on the same team, remember?" Meka just nodded. "So, please don't think you have to carry this crazy load by yourself. Plus, if you don't calm down, I'll make sure the both of us go on vacation at the same time, so I can SHOW you how to relax," Mike said, with an evil grin on his face.
"You're full of it Mike. You know you aren't going to show me a damn thing. You can barely keep your mind off of Michelle," Meka stated, rolling her eyes and getting up to walk down the hallway.
Mike grabbed Meka's arm and turned her around, with them basically inches away from each other.
"I might be with Michelle, but I don't forget those who matter to me most, even if they are stubborn as hell and won't listen to me."
Mike put his free hand underneath Meka's chin and lifted it, so they could look into each other's eyes.
"One of these days, some man will sweep you off your feet and you won't have time to worry like you do. I'm just waiting for that day."
"Whatever the hell, Mike. There is no man out there that will or can deal with me and you know it. I work too much and play too little," Meka stated, trying to back away from Mike. "Mike, come on. Let go. We have a meeting in 10 minutes and I need to grab my notes."
"I remember there is a meeting. We are going to the same one, crazy. One of these days I'll get it through your thick skull that you deserve a good man and you will have one. You are just too damn stubborn to realize that right now," Mike stated, finally letting go of Meka's arm and walking into his office.
"You just don't realize how stubborn I really am. I seriously doubt any man would want to deal with me," Meka thought to herself, walking into her office and shutting the door. "Plus, it doesn't help that the one man I want, treats me like his little sister. Damn, Mike, you just have no idea."
*****
Standing 6'2", with dark brown almost black hair, sparkling blue eyes, evenly tanned skin and cute boyish face, Mike was quite attractive. He had the typical athletic build, with him playing basketball. Of course, almost any woman would drool when they saw his chiseled body, with his six pack, when his shirt was off. So, seeing him in dress shirt, with a tie and dress pants really didn't help matters either. He was attractive and had the personality, confidence and sense of humor to match.