.:Author's Note:.
Alyssa and April at the top.
***
Jonathan's POV:
"We don't need a big cart, girls." I said as the automatic doors of the supermarket let us in. They ignored me as they took a trolley anyway and pushed it in front of me. April stood on the front of it as Alyssa stood on her tippy toes to see as she steered.
"Okay, fine." I sighed. "We have to hit the dairy aisle first."
I stood behind Alyssa just in case I needed to stop her from crashing. Once we made it to the dairy aisle, I picked up what we needed, along with what my girls wanted, and continued like that throughout the store.
By the time we made it to the cash register, I had an unnecessarily full cart. After paying for everything, I pushed the trolley outside and towards the car since it had gotten too heavy for Alyssa. My girls helped me unload the bags before settling in their seats, each with a bag of candy in their hands. Yeah, I spoiled them quite a bit.
After, I returned the cart to the supermarket and then got into the car, turning up the heat in order to warm up our faces. It was winter time in New York, and the cold weather was more than a bitch. I wanted to take my girls somewhere warm, like California, but it would be hard to just up and relocate like that.
"Daddy, when we get home, can we play games?" Alyssa questioned as she chewed on some Life Savers Gummies.
"Sure. Any games in mind?"
"Twister, Uno, and Jenga!" April cheered. I chuckled as I reversed the car out of the parking lot and started on our journey home.
"No problem, girls. I just have to get a little more work done and then I'll be all yours for the rest of the day."
"But you're always working." Alyssa grumbled. "It's supposed to be our weekend together."
"Don't be a meanie, Isa." April snapped. "Daddy has to make money so that we can go to Six Flags and other places."
"That's right." I laughed. "If I don't have any money, how am I going to spoil you girls rotten?"
Alyssa and April giggled, causing a small smile to appear on my face. They fell quiet after a short while, so I turned on the radio. Unfortunately for me, Becky G's song, "Shower," came on, making the girls squeal. I sighed as I let it play and let them sing along although I found the song to be highly annoying.
Thankfully, it was over quickly. The rest of the car ride was spent in a comfortable silence despite the still playing radio. Once I was parked in the driveway of our home, I unbuckled the girls from their booster seats before unloading the groceries. They helped bring the lighter things inside while I carried most of the bags since I refused to make two trips.
"Alright, girls. I'm going to pack these away. You two should go finish your homework." I said as we took off our jackets and hung them on the coat rack.
"Okay. And then we can play games later?" Alyssa questioned, making me nod. They hurried to their rooms while I made my way back to the kitchen.
After putting everything where they needed to go, I settled in front of my computer, sighing heavily as I saw the load of emails I had received since my time at IHOP.
With the promise of spending time with my girls in mind, I quickly got down to work.
***
I sent the final draft of a last minute project to my boss before shutting down my computer. Mrs. Cunningham was a woman that liked to keep her employees on their toes. Because of this, she would randomly send out advertising projects as tests to see if her company was still doing what they were supposed to do. I didn't mind it since I was always prepared to work. However, while in the office, I could hear the few complaints and empty threats Mrs. Cunningham would receive when she dumped random tasks on us.
"DADDY!" One of my girls shouted in fear, taking me out of my thoughts. I quickly stood from the computer chair and rushed to Alyssa's room since it was the first door to stop at. When I saw that they weren't in the room, I went to April's own and found Alyssa screaming in the corner.
"Daddy! Make her stop! Tell her to put Demon away!" She curled into a ball as April held Demon over her head. I released a small sigh of relief once I realized that they weren't in any real danger.
"April..." I dragged out with a laugh. My troublemaker turned to me with a small smirk on her face while continuing to dangle her pet spider over her sister's fetal positioned body.
"Yes?" She asked sweetly. I pointedly raised an eyebrow, making her sigh before stepping back and allowing Alyssa to run over to me.
"She's a bully!" Whined Alyssa.
"Don't be such a baby." April giggled, holding Demon to her chest and petting him softly.
"You know that Alyssa doesn't like Demon. I said you can keep him only if you don't use him to torment your sister." I slightly berated. April frowned while looking down at her pet.
"I'm sorry, Daddy." She mumbled.
"I'm not the one you need to say sorry to."
"I'm sorry, Isa." She corrected. Alyssa turned her face that she had buried into my side and looked at her twin.
"It's okay, Pilly." She responded. "Just don't do it again."
"I won't." April promised. The moment would've been sweet if this hadn't been a reoccurring thing between my girls. If April wasn't teasing Alyssa with Demon, then Alyssa would be forcing April into different outfits like some runway fashion show. They argued constantly, but at the end of the day, they always apologized and made up for it; which made everything okay, I guess.
"Good. Now, April, put Demon back into his bin and let's go play some games. Alyssa, you have to go wash your face off. You have boogers."
"Yes, Daddy!" They cheered before doing what I told them to. With a small sigh, I cleaned up April's room, packing away their homework books and making sure that Demon's bin was closed properly.
After that, I spent the rest of the night playing random games with my girls.
***
"The boss wants to see you." Paisley, my secretary, said to me cheerfully Thursday afternoon, barging into my office without a knock. I took the pen that I was biting on out of my mouth and set it aside on my desk, sighing tiredly as I rubbed my eyes.
"Did she say what for?" I questioned while heading towards the door. We walked out of my office and towards the elevator together. I took note of how close Paisley stood next to me despite the amount of space in the large compartment. It was something I had gotten used to since her first month with me, but I still found the action to be slightly crowding, five months later.
"From what I remembered, she wants to discuss something about advertising for Romero Montego's new fashion line." Paisley replied. She played with her fingers in front of her, and immediately, I could tell that she was itching to get something out.
"What is it, Paisley?" I gritted a moment later, partially annoyed by her nervous twitch. The elevator seemed to drawl, and it took a moment to realize that neither of us had pushed the top floor button. I rolled my eyes in annoyance before pressing said button, making the elevator start with a jolt.
"W-well, I was wondering if you'd like to go on a date sometime." She said in one breath, taking a step away from me as if I would bite her head off. "I-I mean you don't have to, but it would be really nice if you said yes."
My eyebrows disappeared into my hairline. I've always known that Paisley had a schoolgirl crush on me, but I never thought she'd make a move due to how shy she was. Granted, she was attractive, but she just wasn't my type.
"Seriously?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. Paisley blushed as she nodded. "Why now? We've been working together for nearly half a year."
"Oh, well, something just kind of pushed me to ask you out. Like a boost of confidence that came out of nowhere, I guess." She answered sheepishly. Almost immediately, the interaction at Miranda's grave came to mind. Was Paisley the soulmate she was referring to? Could she have been right under my nose the whole time?
The idea seemed unlikely, but there was only one way to find out.
"Sure. Yeah, I'll go on a date with you." I finally responded to her request as the elevator doors opened. She froze in shock as I stepped out, staring at me with wide eyes and heated cheeks.
"Really?!"
"Yes, really. Saturday, eight o'clock. Be ready. You may have asked me out, but I still want to plan the event." I winked at her before turning away while the elevator doors closed behind me. Still, I didn't miss the excited squeal she released as I walked towards the boss' office.
A simple date couldn't be much trouble, right? What's the worst that could happen?
***
"And that's really all there is to it." Mrs. Cunningham finished explaining to me the details of the competition that Montego was having.
"And the meeting is tomorrow?" I recalled.
"Yes, 10 AM sharp. Don't be late, and don't let me down either. You are the best at this, which is why I'm only sending in you instead of two creative directors. Even without your team present, I know you'll propose an idea that will knock the socks off of Mr. Montego's feet."
"You give me too much credit." I chuckled. "But I promise, we will not be eliminated tomorrow."
"I knew I could count on you, Jonathan." Mrs. Cunningham hummed. "Now, how about we discuss the projects you were working on before?"
***
The time for the meeting came sooner than expected the next morning, and before I knew it, I was hurrying into Romero Montego's elevator so that I wouldn't be late. It was only half an hour past nine, but my mother always told me, "when you're early, you're on time, and when you're on time, you're late." They were words I continued to live by to this day despite her absence in my life now.
"Hey! Can you hold the elevator for me please?" I heard a voice shout as the elevator doors opened in front of me. I glanced back to see a man hurrying in my direction, slightly waving his arm in the air. Chuckling as I got in the elevator, I held onto the door open button until he could get into the car. Once he did, I pressed the top floor button before looking at him.
"Thank you." He said a moment after catching his breath.
"No problem. What floor are you heading to?" I replied.
"Oh! Um, the woman at the front desk said I should head to the top floor, for Mr. Montego."
"I'm assuming you're here for the competition as well then." I pointed out. The man chose then to finally look my way since he had been staring straight ahead at the closed doors since he got into the car. A weird flutter appeared in my stomach, followed by a slight tightening in my throat, as his eyes locked with mine.
"Yes." He muttered a bit. "I'm here to represent for Mr. Antonio."
"I'm here for Mrs. Cunningham." I replied with a bit of difficulty. My heart was beating uncontrollably, and I couldn't sway the slightly dizzy feeling in my head. Yet, at the same time, I felt completely fine. What the fuck is wrong with me?!
"No second representative?" The man asked with a thoughtful look.
"I could ask you the same question."
"Anastacia, my team member, fell sick." He said with a roll of his eyes, causing a slight grin to appear on my face.
"Well, Mrs. Cunningham thought that I was all she needed to make her team." I replied with a cocky shrug. The man's eyebrow's raised in surprise.
"She must have a lot of faith in you."
"That she does." I agreed as the elevator doors came open. The man nodded in appreciation as I let him get off before me. It was silent between us while we headed for Montego's conference room.
"Wait! I didn't get your name." I voiced after a few more silent seconds. The man paused his action of opening the conference room door in order to look at me over his shoulder.
"Winston. And you?"
"Jonathan."
"Nice to meet you, Jonathan."
"Likewise, Winston, and may the best company win this competition."
"I have no doubt that I will." He responded, sending me an arrogant grin, before heading inside. I laughed while following behind him into the large room.
This competition just got really interesting.