His

November, 6th (3)

Nymphadora's POV:

The talk with Nurse Amanda made me realize that there are still some people who care for you and make you feel better, even if they do nothing but listen.

As I walk to the Juniors' wing to get Ashley, I bump into none other than Noah. I stumble back a little before regaining my balance.

He looks at me with a goofy grin and I roll my eyes at his childishness, even though I don't think he can see my eyes.

"Hi!" He says excitedly.

"What are you doing here?" I ask, ignoring his greeting.

"Nothing." He replies quickly which causes me to raise an eyebrow at him. "I mean, I was just chilling here." He says, nervously, without looking at me. Boys are so cute when they are nervous.

"Really? I am cute?" His eyes light up. I did not just say that out loud. Stupid Mouth!

"I...uh... said boys are cute, not specifically you." I cover my slip up.

We start walking until I come to a halt when I see Ashley on the swing while a cute boy pushes her swing. She stops when her eyes meet mine and in less than a second she is hugging my legs.

"Hey, Sweetheart! How was your day?" I ask.

"It was good. You know the boy I told you about, he is my friend!" she says excitedly.

"That's great, Ash. Say hi to him from me, okay?"

"Okay!" she replies and then notices Noah beside me, which causes her to hide behind my leg.

"Ashley, this is Noah. Noah, Ashley, my sister." I introduce them to each other.

Noah looks at her and she peeks from behind me. "Hi!" he says. Instead of replying, she hides further behind me.

"I'm sorry, she is just a little shy," I speak up on her behalf.

"Really? So am I!"

I look up at him with an eyebrow raised and he chuckles. "You sure are," I respond.

"I'll get going, or I'll be late for work," I say, looking at my watch.

"Where do you work? I'll drop you."

"It's a secret." I reply with a wink. "and thank you but I can manage."

"By the way, can I uh... get your number?" he asks shyly.

"Look, I told you that I don't do friendships. I'm sorry." I say but his puppy eyes look makes me give in.

"Fine," I grumble.

###

I enter the bakery with Ashley on my tail. I greet Matthew, who is on the counter, as I make my way to the back of the bakery.

I look at the mirror on the inside of the locker and I feel like my makeup has been washed off. My mask will have to do for today. I say to myself. Ashley is already on her seat with her coloring book in her hand.

"Ash, you need to do your homework, too, remember that," I say as I make my way out of the back towards the counter and hear a small okay.

Halfway through my shift, Ashley comes out of the back telling me that she is hungry. I pull out a dollar from my pocket and put it in the cash register and get a cupcake for her. I give it to her and just then, I hear an oddly familiar word.

"Ms. Snow, a word?"

I turn around to the owner of the voice and I see Mr. Winter standing there. I am kinda surprised to see him here because I thought he was a CEO and don't CEOs have, like, work to do?

"Nymphadora?" he says again and I am brought out of my thoughts.

"Come sit with me, I need to talk t- Who the fuck did that?" he seethes the last part as I look up at him, and his expression changes to an angry one.

"Go do your homework, Ashley," I say and she wanders back into the staff's room. "You had to swear in front of her, didn't you?" I accuse him.

"That's not the answer to my question, Nymphadora. Who did that?!" He roars but not loud enough to gain attention.

"Matthew, can you look over for a minute?" he nods and I move from behind the counter, taking off my apron. Mr. Winter leads me out of the bakery and into an alley next to it.

Kinda sus.

He stops and looks at me.

"What do you want? And how do you know my name?" I ask, annoyed.

"ANSWERS!" he roars, loudly, ignoring my question completely. I roll my eyes. "What type of answers?"

"First, who in the fucking world did that?" he asks, pointing towards my face, or to be precise, my bruise, which I thought was covered with my mask and my work P-cap.

"Don't swear in front of me." I scold him. 

"Fine, I won't. Now tell me."

"Why do you care? You are not my boyfriend." I retort but immediately regret it when a sly smirk appears on his handsome face. "I would like the idea of being your boyfriend." He says with a wink. Now that I think of it, what would it be like to be his girlfriend? I blush at my thoughts.

"You are delusional," I say looking away from his face.

"You are my soon-to-be employee and I, unlike other bosses, care for my employees." He explains.

"I am sorry, Mr. Winter, but I can't accept your offer of being your employee," I say apologetically and my gaze lands on a bruise on his neck. I squint my eyes and realize that it's a hickey. I immediately avert my eyes from his neck and look everywhere except his face.

"Give me reasons, Nymphadora." He says, obviously frustrated.

"I have school." I count them on my fingers. "Also, don't call me that," I add.

"Your office timing will be 4 to 8." He butts in.

"I have to take care of my sister."

"Your parents can't?" he asks and I still,

"None of your business," I say after a second, harsher than intended.

"Right, sorry. We have a daycare for our employees." Is he kidding me right now?

"I like working here." My last reason.

"You can work over here on Saturdays." Oh my god.

"The owner will not appreciate that."

"He already did." He says coolly, examining the tips of his fingers.

"She won't. Our owner is a woman." I say, confused.

"No, it's a he." He replies with a grin.

"How do you-..." I trail off as his words sink in and I stare at him, wide-eyed. "What the heck?"

"Monday, 4pm. You can work here tomorrow. And if you feel like you don't want to, then let me know. I'll make some arrangements." He says while I just stare at him, dumbfounded.

He steps back and turns around, making his way to his car while I just gape at him.

What did I just get myself into?

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A/n: Stay Safe yall.