Days Go By | lavashipping

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The only person that entered his office without knocking was riled-up Vania. So each time his door busts open out of nowhere, he knows what to expect. And while he understood her, a little knock wouldn't hurt because, without it, Cole managed to hit his elbow on the edge of his table.

"Incroyable!" She huffed and began pacing back and forth in front of him, muttering something Cole couldn't decipher whether it was English or French. Perhaps a bit of both.

"Vangelis?" he asked while putting away his phone to pay her attention.

"He's just... Ugh, incroyable! Who does he think he is? He has limited time allowed to use the phone and he chooses to use that to complain about how I do my job? We're prospering! We're earning back the reputation he almost ran to the ground and he thinks I should 'leave it to the men'?"

"You're doing a wonderful job, Vania. Really, none of us could ask for a better boss."

"He never asks how I'm doing, it's always about the firm he almost ruined..."

"Come on." He got up and walked over to envelop her in his arms. "His ego got hurt and he's trying to salvage it, don't worry about him."

"I know he's terrible but he's still my father... I love him but it hurts."

"You don't owe assholes your love, Vania," he whispered to her, caressing her hair.

"You and him are the only people I have. And it feels like work is blocking both of you from me. I sort of miss the Upply, they were fun and had nothing to do with this darn job."

"I'm sorry, Vania."

"It's not your fault." She pulled away and wiped her eyes. Taking a deep breath, it was as if a switch flipped inside of her and the conversation was simply just over. She looked over at his table. "How's work doing?"

It caught Cole off guard. "Well... I guess it's fine." He rubbed the back of his neck, watching her look at his work.

Vania sighed. "Everyone seems down lately, maybe the show was a lot... I think we all need a little restart..."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know. Yet. I'll figure something out. I have to go, thanks Cole, you always listen to me, I don't know where I would be without you."

He caught her hand before she could run away again. Sometimes she was all over the place. They weren't that different, both caught up with their work, both putting it in front of their relationships. "Look, maybe... Maybe we could hang out outside of work some more, no? Ninjago City is huge, we could find something to get our minds off all this."

"Maybe." It was visible that she was already lost in different thoughts. "Oh, and one more thing. Not to be that kind of a boss but could you avoid your phone during work hours?"

He flushed and let go. "Oh yeah, sure, of course, sorry."

"Thank you, Cole." With a last smile, she left his office, making it strangely quiet as if it wasn't in the same state before she entered. Cole looked over at his table. It was like looking at unappetizing food when you feel strangely full despite not eating much. But it was fine, art blocks come and go, he just has to push through this one.