Fate is a fighter

Chapter 13 - boys, boys, boys

The next morning, I woke in high spirits. I had such a nice afternoon with Jordan yesterday, and I was really liking the way things were going. Yes, I wanted to take it slower, and work things out and whatever, but I was still excited, and there was a spring in my step. Even Noah, who was surprisingly awake at this time of the morning, noticed it. "You look happy Avey," he commented, whilst sitting on one of the stools at the island and eating some coco pops.

"I am happy. Why are you up so early?" I asked.

"Ugh, some bullshit meeting," he rolled his eyes.

"That's what it's like to have a job," I chuckled at him.

"I wanna better job."

"Find a better job then," I shrugged my shoulders.

"You're smart," he sarcastically replied. "Raphael is coming over tonight for dinner. I'm dinner."

"You're disgusting."

"You're a virgin."

"Am not!"

"I heard if you haven't had sex in four years your virginity automatically renews."

"You're full of shit."

"Later I'll be full of di-"

"I'm leaving!" I shouted before he could finish his sentence.

I did the exact same journey I did every day, and I said hi to Ruby at the front desk of my floor, who told me some more gossip that went in one ear and out the other. She also made sure to explicitly tell me how attractive Jordan was, in detail, before going into exactly what she wanted to do with him, I cut her off very quickly because it was way too graphic for 7am in the morning.

After a long morning of more contracts, meetings, being hit on by the guy that was divorcing his wife and having to politely turn him down, it was finally lunchtime. Usually I go to one of the cafes that are nearby, so I grabbed some of my stuff and went to walk out of the door. "Hey, Avery, wait up," I heard a voice behind me saying. I turned to see that guy that out a plaster on my fingers when I cut them at my party on Friday making his way over to me from the other side of the office. "Hi," he breathed when he finally made it over to me.

"Hi," I answered.

"Where are you going?" he asked, looking down at my bag.

"To get some lunch," I smiled.

"Oh, you want company?"

"Um, sure, okay, um, sorry I was so drunk that night," how do I ask for his name without asking for his name?

"That's alright, I was going to take you home but that big muscly guy did it instead," he sheepishly grinned at me. "I would've cuddled you better though."

"Oh, um, him and I, no, we didn't cuddle, he slept on the sofa," I answered. I probably should've said we cuddled; I wasn't sure what this guy's intentions were. Yes, he was a really nice guy, but I didn't want to lead him on or anything. God, men are hard.

"Oh, so you aren't together?" I shook my head no. "Perfect." I have no idea what that's supposed to mean, and I knew if I asked, I wouldn't get an answer, so I chose to ignore it.

In the café I bought some lunch, and so did the guy who was coming to lunch with me, and we sat at one of the tables. I quickly pulled out my phone to text Ruby, I had a feeling she could help.

Me

did u see who i walked out with just ? -

Ruby

- You mean Finn?xxx

Me

perfect, thanks -

Ruby

- Don't tell me you forgot his name :,) you're hopeless xxx

Me

shhhh -

"So, Finn, how has your day been?" Subtle name drop so that he knew I didn't forget it.

"Ah, you know, same old, same old, you?"

"I got hit on by a guy trying to divorce his wife, whilst the ex-wife was in front of me," I stated nonchalantly.

Finn burst out laughing in response. "God, the amount of times ex-wives have hit on me for a booty call is astounding."

"They're all so horny!" I laughed along with him.

"So, um, Avery, I was wondering-"

"Here you go miss," the pretty handsome waiter interrupted Finn, handing me my plate. "If you need anything, you know where I am," he winked at me.

"Well, he was definitely flirting with you," Finn commented as the waiter walked away.

"Shut up," I kicked him under the table.

"Um, yeah, what I was trying to say was-"

"Hey Avery," Noah walked into the café, spotted me and then pulled up a chair next to me. "Sorry, did I interrupt something?"

"I was just asking Avery if she was free sometime for drinks," Finn glared slightly at Noah.

"Ooo, cute," Noah chimed in, causing Finn to glare at him again.

"Um, I'll let you know," I answered. God, this was awkward. I had to work with him, kind of, so I didn't really want to just flat out say no, and plus Noah was here.

"Sounds good," Finn smiled.

Noah caught us all up on his meeting and the 'hunky dunks' that all kept eyeing him up. He told me he got a few numbers, and a couple of them turned out to be straight, the ones that weren't eyeing him up but were still 'hunky dunks', and he informed me that he got their numbers for me. I rolled my eyes at him, and Finn glared at Noah, but he didn't really get the message. My friends were so obsessed with me getting laid, it was really getting on my nerves. I swear, one of these days I was going to snap at the two of them. "Oh, by the way, Grace and Jordan have invited us to his match this Saturday and I said yes, hope you don't mind," Noah added before getting up, about to leave.

"Yeah, that's fine," I answered, not that I would have a choice anyway, but I was interested to see Jordan fight.

When we were at high school, all of his fights were underground, illegal ones, and he said they were way too dangerous for me to see him, and he only went professional when he went to Manchester, after I blocked him, so the only time I've actually seen him fight, apart from the numerous fights he had at school like every day, was that match like a week ago, and I didn't even realise it was him at the end, so to say I was definitely intrigued would be an understatement.

***

1060 words

06/01/2021