Yes, Sir

7.3

Mahalia downs a large gulp of her coffee, only to have the liquid dribble down her chin and onto her shirt from yesterday. She glances down with a bummed expression before looking up at Austin.

"Thank you for the coffee, Austin. And we are clear on the terms of my introductions, correct?" She points her perfectly shaped and painted fingernail to Austin.

He mocks her small interaction, "Are you coming Saturday?" He replies to which Mahalia nods her head, "Then I'll take you around the entire ballroom until someone asks you to dance, Cinderella," he laughs, causing Brent to snort.

"I do not think this girl has done a chore her damn life."

Brent and Mahalia separate into their own conversation of bickering while I turn all attention to Austin who was smiling at the scene.

"Thank you for the coffee, baby," I whisper so the entertainment of early morning fighting would not leave the streets of Manhattan.

Austin wraps an arm around my waist and pulls my body to his own. "You're welcome, Love."

His change of nickname was refreshing and gave me that sense of pride. Austin would never use such a term so loosely, and yet he accepted the use for someone as unimportant as myself. There were eight million people in New York City alone, including each individual district, and I was the one able to tame Austin Wood.

By the time Mahalia and Brent has settled their argument, I was ready to head home to awaken with a scolding hot shower and a fresh pair of clothes.

"You two should probably get to work before you get fired. I hear your boss is an asshole," I attempt to sound as though Austin was not sitting right beside me but I was well aware that the joke was nothing more than a way to gain Austin's attention in a way that did not shout desperation.

"Funny, Lainey. Because the other night you were saying-"

Before he could finalize his sentence and reveal the details to our sex life, I hug Mahalia and Brent briefly before saying goodbye to the two. A night well spent was overall needed and I was happy to have had such an opportunity with the most amazing two young workers at Wood Enterprise.

•———•

Austin had pulled into Manhattan traffic moments ago and we were driving through the city of New York awaiting arrival into my borough. I held onto Austin's hand as we winded through traffic and relief struck me as we finally edged closer to home.

I trusted his driving and his judgment, I just never had the same excitement for being away from home for too long. There was something about the comfortability and scent of Brooklyn that could make you both gag and feel nostalgic at the same time. I enjoyed being in an adverse area with neighbors who stayed awake all hours of the night screaming in languages I could never understand. It just had that certain calm to it that the blinking lights and honking horns of New York just could not fulfill.

Austin pulls to the side of my apartment building and I lean over and press my lips to his for a brief second.

"You can head to my Gram's shop, I just need to take a shower and I can meet you there," I smile as I unbuild myself from the vehicle.

Austin shakes his head and turns the ignition of the car off. "That won't do. I drove you here, I'll drive you out. What kind of gentleman do you think I am, Laine Bennett?"

I shrug my shoulders as a million and one responses fill the voided space in my mind. However, I had a goal and an important task at hand and banter was simply out of the question.