~𝘌𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘱~
For the first time in what seems like forever, I have the whole day to myself. I take this opportunity to sleep in and I wake up at around ten in the morning gaining an extra two hours of sleep.
My phone rings shortly after I wake up, my hair falling in front of my face messily. "Hey." I answer Charlie's FaceTime call with a groggy voice and her eyes widen at my appearance.
"Wow, you really let yourself go." She lets out a laugh and I notice she's already done up for the day. I simply shrug my shoulders while taking a sip from my coffee mug.
"We're going to the mall today to get you some more outfits for work. You can't wear the same three outfits everyday!" There's Charlie. She's always thinking ahead and what others think of me for me and I don't mind one bit. She's probably the only reason I'm not a couch potato at the moment.
"Can't I just match my different blouses with my different skirts?" I ask, desperation in my voice. I don't feel like getting ready to go anywhere. It's a not brushing my hair kind of day.
"Nope. I'm coming over in an hour, you better be ready by then." She warns with a playful smirk before hanging up, not giving me any other choice than to go. I let out a sigh while slightly laughing. Guess I have to not be lazy today.
I take the hour Charlie gives me to get into a comfortable outfit, yet something I wouldn't feel like a fool in while in the more fancy stores, and do something with the mess I call hair.
By the time she gets here I'm completely ready and I can't believe I went from looking like a potato sack to an actually person. "Ready?" She asks after grabbing a water bottle from my fridge.
"Yeah. Let's just go in and then get out." I'm somewhat worried I'm going to see someone I don't want to while I'm there and that person may or may not be Mr. Holland.
"Why are you already in a rush, y/n? C'mon let's go have some fun!" She nudges me and gives a friendly wink which I know means I need to build up my enthusiasm.
"Okay, fine." A smile forms on my lips. There's nothing to be worried about.
Once we get to the mall, we visit a new store that we didn't check out earlier. "How do these look?" Charlie asks as she holds up a pair of cat eye sunglasses. Her face all of a sudden looks two times smaller and I can't help but laugh.
"Maybe not the best style." I admit and when she looks at herself in the mini mirror, she laughs along and agrees while putting the glasses back.
"Maybe we should just go check out the place we already know." Charlie suggests.
"I'm thinking that it might be our best bet." Even though I don't want to go anywhere other than back home, I think that getting at least another blouse wouldn't be a bad idea.
"Alright, then let's go!" The amount of excitement that can build up in Charlie to this day astonishes me. She grips my wrist and practically runs out of the store.
"Charlie, slow down!" I exclaim through laughter while she drags me towards the mall escalator.
"Sorry." She says, laughing through her excited bouncing. I pull my nude colored cardigan up over my shoulder with a smile as we get ready to enter the store.
A welcome is heard from one of the employees walking by and Charlie leads me over towards the blouse section.
"This could be cute!" She pulls out a pale pink button up blouse, bringing it up towards me. Her eye catches a matte maroon type colored pencil skirt with a matching jacket and she silently squeals in excitement.
"This could so be a look!" She hands me the pieces and I take a look at the prices.
"Charlie, I can't afford this and you can't afford to keep helping me by paying for my clothes." I go to hand her back the outfit, but she doesn't take it.
"At least try it on." She pleads while nodding her head towards the dressing room. The look she gives me causes serious internal conflict, but I eventually give in.
"Ugh, fine! I'll try it on, but I'm not sure how I'll be able to pay for-" I trail off as I swear someone just walked behind me.
Charlie looks at me with confusion before shaking her head. "Use the company card." She suggests and I stare at her in astonishment.
"Charlie, I can't! The company card is supposed to be used only for purchases for Mr. Holland." I remind her that if I use that card for myself, I'll be out of a job in less than an hour.
"She's right." I hear a familiar, harsh voice from behind me and I turn around with widened eyes.
"Mr. Ho-" He cuts me off by raising his hand.
"Buy this using the company card. You're only allowed one purchase using this card per month if it is something for yourself, but if you had some brains you'd know that." My eyes fall to Charlie whose mouth is gaped open.
I clear my throat in shock at seeing Mr. Holland and also that he's actually doing something for me even if he says it in a rude way. He pulls his sunglasses down so I can see his eyes and they roll as he crosses his arms in front of him.
"It isn't a favor. It's company policy. As long as you haven't received your first paycheck, I must help with financial difficulties when it comes to work affairs." From the corner of my eye, I swear Charlie is drooling and I don't blame her. Seeing Mr. Holland in such casual clothing and a baseball cap covering his curls gives him a charming appearance, but Charlie doesn't know Mr. Holland like I do.
"Thank you, sir." I respond, staring into his eyes that are shielded with dark sunglasses. "Disguise is kind of obvious." I mumble to myself, but I realize I wasn't quite quiet enough when Mr. Holland inches closer to me.
"Excuse me?" His face is so close to mine that if I were to move slightly forward, we would bonk our heads together.
"Nothing, sir." I move back slightly and then he straightens back up and moves back.
"Pft." Even though he is my boss and I do basically everything for him, he has no issue talking to me like I'm a piece of trash.
He turns around and leaves the store without saying anything else and I am positive that I'm not coming back here. Ever.
"That was Tom Holland? Wow, he's even more handsome in person." I shoot a glare towards Charlie who is slightly smiling.
"Didn't you hear him? He's a complete jerk!" I sigh and get ready to head towards the changing rooms.
"I'm sure he has a sad backstory to go with that attitude." She laughs a little before placing her hands on her hips. I look down and actually take her words into account.
When I first met Tom, he barely spoke a word except to tell me what to do. Now after seeing him relaxed in the window and early in the morning, I know there is a reason just like how Charlie knew one two minutes unless she was just fantasizing which is a high possibility.
Mr. Holland may say it's company policy, but I'm not completely sure I believe that. The way Haz talks about him, too, he seems like such a nice guy.
Something had to have happened to make him so closed off and only allow a few people in because in those harsh eyes I can see that there is hurt and pain. He wasn't always this way.
"I think you're right. Something tells me, there's more to him than just a cold ceo."
~ ~ ~
Y/n is on a mission! Also can we just talk about causal Tom in the photo? Like I love him in a suit and tie but a t-shirt and sweatpants hits different—
Anyway! Thank you all so much for over 350 reads! Considering yesterday BDYW was at 270 reads, this is crazy!
Please continue to vote and comment along the way! I would love to hear how you reacted at different parts of the story and I really want to be more interactive with all of you who are reading <3
Have an amazing day/night and I'll catch y'all in the next part!
P.S. can we talk about how active I am? Posting once a day for three days now! Probably won't last long xD
~Aidan