Adonis | H.S

chapter twelve: ascertain

(A.N: this is a double update, make sure you've read chapter eleven!)

Scattered thoughts splayed across the forms sat on her desk. She was meant to be working, catching up on paperwork long since forgotten all thanks to a distraction with dangerous eyes and chocolate tresses.

The night before was on a constant loop in her mind, a film reel stuck in a lapse of moments that varied.

Harry.

Get on your knees.

His pleasured moans and the vein straining from his neck.

Wanna try calling me an asshole again, sweetheart?

Sebastian's obvious distaste for her.

So what's your deal, then?

And Melanie. A friendship with the most unique dynamic that they both treasured.

She shook her head, taking a deep breath and straightening her back. Reeling in her thoughts and shelving them to sift through later. Her eyes scanned her work and her brain felt numb with the huge task ahead of her. She hated paperwork more than anything, always procrastinating so she could avoid it but she'd already put it off for too long. Her eyes started to blur and cross at the figures on the documents. Running a business had it's hardships and this was definitely one of them.

She stood and went to the file cabinet in the corner of the room, rummaging until she found what she was after and sitting back in her office chair, stretching her arms wide in exhaustion.

"Hey, Scarlett I-"

The newly opened file snapped closed and she stared at the employee who had sauntered into her office without knocking.

"What is it?"

The worker stared at her, startled by her dramatic outburst and the papers strewn all over the desk. They knew Scarlett had allotted her day to doing stock takes and going over figures for the store, but apparently figured an interruption would be fine.

"Uh... there's a lady up front who wants to return a vinyl."

"We don't do returns." Scarlett stated but the employee only shrugged, as if dealing with mildly difficult customers wasn't something she paid them for.

"Said she wants to talk to the manager."

She sighed, rubbing her temples with her fingers. "Fine, I'll be right out."

Scarlett tried to tell herself that this mundane, unfulfilling, and excruciating chapter of her life was a temporary one. She hummed it as a mantra as she brushed her teeth in the mornings and watched her reflection in the mirror.

It's a gateway into a more exciting New York lifestyle. She'd tell herself.

As she stood in her kitchen in her studio apartment after her shift, she kept trying to roll the stress off of her shoulders. She was freshly showered and dressed in nothing but a silk, burgundy robe. The roses Harry had gifted her sat in the same crystal vase. The petals, a crimson red, were displaying their first signs of withering and she wondered if it was symbolic of something.

The buzz of the intercom sounded through the apartment and she raced to answer it, the receptionist's cheerful voice breaking her dull semblance.