the office ➳ lashton

seventy nine

[ side/top is what their new office is sorta looks like. ]

the new office was finally finished two weeks later and luke couldn't be more pumped to see the outcome. he had designed it and made sure he added features he felt would make it a much more enjoyable place to work at.

the new unveiling of the office would be happening any minute now and luke was anxiously tapping his foot and checking the clock as the seconds ticked by. ashton was by his side doing his best to calm him down as their coworkers were talking to pass the time.

luke had promoted ashton to be assistant boss. all he knew was that he needed ashton to be right by his side no matter what and if that meant sharing an office, luke was perfectly fine with that.

before the doors opened, luke decided he would say a few words to get everyone excited for the new office. except he couldn't do it. his stomach churned and he kept wiping his sweaty palms on his pants earning a few stares from people near by. his breath hitched and speaking seemed to be extremely difficult for him.

ashton noticed his distraught facial expression and pulled luke's hands in his. "babe, are you feeling okay?"

luke's mouth opened to speak but nothing came out. aggravated by this, he tried again, putting all his effort in such a simple task.

"i-i'm worried." luke stammered, his voice brittle.

"there's nothing to be worried about, baby. you'll reveal the renovation and show us around the office and everyone will love it, i guarantee it."

the blonde wrangled out of ashton's grip and started shaking his head. "no they won't. they'll think a little kid designed it and they'll never take me seriously! i just want everyone to like me and now they'll probably want to quit just because of me. no one thinks that a skinny blonde kid could run an office building, much less be the boss and take care of everything. they all stare at me like they know i'm going to do something wrong in any minute and it drives me crazy!"he bellowed, causing everyone around him to stop what they're doing and listen to his outbreak.

ashton quickly grabbed luke's wrist and dragged him outside the building. luke's eyes were full of fear and his breath was unsteady. his bottom lip stuck out slightly and his cheeks were flushed red making it appear he was about to break down any second.

"okay, first you need to take deep breaths, luke. the more you panic the worse everything seems." ashton calmly ordered, rubbing luke's back soothingly.

"now you need to tell yourself that you can do it, not that you can't. if you tell yourself you can't, then you believe it and nothing will help you because your mind won't believe it either. luke, you make me so proud, you stepped up as boss in such a short notice and you didn't let anything discourage you." he ranted, taking a breath and looking at luke sweetly.

"now pull yourself together and show everyone what a great boss you can be!" ashton shouted, clapping him on the shoulder.

the little pep talk luke received somehow boosted his self esteem and calmed him down.

"i can do this." luke said to himself as he walked back inside.

everyone turned to face him when the door opened and instead of cowering away in terror, he stood up straight and smiled. he couldn't let anyone know that he almost broke down just because he was worried about what other people thought of him. granted, they may of heard him as he spoke to ashton.