Adalia
"Girl, you are late as hell. A whole thirty minutes late, you're lucky Tina isn't here today. She would have had a long talk with you in the office. For hours." Addison whisper-yelled at me.
"I know, I know," I said, waving her off. I needed to catch my breath.
I hadn't stopped for a second to breathe ever since I found out I was late. I even had to run up the stairs to get here because the elevator was taking forever.
Addison, or Addy as I liked to call her, was one of my close friends in and outside of work. She was an interior designer just like me.
Pulling a chair, I sat down next to her and exhaled a lung full of air.
"So, any appointments for you today?" I asked her.
"Yea, just two, but that's not until later in the day. You?"
"I have nothing for today. Maybe I'll just take whatever walk-ins we get," I responded.
As we were chatting, Luke walked by our table and said, "Good morning Ladies" Then he turned to me and asked, "You were pretty late today are you okay?"
I gave him a small smile and responded "Yes I'm okay, thank you for asking."
"That's good," he said, giving me one last glance before walking away. This was one of the things I liked about him; he was the boss but was never too hard on me.
But just before he was completely out of range, he stopped, sniffed the air and his eyes snapped back to mine.
He stared at me for several minutes then said, "Maybe next time if you spent less time partying and hanging out with guys and more time prepping for work, you wouldn't be so late and your projects wouldn't be so hectic," he said, shooting me a glare and stalked off.
I was shocked. I'm used to Luke's switch-ups, but never had he said anything this hurtful. It literally came out of nowhere. He looked mad at me for reasons I couldn't phantom.
That was totally uncalled for.
"Woah, that was harsh. Did you do something to him?" Addy asked.
"No, I didn't. You saw he was in a good mood until like seconds ago. I told you the man was bipolar. I wasn't even partying though...well maybe a little. But random men? What the hell." I replied to her question still baffled.
"Yea, that was weird. How did he even know you were out last night?" she followed with another question.
"I don't know, but rumors travel a lot in this office, so I'm not all too surprised he knows," I stated, rolling my eyes.
"And after all this, you still have a massive crush on him," Addy remarked, earning a smack on her arm from me.
"Ouch," she hissed. "I was only telling the truth."
"You don't think I'm trying to stop crushing on him? I've been trying, it just isn't working"
Addy just laughed and went off toward the coffee machine.
I sighed and looked at Luke in his office.
From the moment I walked through that office for my interview to this very day, I've had this crazy attraction to him.
I don't know how to explain it, but it's like this crazy pull of energy between us, and no matter how much I want to hate him, I just can't.
The funny thing is, I think Luke feels what I feel. I mean, I always catch the man staring at me unblinkingly from far away. He'd always hang out around me and act a little shy when we spoke. There were even times when he'd invite me out to watch a movie or to a restaurant to eat.
So, call me crazy when I heard him say to one of his friends "I'm going to ask her out, and I hope she accepts" and got my hopes up. I was beside myself with hope and joy, thinking he meant me.
However, my heart shattered the next day when I saw him kissing Paris in the parking lot. Of course, he chose her. Everyone always chooses Paris. She just has that effect on men.
I forced myself to tear my eyes away from him when I saw Paris bringing him coffee to his office.
Instead, I brought my attention to my computer and decided to stop being concerned about him.
However, when I turned in his direction, I would occasionally catch him staring at me, even while talking to Paris.
Does no one notice his actions or am I straight-up delusional? Who knows? He may have been staring at the big wall clock above my head. One needed to look at the big ass clock to tell the time after all, because there wasn't a phone or wristwatch right in front of them to use.
Just as I was about to return my focus back to my computer, a huge wolf dog made a beeline through the office, dodging everyone and...wait, was it heading for me? Before I could react, the dog hopped on me almost knocking me off my chair. I shrieked.
"Hydra, down boy." A voice commanded, and the dog quickly seized its tail wagging and mellowed to the floor.
I sat stiffly on my chair, still trying to comprehend whose dog this was, and where it came from.
I didn't get to ponder for long though. A tall, lean, but muscular man, who looked to be in his mid-twenties, rounded the corner from the office entrance.
To say he was hot was an extreme understatement of the year. If Eros and Aphrodite came together as one being, it would be this man.
He was dripping with the very epitome of sex, masculinity, and attractiveness.
Head full of wavy black hair, thin almond eyes that gave him an air of aloofness, perfect aquiline nose and pointy natural lips that portrayed no smile.
When his eyes met mine, I shuddered as if I had just been bathed with ice-cold water. He had an electric-blue eyes with a hint of hazel hue on them. Never in my life have I seen something so compelling before.
I was so lost in awe that I didn't notice he had come to a stop right in front of me. He bent down, his face only inches apart from mine. My breath hitched.
He was so close, too close.
It certainly didn't miss my attention that he smelled heavenly, like goji berries and a hint of cashmere wood. It made my aching muscles feel relaxed.
His eyes scanned the tip of my toes, then traveled up my legs that were clothed in mom jeans, then to my thighs where they lingered for a little bit. To my arms, my breasts, then they stopped at my neck.
His gaze shifted a little bit when he looked at my neck, and I remembered the hickey-looking marks from this morning. Oh gosh, can he see them?
I brought my hands up to quickly adjust my black turtle neck shirt to cover my neck even more, but for some reason that seemed to make him furrow his eyebrows.
That was weird. The entire way he looked at me was weird.
However, odd as it may be, I didn't mind one bit. In fact, I wanted his eyes on every part of me.
I squirmed a little, the fabric of my jeans making it a little bit uncomfortable on my core.
He inhaled the air with his eyes closed, and when he opened them, the hazel hue on his pupil seemed to have enlarged.
We did nothing except stare at each other for a while.
Every part of me that his eyes touched felt like I was being caressed, warmth and tingle crawling all over my skin.
He straightened himself and I exhaled a breath I didn't know I was holding.
"Sorry about that, Hydra is a very playful boy. I'm sure he didn't mean to scare you," He said waving the dog's leash in front of me.
Oh. He was just picking up the dog's leash. I don't know why I let my mind drift.
But on another note, his voice was just as sexy as he looked. If I said I was paying attention to anything he said, then that was a fat lie. I was simply lost in his voice and eyes.
"Mr. Warren?" Luke's voice called out.
The man just turned his head slightly and returned it back to me.
"My name is Zayn Warren by the way. Feel free to call me Zayn," he said.
"Uh - huh," was all I muttered, still lost in those Electric-blue.
He chuckled and inquired, "And yours, beautiful?"
Beautiful? I did not expect him to call me that.
My cheeks reddened, and I'm pretty sure my caramel skin was in the same state.
"It's Adalia Estelle," I said adjusting myself in my seat to regain my composure.
"Adalia...lovely name, it suits you," he said, making me blush harder.
Luke cleared his throat. "Mr. Warren I could receive you in my office.
Ugh, he totally ruined the mood, and was he... nervous? He seems a little shaken. This man must be an important figure then.
"Well, I'll speak to you again in a few," the man said, letting his gaze linger on me for a good minute. Then he pulled his dog and walked away.
His smell lingered in the air even after he was gone. It was almost as if it enveloped my entire space. I wonder what perfume he uses.
All of the office's attention was on him, as he and Luke walked to the office. I mean, who wouldn't be infatuated with that walking sack of hotness.
However, I noticed something odd. Shouldn't Luke be walking in front of the man, while leading him to his office? But instead the man was majestically walking to the office, with Luke trailing behind. The sight was almost comical.
"Holy mother of eros!?" Addy yelled. "Who was that? And what was that?!"
"Addy lower your voice!" I whisper yelled, shushing her.
"Girl, he was totally checking you out. He even called you beautiful and lovely. I think he's flirting," she squealed.
"No he wasn't," I said
"Adalia please, he definitely was. You can't tell me otherwise. Also, his dog is so adorable! Do you think he'll let me touch it?" she quizzed.
"I don't know, you could ask. He did say the dog was playful." I said to her absentmindedly.
We both stared at the walking eros of a man called Zayn through the glass door of Luke's office.
The man was sitting on Luke's chair by his office desk, while Luke was sitting on the chair for guests.
Again, comical.
"He must be a big client if he has to sit down with Luke in the office. It must also be a huge project. I wonder who will take charge of it."
She was right. He must be a big client. The ones with large projects always sit down with Luke in his office to sign contracts and decide other things. Besides you could tell the man had some money on him just by his outift.
He was wearing an all-black shirt and pants, which was topped off with a beige blazer, and an oxford shoe. On his wrist was a nice silver Rolex watch. The entire look was clean and sharp.
After several minutes of Luke and Zayn talking- and me and Addy spying on them - they finally got up from their chairs to come out of the office.
We both quickly straightened, acting like we were doing something on the computer.
Zayn and Luke walked all the way to us. The moment they got close to us, Zayn's heavenly smell enveloped me again and I hummed.
"Adalia, Mr. Zayn here has a big project and would like to work specifically with you," Luke muttered.
For some reason, Luke looked a little pissed off, but Zayn, on the other hand, had this grin on his face like he was having the most fun ever.
I blinked at the two of them, surprised by his statement. Why would he request me specifically?
Zayn pulled a chair next to me and sat down, while his dog, Hydra, coiled up by my feet.
"It'll be a pleasure working with you from now on Adalia," Zayn said.
"Same with you um—Mr warren," I said shyly.
"Call me Zayn," he said
"Zayn," I muttered.
"Yes, gorgeous."
I blushed at his words. I'm sure my face has come close to something of a tomato paste by now.
"Shall we get started then?" I said to Zayn, clearing my throat
"Absolutely," he replied with a wider grin.
Then he turned to Luke and said, "Luke didn't you say you had somewhere to be?"
I hadn't even noticed he was still standing there.
"I don't think I have-"
"But you do have somewhere to be, don't you?" Zayn said, cutting him off. His tone was more commanding than questioning.
The scowl on Luke's face grew, as he turned around to leave.
Zayn returned his gaze to me, giving me his heart-stopping smile, and said "Let's continue."
I swallowed hard.
I'm pretty sure all my blood was either up in my face or down my core.