Piercing Hatred | ✔️

5

~Flora's POV~

Much of the rest of the week passed by quickly and without further incidents between Knox and I. For the most part, we didn't really even acknowledge one another at work unless needed to. That was good enough for me, of course, so I wasn't bothered by it.

Luckily for me, I ended up having Saturday off that weekend, and I woke up that morning with the intention to have myself a good Saturday. Because I was still new at Interstellar, I didn't feel like I was allowed to take too many days off in a week, at least not quite yet. Therefore, Saturday or Sunday was generally my only day off in a week. Obviously I wanted to make sure that it was a day well spent because of that.

I woke up surprisingly early at about nine AM, which would've been surprising if I hadn't been waking up so early for work. My body's clock wasn't used to sleeping in late anymore. Even so, I couldn't bring myself to get out of bed just yet and instead decided to scroll through Twitter, one arm raised behind my head.

A good thirty minutes passed before I frowned and rolled out of bed, leaving my phone behind on the sheets as I wandered into my bathroom. I almost cringed when I saw myself in the mirror in passing, wishing I wasn't cursed with looking like an ogre when I first wake up.

After I turned on the shower and let the water fog up the bathroom, I got in and took as quick of a shower as I could. I strolled into my room in a towel and began to get ready, first completing my makeup before I looked through my closet for something to wear. It only took me a few minutes to pick out a short, long sleeved black dress that I pulled on a pair of sheer black stockings on beneath, struggling to get them over my hips. Not even a minute after I finally got my clothes on, I heard a series of knocks on my front door that made me furrow my brows in confusion. Nobody ever bothered me or came to my apartment, which was why I liked this building so much. All my neighbors were quiet, and they didn't bug me.

Curious, I left my room and hurried to the front door, attempting to push up on my toes to peek through the peep hole. Unfortunately, I couldn't seem to stay up on my toes for long enough to even get a good look. I scowled in frustration and swung open the front door, the scowl slipping away when I saw who stood in front of my door.

"What the hell?" I blurted, staring up at Knox in disbelief. "What are you doing at my apartment, Knox?!" I hissed, my scowl forming up again just as quickly as it had disappeared. This time, though, it was more intense. Angrier than before, the kind reserved only for him.

Knox, seemingly just as shocked to see me as I was to see him, blinked down at me dumbly. I had an inkling that he hadn't been expecting me to answer the door. "Uh..." He frowned and furrowed his dark brows. "I didn't know that you lived here. I just moved into the apartment across from yours." He told me, a slightly awkward tone to his voice. I continued to glare at him, crossing my arms beneath my breasts. "Good for you. Go away." I responded flatly, taking a step back before I gripped my front door and went to slam it shut.

He stuck out a foot, wedging it carelessly between the door and the frame to prevent it from shutting. I swung it open again, just enough to see the cock of his brow and the slight smirk pulling at the edges of his full lips. "That's not very neighborly of you, doll face." Knox said, a teasing tone to his low voice.

"Well, you being here isn't exactly something to be neighborly about." I retorted with a scoff, curling my fingers around the side of the door. I kicked at his foot, attempting to get him to move it, but I couldn't kick very hard due to the fact that I had no shoes on. Naturally, he didn't move it at all. "What do you want?" I asked, figuring that he wasn't going to leave without getting whatever it was he had come here for.

"I hoped you'd have a screwdriver. Mine must've got left behind at my old place." He told me, finally cutting to the chase. For a moment I hesitated, wondering to myself if that was truly all that had brought him here. I didn't trust Knox, and I couldn't help the way that I seemed to be analyzing everything he did, even something as small as this. "Fine." I grumbled, shooting him another glare. "Stay here." I demanded, turning around to walk away.

The first place I checked was under the kitchen sink, unsure where I had even placed the small box of tools that I had been given from my dad. I barely used tools, so I couldn't recall where they'd last been. Once I was sure that they weren't beneath the sink, I wandered down the hall and to the spare closet that was in the hallway just a little ways away from my bedroom door, chewing on my bottom lip as I searched through a few small boxes on the shelves. I managed to find it in one of the boxes on a higher up shelf and let the closet door swing shut, twirling the tool between my fingers as I made my way back towards the front door.

"Hey!" I exclaimed as I noticed Knox hadn't waited outside like I'd asked him to. Instead, he had just wandered in like he was welcome to, standing within the middle of my living room, waiting. "Get out, Knox." I huffed, my hand gripping at his forearm as I attempted to pull him away.

His eyes flicked down to meet mine and then to my grip on him, gently shaking me off as he turned towards me. "You were taking too long. Just figured it was better to wait here than outside." He said defensively, only earning a roll of the eyes from me. "Here. Just take it and get out. In fact, keep it, so I don't have to see you here again." I told him, placing the screwdriver in the palm of his large hand.

As if amused, he just chuckled. "Chill out, doll face. I'll return it, even if I have to wait for you to answer the door. I'm nothing if not a gentleman." He responded, the broad frame of his shoulders brushing against me when he slipped past. I clenched my jaw and pivoted on my feet, glaring at the back of his head even as he let my front door swing shut after him. "Asshole." I cursed him beneath my breath, storming back down the hall towards my room.

I shoved my feet into a pair of black combat boots and grabbed my phone that I slipped into a black purse, exiting my apartment in a rush. The front door slammed as I shut and then locked it, heading towards the elevator.

Knox be damned; I didn't care if he waited out there for an hour. I wouldn't be here if he tried to return that screwdriver, not today.