His Personal Assistant

51. | Samuel

The sucky thing about getting the rest of the week off means not being able to go back to work until after the holidays. But it leaves me plenty of time to work on the fundraiser.

Which is why there's a bulletin board on my floor with plans and pictures for said fundraiser.

Music plays in the background as I work on putting things together. I mutter to myself, occasionally singing the lyrics to songs.

My music stops and I snap my head up, Rhys standing beside my phone on my dresser. "I was listening to that."

"I noticed."

"What are you doing here?" I ask, turning back to my board and organizing the photos.

"You have therapy, remember?" I roll my eyes. "I messaged you, telling you that I was on my way, but then again, look at who I'm talking to." I glare at him, then look back.

I look around for my paper with the numbers on it — important numbers — but I don't find it anywhere. "Where is..." I trail off, lifting my board in case it slipped under. Rhys walks to me and crouches, holding something out to me. "Hey, there it is." I take it, pinning it in its designated spot.

"Working from home, I see."

"Not much else to do." I retort in a sing-song voice.

"You'll live." He stands up. "Now come on, you have therapy."

I groan, throwing my head back against my mattress. "I don't want to go to therapy." I whine.

"You promised me you would go." He raises a threatening brow.

"And I'm beginning to regret that promise." I comment. "Do I have to go?" I pout. "I mean, look at all this progress I've made!"

"You can make more progress, when you get back." I yelp as he tosses me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

"Rhys whatever-your-middle-name-is Croyso! Put me down!" I flail, but it doesn't do much. Always got to go for men twice the size of me, don't I?

"It's Samuel."

I pause. "Does that mean I can call you Sam? Sammy? Samantha?" I giggle to myself at the last one. Then I shake my head, snapping myself out of my daze. "No! You will not use your middle name as a way to—" I yelp as he sets me down. "Thank you."

He smiles at me before the hood of my coat falls over me and he all but stuffs me into the coat. "I don't need you getting sick again."

"Hey! You're not gonna drag me everywhere!"

"Nope." I push my hood back. "I'll carry you."

"Wha— Rhys!" He hauls me back over his shoulder, carrying me to his car. "Rhys Samuel Croyso! Don't make me call Kasey on you!"

He snorts. "I'm not afraid of him."

"Then I'll call Eira."

He sets me down in the passenger seat. "Whose side do you think she'll take?"

"You men have bros before hoes. Us ladies have sisters over misters." I retort with a grin. "I think we both know where this is going."

He rolls his eyes. "Watch your feet, and put your shoes on." He hands me my shoes, and I scowl, putting them on as he walks around the car.

"I should qualify this as kidnapping." I huff, turning to look out the window. "Do I have to go to therapy?"

"Yes."

"Why can't I go by myself?"

"Because you won't go, and if you won't do it, someone has to." He shrugs, not bothering to look at me.

I slump in my seat. How rude.

"Would you still love me if I was a worm?" I blurt.

His head snaps to me. "Is that, like, a serious, genuine question?" He glances back and forth between me and the road.

"Well, yeah." I state, as if it's obvious.

"Are you dealing with something right now? Like... Did something happen?"

I shake my head. "Nope. Aside from the...five cups of coffee I've had today."

"Five?! How have you not gone into cardiac arrest yet?"

"I'm very durable." I turn to him with a sly smile. "You of all people should know that."

"And if we didn't have somewhere important to be, I'd say you were very doable." He retorts. Hey, he caught on.

I sigh dramatically. "That's too bad."

"Are you on your period, or just really horny?"

I roll my eyes. "More like bored. It feels like I'm on house arrest."

"I laid you off for the rest of the week. I didn't put you on house arrest."

"But it's winter. Therefore, there's nothing to do." I shrug simply. An idea suddenly sparks. "What are you doing for Christmas?"

He glances at me. "I was going to go to Kasey's and spend the time with Azzy and them."

"What if...you guys come to my house and help me decorate?" I grin. "We can watch Christmas movies while we decorate the tree and hang up the decorations. And if it snows, we can build a snowman and have snowball fights!"

"How long have you been thinking about this?"

I pause, thinking. "Since it started snowing."

He chuckles as he parks outside of the building. I sigh, staring up at the building. This is nerve racking.

"Will you stay with me?" I ask.

He smiles softly. "Of course, I will." Then he climbs out of the car, rounding the front to the passenger side. I take the hand he offers me, stepping out into the cold. There's snow on the ground, but not enough to cover the grass. There was light snow last night, but there will be more soon. "You ready to do this?"

I shiver. "Not really, but it's warm in there and cold out here."

He laughs at me. "Come on." He leads me inside, and we check in.

We stop outside of the office and I turn to him, whining, "Do I have to?"

"Try a few sessions, and if you really don't like it, I won't make you do it anymore." He bargains, and I sigh.

"Fine."

The door opens and a petite blonde woman steps out, glasses sitting on her face. For a minute, I think it's Lindsey, but her hair is much darker and her eyes are hazel, unlike the bright blue ones she has.

"Hello, I'm Dr. Sanchez. You must be Miss Walker." She smiles kindly at me.

"Please, just call me Naomi." I smile back at her.

"Alright then." She turns to Rhys. "Husband?"

"Just the boyfriend." He smiles.

"Ah. Well, if you're ready, we can step inside and get started with our first session."

I turn to Rhys. He presses a kiss to my forehead. "I'll be right outside." I nod, taking a deep breath.

"Let's do this."