The Slip Up

Chapter Twenty-One

The next day, Y/N made her way to Bucky's office about an hour before Rori's school got out. Bucky was right, it would be easier to go and pick her up after this from where he was.

The building was a lot more confusing than she was expecting. Apparently, it was a multi-business building where every other floor was a different company.

She followed the instructions Bucky had given her and went up to the 11th floor, the top one, where he was. Instantly, she was met with a red headed woman standing behind a reception desk where another young lady was answering the ringing phone while she reviewed what looked like loads of paperwork.

"Um, excuse me," she said kindly. "I'm looking for Bu-" she started, but the beautiful red head raised her head with a smile before stopping her.

"Looking for Mr. Barnes, right?" she grinned. "You must be Miss. Y/L/N."

"Uh, yes. That would be me," Y/N smiled back. Some of her nerves came to the forefront even if the woman was nice and welcoming.

"He just finished up a meeting with a client and is waiting for you inside his office. Follow me," she motioned down to the hallway to the side of them. "Now, James was very quiet about your meeting today. I usually know his whole schedule being his assistant and all. Are you here for a consultation?"

Y/N was looking up at the architect of the building in amazement. It was mostly glass bringing in a ton of natural and bright light which made the place less business-like and a lot more welcoming. It had to have been mapped out that way on purpose.

There were plants bringing life to the environment and perfect color palettes placed throughout the hall and furniture to keep the comfort and open theme going.

Snapping out of her surprise of the interior design, she answered the lady.

"Oh, um no. I'm just a," she paused. Just a what? Friend? Acquaintance? Mother of his child? "A friend of James," she settled on.

"Oh, well it's nice to meet you," Nat smiled in a mischievous way that Y/N didn't quite understand. "My name is Natasha and I'm James's assistant. But you can call me Nat." Y/N didn't get to analyze the look any further as Nat turned back around and focused on the walk to the office at the end of the hall.

Natasha approached the desk in front of that room and went around picking up the phone. She sent Y/N a wink before answering it.

"Yes, I have a lady friend of yours here," she teased. From the chuckle that she let out, you could tell that whoever was on the other end had either corrected her or chided her for her remark. "Yeah, yeah. I'll send her your way, bossman." she rolled her eyes with a smirk on her lips.

She looked up, moving the speaker part of the phone away from her mouth and motioned to the door.

"You're all set," she smiled.

Y/N nodded back with a confused yet thankful look and pushed the glass door open that led to the office.

Bucky was still on the phone and rubbing his temple as he quietly replied to his assistant on the phone.

"Cut it out, ok?" he mumbled. "I'll tell you about it later," he said quietly enough Y/N didn't hear before he hung up the phone. "Hey," he said softly, coming out from around the desk.

His demeanor was awkward compared to his normal one. Though why was she shocked? They were about to have a not so ideal conversation about past mistakes. Can you really be comfortable in those kinds of scenarios?

"Hey," Y/N returned. "Um, you have quite the building here," she motioned around, one hand going to settle on her purse.

"Thanks, uh, I designed it," he nodded modestly, leaning back on the front of his desk and crossing his arms.