Mending Wounds

Chapter 14

He led the way into the office, greeting a few people on the way before stepping into the elevator where we stood next to each other. He'd turn to me with a small smile now and then as the closer to his floor, which happened to be on the 23rd floor. Knowing that I'm scared of heights, I stopped looking at the small screen displaying the number of the floor when I felt my ear pop when we passed the 13th.

I didn't know where I was heading, so I walked behind him like a lost puppy as he greeted people a few people on the way. Now and then, he'd turn to me with a small smile on his face. When I started lagging, he grabbed my hand with a smile and led me through the hallways. After passing 6 different offices and meeting rooms, we walked into a grey office with one glass wall. In the small office, there were 5 desks with computer screens facing the walls, 4 of them were occupied by three guys and a girl.

"I brought coffee" Cole said, he then looked down at me with a smile "And a guest"

When he placed the coffee on the table, everyone picked up their cup as stood around the small table in the middle room. They all had that cheerful smile on their faces as they sipped on their coffee.

Cole pointed to each of the people as he introduced them to me "Jen, Zayn, Lucas, and Moose" he then turned to me "This is Sophia"

"Girlfriend?" Zayn asked.

Cole chuckled uncomfortably as he sneaked his hand into his hands into his pocket "At some point, she was"

Before we could fall into an awkward silence, I smiled and tried to break the ice "But before that, I was known as the best friend that kicked his as in literally every game we played" I chuckled "That would include chess, 'Rock, paper, scissors', UNO, Mario Cart, and Ludo too"

He rolled his eyes "I did win sometimes through"

I shook my head "Yeah. You won when I let you" I told him.

He bumped his shoulder against mine before he grabbed his drink and headed down to what I think was this desk. He pulled a hair closer to his, then taped on his chair with a smile. I didn't question him; I just took a seat a seat next to him.

"So, what are we doing here?" I told him.

He grabbed the base of the chair and pulled it toward him "I need a pair of fresh eyes to help me design this logo I've been working on" he said as he turned his desk screen on to one of the most amazing and colorful logo my eyes have ever seen "It's for an ice cream factory. They wanted something eye-catching and fun"

"Cole, this amazing." I said "This honestly puts every other logo I have ever made to shame and trash"

With a smile, he turned to the screen "Thank you! What about this one, from a customer perspective, what do you think about this slogan?"

We sat there for the next three hours, working on the website and eating Chinese food while I bonded with the team. Everyone was extremely nice to me, and not once did I feel like I was out of place or awkward. I couldn't help to see glimpses of the Cole I once loved, yet also see glimpses of how much he grew up since he came back here. It was a good change, but it was a good change that I didn't often get to see because we're always at each other's throat.

At some point, I went back to the car to get my laptop to work on the current book that I was writing. When Cole noticed that his adjustments to the branding were taking more time than expected and his deadlines were almost coming to an end, he offered to drive me back home and come back to the office afterward. Knowing that taking me back to the house and driving back here would waste time that he needed to use to work on the project, I told him that I would like to stay and take advantage of the time to work on my book.