Just Following Orders

32 - Names

♠𝙰𝚕𝚎𝚡♠

"Okay, I have five minutes to spare since I'm on my break." Aaliyah smiles as she slides into the chair in front of my desk. "What's up?"

I lean back in my chair, crossing my arms. "You left early yesterday." I point out. Not only did she leave early, but she only talked to me on the phone for a maximum of five minutes before claiming she was tired and had to go to bed. It was six p.m.

Aaliyah's eyes flick away from mine for a split second.

She's about to lie to me.

She smiles sweetly. "Sorry, family emergency. Didn't Cat tell you?" She asks, pretending to be confused.

I nod. "Yeah, she told me. But that's not what happened." I call her bluff with ease. She would have complained to me and talked to me more if it was a family emergency. She would have come and told me herself. "What happened?" I push.

Aaliyah fidgets with her own hand. She glances above my head and smiles again. "Hey, it's one eleven." She informs, meeting my eyes once again.

"Aaliyah," I remind. Aaliyah huffs, frustrated her little distraction attempt didn't work. "Did you just want to go home? That's fine if you did. I don't really care." I shrug. She can just go home if she wants to.

Aaliyah quickly nods. "Yep. Yes, that is exactly what it was. Please don't fire me." She sighs, looking down at her lap in shame.

"I don't care if you leave a few minutes early. I'm not going to report you as a time thief or anything." I assure her, speaking flatly. "Just let me know and quit lying to me." I grumble.

Aaliyah smiles and nods. "I won't lie anymore." She promises. She glances away for a short second.

She'll probably lie to me again like she just did, but I'm okay with that. I'll probably lie to her again too. It's not the most ideal thing, but it's human nature. There are going to be things we aren't honest with each other about.

Aaliyah smiles when she sees the tiny bright purple pot on my desk. "You like it?" She asks. I nod on response, watching her as she leans forward to fix the pot the way she sees fit.

Jenson made fun of me for it. But she gave it to me and she seems happy that I left it on my desk, so that's where it's going to stay. I'll sit here and listen to Jenson's teasing if that means she'll smile like the way she just did.

"You have to water this. I don't." Aaliyah brags, leaning back in her seat with a smug smile.

My eyebrows bunch up. "What?"

"My plants. They're fake, aren't they?" She laughs, poking at the little plant in my very purple pot.

I shake my head at her. "No. Those are real." I inform, glancing at my little plant thing.

Aaliyah quickly turns her attention to me. "They are?!" She yells. "Oh my god, I thought they were plastic." She quickly gets up and rushes out of the room. I smile a little, she's off to water them

"Aaliyah," I call after her before she can go too far. After a second, her head pops into my office. I lean down to open one of my drawers, holding up a spray bottle.

Natalia told me spray bottles make it easier to water the plants in the glass globe Aaliyah has. I have no idea if it's true, but I'm not taking any chances.

Aaliyah gasps and rushes over, quickly walking around my desk to stand next to me. I turn my seat to face her and hold the bottle out. "I thought I was going to have to raid the janitors closet." She sighs as she takes it from me. "Thanks, Alex!" She beams and she leans down a little. She gives me a quick hug and just as she's pulling away, she gives me a quick peck on my cheek.