Battle

Birthday

Friday morning rolled around and Ayana was up early. This was her second birthday without her parents. Sipping on her coffee she stood at her apartment balcony looking up at the sky making conversation with her parents. She needed all the strength she could get to survive this day. The memories of her very last birthday with her parents came flooding in.

~

Wiping the tears off her cheeks, Ayana walked over to her vanity. This is the day she could go all out with her looks. Because this was her day. She needed to own it. After a decent amount of face makeup, Ayana applied some red lipstick and she slipped on a black office dress that hugged her curves beautifully. She decided to just leave her hair down and brushed through it with her fingers to keep it voluminous. Slipping on a black heels , she walked out of her place looking like a badass. Fake it till you make it was her mantra for the day.

Walking into the building, she was greeted by her colleagues with hugs and wishes.
"Holy shit Aya, never knew you could look so hot with a red lip!" one of her colleague complimented. Thanking everyone with a big smile on her face, she made her way to the nineteenth floor to her desk. Settling her things down on the desk, she went over to the coffee machine to prepare some coffee for Mr Rogers. Walking into his office, she placed the coffee and his schedule for the day on his desk and continued her daily duties as usual.

Few hours passed but Mr Rogers didn't show up to his office. This wasn't unusual so Ayana shrugged it off and focused on her job. His presence in the office wouldn't make a difference to her workload so she kept herself busy. Then her phone dinged.

Can't wait for tonight Ayana ❤️

-Liam-

Smiling at his text Ayana sent a quick reply before resuming to her work. He was a sweet guy and she appreciated it.

Soon it was her lunch break. Feeling glad that her boss wasn't around, she paused her work and took the elevator to Lizzie's floor to have lunch with her. As she walked out of the elevator, she almost dropped her purse.

SURPRISE!

A loud cheer shook the entire floor.

There were balloons and confetti  everywhere. All her colleagues surrounded her as she tried to take in her surrounding. Everyone pulled her into a hug and handed her presents.
"Happy birthday Aya!" Lizzie pulled her into a hug and kissed her cheek. Lizzie then pulled on Ayana to the table sitting in the middle of the floor with a cake on top of it. After cutting the cake, Ayana thanked everyone.

Mr Rogers stood all the way behind the big group of people surrounding Ayana camouflaging himself to the wall with his hands in his pocket. He was watching the celebration taking place silently with a small smile on his lips. Something about Ayana caught his eyes today for the first time ever. Something different, something new. It could've been that she was wearing a red lip for the first time ever. But he knew that wasn't it. It was how she had a big smile on her face the entire time. How she was trying to give her attention to each of her colleagues with so much love in her eyes. It was the way she was stuffing the cake into her mouth laughing out loud while her friend was picking off the confetti from her hair. Without even realizing it, he was smiling like an idiot the entire time watching her. The energy she radiated was definitely contagious.

He couldn't believe that he didn't realize how beautiful she is much sooner. She is definitely something. He quickly stopped smiling when Ayana caught his eyes. Her brows furrowed a little before she started walking towards him. Mr Rogers quickly straightened himself clearing his throat.

"Mr Rogers? What are you doing here?" Ayana asked surprised.

"Actually...Lizzie(?) informed me about the party and invited me. I couldn't miss my favorite assistant's birthday now can I?" he asked with a slight smirk looking into her eyes. Ayana was a little surprised with his tone. He has NEVER been this nice to her ever. Thinking that maybe because it was her birthday, she brushed it off.