the setup

17

it had been weeks since sasha had last talked to seth. she kept her word and left seth alone, she didn't want to damage what was left of their relationship.

"sasha, are you ready?" shawn asked as he grabbed her hand. it was almost time for their retirement, so they had started renovating. shawn and hunter wanted everything to be brand new and show their competitors that even though they were gone, the next up were just as good. "this is seth's new office here."

she walked in and she could already tell he was gonna love it, the rich oak smell was something that followed him around no matter what. she sighed deeply before turning back to shawn. "it's amazing, shawn. you did a great job."

"thank you, now!" he paused and linked arms with her, taking her down the hall. "this is your new office!" he said making her jaw almost drop. the room was exactly like she had imagined, white with accents of black. this was exactly what she needed right now.

"oh, shawn." she said. sasha turned to him tearing up, pulling him into a hug. shawn, of course, knew what this was really about, but he hugged her back anyways. sasha was always the daughter that he wanted, but never got. he never got the chance to have kids, but she was pretty damn close.

"don't go snotting up on me, honey." he joked hoping to make her laugh, he did. "seth's back from his trip today, so we will have a quick meeting at the end of the day. hunter and i agreed to around 7, sound good?"

"y-yeah." she was trying to keep it together, but seth was back. she wanted to know how long he'd been back, did he miss her, did he ever think to call? she sighed before shawn told her he'd see her later. she said down at her new desk and alexa walked in.

"hey boss."

"hey lexi." she sighed. alexa knew what was going on, she always knew. sasha never really ever had to tell her the issue, she just knew. she sat down beside sasha, sasha curled into her, burying her head into her shoulder.

"everything will work itself out, i promise."

"okay." sasha mumbled. lexi wrapped her arms around her and held her while she cried. seth walked down the hall to see them and barely even looked. in his time away he had missed one thing, work. this was his constant, not sasha. if she couldn't decide whether she wanted a relationship with him or not, he'd make the decision for her. he chose, no. if she couldn't be here now, he didn't want her ever.

the hours passed and it was finally time for their meeting. sasha sat next to shawn as usual while seth and hunter sat across from them. "we wanna keep this meeting short, so you both can get to work." hunter explained. "there are two things we would like you two to brainstorm; the logo. we think that you guys should buy or create a new logo that represents what you will bring to the company. also a new slogan! with shawn and i gone, the slogans will be outdated. you are going to need new and fresh ideas to entail that you bring in new clients and keep the old. sound good?"

"sound-"

"sounds great, hunter." seth said cutting her off. her eyes wouldn't leave him, but yet he had everything in the entire room more interesting than her. she sighed, stacking up her papers while he and hunter left the room.

"trouble in paradise?" shawn asked.

"i don't even think there is a paradise." sasha groaned. shawn shook his head with a slight laugh.

"young love." he chuckled. "just remember, communication is key." he added while he exited the room to meet hunter. sasha knew that hunter assigning this task now meant he wanted a pitch by lunch tomorrow. she was in for a long night. she knew it would be less work if seth and herself were to work together, but she knew that wasn't happening.

time had passed and the office had cleared out. she was sure she was the only one left. she walked into the common area to grab her fourth couple of coffee for the night when she saw a distressed seth. he had loosened his hair, taken off his blazer and tie along with his cufflinks. "hey." she said. his head stayed forward as he poured his coffee. "can we talk?"

"nah, i'm good."

"but communication is key in a relationship."

"i'm sorry, did you just call what we have a "relationship"." he chuckled before his face dropped once again. "god, you've fallen off the wagon." seth said while he headed off into the direction of his office. he needed to be rid of her, all his planning in iowa was supposed to help, but it was harder than he thought.

"i just think that we could be something." she said, bursting into his office.

"god!" he rolled his eyes with a louder tone than usual. "i don't want that."

"what?"

"i gave you two chances, you didn't want me, so what? was i supposed to just sit around and wait for you?"

"n-"

"exactly, no." he said harshly. tears began to brim her eyes. "god, not the water works, sasha. if you wanna cry, cry to someone who cares. shut the door on your way out."

sasha was taken back. she didn't expect him to be like this towards her, at all. she did as he asked, turning to look back at him. "don't forget to shut the door."

what had she done?