love & war | in progress

03 - awkward

elizabeth

I steadied myself and pushed open the door, when a "Come In" was yelled from the other side. I put on a smile as I walked through the door. And I was met with a very masculine back. A very familiar back. 

Holy Fuck. 

He turned around and he looked just a confused as I was. What the fuck was he doing here?

"Roman..?" I cleared the silence. "What are you doing here?"

"What are you doing here? I'm waiting for someone." His green eyes ran over me, and I felt a shiver run down my back. All i wanted to do was have him bend me over the table. 

I let out a sigh. "Me too. Annaliese told me he should be here, but he clearly isn't so.."

"So..?" He took a step closer too me. 

I just wanted to give into him, but something in the back of my mind told me that this situation wasn't just a coincidence. "Roman, who are you waiting for?" His hand rested on my waist.

"Elizabeth Gray, why?"

For fuck's sake. 

I took a step back, and his eyes looked hurt when I pulled away from him. My mouth went dry, I had no idea what to say. 

He squinted his eyes at me. "Who are you looking for?"

"Angelo Stone."

His eyes widened, and he too, took a step back. I opened my mouth to speak, but the door opened again. This time it was that receptionist lady. 

She gave us both a friendly smile. 

"Oh, great you found his office, Elizabeth. Just wanted to check. Have a good day!" And she left as quick as she came. 

Realization settled on the room and we both began to regret our stupid decisions of yesterday night. He took a deep breath and went to go and sit in his leather desk chair, gesturing for me to sit opposite him.

Okay, so I guess we're pretending this didn't happen.

I sat down and he picked up a black file, opening a page that had my name highlighted. "Hello, Miss. Gray. It's a  Pleasure to have you joining our team."

I gave an anxious smile, and I felt my leg bounce under the table. He looked down at my thighs, and a hand ran over his chin. 

"So, how are you feeling, Elizabeth?" He asked, with distaste on my name. I would have scoffed if he wasn't to be my boss. 

"I'm great, Sir. Thanks for asking." He sucked in a breath of air when the words left my lips. And his face contorted into a look of pain.

He raised a hand. "Angelo is okay, please."

I nodded, and swallowed the lump in my throat. 

Gosh, this is so fucking awkward.

"So, are we just going to ignore the elephant in the room?" I jokingly asked, trying to lighten the mood. But it did just the opposite.

He looked away from me. "Yes."

Okay then. 

I looked down at my watch, and it was already 8.45. The past 10 minutes formed the biggest rollercoaster of my life, and I had no clue what to make of it. 

A few moments of silence went by, until he spoke up again. 

"So, I'm guessing you're aware of all our contracts and our monthly pay review?" I nodded. According to company conduct, the only way to get a promotion or a demotion, would be in the MPR where they check the amount of work to pay ratio you've been doing.

He muttered something under his breath, then reached for two papers in one of his drawers. He passed them to me over the table, but when I grabbed for it my fingers brushed over his hand. My heart rate skyrocketed, but I was quick to move my hand away.

"What are these?" 

He pointed to the papers in my left hand. "That's just technicalities and stuff, like your card number and your signature. Just so we know who the money's going to."

"Oh alright," I look at the one in my right hand. "A Love contract? What's that?" I saw him scrunch his eyebrows, and he looked as if he was regretting something. 

"The Love Contract. It was put in place to prevent exploitation and unfairness. But basically, you cannot be romantically involved with anyone in a higher position then you." 

It took a few seconds for his words to fully dawn on me. 

"Oh." 

I wanted to say something but I didnt know what, so I kept quiet. And suddenly I felt really fucking stupid. What was I thinking? That we would have a relationship whilst he was my boss?  

He cleared his throat. "Once you've signed them bring them back to me, and you can start tomorrow," He looked down at his watch. "We've got about 15 more minutes but you can leave early if you want."

The way he said it, he was just practically pleading me to get out of there. So I gave him a nod, and started gathering up my stuff. Just before I was about to leave, I just had to ask the question that had been sitting in my brain since I was hired.

"Angelo?" 

"Hm?" 

I bit the side of my tongue. "What happened to your last assistant?" As soon as the question leaves my lips, I'm already regretting it. 

"She violated Code Of Conduct. And she had to be fired to keep the fairness." He kept his eyebrows scrunched together the whole time he spoke. And he looked so disappointed in himself, like it was his fault

"What did she do?"

He gave me a sad look. "She fell in love with me."

***

"Momma, I swear I'm not stripping." I was hardly able to contain my laughter, as the Jamaican woman across the phone screamed at me. 

When I told her how much I was making an hour, she told me to shut my rasclarted mouth, and fully began to believe that I was shaking ass for a dollar. 

I have, of course. 

But she doesn't need to know that. 

After managing to convince her that I wasnt a stripper, she screamed in so much joy I could practically feel it. She praised me, and her English and Patwa mixed together as she told whoever was, that was with her that I was gonna be a millionare. 

"Suh," She started. "ya bossman cute?

I sighed, and walked into my kitchen. "Yes, very. But I don't think he's interested though." I thought  back to our interaction only a few hours ago. And the contrast between the man who fucked me beyond breath, and Angelo was absolutely crazy. 

"Ah, shame."

"Yeah. But oh well, I have to stay professional anyway." I sighed. Trying to convince myself that I even could even if i really wanted to.

My mom and I talked for a bit longer, till she had to hang up. Her and my dad were in Jamaica for Vacation. Regardless of my dad being Ghanaian, he still wanted to go. It was rather cute how my dad followed my mom around like a lost puppy. 

One day I hope to find a love as pure as theirs. 

--

sike i lied lolll, heres another chapter xoxox

this ones kind of boring but also what do we think of the love contract?? how scandalous amirite. 

love you loads. 

wc- 1204