Neighbor // j.b feat. c.b [bwwm]

twelve | packing & popeyes

The next day at work was less weird and uncomfortable but only by a little. I didn't get as many stares but a few whispers and snickers were still shared around me. As much as I tried to brush it off and not let it bother me, as much as I tried to tell myself that everyone was just jealous and were waiting for a moment to mess with me and that it shouldn't bother me, it did. I still felt like everyone knew something about my own relationship that I didn't and it didn't help that Jessica didn't come in for work. That only made my own suspicions increase and heighten how uncomfortable all the whispers made me feel. I needed to visit Chris as soon as possible. There's no way I'm going to be able to keep dealing with this without seeing for myself that there's absolutely nothing going on.

I practically begged my manager to give me time off. It wasn't that she didn't want me to have the time off, she just wanted me to be present, she said. Apparently I'm one of the most productive people in the office and when I'm not there she really has to be on people's necks for them to get their pieces finished so she'll have something to submit to her boss. Hearing this did make me feel a little better. It's nice knowing that all of my hard work hasn't been going unnoticed. It also felt good the hear that the main people whispering about me are the ones who never get anything done. You'd think they focus on doing a better job instead of sharing the latest gossip but I guess not.

My manager ended up giving me a week off once I explained why I wanted time off, leaving out the recent drama. I still have to figure out where Chris will be and hopefully book a flight and everything but I was happy that I was going to see him. Even with all of the new things going on in my life, I still missed his presence. I knew it was going to feel good to be in his arms again.

I was so excited to see him that I immediately started to pack once I got home. I pulled my medium sized suitcase out of my closet and started to pack a bunch of my favorite casual clothes in it with a few party outfits just in case he hosts an afterparty or two while I'm there. I know he likes to party after his shows sometimes so I wanted to be prepared to look extra cute if that was the case. I had just thrown some lingerie in the suitcase when my phone rang. I got my phone out of my purse to see who was calling me. A smile adorned my own face once I saw the one Justin wore in the picture I set for his contact. I swiped my thumb across the phone to answer and put it to my ear.

"Hey, Just. What's up?" I spoke into the phone.

"Hey. Are you busy? I wanted to come over and chill for a little bit." he replied.

"No, I'm not busy. Come over, I think the door is unlocked. I'm in my room." I told him. We hung up after he said he'd be over soon and I got distracted, checking all of my social media accounts when I knew I had something more productive to be doing like packing.

It wasn't long before the sound of my bedroom door opening and the smell of food tore my attention away from whatever I was looking at. I put my phone down and looked up at Justin, who was carrying a Popeyes bag in his hand. He sat it on my dresser as I stood up off the floor where I was sitting in front of my suitcase and we walked to each other. My arms locked around his neck as he grabbed my waist and we shared a tight hug. I closed my eyes and took in his scent. He always smelled like some rich but subtle cologne that I ended up loving as soon as I processed the scent. His scent was always soothing to me, along with everything else about him honestly. He always relaxed me and put me in a good mood just by being him. His scent was just the icing on the cake.

After our prolonged hug ended my eyes wandered from his face and then behind him to where he sat the bag of fresh food. His soothing scent was being overtaken by the ones of the fresh chicken and fries that I love.It made my mouth water and my stomach growl since it had been hours since I ate. Before I knew it I was walking around him to get to the bag sitting on the dresser that Chris once put his clothes in.