I'm Meant To Hate You

28

"Go home, Kiana." Mel nudged me out of my slumber. She quickly turned and left as I glared at her, huffing as I stood up from my seat. I piled countless pieces of paperwork as I tried to tidy my desk as best as I could whilst barely being awake. My feet slowly took me out of my office, halting in front of Emily's desk. I hadn't seen her all day, was it a coincidence that she just happened to avoid my presence throughout the whole day? I think not. But what have I done to make her avoid me? I had barely seen her yesterday either, and considering that she was my fucking assistant, I would have expected her to be a lot more present to be able to assist me.

"I'll see you tomorrow babe, I'm working the night shift. Get some extra work in. But you need to go home, I'd even suggest having a day off tomorrow but I know how stubborn you are. You're going to burn yourself out, Kiana. Go and rest." Mel spoke from ahead of me as she pressed on the elevators buttons.

"I'm fine." I muttered, dismissing her concerns as I waited beside her for the doors to the elevator to open. Once they did, we entered silently. But she couldn't resist sharing her opinion.

"No you're not. You didn't go home last night. Me and Laurel were worried when you didn't warn us. You're lucky Emily stayed or else we would've sent out a search party." She mumbled, clearly disappointed in my lack of communication.

"Emily was here last night?" I couldn't hide my shock. I didn't even register that there was anyone else even in the building last night, let alone someone I usually couldn't resist acknowledging.

"All night. Where do you think she is now? She's at home, sleeping. Which is where you should be too. I've called a driver, you're not taking your car when you can hardly keep your eyes open. Love you sweetie." She said as she pushed me out of the elevator.

I was surprised that I noticed the driver stood waiting for me, he nearly grabbed onto me when he saw my delirious state, but refrained as I got ahold of myself. My thoughts had moved from sleeping to Emily. Why didn't she just go home?
What made her stay with me the whole night, I don't remember talking to her. In fact, I can't remember the last conversation we had.

Once we arrived to my apartment, the driver did usher me around this time, taking me into the front desk to allow them to deal with me. The man on the front desk carefully took ahold of me, dragging me up to my apartment before knocking on the door and waiting for a response. I didn't recognise the guy who was helping me immediately, but he had a very interesting pattern in which he knocked the door, and I knew then that he was the usual man I saw. I had never really acknowledged him before, as I had never actually needed his assistance in the entire time that I had lived here. But here we are, there's a first for everything.

The door opened slightly to reveal Emily's deep hazel eyes, her frown increasing as she looked over me being supported by the man.

"I've got her." She mumbled before thanking him and then placing one of her arms around my back as she put one of mine over her shoulders. She walked me to the sofa before gently allowing me to collapse into it. She then went back to shut and lock the front door, before shuffling back towards my lifeless body on the sofa. Her hand brushed a stray piece of hair out of my face, making me hum in content. "You need to slow down Ki. There's no rush to run the business, I think you need to consider bringing in a helping hand because this isn't healthy." She murmured, caressing my cheek. I breathed out heavily, allowing sleep to overcome me.

—————

"Ki, come to bed." A voice whispered out to me. I groaned as I placed an arm over my head, refusing to wake up. "Don't make me give you the silent treatment." The voice warned as I slowly rubbed my eyes, squinting up to them.

Emily's hands reached out to lift me into a standing position. I don't know if it was the sleep, or whether it was the feelings running through me that made me act, but I placed my hands on the back of her legs and lifted her into me, her legs tying behind my lower back and her hands gripping my shoulders harshly. "Don't fucking drop me." She warned, making me hum as I sleepily walked us to her bedroom, carefully setting her down before crawling over her and lying flat on top of her, her legs still clasped around my body. I buried my head into her neck as I inhaled deeply, before releasing the air and settling in comfortably.

I didn't spend time thinking about the fact that this was the first time I was in her room. I didn't think into how intoxicating the smell of her bedroom was, or how at peace I felt in her presence and in her safe space. All I wanted to do, was go back to sleep in her arms.

"You're such a softie." She whispered, running her hands through my hair and massaging my scalp gently.

"Only for you." I thought. Well, at least I assumed that it was in my head. I didn't dwell on that either.

"Don't say things like that." She mumbled.

"Don't make me vulnerable." I muttered back, still unmoving. My eyes remained shut despite the fact that I was much more awake now. The denial I was feeling towards actually being present and awake overwhelmed everything else. If I was awake, all of this would become too real. Too real for her anyway. I didn't want to scare her away again.

"Go to sleep." She said, finalising any more room for a back and forth between us. I hadn't noticed whether it was day now or still dark outside. I didn't notice if Laurel was here. I don't know if I was dressed or not. All I knew was that I was comfortable, and had a lot of love for the woman whose body I had melted against.

"I love you." The words floated away from my lips. I also wasn't sure whether I had said that, or whether it was just something I really wanted to say. I didn't second guess any of the events, I just fell away, into a deep sleep.