ʟɪᴋᴇ ᴀ ʟᴀᴍʙ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ꜱʟᴀᴜɢʜᴛᴇʀ | ᴀ ꜰɴᴀꜰ ꜰᴀɴꜰɪᴄ 🐇

4

Ellise froze. Crap. 

Busted.

Both children spun around upon hearing the voice of their father through the loud, pounding music.

"Daddy!" Elizabeth cried, immediately bolting to him, to which he instinctually picked her up. The small girl held on tightly, nuzzling her face into him before looking up.
"The lady turned on the robots for us, and we danced a lot, and she let us pick the songs! And I showed her my drawing, and she said she liked it!"

Afton smiled, his face kind and warm. He brushed a bit of hair out of his sweet girl's face.
"Oh? Well, isn't that nice?" He smooched her on the forehead.

Then, he turned to his son, who was dancing again. "Mike, did you finish your homework?" 
"Yeah!" the teen called out, loud enough to be understood through the music. "It wasn't that hard.. Oh, hey, Dad!" Mike stopped, and ran to grab his new paper airplane.

"Check this out!" The boy flew it, and the thing zipped across the room. Afton chuckled in response. 

"That's great, my boy. How did you get it to do that?"

"She taught me." Mike pointed to Ellise, then ran to pick up the airplane from the other side of the room.

Then Mr. Afton's eyes met Ellise's. Green, piercing eyes. Reminiscent of the colour of grass, when spring is just fresh on the rise, the ground regains its vitality, and the rabbits come out to play.
His expression was bright. He'd never really seen his children so active and delighted, especially when he'd drag them to work with him while his wife was busy. The mood, this time, was uplifting.

He seemed to be studying her. Studying her eyes, her face. Her smaller figure. She appeared so delicate. He'd never really taken a good look at her, at least until now. Small hands were glued to her sides, her eyes widened. She was startled, he could tell, like a deer in headlights. 
Something about her was so.. enamoring. It's the reason why he liked her in the first place, during that interview. It was strange, he thought, he just couldn't place his finger on why he was so.. drawn to her.

"Alright. You two get your coats, and get in the car. Elizabeth, darling, don't forget to clean up your coloring pencils." He ordered, yet this time, his tone was gentle & kind. 
The children obliged, and did what they needed to do. As they headed out the door, they both smiled. (Well, Mike had a more shy smile, but a smile nevertheless).

"Bye, nice lady!!" Elizabeth called out, waving with her brother, before being pulled out the door and to the car by Mike.

Ellise waved back quickly, then directed her attention back to her boss.
"I- am.. so sorry."

"What for?"

"For, um, distracting your kids. They just looked so bored, I couldn't help myself. I work here, I make kids happy, y'know? That's my job, and- well, I know I was supposed to be cleaning, that was the whole reason I stayed overtime-" Ellise blurted out, brushing her hair out of her face. His eyes were fixed onto her still, but he walked closer, ever slowly.

"There's no need to be so nervous. It's in your nature, I can see." Afton smiled kindly. An expression he doesn't use often towards his employees. 
"They come with me every so often after-hours, and sit there. Their mother gets busy from time-to-time, so I bring them with me. Except my youngest, he's to stay with Claire."
That must be his wife.

"They don't particularly enjoy it, but tonight definitely raised their spirits, I'll tell you that."

Ellise let out a quiet chuckle. "I hope they did. They're good kids. You must be proud."

"Oh, I am. I adore them." Afton sighed. He looked around for a moment.
"You know what, don't worry about the cleaning. What you've gotten done looks just fine. I'll have someone finish up in the morning."

Ellise dipped her head graciously.
"Thank you, Mr. Afton."

"No, thank you." The man replied. "And it's all right, you can call me William. It's after-hours, anyways."

They stood there in silence for a second.

"Okay, William."
The way he smiled at her gave her butterflies, oddly enough. She hadn't really seen him do that a lot, but when he did, it made her feel good. Something about the way he towered over her gave her a fuzzy feeling, and thinking about it made her cheeks hot-

This is weird. This is my boss, Ellise thought. It's weird to think these things about your boss.
She pushed the thoughts away, shaking her head & pulling herself out of the clouds.

"You don't need a ride home, do you? It's quite late." William's deep voice cut through the silence.

"Oh, oh no, I have my car, it's parked- just over the corner, I think. Thank you for the offer, sir- er, William." Ellise chimed.

William chuckled lowly, glancing down at his shined shoes, before looking back up at her, a tiny grin on his face. 
"Alright. Drive safe, then."

He departed, his footsteps echoing as he stepped away. The door made a noise as he opened & closed it.

'Don't forget to lock up.' He mouthed through the window, making a locking gesture, before entering his car, and pulled out, driving away.

Ellise felt dumbfounded. Standing there fiddling with her fingers, she processed it. What just happened?

Does he like her now? Is this, like, a thing? Well, not a romantic thing, but are they friends now?
Is it weird to be friends with your boss?
Is it weird to think he looks good with stubble on his face?


---

"THAT'S TOTALLY WEIRD!" Denise cried.

"Jesus Christ, don't tell me you have a crush on our boss. William Afton. You know, the guy that basically owns us and runs the place?" Aaron dropped his head into his hands, leaning back into the couch.

Ellise was over at their place for a couple drinks, nothing too crazy. She decided to confide in them about Mr. Afton. After all, they were her friends.

"No! What?? No, not a crush. I just think he's nice, that's all."
Ellise could feel blood rushing to her face.
"Even if it was, it's not like it'll go anywhere anyways. He's our boss."

Aaron just stared at her in shock. "Oh, my god. You're joking, right? Dee, what's the strongest thing we've got.. I need the whole bottle."

Denise put a hand on Ellise. "Ellise, darling, look at me."
Ellise looked into her friend's eyes.

"You.. are crazy."

"Oh god, what is so wrong with thinking he's a little attractive? I mean, didn't you guys think that his accent is hot?" Ellise retorted, crossing her arms. "He's just nice, that's all."


"Mhm, mhm, yeah. And then 'nice' turns into holding hands, then holding hands turns into kissing, and next thing you know, you'll be having his kids." Aaron snipped back.

"Jeez, you guys are so dramatic." Ellise leaned back and laughed.

"You know, they thought Albert Einstein was crazy. Look at him now!"

"Oh yeah, like you're equivalent to Albert Einstein. Aaron, you're the only person I've ever known that walks and talks while also simultaneously being brain-dead." Denise chimed in.

"Shut up!"

Ellise laughed harder. 
"I mean..."

"Don't you dare agree with her in front of me!" Aaron wailed. "You're supposed to be on my side! Always! You're the nice girl, Denise is the b-"

"Finish that sentence and I will kick you out." Denise narrowed her eyes, her voice dipping.

"..Fine."

Ellise set down her drink on the table. 
"I swear, if anything happens between us, I'll tell you guys, okay? All the juicy details."

"Ellie, if you kiss him, we're making you re-enact it. Like a movie scene. Costumes and everything."

Ellise laughed yet again in response. "Deal."