Frankie's point of view:
Soon never came. A day turned into two, then five and now it was exactly a week since my last form of contact with Jason. A week since he said he would fix the tabloids that no longer lingered on every street corner.
David visited my desk every day, and every day he would ask me if Jason had came. The answer was always the same, and his sympathetic smile was something of the normal now. Pamela even seemed confused about the sudden cut-off. I found myself hovering over his contact number daily and shamelessly multiple times a day, but I never once called or sent a text. I was too much of a coward.
There was a constant heaviness in my chest, a dull and deep ache nestling atop of my heart. It was a feeling I couldn't shake, whether I was in work or at home and I was almost certain it was because of Jason's avoidance for the past week. I kept thinking I saw him when the elevator doors opened, but there was always to many people to truly see. I scolded myself every day and every hour when he popped into my mind.
Jason was my boss - my employer, and nothing more. He needed help over a month ago. He was blinded by fraudulent people who wanted nothing more than money, but he couldn't see that because his life was surrounded by wealth. He deserved love, he deserves someone who deserves him. At Flo's party, when he was able to recognise Jane's degrading attempt to swoon him as nothing more than her seeing dollar signs, that was him realising. Realising who wanted his money, and who wanted him.
"Frankie?" David's calming voice greets me from the opposite end of the phone. I mutter a quiet hello back and hear him sigh softly. "Can you come up to my office for a minute please?"
"Just me?"
He chuckles. "Yes, just you. Don't worry you're not in trouble, I just want to talk to you. Just tell Jillian you're here to see me, and come on in."
My stomach knots uncomfortably as I ride the elevator to the shared floor. Jillian twiddles with the pen between her fingers, grumbling something beneath her breath and watching me with a scowl as I lead myself down the opposite hallway to David's office. Knocking politely before I entered, he greets me with a sadden smile.
"Please can you stop looking at me like that, you remind me too much of your mom when you do that." I mumble, perching myself down on the chair in front of his desk. His office was like Jason's only more colourful. Red seats, a blue shaggy rug with bright splashes of paint hanging on the walls. "What did you want me for?"
He rests his chins on both his balled fists like a innocent child. "How are you?"
I roll my eyes. "I'm fine, David."
"But you're really not, are you?" He says, stretching back. "Because I know Jason isn't, which means your not either."
I perk up, shifting to straighten up slightly. "Jason's not doing well?"
I saw the corners of his lips twitch and I narrow my eyes at him. David definitely wasn't like a boss, he was more relaxed and mellow compared to Jason. Him and I had grew a bond that wasn't like employer and employee, more like childhood friends. While I wasn't sure when we suddenly became close, I was thankful we did.
"He's moody, like a pregnant woman in her third trimester moody." He joked as my eyebrows stay high. "I've never seen him so snappy, and I certainly have never seen him throw himself this deep into work. Frankie, he slept here Wednesday night. He's never, ever done that before."
I gulp down the gathering saliva and nervously twiddle with my fingers. Jason had slept here? In his office? Why?
"Jason handles stress well, even when we were eighteen and his dad decided that he was old enough to take control of his business while he retired. When we had that big contract with one of the hotel's in Hong Kong go bust - Jason took it all in his stride and never let any of it faze him but Jesus, Frankie." He pauses to sigh loudly and shake his head. "Jesus is he stressing over you."
"Me?"
He laughed dryly and mockingly at my squeak as I thrust my thumb into my collarbone. He straightens up, leaning forward over his desk. "Yes you!"
"How? Why?" I stammer breathlessly as anxiety starts to weigh down my lung capacity.
"You don't even realise, do you?" He laughs and my frozen response causes him to shake his head yet again. "Good God, Frankie. Can you not see how much Jason likes you? How much he cares about you? He sued the magazine who took that published that photograph of you too, he's suing the photographer who took the picture and he's trying everything to get something done about Natasha."
What?
When, how? My head was spinning, my eyes feeling heavy and my stomach feeling sick. Why didn't he tell me? Was this the cause of the avoidance?
"Why didn't he tell me?"
He scoffs. "Because Jason is stubborn and independent."
Sounds like me.
"Jason's mind isn't like ours. He wants to fix world, and he wants to do it alone even though it's impossible. He thinks that if he is a cause of a problem, he should fix it." He tells me softly. "He got so upset over the magazine and what they said about you. I think more-so than what you did."
David and Jason had a strong and unbreakable relationship, and although they were cousins, they definitely acted more like brothers. David being the younger and more annoying one when he throws crumpled post-it notes at Jason's head or jabs in his ticklish side with a pen.
"Jason thinks that he has exposed you to this world we live in since creating this business." David mutter quietly. "Now he wants to fix the problem he thinks he caused by going to your sisters party and the two of you being photographed. That's why he's suing."
"That doesn't explain why he's avoiding me."
"He wants to protect you." Simple words that sent my heart fluttering like a scared butterfly. I shift in my seat, tugging the bottom of my skirt over my knees in hopes to distract my swimming mind. "He's distancing himself because he saw the stress that the write-up caused you. He rang me that night panicking, telling me about how scared you looked after seeing the article, how he needed to fix this, how he was stupid for involving you in everything. I've never seen him so concerned or upset over anyone's well-being since my sister."
My heart rate couldn't possibly get any quicker before it would burst. David smiles at my silence and pushes himself back into his luxurious office chair, satisfied that he proved enough to me.
"Now, can you do me a favour?" He asks and I nod timidly, my flustered mind still processing David's declaration. "Go across that hall and drag his sorry ass home, he's starting to stink and I don't think he's ate anything in three days except a protein bar. We need back to normal for Monday, we have meeting in San Francisco to get planning permission for the new apartments."
I widened my eyes and stand to my feet immediately. "I'll try my best." He smiles as I make my way to the door, pausing as I reach for the doorknob. "Oh and David?" He hums. "Thank you."
"He's my brother - I want him happy."
I cross the hall, my downward gaze slyly looking towards Jillian who follows every footstep but still doesn't utter a word. I stop at his door, taking slow and shallow breaths, shaking my clammy hands to compose myself before knocking. He doesn't reply, so I knock again but still there was nothing. Squeezing my eyes shut quickly, I slowly push my way through.
Hair tousled messily that looked like it had been pulled at, crinkled shirt that was un-tucked from his suit trousers and knuckles white with a steel grip around the pen he held. He scribbled across pages at such a fast pace I was certain that his words would be unreadable. He doesn't look up, but I could faintly see his jaw tighten at my presence.
"I didn't give you permission to enter."
I gulp loudly. "You didn't tell me not too either."
He doesn't flinch, but he does stop writing at the sound of my voice. He raises his head, his bloodshot eyes almost making me gasp aloud and the scruffy stubble had outgrown from its neatly short state. He looked exhausted. He was exhausted.
"What are you doing here?" He rasped out.
Oh sweet heavens above.
I clear my throat and the inappropriate thoughts from my mind and take a few small steps forward, brushing my hair behind my ear shyly. "I was speaking to David." the mention of his cousins name caused him to stiffen, like his cover had been blown. "Why didn't you tell me you got upset about the magazine?"
He didn't say anything although his mouth was slightly ajar. Mustering more confidence, I take a few more steps forward. My fingers curl over the back of the chair that was across from his desk, more so to stop my hands shaking that anything. He still didn't speak. He just stared.
"The magazine took me by surprise, that's all." I quietly murmur, peaking up to him from beneath my lashes. "Some of the things they said about me - they weren't nice. The interview they had done with Natasha, that hurt too but I was fine."
"They were out of line."
I nod. "They were, but you didn't need to shut me off because of it."
He heads drops low and his shoulders slump like a little boy. He drops the pen from between his fingers, flexing his aching fingers from hours of writing and sighing. Cautiously, I move round and sit facing him, perching on the edge of the seat and wait for him to speak.
"They shouldn't have took those photos and they certainly shouldn't have spoke about you so degrading." He growls angrily, his voice gruff and ragged from the lack of sleep and probably hydration. I wince, remembering the pointers the article so hastily pointed out. "I couldn't let them speak about you like that. I couldn't let them get away with trespassing on your families home either, what if Vivian seen strange men in her back garden?"
Now it was my turn to stay silent, tucking my hands between my knees nervously whilst my heart still battered against my rib cage. He stretches back, eyes closing for a short second in comfort as if he had been hunched in the same position for days. Maybe he had been, David did say he slept here.
"So why couldn't you tell me instead of ignoring me?"
I didn't want to sound desperate, or needy. I didn't want him to hear the hurt in my voice, the distress the past week caused by not having any form of contact with him. Those little strings had knitted themselves together, winding round and round my heart and squeezing it so tightly every time I thought of Jason. Those butterflies had grew into something far bigger, they were no longer tiny little tickles - they were huge, massive rushes.
"I don't know." He mutters quietly, tone barely above a whisper. I can see him biting at his inner cheek as he lifts his gaze to mine, broken, cold and empty gaze. "I'm sorry."
I shake my head. Enough was enough. This was stupid, here I was getting upset about not speaking to my boss for a week. Here I was acting like some pathetic little school girl with a out of control crush. Here I was acting desperate.
"You have nothing to be sorry for - well, except for that very poorly ironed shirt and that horrifically styled hair." I joke, a slight smirk pulling at the corner of my lips. As if the battering against my ribs couldn't get harder, he smiles.
That big, charming, goofy smile.
"Very sorry, Miss Fields." He mocks, the smile still never dropping from his lips. He smooths down his shirt, but gives up quickly. "I probably should go home and change."
I hum in agreement. "I think that's probably a good idea, I've heard you're stinking out the floor."
"I'm going to kill David." He laughs and I join. Our laughter subsides as his office phone rings, he holds up a finger as he presses a few buttons to answer the call and let it ring out onto speaker. "Jason Hayes speaking."
"About time!" A woman's voice snaps. Jason's eyes bulge but before he could scramble for the phone, she speaks again. "Stop ignoring me Jason and tell me when you're bringing this girl to meet your mother!"
| | |
Filter chapter guys, please stick with me I could only rush this chapter because my daughter is sick so I hope it's okay!
200 reads, I'm so amazed!! Thank you, thank you, thank youuuuu!!!
Please vote and leave a comment xoxo