Chapter 42
Logan
"I'm going to miss you so much," My mom says as she hugs me tightly. "I'm so proud of you, you know that?"
I kiss her forehead. "I know, mom. I'm going to miss you too."
"And I promise I'll call more often. It's just that work gets so hectic sometimes."
"You work too much, mom."
She starts to tear up. "I just want you and Noah to have everything you've ever wanted. That's why me and your dad do anything, really."
I pull her closer to my chest. "You don't have to anymore. We're both working, you know that. And even though I don't make much, it's more than enough to live comfortably here."
"Oh, look at you, so grown up and mature. My sweet little boy is officially a -"
"Okay, you have five seconds before I leave you here."
She laughs, "No, but all jokes aside, you're becoming the man I always knew you could be and I'm so incredibly amazed by everything you've done so far, Logan."
"Thank you," I murmur, my cheeks heating up slightly. Of course, she notices and pinches them. And we're back to the excessive display of mawkish. I push her hand away because we're still at an airport at the end of the day and there are people around us.
"Keep it up, baby, and I'll see you in a month in NYC, yeah?"
I bite my lip, figuring now might be the best time to bring it up. "About that..."
"Yeah?"
"I was thinking - and nothing is set in stone, I just had this crazy idea and wanted to pass it to you."
"What's up?"
Where do I even start? I let out a long exhale. "Uh, would you mind if maybe I stayed a little longer here?"
Her eyes widen. "You would want to stay here for longer?"
I gulp, giving her a slight nod, mostly trying to play it cool. "I don't know but I'm happy here. I just don't want to be late for school or anything-"
"Don't worry about NYU. There are some really good schools here too."
"Yeah... That'd be nice."
She grins and hugs me again. "You have no idea how much this means to me. To have you live where I grew up, and go to school where I went as well. I would absolutely love for you to stay here longer, as much as you want to."
"I mean, I'm not sure yet, mom. But I just wanted to know if that's an option."
"Of course. Absolutely, sweetheart."
"What about dad? Do you think he'd mind?"
She rolls her eyes. "You know that your dad isn't allowed to have an opinion that is different from mine."
I can't help but laugh. "Facts. Alright, well, I'll check out some of the schools here and we can talk about this more later."
She kisses both of my cheeks and I hand her the luggage back. "Have a safe flight, mom. Love you."
"I love you so much. Drive safely."
I give her one last hug before she walks towards the airport security check. Once I can't see her anymore, I walk back towards Em's car which she let me borrow. A sense of heaviness rests in my chest.
I think it was really cool that mom came down here. Our relationship has definitely improved since I was in NYC. I think that Em is right - maybe most of our issues come from my mom's "over-protectiveness" in NYC. But here, she feels that I'm safe so she lets go of the need to control my every move.
I can't believe I'm saying this, but her trip here has definitely made me see a different side of her. One that is not over-worked, stressed, and anxious. And I like that version.
I wonder if the same thing happened to me too. I definitely don't feel the same level of anxiety that I used to back in NYC. I sleep a little better and there's just generally more quietude in my mind.
I check my phone before starting to drive. It's still nine in the morning, so I definitely have to go back to work, especially with the first soccer game we have coming up tomorrow. I have three new messages.
The first one is from Sabine.
Yo, are you coming to the office today? It's your gf's time of the month again and we kind of need her to project her frustration into something else - aka, you.
I smirk at the word girlfriend. She's not my girlfriend yet and she'll one-hundred-percent destroy any probability of that happening if she knew that I let everyone else call her my girlfriend. But she won't find out. It's an unspoken agreement between me and everyone else. Except Em.
The next text is from Melanie.
Can you please get some coffee with you? We ran out. Also, this is your bitch alert that Josh accidentally pissed Em off so you better bring some donuts with you as well.
Yikes. So, she must be really pissed.
Last but not least, the final text is from no one other than the queen herself, Em.
if you wreck my car, don't bother coming back because i'll 100% kill you.
Okay, so I definitely need to have donuts with me.
The ride back to the mountains takes about an hour and a half, mostly because the roads are shitty and people here are extremely bad at driving. Like, worse than California drivers, and that says something.
I also stop to get coffee and donuts for everyone at the office. By the time I'm back, I know that I'm going to hear it from Em.
As soon as I walk into the office, Sabine takes her coffee and a donut without even saying hello. I frown at her. "Geez, where are your manners? No more donuts for you."
She shrugs. "They're not good for my diet, anyway. Hide them away from me, please."
I roll my eyes before placing the coffee and donuts on my desk. Melanie and Josh squeal when they see me. Or the donuts. And yes, squeal.
"You are an angel sent from the Gods above," Mel kisses my cheek. Now those are some proper manners.
Josh pats my back. "You need to give those numbers to your girl." He hands me a pile of papers.
"What exactly did you do to piss her off?"
"I forgot to prepare a financial report for our donor and today's the deadline."
"Yikes. She gets stressed about those. Okay, I'm going inside, people. If you don't hear from me in an hour, call the equivalent of 911 in Lebanese."
I knock twice on her door and even though I get no response, I still go inside. She looks up from her laptop for a quick second and I close the door behind me.
"Did something happen to my car?"
"Nope," I hand her the keys, donuts, and coffee.
She almost smiles. "Thanks."
That's a good sign. So I lean in and give her a quick peck on the lips. She smells so fucking good it makes me want to take her against her desk. Believe it or not, I've never actually had office sex.
Unfortunately, she pushes me away when she sees the pile of papers in my other hand. "What are those?"
"Oh. For the financial report, I guess. Josh told me to hand them to you."
She rolls her eyes. "Unbelievable. At least he knows that it's not safe for him to come in right now."
I fight the urge to smile. She looks extremely hot when she's got her boss mode on. Her hair is up in a messy bun. She's wearing her glasses, which I find extremely sexy, by the way. "I could help," I offer. "I'm good with numbers."
She sighs. "Have you worked on a budget before?"
"I can watch you do the first month and then I'll do the others."
She gulps but then lets out a slight nod. I'm taken back but actually ecstatic because it means that she finally trusts me enough to give me some serious work.
I pull a seat next to her and she opens an excel sheet. She teaches me where I find the numbers and invoices for each item and then points out at the different donor sources accordingly.
There's something about the way she explains stuff to me: she breaks down the smallest details, lets me try every new concept, asks me questions... It's sweet. She would make a great teacher.
I'm a bit distracted by the way some strands of her hair fall around her face. I can't help but pull one of them behind her ear. She's taken back for a second.
"Sorry, I just - I'm a bit used to doing that now," I confess.
Her lips twitch upwards before leaning her forehead against mine. "I'm sorry that I'm grumpy. I don't mean to take it out on you."
My heart swells at her confession. Our noses touch. "It's okay. I'll be your punching bag, I'm into this kink."
She laughs, before pressing her lips against mine. I'm always taken back by how soft her lips are - I can't help but wrap my hands around her, pulling her closer to me, because no matter how close we are, it's not close enough, not close enough to do all the things I want to do with her.
My teeth softly bite her lower lip and her mouth parts, letting my tongue in. Her fingers wrap around my hair and I move her to my lap. The moment I feel her on me, I can't help but moan. She immediately pulls away. "Be quiet! There are people outside - people I am currently extremely pissed at."
"Right, sorry, it just feels really good when you - Oh," I bite back my moan. "Yeah, when you do that." She rocks herself against me again and it takes every ounce of self control to not take her right here, right now.
She notices how flushed I am. "Sorry, I was just fixing my-" But I silence her with my lips again.
Ok time to shoot my shot.
"Have you ever had someone go down on you in your office?" I ask.
Her breath is heavy and I fight the urge to smirk. "No. and I'm on my period. So get out."
"Wait, what?"
"Out. Out, now."
"Em-" I look down to my pants, hoping she'll empathize with me for a second here. Except she doesn't give a shit. She hands me the pile of papers. "Now you know how to do the rest. Can you please have it ready at two? I need to submit it by four the latest."
She is such a tease, it hurts my fucking dick. And I have no idea how to prepare a fucking financial report.