"And- and then he... he told me I had to... to pack my things and l- l- leave!" You finished, wiping some of your tears away with the back of your hand as if that'd stop them from falling.
Nicole patted your back.
"I'm so sorry, Y/N," She sighed. "I wish you could live with me. Seriously, I feel so bad that I can't give you a place to stay."
Your body shook with sobs but you tried to contain yourself.
"N- no, it's ok... I know you have a... a roommate already; th- there's nothing you can do..."
You inwardly cursed at yourself for acting like this. No matter how determined your attempts were to clean yourself up and stop crying, you just couldn't. Tears kept pouring out.
You put your head in your hands and rested your elbows on top of your thighs.
Through your crying, you heard the muted sound of the door to the staff room opening. Nicole stood up protectively and whirled around to face the person coming in.
You held your breath.
"Hey, Nikk-"
"Out!"
"Damn, why so aggressive?"
"Get. Out."
"Ok, ok!"
The door slammed closed and you looked up.
"Fucking Anthony." The two of you uttered in unison.
A tear-choked chuckle escaped your lips as Nicole sat back next to you.
"So... anyway... Are you sure there's nothing you can do? Can't you just live with your parents?"
You sighed. You made eye contact with your friend, who, in your vision, was quite blurry.
"No. I can't tell them. And besides," You sighed. "That's pathetic."
Nicole let out a slightly pained laugh.
"Well, I'm sure it'd be ok." You pursed your lips. "But if you're not comfortable with it, then we can work out something else. Oh, I already have an idea!"
You glanced at her as she clasped her hands together happily.
"You talk to Vincent! I'm sure he can help you." Your heart sank.
"I don't want to talk to Vincent," You complained.
Nicole patted your shoulder.
"Why not?" She asked.
You stood up before sighing.
"I don't know. He's intimidating, and... I guess I just feel really... not ok... right now, Nikki."
It brought you some sort of relief to know that you could speak clearly again. You could have smiled.
Nicole soon stood up next to you.
"You have to. It's your last hope, come on."
You hesitated. But then a deep, exhausted sigh escaped your lips.
"Ok, fine..."
You took a deep breath at the door. The little "AFTON" sign filled your vision as you held a hand over your heart.
Just make sure he didn't know you were crying. He doesn't need to see you like that.
You pulled out your phone to check how you looked in your front-facing camera quickly before nodding to yourself.
Ok...
Your hand reached tenderly forward to knock; it trembled ever so slightly. You pursed your lips.
Knock knock knock!
"Come in." The muffled voice came from inside.
You turned the handle and pushed your weight against the door, hearing it creak as you tried to smile.
"Hello, love." You could hear the cheeky grin in his voice.
You closed the door behind you and turned to look at him.
There he sat, leaning back in his desk chair with his feet crossed on the table. To your surprise, a lollipop sat in his mouth.
"Hi." You said, coming to sit in one of the cushioned chairs across from him. You tried not to question what he possibly could have been doing other than slacking off before you came in.
He placed his feet back on the floor and rolled his chair in.
"What brings you into my office?" Vincent asked you, grabbing the lollipop by its stick and twirling it in his fingers. He seemed to be in a playful mood, you guessed, which could either be good or bad right now.
"Well," You smiled, leaning forward and placing your elbows on the polished wood. "I got evicted yesterday."
Vincent froze in his position and made eye contact with you.
"You did?" He asked, slowly crossing his arms over the desk.
"Yeah..." You sighed, looking down. You didn't want to try to meet his eyes. It was a little too much just then.
At first, Vincent didn't say anything. What is there to say in these situations?
"Well, what exactly happened?"
You bit the inside of your lip and lifted your head, but made sure not to make eye contact.
"Well, my douchebag of a landlord basically shamed me and then said I had blown all of my chances. That was pretty much it."
Silence.
"What does he look like?"
You tilted your head.
"What- what does he look like?"
Vincent nodded before placing the lollipop back in his mouth and smiling. You hesitantly met his eyes.
"I mean- I dunno. He's tall, looks really sleep-deprived, messy brown hair."
The man in front of you nodded dutifully.
"Seems like the type." You held in a laugh. Not only was that a dumb way to make you feel better, but-
"Vincent, you dumbass, the two of you are practically twins!"
He rolled his eyes and leaned forward.
"Well, ok... Does he have an accent? One that isn't American?"
"Brooklyn." Vincent nodded.
"Brooklyn. Brooklyn couldn't be British if it tried."
You rolled your eyes even more dramatically. What kind of satisfaction did it bring him to upstage your depressed landlord?
"Whatever you say, Mr. Crumpets and Tea."
He narrowed his eyes at you and slowly removed the lollipop from his mouth.
"...What did you just call me?" He asked. You chuckled and looked him dead in the eye before adjusting your accent to be as prim, proper, and British as possible.
"Mr. Crumpets and Tea...?" The way you asked sounded kind of like a challenge.
This set Vincent off more than you had expected it to. A frown appeared on his face, and you could almost see his bottom eyelid twitch.
He stood up and tossed the lollipop in the trash before straightening his tie. You rested your chin in your hand and watched him with interest.
"What's wrong, Mr. Crumpets and Tea?" You continued to mess with him.
Vincent approached you around the side of his desk, and you leaned back in your chair and crossed your legs, never breaking eye contact.
To your surprise, he leaned down a little bit too close for comfort. He gently tilted your chin up with his index finger and lowered his voice as he spoke to you.
"If you're going to call me names, love, then you might as well call me your boss." Your eyes widened, but you tried not to let him see how much he got to you. "Now go and get me a coffee."
He flicked his finger up and tapped your nose with it before chuckling and standing up straight.
That, of course, left you speechless where you sat. Your mouth gaped ever so slightly; you couldn't help it, despite what was running through your head.
He was embarrassed to be pissed so he flustered me to shut me up. What a dick! My reaction is what he wants.
You couldn't help yourself, though. After all, you could almost still feel his warm breath on your lips.
"You can't make me get you anything, asshole! You don't have that kind of control over me!" You gripped the arms of your chair while sneering defiantly at Vincent.
He turned to look and you, and, to your surprise, he chuckled.
"Well..." He started.
"At least I have a house."
Your breath caught in your throat. Your eyes widened. He. Did. Not.
Your initial urge was to laugh. It was funny. It was really funny.
But god, did it hurt your ego. You slapped a hand over your mouth and suddenly remembered how fragile you were before you entered Vincent's office.
Fuck. I'm crying.
You turned awkwardly to the side so Vincent wouldn't see you, but he approached anyway.
"Y/N?" He asked.
You removed your hand and looked at him.
"Yeah?" Your voice wobbled ever so slightly.
The man in front of you almost looked shocked as he noticed a tear spill from your eye, which you wiped away with impossible haste.
"Christ, love, I didn't think you'd be that upset-"
"I'm... I'm not, it's fine-" You hung your head and wiped your face frantically, trying not to make a scene. But tears continued to fall, and so instead of trying to clean yourself up, you just let yourself cry. Being vulnerable really kicked your ass.
You barely noticed Vincent gently taking your hand to stand you up, but you were grateful for it nonetheless. You let yourself lean against his chest, and his arms hesitantly wrapped around you.
It was near silent for a while other than your body shaking with sobs.
Soon, though, Vincent gently pet your hair and said:
"You can live with me, Y/N, alright? Just- just please, for the love of Christ, stop crying."
"Deal with it."