Chapter-16

ᴡʜᴀᴛ ᴍᴜsᴛ ɪᴛ ʙᴇ ʟɪᴋᴇ ᴛᴏ ɢʀᴏᴡ ᴜᴘ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ʙᴇᴀᴜᴛɪғᴜʟ?

..

After figuring out how I ended up at Chase's house, Caden got a good hearing, which he found very funny. He made it up to me by buying me food. He didn't have any shoots or projects so he came back to New York, for the past year he was living in LA. That was last week. I met Rome twice.

Chase and I both acted like nothing happened, which was actually true if you ignored the bite marks on his neck which were visible when he didn't wear a tie which was often because that dumbass doesn't know how to tie one.

I was taking a little nappy nap after completing the file I was working on when the door to my office opened. "Go away Melissa." I said without lifting my head up from my desk.

"Why the hell is Damien Wright calling me for a reference?" I sit straight hearing not-Melissa's voice.

"Can't sit at home unemployed sunshine."

I applied for a job at Wright & Co. a few days ago, gave an interview two days back, guess they called him for a reference call.

"I gave in my 2 weeks notice." I tell him. I thought he knew?

"To whom exactly?" He says flatly.

"The HR."

"Cool." He says before lifting his phone to his ear and going out. Wait what? I stand up to follow him only to trip on my own shoe.

"..tear it down." I hear him saying before hanging up.

"Hey! What the hell?" I round him and stand in front of him, going on tippy toes to maintain eye level as I left my shoes under my desk. I narrow my eyes. I'm sure I'm looking intimidating now. He's scared, he's not showing it but I know.

"I don't accept your two weeks' notice." He states before poking my forehead making me go back to standing normally. I lift up again.

I cross my arms. "Yes you are. It's my choice. I quit." I say in my intimidating voice. Why is he not scared till now.

The idiot pokes my forehead again.

"No." He says before going to his office. The audacity. I walk down to the HR department, later on realising I'm not wearing any shoes.

I enter the office. "You can't.." My words are dead in my throat as I see my letter in shreds. "Fuck you all." I say before storming out. I think they'll fire me now? Discipline afterall?

I was heading towards the elevator when I bumped into someone.

"I'm so sorry- Miss Reed?" I heard the guy ask. I look up to see the intern I showed around a few weeks ago, I can't remember his name.

"Oh you.."

"Daniel." He says.

"Yeah, right! Daniel. Move away, someone is expecting a visit from me." I say before entering the elevator.

"Your shoes.." His voice was cut off by the doors of the elevator. I tapped my feet to calm myself till I reached the top floor.

He didn't even flinch when I burst open the door to his office let alone looked up to see who the intruder is. "What is wrong with you?" I shouted. He ignored.

I closed my eyes. Think about stabbing him. Peace. Think about choking him to death. Relief. Think about having a big greasy burger. Ahh, wrong thing to think about.

Just so you know, he still hasn't acknowledged my presence. So I do the only sensible thing coming into my mind and jump on his desk, snatch the laptop he was working on and keep it aside. I rest my feet on the armrest of his chair. That makes him look at me, yes dude. Look at me.

Even though he's looking at me, the dickhead doesn't speak.

"Accept my resignation letter."

He seems to think about it. "No." He finally answers after two minutes. Can I pull his hair out of his big head?

He moves his chair backward making me lose my balance at the same time someone decides to walk in, my guess is Alec or Caden. I grip his shoulders to stop myself from falling while he grabs my wrists to keep me from falling. Before I can remove my hands, the intruder whistles.

"Caught you in 4k." Caden says before a flash goes off. He's not alone, Alec stands beside him, grinning like the fool he is.

I quickly jump off his desk. "Don't stop on our account." He says raising his hands up in the air. I flip him off before turning back to his unbearable brother. "I'm not coming back to work." I tell him before walking out.

"You forgot your shoes." Alec yells after me.

I raise both my hands in the air, flipping both of them again and make my way to my office. I quickly pack my things and wear the fucking shoes.

I send a text to the group chat which consists of me, Logan, Caleb and Mellisa that I'm going on so they won't wait for me for lunch.

........

It's been a week since I've gone to the office. I didn't receive a single email or a message for my absence so I guess I'm fired. Good. I have an interview today at 9, I quickly changed into a beige shirt and high-waisted black pants, pairing them with black flats. I did my everyday make-up and had some breakfast before collecting my things.

I opened the door and stepped out only to clash into someone. I knew who it was, the cologne was all too familiar.

A sigh escaped my lips before I could stop myself. "What do you want?" I asked, looking up at him. He didn't reply but touched my forehead with a concerned frown on his face.

"Are you okay?" He asked. Why did he think I'm not okay?

"Yes I am..are you okay?" I ask, scrunching my nose.

"You're not coming to work." He says.

Work? I thought I got fired? "I thought I am fired?" I say, looking at him in confusion. "I actually have an interview." I tell him.

"What? No. You're not fired and you're not giving any interview." He states.

"I am. Now go to your office and I'll go to my interview." I say, crossing my arms.

"Celesteeeee." A shrill voice interrupted. It was our neighbour, Jessie. She talks way too much and way too loud and still dresses up like 15 year olds. I'm not in the mood to handle her today. She's always asking about Luke or Logan, it seems like she senses when there's a guy in my house.

"Is that your boyfriend?" She asked loudly.

"Yes Jessie, now we'd like to have some privacy. It was nice to meet you." I say to her before pushing Chase inside and closing the door.

He opens his mouth to speak something but I keep my hand on his mouth and look at the shadow of her feet outside the door.

"I've missed you much." I say loudly to make sure she hears. She'll leave when she thinks we're doing something. She's a germaphobe, kissing is gross according to her. Any type of physical contact? Gross.

5 seconds later, her feet were gone from my doorstep. I removed my hand from his mouth. I swear I saw a little smile on his face before it went away like it was never there. A hint of dimples made it more adorable.

Shut up, we hate him right now.

"You missed me?" He asked casually.

"Don't flatter yourself, I said that because of Jessie. I didn't miss you at all, the last week was the best one of my life." I narrow my eyes at him.

"If you say so." He says. He's still pressed up against the door. I clear my throat.

"Would you like something? Tea? Coffee?" I ask, please say no.

"I think I would."

"Good, get it from the cafe down the road, I'm getting late." I say before trying to push him away from the door.

He keeps his hand on the doorknob. "You're not going. You work for me." He says, now getting annoyed.

What does he expect? Sometimes I don't even get time to have lunch or enough sleep because of the work load.

"I don't want to work for you anymore. You're an asshole and you're so mean." I said, equally annoyed with him.

"I'm sorry." He says without hesitation.

"No, a sorry won't cut it. You make me work on the weekends! And..and you-" I can't think of anything else wrong. Fuck.

"I won't make you work on weekends. I promise and I'll try to be..nice." He promises.

"No."

"Please?"

"I..stop looking like that!" I close my eyes out of frustration. He's giving that adorable look. He looks so innocent.

"Like what?" He scrunches his nose up.

"Like..nothing. I'll come to work from tomorrow." I tell him. He smiles. He actually smiles. Dimples and all, the eye crinkles smile. Goddamn, if that isn't a sight to behold. "Okay." He says happily. "Let's go."

"Where?" I said tomorrow, didn't I?

"Somewhere."

"Where are we going and for what?"

"We're going on the date you promised me." He says.

Do you ever feel like reading people's minds and seeing what's going on in there? Because I do, all the time I'm talking to this man. He's so hard to figure out sometimes. One minute he's acting like he can't stand another human breathing beside him and one minute he's a clingy bitch.

"I- You- I meant it as a joke that day."

"And?" He asks like that's not a valid reason.

"And it's not appropriate to go on a date with your boss or in your case, your employee." I say. Even my subconscious snorted at that. Pathetic, I know.

"Okay."

"Okay."

"Okay."

"O-"

He cuts me off, "Shut up." I do shut up but it looks like he's waiting for me to speak, I won't.

"C'mon." He says before holding my wrist and dragging me out. Ex-squeeze me? Mr. I-hate-touching is touching my hand? Wowza.

I drop my purse inside and lock the door like I was going to 10 minutes ago before he interrupted me and changed my plan for the whole day.

"Where are we going?" I ask him. He's again dragging me downstairs. "Okay, slow down big guy. I can't walk that fast." I huff. He puts my long legs to shame. Giant.

We stop infront of his sleek black mercedes. He never lets anyone drive this one, not even his driver. I still shoot my shot though. "Can I drive?" I give him my best puppy eyes.

"How about No?"

Fine, whatever. Jerk.

I try to open the door to the passenger seat but it's locked. "Oh for fuck's sake. Unlock the car." I stomp my foot. Child. My subconscious mocks me.

He unlocks the car and opens my door for me. Nice.

I've been inside this car only once, when he had a meeting and his driver was on sick leave. His grumpy ass wasn't happy that day. I wonder what changed.

"Where are we going?" I ask for the third time, the asshole still doesn't answer. "Fine." I take my phone out only to realise I left it at home when I dropped the purse.

"I didn't bring any money! And my phone!" I exclaim.

"So?"

Is he kidding me? "How will I pay? I don't even know where we're going and my..my phone! What if someone calls me?"

"You don't need to worry about paying and you can live without your phone for a few hours." He frowns, murmuring 'addict' under his breath.

"You don't understand! How will I click my pictures? I need to keep my friends updated. Luke is now dating Malea- I don't like her- but that doesn't matter and Melissa broke up with her boyfriend, she needs consoling every hour and Logan, he's still trying to get into Layla's pants! I need to know. Rome is my new bestie, we talk everytime." I tell him, throwing my hands up in the air. "Can you drive back?" I ask.

"No."

"Can you give me your phone then?" I ask.

He throws his phone in my lap. "Ow. That hurt!" I say, rubbing my thigh. He ignored me.

"What's your password?" I ask him.

"Fuckyouceleste." He says before snickering at his own joke. This asshole.

"Fuck off."

"1224." He says. That's..nevermind.

His wallpaper is plain black, no surprise. I change it to something nicer. A cute cat picture is now his wallpaper. That cat is black, if that counts.

"Can I snoop?" I ask. It's a rhetorical question. I'm going to snoop anyways. "No." He says, again, it was a rhetorical question.

Let's look at his photo gallery first. He got no pictures in there. Typical. I snap a picture of him driving. He looks hawt. "What are you doing?" He asks with a scowl.

"That, my dude was the first picture on your phone." I tell him, before clicking a few more. I check for social media apps. He has got none. Boring. That's why he doesn't use that phone.

I type in my number. "Why the hell am I saved as idiot on your phone?" I ask incredulously, fully turning to him.

"Because you are one?" He says.

"Fuck off." I tell him for the second time, then I change my contact name to loml <3. His old ass won't know what it means, I know.

"Don't you have a billion dollar company to run?" I ask him. "That's why I have hired employees Ms. Reed."

"Okay Mr. Black." I mock him. I plop my feet up on the dashboard. "Get your feet off my dashboard before I throw you out." He says im a warning tone.

"Okay, calm your tits." I keep my feet down.

His phone starts ringing. "It's an unknown number." I tell him.

"Deny it." He says before focusing on the road again. It starts ringing again. "I think it's someone important." I say.

"It's my personal number, no one calls this one. It's probably a spam call." He says, shrugging.

It keeps on ringing. "Do I pick up?" I ask the owner of the Phone.

"Put it on speaker."

I do. "Hi Chasey." The person on the other side says. He cringes visibly. He doesn't reply. I look at him questioningly, he mouths 'talk' to me.

"What? No!" I whisper-yell.

"Are you there baby?" She says when she gets no answer, he still doesn't answer though, so I hang up.

"What the fuck Chasey?" I laugh at the name.

"Shut up." He scowls. The phone started ringing again. "Can you block her ass?" He asks.

"Who dat?"

"Bitch Wallace." He tells me as if it's her name.

"Chase..it's Beth." I correct him.

"I don't care." He says.

I block the number as he stops the car in front of a cafe. "Why are we here?" I ask him.

"You didn't make me any coffee." He says before going out, before I can open my door, he does it. He's actually being nice.

We take a seat at the table near the window. A cute little waitress comes to take our order. She's so adorable. Her cheeks are naturally rosy and her curls are so fucking beautiful.

"You're so adorable!" I can't help but blurt. She turns redder if possible. I'm literally aw-ing right now.

"You're pretty too." She says, flustered. "Aw thanks.."

"Rosa." She provides. "Rosa. Your name suits you." I tell her.

"Thank you. What would you like to order?" She asks.

I quickly order for both of us after asking him what he would like. "Did you see how cute she was?" I ask once she went back into the kitchen.

"No." He says flatly. I click one more picture of him as he's looking out of the window, his phone is still with me. He's not getting it back anytime soon.

He looks at me as he senses the camera on him as I click one more picture. "Stop it." He says, getting annoyed.

"Why? Aren't you a ray of sunshine?" I say as Rosa comes back with our order.

"Thank you." I tell her as she goes back. "What's your age?" I ask him.

"You know that." He says.

"I know, I'm making small talk. Answer me old man." I tell him. Comfortable silence is so overrated.

"29 isn't old." He snaps. Ah-ha. Old ass.

"Okay. What's your favourite color? Don't say black." I tell him.

"Gray." He says.

"Hmm." Ofcourse he'll choose something close to black, like the idiot he is. He needs bright colors in his life.

"What's yours?" He asks.

"Green." I say looking into his eyes. Can you get anymore cliche? My subconscious sighs.

"How old are you?" He asks.

"You don't ask a lady her age." I narrow my eyes at him.

"I know, that's why I'm asking you." He says simply. It takes me a moment to click. "You asshole." I gasp as he looks out of the window in amusement.

"What's your middle name?" I ask him after taking a few sips of my tea.

"I'm not telling you." He says as he took a bite of my cupcake. "Hey you thief." I say before snatching it back.

"I'm sure it's not bad. I can google it anyways." I tell him before taking his phone out of my pocket again.

"Sure." He says sarcastically. I type his name, but his middle name doesn't come up.

"You-"

"What's yours?" He asks.

"Why will I tell you? You tell me first." I cross my arms.

"Nope." He takes a few sips of his coffee. Then goes on to pick up my cupcake again but this time I'm fast. I put the whole thing left in my mouth. He rolls his eyes at me. Sweet tooth.

"So what is it?" I ask once I've chewed the chocolate cupcake completely.

"Elias." He says begrudgingly.

"Chase Elias Black." I say his full name as he gives me the stink eye. I don't understand what's wrong with it? It's hot?

"What's yours?" He asks.

"About that..I don't have one." I lie. I don't wanna tell him. He'll laugh.

"Stop lying. What is it?" He asks.

"Vittoria." I tell him slowly. He snickers. "Sounds..nice. Celeste Vittoria Reed." He says my full name just like I did.

"Fuck off."

"We're going to my parent's dinner tomorrow." He says casually before taking a sip as if he didn't just say that.

.....

I feel like this is getting boring? Do tell if you feel the same, also, please vote & comment. <3