Somebody to hold t.h.

Chapter Four

Evie POV
Surprisingly, it is incredibly hard to make yourself stop thinking about your boss. It has been a week since we spent our lunch break together on the bench, getting to know each other a little but the memories and bits and pieces of our conversation were still constantly replaying in my mind. It is very irritating. Due to the group project I actually see him pretty often in a meeting. He is very good at his job I got to admit that. As a boss he is definitely very strict with his employees, always rooting for perfection and efficiency. He sure is a confident businessman. I bet he does not understand my struggle of feeling like I am just pretending to be that strong but underneath all that I am just a lost child, trying not to be caught.

It has also been way too long since I've seen any of my friends, especially Jake, and I am longing for a big hug. It gets harder and harder each day pretending I am this confident and independent when all I want to do is cuddle up to somebody in my bed and let all of my responsibilities go while being small.

Since it was very sunny out today I decided to spend my lunch break at the same park bench I have sat with Tom the other day. Elizabeth and I have grown quite a bit closer over the last few weeks and today she actually convinced me to go out for a couple of drinks. Normally I'd prefer to stay in my bed but I actually am a sucker for a night spent dancing.

"Evie, wait.", I heard someone yell after me as I was about to reach the bench. I turned around to see no other than Mr. Holland-Tom walking towards me with a grin on his face. God he is handsome in his grey suit.

In his hands he is holding two bowls of quinoa salad. "I brought lunch. Do you mind if I sit with you?", he said while handing me one of the bowls. "Wow thank you so much. And not at all, please sit with me Tom."

We had a little small talk while eating about work, the project and me settling into this town. Turns out Tom has been living here way longer and actually never really explored the city much since he has been working non stop the last couple of years. Maybe that is why he is so incredibly successful despite being close to my age.

"I really admire the way you treat the other employees. You obviously expect perfection since you want to achieve a lot but you are never rude when it is not needed.", wow Evie you kiss ass.
"Thank you Evie", he flashed me a genuine smile. "You know sometimes I can be very rude when something isn't working out the way I wanted it to and then I am always really sorry. This company is just very close to my heart and I want everyone to be as successful as possible."

"I get that but I feel like every human being is like that. I've never seen someone that doesn't loose it once in a while and that's totally okay."
"I bet you've never done that.", he chuckled at me.
"Oh you don't even know half of it Tom!", I exclaimed. "I may look small but I can be really difficult when things don't work out my way sometimes.", I admit.
"You do look small, Evie. That's what sets you apart from all the other women here."
"My height?", I asked confused.
"Of course not. I've seen you at work, you fit perfectly into this company given your motivation and work ethic. But then sometimes you seem very innocent and pure, which is really not what most of these people are. I mean look how shallow and shiny the building alone looks, people have done a lot of messed up things to work their way up but you really don't seem like doing that."

Wow. Tom Holland, my boss, a strong and successful businessman has just complimented me in the most beautiful way.

"Wow that actually means a lot to me, Tom.", it is still weird to call him that given I have so much respect for him. Tom smiled at me, leaving me in total awe. He seemed so young and carefree in that moment. His eyes were glistening, reflecting the sunlight and the way his soft looking lips curled upwards kinda made me go crazy. Before I could realize I was staring at him and he was staring right back his smart watch beeped, reminding us that lunch break was about to be over.

"We should be heading back now.", he said reluctantly breaking our eye contact. When he turned to walk towards the building out of reflex I reached to put my hand into his. Luckily I realized what I was doing before I could actually touch him and pulled my hand away immediately. Let's hope he didn't notice that.

Our ways parted after a very silent, but not the awkward kind, elevator ride. Elizabeth came up to me to give me the details about our trip the the bar.

Tom POV

What the fuck did I just say to Evie during lunch? She is innocent and pure? Have I never spoken to a woman before? Besides she is still my employee and what's been happening during lunch was anything but professional, this has to stop. Back in the office I dismiss the topic in my head and get to work on my files. This Evie has to get out of my head as soon as possible, which is why I text my mate Harrison and ask him to go out for a drink tonight. It's not like me to behave this muchy over a girl and I don't like the turn that this is taking at all.

Still I couldn't get the moment out of my head that I've turned around and she tried to grab my hand, at least that's what her movement seemed like to be for me.