Hate To Want You (18+)

19| waffles and apologies

B L A I R E

"Good morning, beautiful," I groaned at the sound of a voice. It took me a minute before I realized that the person sounded nothing like Noah. My head pounded at the sudden movement when I sat up in bed. My eyes roamed around the room until they landed on Logan who had towels and a fresh suit of clothes in his hands.

"What am I doing here?" I croaked, looking under the covers, relieved to see I had a shirt and a pair of panties. I didn't feel an ache between my legs so I was sure nothing happened.

"Well, you can say I saved you from alcohol poisoning and with your permission I brought you here to get some rest. I also got an extra set of clothes from Astrid by the way. Two Advil pills and a glass of water are right there." He pointed to them on the night table beside me and placed the clothes and towel at the end of the bed.

"Oh, well—uh thank you." While I took the pills, I turned on her phone and screamed—then winced remembering the headache—when I saw the time. 11:42 am. I was late to work. Really late. There were messages and calls from Noah, Astrid, Gio and her mom.

They were all the same wondering where I was and checking up on me. The most important was Gio telling me to take the day off. Thank God for him however I can't manage to take a day off. I needed to see Astrid to apologize. First, I needed a shower because I reek.

"Bon appetit," Logan says, sliding the plate of waffles and bacon in front of me.

"Thanks, Logan." He looked at me surprised to remember his name. "A good shower jogs memories. And I remember you being Astrid's big brother."

He hummed in response and placed the mug of coffee beside my plate. I ate quietly, also taking a sip, moaning in delight. "These are delicious, thank you again. Aren't you supposed to be at work?"

"Yeah but I told my dad, who's the Chief, that I'll be a little late," he confessed.

"Oh, no. You didn't have to do that. I'm actually leaving right now. Thank you for the hospitality, breakfast included but I have to go." I shoveled the waffle and pieces of bacon in my mouth, not caring how ridiculous I may look. I roughly swallow the food and try to wash it down with the coffee.

"Thank you. Goodbye." I rushed out of the house like my ass was on fire.

"Don't worry, Nova, I'm here to save you," I announced to the struggling young intern, who was looking at the papers in front of her as if they were in a foreign language.

"Thank you so much, Miss Simmonds." The young girl released a breath so heavy, you could tell it came from deep in her soul.

I waved my hand in dismissal, not having time to chit chat because I was on a mission to gain my friendship before I lost it. On arriving at Astrid's desk, I knocked tentatively, peaking around at her. I mentally shook her head, not surprised to see her still working even on her lunch break. The only thing she had was a cup of coffee and a bin full of empty coffee cups.

"I'm busy," Astrid said to the person, not looking at who it was.

"Too busy for a friend?" I ask, meekly smiling. Astrid's head whipped up so fast she almost had whiplash.

"Hi, hey. How are you? I'm sorry about yesterday. It was none of my business and I-" I waved a hand to stop her.

"No, I'm sorry. You were a good friend which I should be glad for but my emotions were all over the place at the time. So, thank you. You were right; I do know but I love him, Astrid. I really do. We planned our futures together, he is supposed to be my soulmate. How could I not marry him?" Astrid smiled sadly at me. She stood from around her desk and pulled me in a hug.

"I wouldn't advise you to try and continue a relationship but I will support you at the wedding, if you still decide to go through with it," she vowed. That was all I wanted; a friend who would stand by me even while I make bad decisions.

"You will? Thank you. Now I have to talk to Gio to make sure he doesn't kill him." We laughed, knowing that Gio would do anything for me. All I had to do was say the word. Sending her back to her work, I tread to his office, already knowing his reaction when I tell him.

"I'm still not understanding why, Blaire!" Gio shouted in rage, slapping his hands on his desk.

"Because I love him, Gio!" I shouted back, clenching my fists to my side.

He scoffed, looking away from me, "Love. If he loved you that much, even the thought of cheating would repulse him. So, sorry to say this cousin but your 'love' is one sided."

My lips trembled as tears slowly rolled down my cheeks. I wrapped my hands around myself, moving away from him and lowered my gaze to the floor. He was right but he had no right to throw that in my face. He was my cousin; he was family. He was supposed to go along with me on this just like when we were kids and I would force him to accompany me on our schemes even if it meant we would get in trouble with our parents. We were grown now, Gio wasn't going to tolerate bullshit, especially when it's done to the people he loves.

"Blaire, you're like a little sister to me and I cannot stand by and watch you allow him to hurt you for the rest of your life. The only reason I'm not punching his face in and painting the company red with his blood is because of you," he said, breathing harshly and his nose flaring.

"I know and I appreciate you looking out for me but I need you to support me, please?" I pleaded, peeking up at him through my wet lashes.

"Fine," he growled, teeth gritted so hard they would break. I smiled and hugged him "Do me a favor and give this to Astrid before she dies of starvation."

A slow smirk formed on my lips and wiggled my eyebrows at him as I eyed the styrofoam box of food he handed to me. "You like Astrid."

"No, I don't like her," he says, sounding repulsed by the sentence alone. "I only want to fuck her."

My face scrunched in disgust at his callousness. "Do you have to be so crass?"

He laughed, "Whatever, just give that to her."

"You need to learn how to say the word please," I told him, walking out of his office, closing the door behind. There was no way on earth I would ever hear that man say such a forbidden word. His words, not mine.

16/01/22

Au revoir...

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