Love At First Sight / Post Malone

Chapter 10

"Hey Jules."

I heard a light knock at my door, my head raising to the direction it was sounding from as that breathy voice that I had come to crave seemed to shake me out of my frantic traveling thoughts. My body seemingly acted on its own will, straightening my sullen posture as I was suddenly concerned with how I must have looked through his eyes.

"Oh- hey! Um- Megs, I'll call you later okay?"

"Oh my God is that him? He's already calling you Jules? That is so cute!" She thankfully whispered into the other line, quietly enough for him not to hear her.

"Yes, very. Anyway I gotta go. Love you." I muttered, rushing her off the phone as I hadn't even had a chance to run my fingers through my disheveled wavy hair that was certainly frizzy and sticking up in nearly every single direction. I groaned internally as my frustration had built at the fact that I couldn't even freaking see how ridiculous I looked. Casey had an extremely busy morning and didn't get the chance to help me freshen up, so here I sat, a hot ass mess infront of the sweet man that had yet again, taken the time from his probably busy schedule to come and see me.

"Austin, how are you?" I attempted to discreetly smooth my hair in place but decided against it as he was most likely watching my every move.

Fuck, this is the last time he's going to visit me, indefinitely. I'm probably scaring the poor guy off as we speak.

I heard the chair screech loudly against the ground as he sunk down across from me as I sat on the edge of the bed, my feet dangling from the tall mattress. He lightly placed his cold hand against my warm skin, and gave my hand a small squeeze, his little way of saying hello every time he visited.

"Sorry, my hands are a bit frozen, it's 25 degrees out there." He chuckled apologetically. "I'm okay, not too bad."

I flinched only slightly at his cold touch, partially from the nipping mid November weather and partially from the unexplainable reaction my body had inexplicably developed towards him. My lips formed into a small frown as I picked up right away on the fact that something was off with his tone. His voice sounded defeated almost compared to his usual cheery self and I couldn't help the feeling of concern as I sat upright, wondering what could be getting him down.

"Are you sure? You sound- tired." I chose my words carefully as I realized he might not want to open up right here to an almost stranger, and let me in on what was troubling him.

"I just have alot of shit going on with work and I feel like I just need to step away from it all for a little while. I feel like I've been working nonstop but it's never enough. My boss, he's kind of hard on me at times- most times actually- and there's just alot of pressure I'm feeling and he doesn't want me to take off so yeah- you could say I'm tired. Always tired."

He half way laughed at the end of his sentence, the exhaustion in his voice eminent as I couldn't help but feel saddened for him.

"Austin, that's terrible. I'm sorry, you shouldn't have to deal with that. You should be able to take off anytime you want. I'm sure you're a hard worker and unfortunately sometimes people like to take advantage of that." I shrugged my shoulders as I gave his still frozen hand a small squeeze in return.

"Yeah, well I definitely feel taken advantage of sometimes. He doesn't exactly react very well when I put myself first. It's like he wants to see me under pressure all the time. Time is money, he always says."

"I don't think it's fair for your boss to treat you that way. He obviously doesn't have your best interest at heart. It's so important to put yourself first. You should stand up to him. I'm sure you've earned taking some time off. Don't let him convince you otherwise." I went on, being all too familiar with not taking proper care of myself and my needs in the past.