Penny For An Italian Thought

Part 17: Love Is A Four Letter Word

Valentine's Day special.
First of all, for all those who read this chapter yesterday, sorry for the mistakes, I was on pills for cold and was half asleep while typing. I could have updated later, but I had promised to update within one day.This is now a proper version. Enjoy reading and vote if you like.

Brianna's POV

We reached the office a little early the next day, because Alex woke me up early by mistake, while he was sneaking into bed. He said he had gone out for a run and the dawn had just started to break. So, I got up anyway and we left for work early. When we reached the reception, I could almost feel the stares that all the others threw at us. I didn't look up at them. Their scrutinizing gaze followed us to the elevator and as the door closed, I heaved a huge sigh of relief. Alex was brooding a little since morning and I wondered why. Was it because I had set a no-sex rule? No, I didn't believe that. His mentality wasn't so small. But, we were in a closed elevator and he hadn't made a move on me, yet. If David would have heard me say that, he would say that girls really speak both ways. One way she'd want a no touch rule and another way she'd want the guy to make a move? Just ridiculous, he would say. I held my hands behind my back for better protection from me losing control. He just smelled so enchanting, that I rocked a little back and forth on my toes and hummed a random song to distract myself. And after what felt like hours, the elevator door  opened and I couldn't run outside fast enough. Alex went straight to his office.

What's with him today?

I didn't have time to care. I ran to meet Jack and take the files from him. Without knocking on the door, I strode inside the copy room and Jack bolted out of his chair. He looked at me and heaved a sigh of relief, not to blame him, though. I made him do something we were not allowed to do. We weren't supposed to dig in the files without the CEO's permission. I looked around and saw files and papers lying everywhere; on the floor, desks, chairs and the copy machines. It looked like a tornado hit the room.

"I'm sorry for the mess, but that's what it took to search those files. Here."

He held the file out for me. I hastily snatched the files and opened them, my heart fluttering like a  hummingbird's wings. I flipped the pages one by one and it was all there! All the emails that I sent to the companies were there in print. No attached files. No suspicious stuff. It was all there, sitting in my hands. I exhaled in a whoosh, realising that I had forgotten to breathe. I looked up to Jack and gave him a grateful smile. I knew that what I did next was unprofessional and made poor Jack uncomfortable as hell, but he was my man of the hour; so I bear hugged the man and kissed his cheek. I chuckled when he widened his eyes and dropped his jaw. I ran out of the room and went straight to my cubicle to think of the next step. I kept the files on the desk and just when I was about to sit, I glanced at my colleagues. They were all dressed weird. Everyone was either  wearing red or a shade of red or pink. A few women had flower bouquets on their desks.

Wait. Could it be? Oh no, no, no.

I checked my phone to see the date and there it was, the date my past relationships had coerced me to dread - Valentine's Day. I didn't know about the concept of love exactly, since I had never been in love. One would wonder, why I avoided that day like the plague. But only people like me would know why this pressure giving lover's day was just like any other day minus the equation to please people or have a date. Movies and TV series' always peaked my expectation from my boyfriends. I expected them to be charming, loving, attention giving knights who swept me off my feet. But the guys I got, a girl wouldn't get out of bed for. Not that I've had many boyfriends before, but whoever I dated were effectively jerks. They never took any effort on their side, made me run errands on that day and one guy with a foot fetish specifically made me give him a Valentine's Day special foot massage. Which is why I had sworn off dating for a couple of years and Ellie was forcing me to date. I was like an idiot magnet and no wonder Alex was behaving weird in the morning. He must have not wanted to do all this and felt the pressure. I decided to tell him later, that I didn't expect anything from him and he didn't need to worry. Maybe it would wear the tension off a little. But, I would talk to him later. The most important thing at the moment was finding the CCTV footage and I really needed to talk to Chloe about this, without her knowing what this was about. I took the file and turned around, only to bump into someone's chest. I knew that boyish cologne. I looked up at smiled at Zach who was now holding my shoulders to support me.