Laura's Pov
"I'm freezing"
"I know"
Ah,. cold early autumn mornings.. don't we all just love them?
You get to wake up to an annoying alarm, only to stay in bed for an extra five... or ten minutes, because the bed is so cozy and warm, that just the thought of crispy cold air, gives you a chill.
You sit up and stare at the wall for another extra minute, wondering if it's even worth it anymore? Should I just cancel? What excuse can I come up with? Why do adults have to work? All the while also thinking about how nice it'll be when you finally hit that bed again that night.
You wait a few extra minutes for the water to warm up in the bathroom, still shaking from the cold even though you're in a sweater.
Once you touch the warm water,.. a part of your soul seeps back into you, as you keep your hands under the water.. suddenly feeling even more sleepy.
The getting ready process has to be quick, but at the same time, you're procrastinating your every move.
Once you get out of your house, you'll realize... fuck, it's raining.
And then you'll realize, damn it, it's windy as well.
We all go through a version of that each morning- I knew because each person I lived with expressed a different version of hatered for the day than the other.
Not one of my friends was a morning person.
However, I didn't mind waking up early as much, but this is also coming from someone who actually likes their job, which is a privilege.
I didn't mind a bit of rain or the storms and lighting either. I wasn't sure if it was because I was so used to it, as someone who'd lived in New York for a while now, or just because the moody weather had some way of making me feel safe.. oddly enough.
I tried to magnify the feeling, by throwing on a knitted sweater and pairing brown boots with my usual dress pants.
Cami and I went up to our floor as usual, except it was a bit different this time around. We had to part ways.
She acknowledged that, by giving me a pout when we reached the door.
"I can't believe you have to be in the office now. Do I have to tell reception to call in order to get inside and talk to you?" she thought out loud, then stared at me.
"You don't have to tell Gabby" I laughed a little "Just walk in. Ross is gonna have to deal with that"
"I have yet to have a conversation with that man. I feel nervous just thinking about it" she made a face, and I laughed, weaving her off.
Oh, she felt nervous?
After last night, I wasn't sure how to act around him anymore.
My brain had went over a thousand scenerios of what I would actually say if he brought it up.. or if my life outside of this job would cause some sort of issue, like I wasn't allowed to have two jobs, or maybe he just wouldn't see me seriously at all anymore.
Not that I thought he saw me in a serious manner to begin with. The man begged me for me to come back just to entertain himself.
I had to stop thinking his opinion of me held value.
"You'll be fine. So will I" I gave her a small smile.
Hope is what keeps us alive, right?
"Oh I'll make sure of that. I'll probably look up and stare at you through the glass in the office" she chuckled.
"Not unless I close the blinds" I winked, then turned around to walk down the hallway.
"Marano!" she thretened.
I had to laugh.
Once I reached the door to the office, my first instinct was to knock, then I remembered, my position.
This was technically my office now, right?
So I raised my chin a bit, letting out a sigh, before opening the door instead.
Once I walked in, I noticed Ross was already there.
Of course, he'd have to be early.
"Good morning" I greeted, trying to be nice, and he raised his head from the paperwork, staring at me.
His stare immediately took me back to last night, making me stop in my tracks to think.
He'd seen me. He was there.
I knew that. He knew it.
Would he say it? Would he acknowledge it? His friends whistled at me, which was pretty embarrassing.
And yet I couldn't stop thinking about that smirk, like he knew something I didn't.
Usually, I didn't like telling anyone in corporate about my second other job (except Camille, of course), not because it's some big secret.. but I was certain they'd want to come to the bar and listen to me.
And that's basically a nightmare. I've always thought singing to strangers was better. Even when my close friends, that I didn't felt judged by attended the bar, I still felt a buzz of nerves before I walked on stage.
Ross gave me a simple nod, and I looked away, once again resisting the urge to roll my eyes.
It's common human decency to at least say Good Morning.
Was I asking for too much?
Fine, I'm addressing him no longer. Noted.
I noticed my seat next to his was ready, and my stuff had all been moved from my box.
Placing down my folder, I looked around the office, still quite literally not believing that this was going to be where I worked for the next three months.
I was still a little shocked about the way things had rolled around, but hey, at least I was here.
It was silent as I went over to the windows, wanting to get a peak at the view before I sat down.
It wasn't anything I hadn't seen before- the large buildings, but.. in the storm? They were most definitely a view.
The wet look of the streets, the traffic, the bypassers holding umbrellas, the rain droplets falling on the glass...
Marvelous.
"I'm gonna need you to sign this" Ross spoke up, startling me from my little calm state.
I turned to look at him, and he stared at me.
"You're barely even on the job and already getting distracted"
Annoyed at the statement, I narrowed my eyes under his stare.
Well I'm sorry I have a soul, unlike you.
"I was just admiring the view, before I stay sat for the next six hours" I spoke up, then tilted my head "Have you ever looked out of the widow?"
He stared at me, and I couldn't exactly read him, but only knew he'd actually heard me, when he rolled his eyes.
He's rolling his eyes at me?
Sir.
"Don't make me repeat myself" he spoke up, pointing at the paperwork.
I sighed, walking over to him, then, for the first time, sat down on my chair.
Ah, just the seat felt such higher quality, so comfortable, and even though shared, the space on the desk was quite good.
Investing some money on new chairs for the employees's had suddenly became a priority.
Anyway, Ross had left a bit of distance in between us, which I was grateful for, despite how arrogant he was being.
I picked up the paperwork from his pile, then started to read through it, only to realize it was the paperwork of the agreement.
But I thought-
"John let it up to me this morning"
Oh.
Okay, mind reader.
I nodded at the claim, and proceeded to read through the whole thing before I signed my signature, next to that of Ross's.
Once I did, I placed the papers in front of him again.
He picked it up, staring at my signature, before putting it away, wordlessly.
See, maybe doing this with him wouldn't be that bad. I just have to ignore him the whole time.
Jesus.
So, even though a little nervous, I opened up my folder, and lap top, as well as pulling out a bunch of my items to place them on top of the table.
Once I had everything I needed over on my side, I looked up, noticing the opened blinds.
And, the stares..
So many stares.
I hadn't noticed them until now, but people seemed to be curious about what was going on in the office. I was certain that all the attention was because of Ross.
It wasn't every day that an attractive, handsome man, suddenly became your boss.
Now that I felt more than a pair of eyes on me, I was certain I wouldn't be able to work this way.
So, calmly, I spoke up "Do you mind if we close the shutters?"
Ross turned his head to me, and I stared at him.
Every single time he looked at me, closely, I could feel myself become more and more familiar with his face, his features.
Suddenly, his lip curled into a smile.
"What are you trying to hide?"
I swallowed, unsure of my next move here.
Men.
Why did his mind go straight to it? Was that all men thought about, every hour of the day?
It must be exhausting, getting tortured by those thoughts every day, only when you actually get the opportunity..
You last three minutes.
"I'm trying to get comfortable" my eyebrows narrowed, nodding to the windows.
He stared, noticing what I'd just noticed a few seconds ago.
An audience.
With a sigh, he didn't look at me, and called the cleaner.
She walked in not one second later, shutting them. I thanked her as she left.
"So.. these are John's papers I presume" I pointed to the huge pile of papers we had to get through.
It seemed like I'd have to converse a little more than I wanted to, in order to actually get things done.
"Yes" he didn't look up from his lap top.
I rolled my eyes.
"Did you look through them?"
"Would they be perfectly stacked right in front of me, if I had?" he questioned quick enough, whipping his head to glare at me.
"With all due respect, maybe you should calm down" I sat back "You're being pretty emotional"
I couldn't help but smirk at my own words.
He raised his head to stare at the ceiling, and I saw his jaw clench.
I wanted to giggle like a little girl.
"Hilarious. How long have you been waiting to say that?" he raised a brow, surprising me with his calm demeanor, yet sarcastic words.
"For a bit now I'd say" I nodded.
"You've got a smart mouth on you, you know that?" he turned on his chair, facing me completely.
The sudden attention caught me off guard.
"Good" I swallowed "Maybe it'll uh.. be useful in business meetings"
I was a little distracted by his eyes as I spoke, and he didn't stop staring at me for a good second, making me freeze.
He smirked slightly, before returning back to his lap top.
I felt relief wash over me, and let out the air I'd been deprived of in that minute.
Was this what they called, taking someone's breath away?
Or was it just anxiety?
Either way, I was stuck with him now.
Ross Pov
"So, John didn't explain any of this to you?" she spoke up, going through the papers scattered in between us.
There was no longer a clear line of where anything went at that point- the whole table had been taken over and our things scattered everywhere.
It was certainly not something I thought I'd be okay with. Usually, I liked to keep my space, my space.
"He did say we wouldn't be needing him, and just communicated with each other instead" I cleared my throat, sitting back.
Communication was a clear issue between us, I'd come to realize, which really, wasn't great when we were supposed to partner up for the position.
A stressful sigh left her lips, and she leaned her elbows on the table, as her hands went to the back of her neck, massaging it slightly.
Her short hair made it easy to see her hands, a starr contrast to what I'd seen that night in the club.
As I started at her back, I realized just how tiny she was.
It was odd, as she seemed to be taller at first. Her legs were long, I'd noticed that, and her delicate fingers. The pretty waist, I'd noticed yesterday.
But, her figure was not only slimmer, but smaller.
Maybe it was the sweater tricking my brain- either way, she looked comfortable.
"I really think he just left his job in my hands" she grumbled, looking back at me.
She looked so annoyed, I let out a small laugh, before speaking up.
"Let's just get through this" I raised my eyebrows instead "I just need the basic information on the New York branch specifically. I can go from there"
"I'm sure you can" she scrunched her nose, slightly mocking me with her voice as she looked down.
I rolled my eyes, snatching some of the paperwork from her. It was clear she wasn't going to say anything productive anyway.
"I was reading that" her palm came flying on top of the paperwork, as she glared at me.
I let out a deep sigh, and stared at her.
She didn't look away.
Fuck, was I losing it? Usually that's all it would take for someone to learn their place.
It was clear she wasn't taking any hints, or maybe she just didn't want to. I'd never had to deal with someone so damn disagreeable in my job. I thought I'd let all that in my past.
But she.. questioned my authority. Maybe she did see me as that successful manager before, but she sure as hell wasn't seeing me as that now, that her arm outstretched in front of me, refusing to let me read the papers.
She wasn't scared.
It was both frustrating and.. well..
"I'm not tryna play any games Marano" I spoke up, wanting to get this over with.
It was simply childish. Way too childish, for the position we were sitting on.
"Oh, I'm not playing either" her voice was quiet, but her face stayed serious.
I noticed just how big her eyes were. Dark, doe eyes.
"I think you're a bit confused" I crossed my hands.
"I've never been more clear on what I want" she sent me a fake smile, as she snatched her papers back.
"You know who I am .. right?" there was a low laugh to my voice.
I'd never been the guy to resort to that line, but she was genuinely making me question myself. Question, if she really did her research or not.
"The prick that's trying to seal my job" she spoke up, looking back at me like she was daring me to say any different.
And something about that look, made me think she knew exactly who I was.
She just didn't care.
Damn.
"Is that how you usually speak to your co-workers?" I raised a brow.
She'd been offending me for a while now, whether she knew it or not, not only with her words, but with her actions.
Questioning me, not answering me when I needed answering, disagreeing on everything, and I wasn't sure if she was disagreeing on my decisions and thoughts, or simply because she didn't like me.
I wasn't the type of person to blow up in a second, but if was infuriating.
She acted like she owned this place, and from what I remembered, I was the reason she was even in this office to begin with.
Perhaps I'd made a mistake there.
"The annoying ones" she replied with such innocence in her voice, it managed to annoy me further.
Why did I have the feeling she used to be the teacher's pet in school?
Maybe, that's the reason John called her one of his best employees. She listened to him.
But where's that little girl now?
The woman in front of me bad a mind of her own- she didn't feel threatened, even knowing I had the power to reverse this opportunity.
I respected that. I found it intriguing, weirdly enough.
"Starting to think I made a mistake bringing you into this office" I raised a brow, wanting to see if she'd have a reaction to those words.
"Oh, you did" she nodded, then looked back at me "Because I'll beat you"
Well, then. Certainly a reaction.
"Put the claws away kitten" I whispered, leaning in "You don't know what you're up against"
The proximity seemed to do it for her, as I noticed her face expression change slightly. Her eyes shifted slightly- she was nervous.
Yet, she didn't back up, nor did she say anything either.
I pulled back slowly, feeling satisfied with the lack of response, and sat up from my chair instead.
She didn't move for a few seconds, staying silent, before I heard her sweetly speak.
"Is that how you speak to your co-workers?" her voice was soft and silent, as she tucked a short strand of hair behind her ear.
I smiled at that.
"Just the annoying ones"
She let out a heavy sigh, then looked up at me "Ross, sit please. We haven't been as productive as I'd like. I'll explain what we're doing in the New York branch, but you can look for that information later on the paperwork as well, where it's clearly more detailed"
Her voice was calm but serious, shutting me away from any emotion she was feeling.
Yet, hearing her say my name.. felt intimate.
Perhaps, it was because I hadn't had someone actually call me by my name.. well, since the last time I called my mom.
Either way, I had one more card left to play.
And I couldn't resist.
"No need for intensive reading. Business is a game" I started down at her "One wicked game"
I saw her eyes widen with realization almost immediately, and she looked away.
Licking my lips, I walked around the desk. She didn't lift her head.
After a minute of silence, I let my curiosity get the best of me.
"Do you.. do that a lot?" I questioned, keeping my back to the table.
"Do.. what?"
"Sing" I turned around, and she finally looked up.
She looked like she was contamplating on what to say. Her eyes shifted from once place to another.
"I don't think it's any of your business, what I do after work" she gave her straight answer, pressing her lips.
I nodded at that.
Alright, she had the right to not let me in that information.
However, I'd argue it's more of my business than she'd ever come to think.
"That's alright, sweetheart"
Perhaps it wasn't the most appropriate, but I'd argue, we'd been throwing work inappropriate comments back and forth all day.
And for some stupid reason, I didn't want to stop.
She let out a silent huff at that, shaking her head as if not believing what I'd just said.
"You didn't like that?" I raised my eyebrows, smiling at her.
Rolling her eyes, she shuffled the papers "Can we get back to this?"
"Are you from Italy?" I questioned, ignoring her statement.
Oh, we'd get to work, but not yet. She was too entertaining.
"And, you know that how?" she seemed concerned now.
"It's in your name, practically" I raised an eyebrow.
She opened her mouth, like she wanted to say something, yet looked away.
Then I saw her cheeks flush.
To be honest, I guessed it from her name and what seemed like an accent in a few of her words, but, I'd cheated and confirmed with John as well, as we looked through her work in the company, before I made my decision.
I stretched my neck a bit, then spread my arms in front of her, over the paperwork.
She looked up, letting out a nervous breath.
"What do you prefer?" I titled my head, leaning in more, just to see how she'd react.
Her lips parted, yet no words came out.
"Tesoro mio?"
The corners of her mouth lifted slightly, and she licked her lips. All flushed and pretty.
I didn't know a lot of Italian, but I could understand the basics. I had to, when dealing with possible partnerships with Italian companies in the La branch.
And just as surprisingly as it came, her smile dropped, and she pulled away.
"Uh.. oh look at the time- it's already lunch" she notified, not even checking her phone, or the clock for that matter, before sitting up.
Before I could even turn to see, she'd closed the door behind her.
I lifted myself from the desk, as I felt my smile grow. Placing my hands in my pockets, I chuckled to myself.
Just like that, I'd figured out her weakest spot.
I didn't mix my professional life with my life after work, but what would be the harm in at least, pretending, I did?
Especially, if it could be beneficial?
The cutie would do.
⋆˚☽｡⋆.
When he's an asshole but he takes advantage of his charm 😔😔
Laura took the L today (lol), but if it helps, I honestly would've took it a lot sooner.
This'll be interesting going forward, also regarding where I take them next.
I wanted to make sure that as a main character Laura came off as more talkative. Because first, well, she is.
Second, I've noticed in most raura fan fiction or just popular fiction in general the main female is always written as shy, very introverted, stumbles on her every word etc, and while she might have some traits similar to that, she owns them, just like she does in real life.
Meanwhile Ross is the one that's more introverted, and pulled back, and.. you'll figure out why later.
I hope you're enjoying this so far. I took a bit longer to update this time, but I was busy & also struggling to continue the rest of the chapter.
Sometimes I write myself into a mini writing block lmao. Bc I'll finish a scene off, and then it's like "What's next?" Idk 😀
And then I keep opening up the chapter until I either get an idea or push myself through it or I'll never finish it 🤣
I mean yes, I do have a vision for the future, but I need a few things to happen now so we can get there.
That's enough rambling. If you liked this chapter make sure to vote, comment, follow. It's greatly appreciated ♥️
I'll see you soon, darlings.
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