The Darker Exterior

Chapter 11

When I woke up, Atticus was walking into the bedroom, sweat dripping down his torso.

"Good morning, Ms. Vidal," he said, walking past me to the bathroom.

"What time is it?" I ask as the sound of the shower penetrates the room.

"It's ten-thirty. You slept like a baby last night," he called from the bathroom.

I sat up and stretched, looking around the brightly lit room. It looked like a pleasant enough day outside.

It's funny, I've had more days off this month than I've had in my entire career at Ford's company.

tentatively, I reached for my phone, flipping for it to face me, expecting to be ambushed by work emails in dozens. But to my surprise, I had absolutely no notifications. 

"Wow," I mutter, setting my phone back down.

"What's up?" Atticus asks, grabbing a shirt and some underwear from a drawer before walking back into the bathroom. 

"Ford hasn't contacted me at all. That's so strange," I begin to bite at a hangnail on my middle finger.

"I told you, Aurelia," he peeked his head out of the bathroom with a smirk, "I took care of it. You'll be all set when you go back in tomorrow."

"Thank you," I respond, blushing as the realization of Atticus showering with the door open dawned on me. I was curious, tempted, even, to join him in the bathroom, but I decided against it, retreating to my bright pink victoria's secret bag in the corner, pulling out my packed outfit for the day. 

"I have to go to work for a little while today, but noting that I'll be downstairs nearly the whole time, feel free to explore this whole place. Any floor of the building is free to investigate," he called from the bathroom.

"Don't you have other places than just the restaurant?" I call, slipping off my pjs.

"Yes, but since I'm here, my main focus is on this place. I'll be traveling around a lot more, and going to the main office building later this week," he responded, his words muffled by the distance.

"Do you ever stay at your real house?"I ask.

"Of course I do, I've just been around here lately. Why?" he asks.

"Just wondering," I remark, slipping my new shirt on. The water turned off in the bathroom after a few moments, and Atticus came out, a towel wrapped around his waist.

"I don't really want to explore, I want to work," I say, sitting back down on Atticus' bed to put my leggings on. 

Atticus' eyes were trailing up my legs as I prepared to slip the pantlegs over my feet, causing me to fumble and blush.

"What?" I ask adamantly.

"Nothing, MS. Vidal, just enjoying the view. As always, you look absolutely ravishing," he winked at me and went back into the bathroom to grab his clothes.

"Stop saying that, you know it's not true," I call, slipping my pants on. 

"Excuse me?" he asked, leaning back on the doorframe, giving me a puzzling look, "what did you just say?"

I paused and dusted myself off, "nothing."

He looked me up and down for another moment before rolling his eyes, "Strike one, bubbles."

"What do you mean?" I ask, placing my hands on my hips.

"You'll see if you get to three," he says, slipping his own clothes on.

"Whatever," I mumbled, beginning to walk out of the room.

"Strike two," he called out of the room.

"I didn't even do anything this time," I whine, walking into his kitchen.