Author's note:
Hello everyone! I am absolutely in love with this chapter. It is a little bit different than other TWD fanfics but, not to pat myself on the back, I think it is great and I am so proud of it. Please let me know how you feel about this!!!
Enjoy!!!
-
-
Word count: 2,570
-
-
"Butterflies."
-
-
"Virginia Real Estate, how can I help you?" I answered, picking up the phone. A curly lead connected the phone to a dial pad which was chunky and black, it had a faded yellow smiley face sticker stuck on the corner.
"Yes, ma'am, of course. For what time would you like to book the viewing?" I said in response to the woman's request with an overly enthusiastic corporate voice. The woman's voice unfortunately had an awful nasal tinge to it making every word she spoke sting into my ears like forks on a plate, she must have been a relatively elderly woman perhaps in her late sixties and with a lot of money based on the home she was booking to view. Maybe she had been searching for a home to live out a quiet retirement but that was none of my business, anyway.
"Certainly, ma'am. That's all booked for you," I continued, my voice as cheerful and fake as ever, "have a nice day, now. Bye!" I finished, placing the phone back down onto the chunky base and as I put it back it made a gentle click noise which I always found satisfying at the end of a call. A sigh of relief escaped from my mouth and I threw my back up against my red office chair, tilting my head back as I closed my eyes for a moment; it was short lived however as I had to get back to work, as unfortunately the bills weren't known for paying themselves.
My eyes glanced over at the clock which was situated above an open entryway which led to the staff room and toilets, the clock read eleven - not long until lunch now. The clock was relatively small and also had the date displayed beneath the hands in big, bold red writing which contrasted poorly against the white back making it incredibly hard to read from a distance; all I needed to remember is that it was Friday and to my relief I didn't have to work again until Monday.
My fingers clicked and clacked on my keyboard as I typed away figures onto an Excel spreadsheet, mind you I had no idea what any of these figures meant but there were people who did, therefore I had to do it. I hadn't been working here long, perhaps six months, I was already more knowledgeable than most of my soulless colleagues that had been here for years and this was my first proper job really; unless you count dog-walking as a proper job.
The phone rang again but this time there was a gentleman on the other end, he sounded fairly young but he wasn't from the South; you can tell a lot about a person just from their voice. I wondered what people could tell from my voice, they could probably tell that my over enthusiastic work voice was a facade and that I was incredibly overworked - both statements being true, of course. Once I was done with the call I placed the phone down and it made that same satisfying click. It was finally time for my lunch break, the last hour certainly had dragged on a bit too much for my liking.
I saw someone begin to approach me in the corner of my eye just as I was about to get out of my chair and bust out of this joint for an hour or so, it was my boss. Fuck, please don't give me more work, I thought to myself. Instead, he came over and rested his hands on my desk with a grin riddled across his face.
"(Y/N)!" He said with a joyful tone about him.
"Simon." I replied not as enthusiastically, smiling slightly to show politeness towards my superior.
Simon was my boss, he was a just as tall of a man then and he was devilishly good looking. He was young when we met but nonetheless older than me, nearing his mid thirties - he had short brown hair which was starting to recede which matched with his dark wood coloured eyes and stubble which speckled his angular jaw. I could tell a lot from his voice too, he was a confident man, someone who knew what he wanted and knew he could get it. Perhaps that's what made me find him incredibly attractive, or maybe it's what made him insufferable to be around.
"Ain't it your birthday next week?" He asked me casually. I was quite taken aback by this question, Simon had never seemed to have taken an interest in me prior to this encounter and I don't think I had told any of my colleagues it was my birthday coming up, therefore he must have taken it upon himself to check.
"Y-yes, actually." I laughed nervously when I replied.
"How old you gonna be?" He asked, nonchalantly swivelling a chair around from the desk in front of me to sit on. He sat on the chair resting his head in his right hand, the elbow of his arm on the desk. He looked at me attentively, his gaze never leaving my eye line, almost like a puppy.
"Twenty-four." I said.
"Wow." He returned, taking his arm away from his face as he sat up in the chair, "You're a big girl, huh?"
"Certainly does feel like it —— I'm getting old, boss." I half joked, hoping he wouldn't take it as me saying that I hate working here even though that wasn't far from the truth.
"You?" He chuckled, he crossed his arms as he leaned back on the chair causing it to spin slightly, "You don't look a day over twenty." He said with the same dazzlingly white smile as he had initiated the conversation with.
"Oh, Simon —" I hoped the blush which I felt flood my cheeks wasn't too noticeable, "You're too kind."
He knew what he had done and he loved it, I could tell by the annoyingly handsome smirk on his face.
"So... your birthday..." He said with his voice low and gruff which was enough to make any girl feel weak the knees, "How'd you feel about dinner with me? Assuming you don't already have plans."
"Dinner?" I questioned, almost choking on the word.
"Yes, only if you want to." He assured, cocking one eyebrow.
I was slightly startled by the question, this seemed inconceivably out of character for Simon seeing as he had hardly spoken to me in these past months. Yet I didn't really know Simon and hadn't cared to before now, from a distance he seemed like a giant asshole who protruded unnecessarily confident energy. However upon talking to him face to face for a few minutes made me think that maybe I should get to know him a bit more, hell, he clearly took a liking to me and it wouldn't hurt to return the interest - even if it were just a little.
The silence which I had created with the lack of an immediate response became slightly uncomfortable as I could see Simon was anxiously waiting for a response, he was quite easy to read no matter how confident of a face he wore, "Sure, why not." I said, breaking the ice.
Simon's face relaxed once I uttered my response, his smirk evaporated and instead the corners of his mouth turned up slightly which revealed an ever so slight glimpse of his teeth.
"Great." He tapped his hands rhythmically on the hard surface of the desk as he stood up from the chair in which he was sat, as he did so I admired his tall stature and the slightly tanned colour of his skin. He turned around to face me after he had tucked the chair back under the desk in front of me, he then looked at me and asked casually, "What food you into, (Y/N)?"
"Anything, really." I said trying to hide my newfound excitement.
"Right... 'anything', huh?" He quoted.
"Anything." I assured.
Simon flashed me a soft smile as he head towards the entryway which, positioned above it, had the clock with the ridiculous red date. He stopped in the entry, holding the side with one of his hands, "Enjoy your lunch, (Y/N)." He said, glancing back over to me.
"I will, boss." I assured, my voice now as enthusiastic as his.
Once Simon had disappeared into the hallways I grabbed my bag from under my desk, it was a worn Dior saddle bag which I got for my eighteenth birthday in 1999. I loved this bag, it was a gift from my mother and you could tell it had been loved from the fraying white edges from extensive use. Inside was my purse and inside that was a crinkled five dollar note I had luckily fished out from the side of my couch the night prior, this is what I had hoped to buy my lunch for today with. So, I flung my bag on my shoulder and exited the office for the remaining forty-five minutes of lunch hoping to find somewhere to eat.
My favourite place to eat was a little cafe located just around the corner from the estate agent's just next to the pharmacy, they made fresh bread daily which was always a delight however of course they were closed on a Friday - I guessed I'd just have to hurry to the corner store and grab a miserable pre-packed sandwich.
-
Once lunch was over and I had forced a sandwich down me I headed back to the office, it was only until now that I discovered a sandwich that could be simultaneously dry and soggy. I looked on the bright side however and told myself that I was halfway done for the day once I got back to the office and I could relax back at home at the end of the day, I knew Simon would occupy my mind that night - he certainly had made an impression despite seemingly avoiding me for the past months I had worked here, I wondered why he only showed interest in my now.
The day dragged on, I answered phone call after phone call and filled in spreadsheet after spreadsheet. As soon as the clock struck five I was out of there, I swiftly logged off my computer and dashed out of the building hoping my co-workers didn't notice my eagerness to leave. I had no car, I couldn't afford it, so I had to catch the dreaded public bus back to my apartment building. Luckily, thanks to the rapid rate which I left work, I was able to catch the 5:06 bus opposed to the 5:27 I would usually get; the extra twenty minutes really did make all the difference on a Friday night.
As soon as I got home I flung off my black pumps which were made of the most ridiculous fake leather which ground my achilles into shreds, leaving the most attractive stain of blood on the back of my beige tights which hurt like hell to peel off. By now I was used to it, I had been at college for the past five years doing a soul-destroying degree in finance just so I could say I had done something with my life but the student debt certainly had taken its toll. This was easily shown by the lack of food in my cupboards for dinner, I decided I didn't want dinner anyway; I still had the sour taste of the sandwich I had for lunch in my throat and the thought of eating anything else made my stomach turn.
So, instead I decided to curl up with a new novel I was reading. It was a love story, these sorts of stories were my guilty pleasure and I wasn't afraid to admit it. For hours I got lost in this story, it was a story of a teenage girl who fell in love with a someone she shouldn't have; a dangerous man who was hiding a devastating secret from her. I flipped between the pages like an excited little girl feeling immersed in the pages as if I were actually there in the world with them, experiencing everything they felt - the love, the hate and the lust. I loved all of it.
Before I knew it the clock had struck ten and I was exhausted, I had worked hard today and I needed a long nights sleep to recover. My pyjamas were already laid out on my white bedsheets, tonight I was to wear my pink pants with cute pandas holding bamboo shoots on them along with a white vest to hopefully keep me cool in this blazing Virginian heat. I slipped them on, throwing my work clothes into the wash basket; I had to take them to the laundromat in the morning to ensure they would be ready for another week of desk labour starting Monday. I decided it smart to check my emails before I went to bed in case I missed anything of importance from today, I hoped there wasn't so I could have a relaxed weekend - I needed it. My computer was a few years old and took a while to boot up, so I turned it on and was greeted with the iconic start up sound.
Whilst I waited I did all my nightly routines, I scrubbed my face, cleaned my teeth and drank a good glass of water before I slept (before I brushed my teeth, of course). The computer was whirring away, it sounded like it could explode - I would be wise not to touch the monitor if I wanted to avoid a burn. I hunched over my desk, not being bothered to get my fold away chair out from the wardrobe where I kept it, and opened my emails. To my complete surprise Simon had sent me an email, the first he had ever sent to me directly.
Butterflies filled my stomach upon seeing his name on his email in the address bar, no man had ever made me feel this way - not like this. The email read:
To (Y/N),
How are you? I hope you are good.
I saw you scramble out from work today, do you do that every day? It's quite funny actually.
I wanted to apologise if I seemed a bit forward today, in honesty I have been wanting to ask you out for ages and saw your birthday coming up and it seemed like the perfect opportunity (you have Jill at reception to thank for reminding me, otherwise I would have forgotten).
I hope to see you Monday, have a great weekend.
Regards,
Simon.
My cheeks flushed red when reading the email, of course I had told Jill about my birthday and of course she had told Simon; he really knew how to make a woman blush but perhaps it was just me but I sure as hell could get used to this feeling and I knew tonight's sleep would be great. Smitten by his message I got into bed, snuggling up to my pillow - my cheeks radiated warmth into the pillow like a nuclear reactor. I picked up my book and attempted to finish the last few pages, alas my tiredness fought hard against my will to read and I dropped off thinking about all the good things to come.