"I'm so glad it's Friday!" Noah sighed happily, stretching his arms up and yawning dramatically.
"Me too." I smiled contentedly as we strode down the corridor. "At least I've got a weekend free from doing stupid jobs for he-who-shall-not-be-named."
He cocked an eyebrow at me, his steel grey eyes shimmering with amusement as he struggled to stifle a laugh.
"Did you seriously just compare Zach to Voldemort?"
"Don't say his name!" I hissed.
"Who's name? Voldemort's or Z-" he began but my hand clamped over his mouth.
"What did I just sa-AH!" I tore my hand away from his mouth as I recoiled in disgust. Noah smirked at me knowingly.
"You licked me!" I exclaimed, stabbing a finger in the air at him accusingly.
He clapped his hands slowly, "Someone's sharp this evening." he grinned. I shot him a sour look.
"Not funny." I retorted dryly, wiping my hand on his shirt.
"Come on Louie Lou, let's go." he chuckled as he draped his arm over my shoulders.
"Go where?" I arched a brow.
"We can go to the coffee shop around the corner, it has the best chocolate fudge cake in the world." he informed me excitedly.
A broad smile widened across my face at the mention of cake but it quickly morphed into a frown when I realised I'd left my phone in Zach's office. Stopping just at the end of the corridor to the main reception area, I turned to Noah with a sheepish grin.
"My phone is in Zach's office." I explained. "I'll just go get it."
"I'll wait here then." he told me with a smile.
"Okay, I won't be long." I assured him as I hurried to the elevator, my heels clicking behind me along the marble floor.
* * *
After waiting what seemed like an eternity for the elevator to reach the second floor, I heard the satisfying ping as the doors opened and I quickly made my way towards Zach's office. My heels were still digging into my ankles and I walked a little slower, hoping to dull the stinging sensation biting at my feet - no such luck.
Sucking in a sharp breath, I tried to ignore the pain as I reached for the door before knocking softly on the wood. I heard a low grunt of permission for me to enter so I walked inside to see Zach sat at his desk with his phone pressed against his ear and he seemed in deep conversation. His deep baritone echoed around the room so it was hard not to hear what he was saying.
"I'm pretty busy tomorrow." he paused and rubbed his jaw with his free hand. "I know- yeah, right."
Not wanting to eavesdrop on his conversation, I scurried over to the desk to grab my phone. Without warning my heel suddenly twisted and I cried out in pain as I fell forward and I heard a small crack as my full body weight attempted to regain balance on one heel, causing my ankle to buckle inwards painfully. I hit the floor hard and clutched at my ankle now throbbing in agony.
"Lou?! Shit-we'll do this later, bye." I heard Zach curse before dropping the phone and rushing towards me. He leaned down and his hand reached out to touch my ankle, his brows lowered into a serious expression.
"Stay still." he ordered.
As soon as his hand brushed my skin I hissed in pain.
"That hurts!" I snapped, slapping his hand away.
Kneeling on the floor, he sighed and I saw his gaze soften. He cleared his throat awkwardly and pressed his lips together for a moment. I watched him as he ran a hand through his hair, dishevelling it a little before he looked at me and even though I was in pain I couldn't help but admire the way his hair fell into a naturally tousled style. This man was too good looking for his own good.
"I'm going to take your heel off, so I can see what the damage is, okay?" he told me, his tone low and calm as his deep pools plunged into mine.
"Okay." I mumbled, watching warily as he placed his hand on my foot before he gingerly began to take off my heels.
Wincing in pain when the fabric of the heel scratched against fresh blisters, I bit down on my bottom lip to restrain myself from lashing out and kicking him in the face as he removed it slowly.
I concentrated on that thought to ignore the pain and found myself strangely amused at the image of Zach with a black eye, scowling at me. Hah. Maybe that would take him down a notch so he wouldn't be able to act all high and mighty anymore with his godly appearance tainted. I scoffed mentally at the thought - I knew for a fact that even with a black eye, he'd still be gorgeous.
Once both heels had been discarded, Zach frowned at my blister ridden feet before his eyes flickered back up to mine.
"Can you stand?" he questioned, his dark eyes still glancing back down to scan my feet.
"I'll try." I answered meekly.
Placing my hands on the floor, I slowly pushed myself up so I was standing on my right leg and Zach rose up with me. I licked my low lip nervously before lowering my other foot to the floor, hesitantly putting small pressure on it. Attempting to put a little bit more of my weight on it, I looked up at Zach who was staring at me uneasily. I felt a little more confident so I tried putting my full weight down on it - bad move.
My ankle twisted again and I cursed in agony as I stumbled forward before balancing on my other foot. I sighed with frustration and swivelled around to see Zach striding towards me, his eyes narrowed with determination.
"What're you-" I started but shrieked when my feet were taken out from under me.
Swiftly lifting me up into the air, Zach hooked one arm under my thighs and the other supported my back. He was holding me bridal style. Absolutely horrified, I struggled in his arms, kicking my legs out as much as I could.
"Are you insane? What are you doing?!" I yelled, still thrashing my arms and legs around.
Zach arched a brow as he responded simply, "Carrying you."
"I can walk! Put me down!" I scowled, wriggling ferociously.
He ignored my pleas as he strode across the room, still carrying me as he went until he reached the end of the room. Continuing to struggle as he left his office, I knew my attempts to make him let go of his iron grip on me was futile, but I kept kicking anyway.
"Zach!" I snapped, glaring up at him. "Let go!"
His eyes flickered down to mine. "No. You can't walk and your ankle might be broken. So just shut up and let me carry you so I can get you to the hospital." he ordered firmly.
"But it's so embarrassing." I groaned, burying my face into his neck without a second thought. Until I realised what I had just done. He instantly tensed up, but didn't say anything so I stayed there, comforted by the musky scent of his aftershave as he stepped into the elevator.
The doors opened and Zach stepped out before taking large strides towards the exit of the building. When I saw a few people staring at us in the entrance, blood rushed into my cheeks with humiliation of being seen carried bridal style by the devil himself.
"Lou?" I heard someone say my name in confusion.
Stopping in his tracks, Zach turned on his heel and I saw Noah rushing towards us, concern etched into his features. My face paled - I'd totally forgot that he was waiting for me!
"What happened?" he asked frantically but before I could reply, Zach quickly spoke.
"It's none of your business, so if you'll excuse us." he responded abruptly as he began to move past him. Noah frowned, his eyes narrowing as he blocked his way.
"She's my friend, of course it's my business." Noah shot back, clearly irritated.
"I just twisted my ankle-" I began but I didn't get a chance to finish.
"We're going to the hospital so move." Zach interjected harshly, his abysmal eyes glaring at Noah.
To my surprise, Noah mirrored the exact same expression, his stormy grey eyes darkening. The way he was looking at Zach was foreign to me - he was always so happy and carefree so it was strange to see him annoyed.
"I'm going with you." Noah insisted firmly.
"No, you're not." Zach retorted, his voice deep with authority. "Or you're fired."
Noah scoffed, raising an eyebrow. "What? You're joking."
Zach didn't say anything, his eyes hard as he advanced towards him, his slightly taller height making it easy for him to intimidate Noah.
"Back. Off." he snapped threateningly. Noah sighed, raising his hands in submission.
"Okay, okay. Calm down." he laughed uneasily before looking at me and giving me a small smile. "Text me later."
I nodded timidly. "Okay."
As soon as I'd finished speaking Zach stormed past, leaving Noah stood in the lobby. I was going to have a go at him for speaking at Noah like that, but when I looked at his clenched jaw and stern expression, I knew he'd only get really angry.
When we were outside, the cold air nipped at my bare legs and feet but I was thankful that it numbed the pain of my ankle a little bit. Zach approached his car before popping the door open and putting me down in the passenger seat before rushing to the other side and climbing in.
It was completely silent as he drove to the hospital.
* * *
"Well, the good news is Louise hasn't broken her ankle." the middle aged man, Dr McDerby stated. "However it is a bad sprain that wasn't far off an actual break so I advise you don't walk on it for a few days."
I let out a sigh of relief.
Dr McDerby looked at me, "I also noticed a lot of blisters on your feet. I suggest you stop wearing the shoes causing the violent friction or you'll continue to be in pain." he stared at me. I nodded.
"Alright. Thank you for your time." Zach told him curtly before glancing at me.
Still annoyed at him for the whole scene in the lobby and the fact he had made me want to crawl into a hole because he carried me all the way through the hospital, I looked away. Nevertheless, he still walked over to me and attempted to pick me up. Dr McDerby gave us a strange look.
I glared at Zach. "If you even try to pick me up, I'm going to kill you." I threatened, my blood boiling.
He narrowed his eyes at me, but complied anyway, instead just supporting me as I walked out of the room. I just wanted to be out of there as soon as possible; I hated hospitals. The image of Zach carrying me into entrance made my cheeks and ears go scarlet. I frowned when I realised I was perfectly capable of walking, as long as he supported me. He didn't even need to carry me. With this revelation, halfway down the corridor, I suddenly turned on him, absolutely fuming.
"Why the hell didn't you just do this in the first place? Instead of carrying me like a baby!" I exclaimed in frustration.
"I panicked." he responded simply with a shrug, standing with his hands in his pockets. I ignored the fact that he still looked like an elegant model even in such a casual stance.
"Well why did you threaten to fire Noah?" I added, irritation slowly starting to bubble up through my calm exterior.
"Why do you care?" he answered abruptly as he strode over to me, his charcoal gaze ablaze.
"He's my friend!" I retorted, narrowing my eyes.
"Friend?" he scoffed bitterly. "You looked more than friends when I saw you in the kitchen with him!"
"We didn't even do anything!" I responded angrily, forced to tilt my head up to glare at him. I hated his height - he made me feel so small and insignificant.
"Only because I walked in. I bet you would have gladly opened your legs for him if I hadn't!" he snarled, his eyes blistering with rage as he taunted me.
I rose to the bait.
Slicing through the air before I could think twice about my actions, my hand lashed across his cheek and his head whipped to the side. My hand stung from the contact but I was too angry to care.
"You're such a bastard!" I yelled as I began to repeatedly punch his chest and my anger increased when I realised it wasn't even making any difference. He just stood there with an impassive expression on his face.
This just made my rage grow even more. Livid, I began hysterically hitting him, trying to vent my anger and gain a reaction. It wasn't working. He suddenly seized my wrists, restraining my from hitting him further.
"Calm down!" he ordered with a tone I would have usually backed down to, but I was too mad to care.
"Fuck you!" I hissed, struggling as he held me back from punching him.
For a split second his grip loosened, giving me the opportunity to slap him again. However as soon as I tried to hit him, he swiftly pushed me backwards, my back colliding with the wall. Still struggling, I looked up to see his obsidian eyes piercing into my own before he quickly cupped my face and roughly pressed his lips against mine.
Liquid fire surged through my veins as he began kissing me, his lips sliding against my own intensely. With my arms free from his hold, I pushed his chest as hard as I could but he didn't move. The remaining flames of my anger were still burning strong as he drew me closer and I slowly stopped fighting. Electricity shot down my spine as he began trailing scorching kisses down my neck. I tangled my hands in his thick hair as he lifted me up so my legs wound around his waist. After kissing his way back up my neck and along my jaw, his lips soon found mine again, giving me a few more chaste pecks before he finally put me down.
I stood leaning against the wall, my eyes wide and my heart beating rapidly as I panted like I'd ran a marathon. Zach had stepped backwards, his hair messily over his face and his eyes wide, reminding me of a deer in the headlights.
Our ragged breaths were the only thing audible in the empty hospital corridor until the silence came to an end.
"That was..." he breathed huskily, trailing off.
"Unexpected." I finished, still in shock.
I glanced up at him, unsure of what to say. He raked his fingers through his hair, returning it to its former appearance before he cleared his throat.
"I should probably take you home." he muttered.
I nodded and we made our way back to the car.
It was dark out by the time he'd drove me home and we sat awkwardly in the car. Neither of us hadn't spoke at all and I was grateful that he hadn't said anything. I was so confused. One minute we were fighting and the next-
My face went bright red and I turned away from him.
* * *
We finally arrived outside of my house and I licked my lower lip nervously as I looked towards him. Zach didn't look at me as he got out of the car and walked to the other side to help me out. He supported me to the front door of my house, before I turned around.
"Thanks." I said quietly, staring at the ground.
"Uh- it's fine. Don't bother coming to work until you're ready, but here's my number so..." he said curtly. "Good night."
"Night." I smiled meekly.
He stared at me for a moment, his deep brown eyes full of regret before he gave me his back and he strode to his car. I watched him as he climbed into his car without a second glance.
My heart sank into my gut and I felt my eyes beginning to water as I saw him leave.
"Prick..." I mumbled to myself as I made my way into the house before hiding in my room and crumpling into a ball of sobs.
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Dramaaaa! :D
Hahaha, yeah, so comment if you enjoyed it - I may even dedicate a chapter to you! :)
Sweets xoxo