𝐍𝐀𝐎𝐌𝐈
It was bad enough working in a bakery with karens, but being an assistant is probably worse.
Working at Cyber Tech is like highschool all over again. Gossiping girls who point and laugh. I just have to navigate my way through the waters o...
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Rhys finds me sitting outside. He doesn't say anything as he sits down beside me, leaning forward on his thighs.
I take a drag on the cigarette when he speaks, "Since when have you smoked?"
"College." I admit. "But I quit."
"That doesn't look like quitting."
"This is my emergency cigarette." I find myself explaining. "When I'm under a lot of stress, sometimes, I smoke one. It's not often."
"Clearly." He mumbles. He leans back against the bench with a sigh. "What happened in there?"
"She didn't tell you?" I stare at the grass and the hedges.
"Okay... Do you wanna talk about why you freaked about it?" He rephrases.
I snort. "She told my business."
"She did the right thing, Naomi." I turn to him. "If someone threatens you, you tell me. You don't let it continue to happen." He shakes his head.
I roll my eyes, taking another drag. As if I didn't want to tell him. I didn't tell him because I was afraid of what she was capable of. Turns out, I was right to be.
"How long have they been going on?"
I look down, frowning. "Few weeks. Maybe a month." I shrug. "Some of them I didn't even get 'cause they ended up in my spam."
"And you just let this go on?" His brows furrow as I inhale on the cigarette. "Why?"
"I was afraid of what she was capable of." My voice sounds odd as I hold in the smoke before pushing it out. "I was right."
"You still should've told me. I could've helped you." He states.
I snort. "Help me with what? Everything leads back to the shooting." I shrug. He sighs. We fall into a comfortable silence until I look at him. "You're gonna give me a speech, aren't you?" My eyes narrow.
"Yep." He answers with zero hesitation. I groan loudly as he continues, "I know you don't want to tell me anything. You don't even want to tell me about the many bills you still need to pay. But I want to be there for you and I want to help you when you need it."
"Thanks for the offer, but I think I'll pass." I press my lips together.
"You don't have to now. I'm just saying, in the near future, if you ever want to talk to me about something, I don't care. Come and talk to me. I won't even give you solutions. I'll just let you rant. Just don't shut me out."
He stares directly at me as he says it, and I notice how he looks like he means it. Like truly means it.
Maybe it would be good to have someone to lean on. I just don't want to bother anyone with any of my problems. Though, it seems like I've already done that.
