Infinite ✓

[5] - Euphoria

“Nope, not when Jeremy is all up in that head,” Minnie winked and Rory blushed a furious red, glaring at them before picking up a piece of beef and violently chewing.

“You really should stop teasing him, I’m afraid that one day his blushing face would explode like an overripe tomato.”

Paul’s statement sent everyone on the table laughing madly, even Rory managed a soft chuckle at that as he said, “very funny, Paul, very funny.”

“I am intensely funny thank you very much.”

The idle chatter continued until lunch was over and they headed back to the office and to their work stations. Because it was Wednesday, there was no tutoring for either the kids or the adults, so it was like an off day for the employees of Walker Design Studios. The place was open for people to come and browse through, admiring the art and having a quiet day.

“Hey,” Rory called as he made his way into the empty studio for the kids, spotting Simon sitting in the corner with a pair of white earphones stuck into his ears.

“Pardon?” Simon replied with a questioning eyebrow raised, tugging the earphones out.

“I said hey,” Rory grinned, “why didn’t you join us for lunch?”

“Not in the mood,” Simon shrugged, plugging back his earphones, a clear sign that he didn’t feel like talking.

Rory frowned in concern, only then noticing the bags underneath Simon’s eyes and how tense and stressed out he looked. Sighing, he turned around and headed to the main room where Minnie and Laura were currently talking to some of the visitors about the paintings on the wall, while Paul stood in the corner, watching avidly to make sure no one got lost or had any questions.

“Hey,” Rory whispered when he got beside Paul, “do you know what’s wrong with Simon?”

Paul frowned and glanced towards the kids’ studio, the door open so he could see Simon sitting in the corner quite clearly. He shook his head. “What’s wrong with him?”

Rory shrugged, “he looks really stressed.”

“Excuse me?” an old lady asked, approaching them, “I can’t seem to find the ladies’?”

“Just walk down that corridor, to your left,” Paul instructed and Rory heard footsteps, turning around to glance at the stairs where the sound was coming from.

His heart gave a violent lurch when he spotted Jeremy coming down the stairs, a small smile on his face. He quickly turned his gaze away, heart beating violently.

“Hm,” Paul said, oblivious of Rory’s burning cheeks as their boss approached, “I hope he’s okay. Perhaps something happened during the weekend.”

“Yeah, perhaps.”

“Rory?”

Despite knowing that Jeremy was approaching, Rory couldn’t help the way he flinched and then blushed furiously, cursing himself under his breath. He turned around with a beaming smile, “Yes, Mr Walker?”

Jeremy grinned mischievously, the action making Rory curious and nervous at the same time, “Could you come up to my office for a bit? I need to discuss something with you.”

Rory licked his lips and glanced at Paul, who only shrugged his shoulders helplessly at him. Minnie and Laura were giving him perverted looks from across the room and he blatantly ignored them, walking after Jeremy because the man was already heading up the stairs.

Rory chewed thoughtlessly on his lower lip, wondering what on earth Jeremy was going to talk to him about. His grin meant it was a good thing, right? So was it a promotion? No, it couldn’t be a promotion. He’d barely worked here for a month! Oh my God, what if Jeremy had found his anonymous art online and somehow traced it back to him?