Since I Saw Him Last: A Gary Barlow Fanfic

Chapter Twenty Seven

I spent the rest of Saturday evening and Sunday daytime with Gary. We continued the leisurely feel of Saturday for the rest of the weekend. He'd had Tony drop me off at mine for about 7pm on Sunday night. It was now 8.50am Monday morning and I was strolling into work without a care in the world. Friday night at the party wasn't the best night I'd spent with Gary but we needed that tension, Gary needed to know how much he meant to me and if I meant that much to him, he needed to open up and be honest with me. Gary passed that test. I couldn't fault a single moment after the party. Now our relationship felt like it had gone to the next level. There were feelings involved, my feelings had always been there but Gary's were catching up with mine, I could tell.

I walked into the office and sat down at my desk, I was glad my desk was in the corner of the room. I wasn't the chattiest person so I liked being on the peripherals. I was more of a spectator, I wasn't the most outspoken of my colleagues and liked to keep it that way, although it didn't stop my boss from thinking I was trouble. I looked up to see my work colleagues Ellie and Elizabeth gasping whilst they were looking at something on Elizabeth's computer screen. Elizabeth sat a couple of desks away from me. She looked up and gave me a scolding look. What have I done now? She rushed over to me and plonked herself on my desk. Ellie walked over and stood over me. "Natasha, how was your weekend?" I looked at Elizabeth suspiciously, "Yeah, good. You?" I tried to look at the piece of paper she had in her hand but she shielded it from me. "Don't worry about us." Ellie said as she pulled up a chair, my colleague who sat at the desk next to me was on holiday. "What was the rush about on Friday? You left at 5 on the dot, Dave wanted to talk and you whizzed past." Elizabeth interrogated. I wondered why she was so concerned about my personal life. "I had a party to go to with friends. I didn't want to spend a minute over in this place, I had to get myself ready." "Good party was it?" Elizabeth pressed further. "Yes, it was actually." "Just cut to the chase Liz!" Ellie urged. Elizabeth handed me the folded piece of paper she was holding in her hand. "Can you tell me what the hell you were doing partying with..." Elizabeth whispered the next couple of words, "...Take That!" I stared at her wide eyed, is this any of her business? "Natasha?" Ellie prompted. "Shit. I knew this was going to happen once that photo was posted. I wanted to keep this as private as possible." "I can't believe you wouldn't tell your favourite colleagues about this, especially when you know we're fans too. I can see your friends are in on the act." Ellie said. I rolled my eyes, "You look very close to Gary, Natasha. Are you dating or something?" Elizabeth teased in a jokey way, she didn't realise how accurate she was. My eyes looked shifty, I started playing with the rings on my finger. "Shut up! Natasha! No way!" Elizabeth was stunned. "Are you kidding, you're dating..." It was Ellie's turn to whisper, "...Gary Barlow!" I nodded as I put my finger to my mouth and motioned for them to be quiet. "I don't want people knowing." I whispered. "It's a bit late for that! It's all over social media now. If I'm asking questions, I'm sure the whole fandom will be too. Are you official?" I nodded, "Yes, yes we are. But no announcements are being made, it's not like we're getting married. The fans will find out when it happens, if Gary decides to take me to a public event then that'll be the day it happens." "Oh, wow. I'm amazed." Ellie said, she then asked, "How is Markie in real life?" Her eyes were eager to know more. "He's still as cute as ever, the sweetest man I've met by far." I could see in Ellie's eyes that she was excited at the thought of me knowing him. "Forget about Mark, tell me more about Gary, he's so dreamy. Tell me he's everything the fans think he is." Elizabeth quizzed. "And more. I'm absolutely head over heels for him. I didn't think it possible to like him more, I was already crazy about him but my God, he's just..." I hung my head a little and thought about our weekend together, I smiled. "Wait a minute, this all started when you went to that signing a few weeks back?" Elizabeth asked. "Yes, from then." "We saw the photos and thought you looked a bit close but didn't think anything of it, we were so jealous." Elizabeth took the paper from my hand, "I can't believe it. You're going to have to change that frame you have on your desk," she pointed at the picture I had framed of Gary. "Maybe you can take a selfie together and replace that one." Ellie laughed. "And what about the sex, how is it? You have slept with him?" Elizabeth touched me on the arm as her way of persuasion. "A lady never kisses and tells." Elizabeth and Ellie squealed, "You so have Natasha!" Ellie said excitedly. "How many times? Does he like it rough? Does he like to go down on you? I bet you he does like it rough, that whip from The Circus tour, oh!" Elizabeth screamed. Dave came walking into the room, it was 9.10am. "What's the commotion? This isn't break time." Elizabeth slid off my desk and Ellie put the chair back. He grabbed the paper from Elizabeth's hand, "What's this?" Elizabeth and Ellie drifted back to their seats whilst Dave walked towards my desk and hovered over me. He looked at the photo on the piece of paper. He looked up at me, glanced at my calendar of Gary and then back to the photo. He looked up at me again with a stern look. "Get on with your work Natasha." He said as he ripped up the paper and walked off to throw it in the bin. As if he needs any more reason to be pissy with me!