Love is for Show

8 - I can't do this.

Maybe this wasn't a good idea. I don't know what came over me on that phone call earlier, but standing in front of Kalen Axford's door is so not how I was planning on spending the rest of my evening...

To my utter surprise, I'm at least not being completely overwhelmed by a three-story mansion or anything. He actually doesn't live as conspicuously as I thought. According to Elias' instructions, he lives in a penthouse on the top floor of this building. Which rivals the height of Axford's office building, but I'm choosing to ignore that little fact in order to save my own sanity. Although, even stepping foot on the more luxurious side of town was quite the rush in itself.

"Nathan? What are you doing just standing here?"

I blink the fuzziness away from unintentionally staring at the ground for who knows how long and looking up, I'm immediately greeted with swirls of bright blue hues, knocking the rest of the air right out of my lungs. "Oh- I just, um..." I trail off, not having a good enough excuse for my lack of social skills.

Something twinkles in his eyes, something like recognition maybe, before his lips turn up and he reaches out to gently tug on my hand. "Well, come on, the receptionist ringed to let me know you were waiting here,"

I blink slowly at him, completely forgetting that I talked with the receptionist. I'm just so out of my element here, I guess I got seriously lost in my own head for a while... "Oh, sorry for making you come get me,"

He shrugs me off before letting my hand go once I actually fall into step behind him. "Don't worry, I know this place can be a lot for anyone new,"

New. That's right, I'm a newcomer here. I don't really belong here and I think that much has just become all the more obvious the further I walk into the building. My eyes don't even know where to start. The lobby itself was sleek and modern, with a hint of greenery from the potted plant and there were more windows than I could even begin to count. The elevator I'm being led into is also made of some sort of glass and by the looks of it, it's as clean as it was the day it was built. I can see my own reflection in the shiny surface perfectly.

"Hey, it's okay if you need to take a breather or something," his voice slices through the calm elevator music and I lift my head again to stare into his eyes. I really can't help it, it's not even the color that draws me in. It's the way he stares. Observant and almost caring.

"I'm fine,"

"This is Kalen's personal space, wherever you've seen him before he kept up his fancy schmancy business facade, but in here-" his arms wave around the contraption as an indication that he means the building. "In here, he's home and completely himself, so don't worry, okay?"

Completely himself? What does that even mean?

I manage a nod right as the doors silently slide open and let us out into an equally as clean hallway that leads to only one door. A double door to be exact. They're beige in color and are filled with caramel-tinted swirls; a fancy marble pattern. "Well, this is us- I mean, him, this is where he lives," he clears his throat and quickly raises a hand.

Looking closer now, I can't find a keyhole anywhere, how does he lock the doors?

A small buzzing sound has my eyes focusing back onto his hand and the electric pad that is scanning his fingerprints right beside the right door. Oh.

I guess it's not too odd for a personal assistant, and I suppose friend at this point, to have easy access to his home. Right?

"Welcome to the Axford household!" He cheers right as both doors slowly swing open, revealing the nicest place I've ever seen in person. We're immediately greeted with a wide entrance, a space to the side for jackets and shoes to be left. Of course, the classic floor-to-ceiling windows take up the entire far wall, right behind the living area, giving us the most spectacular view of the city. A view I never even dreamt of seeing in my lifetime like this. Seeing the city's lights from up here really reminds me of the park Aiden and I used to go to.