it's been way too damn long, I know! I'm sorry! work has kept me quite busy... not to forget that I'm in pain lately thanks to a little something called Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. but anyway, gonna write through the pain! so here's 2 chapters because it's been so long.
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Usually, I didn't sleep in that much. Most of the time I was awake between eight and nine, and this morning was no different. It was twenty past eight when I woke up, but something else was different; Andy wasn't beside me.
He had the tendency, even though he was usually awake between five and six, to just lie around and watch me sleep. . . or occasionally wake me in whatever interesting way he saw fit.
But this time, he wasn't there. Instead, there was a note on his pillow.
"Good morning, baby girl. I'm sorry I'm not there to watch you as you wake. I was needed at the office. Love, Andy."
Honestly, I was surprised that he had signed the note with his name, but I didn't question it. So I just went to the bathroom to take a shower, I got dressed, and then I headed downstairs into the kitchen.
Surprise hit me once more when I noticed that Andrea wasn't there yet. But of course, ever since Andy had decided that he didn't need to be at the office any earlier than ten, she usually didn't come any earlier than ten either.
But on the kitchen counter I did find another note.
"Hey, baby girl. If you find this, it means Andrea isn't there yet. I'm sorry I'm not around to watch over you. Please don't do anything dangerous. Call me. Love, your Daddy."
Ah, there it was.
I smiled to myself, perhaps a little mischievously. With Daddy not around and Andrea not being here either, immediately one thing came to mind. . . heck yes, candy for breakfast!
I didn't even care if I got punished for it later. Right now, I was simply going to enjoy it as much as I possibly could.
Flipping on the tv, I got myself a nice cherry flavored lollypop, and lazily flopped down on the couch, awaiting Andrea's arrival so I wouldn't be as alone. As per usual, though, there really wasn't anything interesting on tv.
Oh, wait, right. . . Andy told me to call him.
I grabbed the phone and dialed his number, only having to wait a mere two seconds before he already picked up. "Baby." He breathed rather quickly, almost as if I'd scared him or something.
"Hey, Daddy." I greeted simply. "Is everything okay?" I then wanted to know. He hadn't said much, but it was enough for me to pick up that he sounded somewhat stressed. "Did something bad happen?"
Andy sighed softly in response. "Nothing that you need to worry about, baby girl. Hold on a second. . ." I could hear the phone being muffled, and vaguely I could hear Andy talking, but only because he was snarling at someone. He clearly wasn't happy.
Honestly, hearing him like that, I was relieved that he had never been that pissed at me, not even when I still worked for him. It did immediately make me get rid of my lollypop, though. Oops.
I heard Andy groaning, and I could tell that the phone was no longer muffled.
"I swear baby, finding someone who is as skilled at organizing my meetings as you were, is mighty hard. My current assistant is driving me crazy!" He then exclaimed tiredly. He sighed again, his chair squeaking in the background, and I could just imagine him sitting back and rubbing his face in frustration. I had seen him doing it plenty of times.
I couldn't help but to grin, though. Part of me hoped that this would mean that maybe he'd consider taking me back as his assistant someday. But then again. . . I really shouldn't get my hopes up; Andy had already changed enough for me.
"Hello, sweetheart." I heard Andrea's familiar voice call out behind me.
I turned my head and smiled, waving at her. "Daddy, Andrea is here now." I said.
"Ah, that's good, baby." Andy replied, a sense of relief washing over his voice. "Now I've got one thing less to worry about."
I giggled at that. He always worried so much, even when basically nothing could happen. "Alright Daddy, I'll leave you alone now then."
"Alright baby, see you tonight."
I smiled to myself, an idea popping into my head as I told him goodbye for now. I hung up the phone and turned towards Andrea, who was grabbing herself a drink from the fridge. "I wanna visit Daddy at the office. Surprise him. I think he'll like that." I said, voicing my thoughts out loud.
Andrea closed the fridge and turned around, nodding and smiling in agreement. "Sure, sweetheart. Do you want to go by yourself?" She then wanted to know.
I snorted loudly. "Please, Andrea, he will kill us both if I go out by myself."
She nodded admittedly, laughing a little. "Touché."
Andrea fixed me something proper for late breakfast, while I went into the bedroom to get changed. I stood there for what seemed like hours, though, to try and figure out what I should wear. I mean, people at the office didn't know about, well. . . most of anything, really. I think they knew that we were together, though. And if Andy hadn't told them, I was pretty sure that Sarah would have by now.
"Are you ready to go?" Andrea called out from downstairs.
"Almost!" I yelled, finally giving up and just grabbing the first things I could reach. I then got dressed as quick as I could, throwing my hair in a messy bun before slipping on some ballet flats.
We took a cab to the other side of town. Considering Andy no longer had a personal driver, and Andrea always came by bus, this was our means of transportation.
Arriving at the office, it was always interesting to see how many people walked in and out of the building. Business was always booming, no doubt because of Andy's refined skills in making investments, along with the people who worked for him.
I recalled the first day I walked into this building myself. I was so scared, nervous, and most of all I was sure that I was not going to get the job. Boy, was I in for a surprise; I got the job practically the second I strolled into Andy's office. But only because he had done a thorough background check on my schooling.
"Sir, I'm going to ask you to leave, one more time. I'm under strict orders to not let you enter." I overheard one of the guards saying as Andrea and I approached the doors.
Glancing over, I watched the guard shove someone to the curb. And I had to admit that I was surprised when I recognized it to be Jake. What the heck was he doing here?
"Look, I just want to talk to your boss. I made a mistake, alright? One little mistake." Jake insisted, trying to move himself past the guard again.
But the guard stuck out his hand, placing it on Jake's chest to stop him. He wasn't being forceful or anything. "What you did is none of my business. All I know is that I'm not supposed to let you in, so I won't." He said to Jake, calmly standing his ground.
And then Jake spotted me. He looked right at me, his eyes going wide. "Kolleen!" He called out. "Kolleen let me talk to him!"
I frowned a little, my stomach starting to feel a bit uneasy as I thought back about that night. He just called it a 'little mistake'. How is assaulting someone a little mistake?
"Come on, sweetheart, let's go inside." Andrea then said, pulling me from my thoughts as she placed her hand on my back. I turned my head towards her, attempting a smile before I nodded.
Once in the lobby, the older lady at the front desk greeted both Andrea and me, and let us take the elevator upstairs to the floor that I used to work on; the floor of Andy's office.
"Hey Lolly, long time no see." Michelle greeted me kindly, soon then followed by another string of hellos from my other old colleagues. They all reacted normal, not in any way surprised or even envious, until. . . "You bitch!"
Sarah squealed and locked me into her arms, hugging the air right out of me. She shook me around for a moment, and when she was finally finished, she held me by my arms and took a step back, looking at me up and down.
"Heh, you don't look tortured or underfed at all. I'm shocked." She commented, curiously cocking an eyebrow at me.
I crossed my arms, rolling my eyes at her stupid comment. "Don't be mean." I murmured, to which she only ended up laughing.
Her laughter eventually turned into a sad whine, and she sighed deeply, pursing her bottom lip into a pout. "I miss you, Lolly. It's boring without you here. Why won't you come back, huh?"
I bit the inside of my cheek and sighed as well. "I just can't, Sarah, it's complicated." I really had no idea how else to say it really. I still wasn't prepared for such questions.
"Complicated how?" She wanted to know, causing me to groan internally. "Oh god, you're not pregnant, are you? Is that why you're not working? Oh my god, it totally is!"
My jaw dropped. "No!" I was quick to exclaim. "Jesus, no, I'm not pregnant, you idiot!" I whisper-yelled, slapping Sarah's arms off of mine. "Trust me, Andy doesn't want kids, so there's no way." He was definitely making sure of it, anyway.
Her eyes narrowed. She seemed displeased by what I told her. "Didn't you always say you wanted, like, three of those screamers, though?"
I shrugged, remembering how I used to fantasize about that. "Things change." I simply stated. "Now, if you don't mind, I understand that my boyfriend is stressed."
Sarah snorted at that. "You could say that again." She murmured, trying to hide her amusement.
I decided to ignore that and gave Sarah a quick hug, grabbed Andrea by the hand and walked up to Andy's office, knocking on the matted glass door with the same little tune as I always used to.
Without awaiting permission, I opened the door and waltzed inside. "Hi Daddy!" I exclaimed excitedly, not having noticed that someone else was in the office too.
Oopsie.