𝐇𝐎𝐏𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐒 ✓

TWENTY-EIGHT

-

"No."

"Charlotte—"

I get out of my chair, my cheeks flushing bright red. He can't be serious about this.

"No, Sebastian, I can't believe you actually stepped back! What in the fucking hell? Did you only do that so I'd get the job? For God's sake, you can't surrender like this! Why didn't you tell me before? When did he call?" The last question is directed to our boss. His eyes are widened at my outbreak. He's never seen me yell before, let alone be in a bad mood like this. 

"No, Charlotte, I did not step back so you'd get it," Sebastian then snaps back, now also getting up, almost eye-to-eye. Our boss sinks into his chair, still not answering my question.

"I did it because I finally don't feel like I have to prove something to my dead father, Charlie!" 

He throws his hands in the air in desperation, his eyes squinting shut. My stomach sinks into my stomach. I've seen him upset before, but what he said now makes me freeze in my position. The pressure he always felt is gone? Is it...

"Because of you," he adds, answering the question I was about to think about. I gulp. He doesn't care that our boss is still in this room with us. Golden Boy looks at me, his jaw clenched, his cheeks red. Then he continues.

"You somehow — I don't know how, okay? — helped me get over this. After everything that happened in those past two weeks, you made me realize that I was only focusing on my job for my father. I was abandoning my private life because of my career, my apartment is a constant mess, and you are the only thing that currently makes me feel like I didn't completely fail in life."

I am speechless. He is out of breath, his hands on his waist, his teeth grinding. Out of the corner of my eye, I see our boss getting up. I expect an outbreak, him yelling at us, telling us off. Instead, he presses his lips together, pushes the ugly glasses up, and shakes his head slowly. 

"I think I will... let you guys talk for a bit," he mutters, and leaves the room, closing the door behind him quietly. Stunned, I glare at the door, in disbelief of what just happened. Who would've thought our boss would be the one to avoid fights?

 "What the fuck," I let out, "You could've told me you'd step back."

Sebastian runs one hand over his forehead. He searches for words.

"You liked the competition, and you were so eager to win... I didn't want to burst that by telling you you could have the promotion without further discussions."

His voice is steady and low now, holding back from growing louder again, and I lick my lips nervously. This is not how I imagined things to go down. At all.

"Shit, Charlie, this is good. For both of us. You can be successful like you always wanted, and I am finally letting go of the mindset my father planted in my brain. And you'll do the job you love. That you always wanted. I don't get why you're mad at me."

"I'm mad because you didn't fucking tell me," I let out, now on the verge of tears. "And if you'd asked me, I would've told you that I was so damn close to stepping back myself."

"What?" His face slips, and I nod, biting my lower lip.

"I think I only wanted this job so bad because it would mean I'm officially better than you. More successful than you. But now, I mean— I don't think I want that anymore."

"So you're telling me that you don't want this promotion either?"

He's in utter disbelief at how this situation is going, and to be honest, I am, too. At last, the revelation that now forms in my head is life-changing. This is so... I don't even have words for this. Confusing, maybe.

"I don't want to be better than you just to rub it under your nose. I don't want this promotion."

Silence takes over the office for a while, and we just stand there and stare at each other, processing what I just said. What this means for this promotion thing. 

"But if neither of us is accepting..." He lets the end trail off, and I nod.

"Either we stay in that shared office or we... quit."

"Quit," he repeats, "You'd do that?"

"If that means we can be together without being rivals, without letting chances go so the other could take them — which was really stupid of you, by the way —then yes, I would quit. But only if you quit, too. We could both find other jobs we like. Where we don't have to compete."

"Be together," he echoes, and I feel like he's doing it on purpose to piss me off. He scratches his beard, letting his eyes lock with mine to search for doubts. Or a hint of an indicator that I'm joking. But I'm not joking. Not this time.

"Yes, Seb, be together. These past two weeks have shown us how good we actually are together. And maybe I don't want this to end. But if you don't think we could—"

I can't finish my sentence as he steps forward and cups my cheeks, tilting my head up. 

When he kisses me, intense and deep, I feel like I'm going to faint. Does that mean...

"We could," he says after pulling away, "And we will. Be together, I mean. If you really want."

I scoff, feeling his thumbs wipe away stray tears that have mysteriously found their way onto my cheeks. Expectingly, he looks me deep in the eye. I smile, the rest of my tears leaving my eyes, and nod, my hands on his back, not letting him get away from me. If we agree on this, I will never let him go again.

"So we both quit?" he asks huskily, still not quite able to process the situation. I nod again, the smile not fading.

"Their loss," I choke out, "They'll never know how good we're working together now."

"What a shame," he chuckles softly, kissing me again.

"I can't believe this is the result of two weeks of being forced to live in a cabin," he then jokes before kissing me again. A shower of kisses follows, all small pecks on my lips, on my cheeks, on my nose.

"Best two weeks of my life," I whisper, smiling against his lips. 

"Oh, definitely."

Definitely. I can't wait to tell Kelly about this. 

And then, I kiss him again, sure that this is the start of a new era. An era that I don't ever want to end.

With him.

"It's funny," I whisper when pulling away. Sebastian arches a brow, his eyes flicking over my face. Outside, footsteps echo through the hallway, telling us that our boss is going to be back in a minute or two. So, I decide to just say it.

"Two weeks ago, I thought our enmity was hopeless. Turns out, I was hopelessly falling for you instead."

Just seconds before our boss comes back into the office, still slightly embarrassed about the fight that started just ten minutes ago, Sebastian leans back down, his lips curled up, kissing me again like it sets our future in stone.

And that's how I know we made the right decision.

-

the end.