Love me or hate me it's still an obsession

Chapter 11

"Good morning" Ace said, bringing in a tray of tea and coffee. "Wanda, blinds, open", he shouted out.

"Yes Sir", the robot 'Wanda' voice replied from the stereo in the corner.

Effie sat up and rubbed her eyes as the natural light came in, "okay, what the fuck, a robot doing your every ask, wow I need one of those!"

Ace laughed at her upbeatedness, "woah, that is a lot of positivity for first thing in the morning..."

Effie smiled shyly, "sorry. I just had the best night sleep, this bed is like a dream!" she said, holding the fluffy covers up to her chin.

"Well, I made tea and coffee, I don't know what you prefer? Sorry. I don't have anything in for breakfast as I usually go meet Alistair on a Saturday morning."

Effie nodded, pointing at the tea, "okay..."

Ace poured the tea for her and looked at her worriedly, "what's wrong?"

Effie sipped her tea then placed it on the side, "are you embarrassed of people seeing us together?"

Ace tensed. "No... Are you hungry? Wanna come to breakfast too?"

Effie shook her head, "no, I honestly wasn't looking for an invite. I was just curious. You act so differently around me at work, that's all."

Ace leant against the wall, staring at her dainty little body in his humongous bed. "Effie, honestly, come for breakfast. I'll prove it to you that I am not worried about what other people say. It is just different. I've never dated anyone so me bringing the same girl to things is gonna cause a stir. And you know what dad says about dating employees – he is going to need a bit more convincing."

Effie picked up her tea again and leant back on the poofy pillows behind her, "fine, I will come, thank you. But just as friends, right?"

Ace smirked, running his fingers through his hair and down the back of his neck, "Effie, we can't ever just be friends.

*

"Big man! Great to see you looking so fresh. How do you do it?" Alistair asked, shaking his brother's hand as he approached the table.

Ace smirked cheekily and nodded at Suzie next to Alistair in their usual Saturday morning booth. "Have a good night both of you?"

Suzie nodded, squeezing Alistair's arm, "the best. Alistair just needed to sort himself out a bit first. You punched him hard last night..."

Ace looked at the side of Alistair's face as he turned to show him the bruise and laughed, "ooh yeah, better get that checked out. Don't want a broken face on my account, would ruin your good boy image slightly, eh mate?"

Alistair shook his head and eyed his brother angrily, "what, and boost your bad boy image? Do me a favour Ace."

"Coo-ee, hi everyone!"

Ace looked over his coffee cup at Suzie and Alistair irritably, "what the fuck is she doing here?"

Suzie smiled nonchalantly, "Paris wanted to see you. She said you had a little tiff last night and when she came to find you after your fight with muscles over here you had gone."

"You know I've brought company Suzie, don't be smart", Ace replied, turning to look at Paris as she pinched his arm.

"Are you going to let me in, or what?" Paris shrieked, excited to be back with the cool kids.

Ace shook his head as he saw Effie walk out the toilets, flattening the polo she had borrowed from Ace which she had made into a dress. Ace got out the booth to let Paris slide in and smiled at Effie as she approached the table nervously. "Oh, good morning... Effie, is it?" Paris asked, judging her completely, looking her up and down.