Alexander and Natalie silently stared at each other as awkwardness filled the air. The area was silent as the rooftop wasn't a popular visit now that winter was nearing. It was the best place for them to talk about whatever it is Natalie saw last night.
She would have given up and thought that she was drunk, but the way Alexander had been avoiding her gaze and how he hesitated to agree to them talking; she knew for sure that whatever it was that she saw, was in fact, real. Now, she wants answers.
"What… did you want to talk about?" Alexander craned his neck to the right with his hand on the back of his neck, his eyes looking elsewhere. He was definitely avoiding eye contact with her.
"About what happened last night." Natalie said curtly, wanting to get to the point after wasting a few minutes for that silence where they both were gathering their courage. "Did I—Did—mmm. What I saw, was it real?" Natalie asked after finding the words.
Alexander opened his mouth but thought for a bit, "what exactly did you see?"
Don't play coy with me, she wanted to say. But she and him weren't exactly on that terms of communicating, instead, she sighed and took in a deep breath, recalling the form she believed this man had taken.
"You… were a dog." She said, her voice almost disappearing at the last word. She felt that she was being crazy as something like that could never happen in real life—only in fairytales. And yet, she was claiming this man in front of her was living a life like that. "And then you turned into you!" She gestured to his whole body.
Alexander could only nod. Natalie anxiously waited for his reply as he stopped nodding, his hands were on his waist as he looked far off into the ground, glancing at her from time to time. There was a few moments of silence before he finally spoke,
"You saw nothing." He raised both his hands in defense, akin to the one he did last night from was Natalie remembered.
"So it is true!" She hissed and began pacing around in circles. "I thought I had gone crazy! Like, hello? A man that turns into a dog. Wait—" she stopped pacing around and halted, turning to him and raised an eyebrow.
"Or a dog that turns into a man…?"
Alexander placed a hand on his forehead and shook his head. "No, no. Don't. Nothing else, please? Just… forget you saw anything. I beg of you." He pleaded, clasping his hands together.
Natalie was taken aback by this new personality Alexander was showing. She thought he wouls still continue to be the stoic and cold man he was in the office, yet here he was evading questions like a child and practically begging on his knees. It seemed like this was the most Natalie has seen Alexander emote.
"Alright, but how can I be sure you aren't playing a trick on me and that this isn't some kind of prank show?" She asked innocently, but Alexander knew what she wanted. He remembered all the honeyed words and squeals she was letting out when she saw his dog form. It would be better if she had been straight forward to spare himself of humiliation and have some dignity left, but he sighed and decided to comply.
"I'll show you," Natalie's eyes glistened at his words. She was finally going to see that cute dog she saw on the street and that she had fed to.
Her eyes widened watching the tall man in front of her slowly turn smaller and smaller as she looked down to her feet where a fur ball was looking up at her. She squealed and scooped Alexander up in her arms, rubbing her face on him.
The Alexander that turned into a dog kept moving away from her but became tired and decided to let her be.
"Aw, you're so cute!" Natalie kneeled on the floor and began rubbing his stomach, and Alexander couldn't help but feel giddy about it. "Who's a good boy? Who's a good boy?" Natalie began scratching the back of his ears making him roll over to her, completely melting in her touch. But after a few seconds, the dog froze which made Natalie stop scratching him.
She frowned, "what's the problem?"
The dog quickly stood on his legs and barked. Natalie could tell it was in an angry tone based on how much he growled. "Alexander, I don't understand you when you're speaking dog." She slowly rubbed his back, carressing his soft fur. She quickly placed her head on his back, feeling at ease as her head hit his fur.
"Wow, you're really soft…" she muttered. Internally, Alexander's eyebrows had already knitted together, irritated at how close Natalie was being with him. To stop her from being mushy with him, he decided to transform back into his human form.
Now the dog Natalie was hugging turned into the colleague she never thought she would ever have the pleasure to touch. Her head now rested on the crook of Alexander's neck, her arms wrapped around his shoulders.
Both their eyes widened realizing what position they were in and quickly pushed each other back, now sitting on their butts, staring at each other with horror in their eyes.
Alexander's face flushed red. He didn't mean for that to happen. All he wanted was to get out of Natalie's arms and now they've hugged. He wanted to hit himself. He wished he had just accepted the Natalie who was over-affectionate of his dog form. Now, their situation has gotten even more awkward.
"Uhm…" Natalie spoke.
"Sorry," Alexander stood up and extended his arm to help her up. Though hesitant, Natalie decided to take his hand and let him pull her up. "I hope you'll keep this a secret… please." He stared into her eyes to make sure that Natalie knew he was being sincere, their hands still together.
Natalie gulped and became conscious of their hands that held together a bit too long for her liking. But she nodded. "I'll keep this a secret so—"
Their heads quickly turned to the rooftop door hearing the door knob jiggle open, their heads turned towards each other's hands that were still together. Their eyes widened and let go of their hands but the door suddenly swung open revealing Kenneth.
"Oh," he said. "I didn't know you would be here." Kenneth's eyes fell on Natalie who was now on the floor, a dog in her arms, wearing a sheepish smile.
"Hi, there." She nervously glanced at the dog in her hand who nestled between her arms, completely stuck to her. She could feel his heart beating against hers and matched its fast pace.
They almost got caught together.