Let Me Love You | Toni Kroos

Chapter 37 - Reunion

Gabi's POV

The first two months of work went great, but I didn't find anyone of roommate material. My days were just spent at work, sometimes going jogging or kicking a ball by myself at the park, and dragging some colleagues down for dinner so I wouldn't have to eat alone.

When I did have to eat alone, I'd manage to get someone to eat with me over Skype. Sometimes it was Amelie. Other times it was Bertha or Elisa. But most of the time, it was Toni.

I worked in the German department of the company, which meant I wrote German articles about the EPL for the German version of our online newspaper. Most of the people there could speak German, but they were more comfortable speaking English, so I had to speak it to them. It was England, anyway. I was preparing for another drab Monday at work when someone plopped down on the empty desk beside mine.

"Hi," a chirpy voice said, presumably to me. "I'm Louise. Today's my first day."

I turned my head slowly to face her. "Uh...hi. I'm Gabriele. Gabi."

"Gabriele Meiser, right?" she smiled. "I've read your stuff. You're a great writer. Reliable and to the point."

"Really?" I looked at her in shock. I'd only been here for a short time. "Thank you so much."

"You're German, right?" she asked, and I nodded, so she started speaking in German as well. "I'm half-German. From my mum."

"That's nice," I grinned. "So you've been living in London?"

"No, I'm from Liverpool, and I've been working there," she explained. "Then they gave me head editor, and I had to come down here."

I stared at her. "So...you're head editor now?"

"Yes," she laughed. "Don't worry, I don't bite. You wanna have lunch together? Maybe we can talk more."

So we sat in silence doing our work until lunchtime, when we headed out together to grab a bite. First, Louise told me all about herself – about her career since she graduated two years ago, about her parents and her brother, and about her favourite club Liverpool.

And then it was my turn to tell her all about myself. I told her about Amelie, about graduation just a little over half a year ago, and about my accident, which just made me extra grateful to be where I was, there in London with a job.

Even though she was my senior both in work and in age, I clicked really well with Louise. She was just so understanding and so kind. Before I could even figure out what I was doing, I asked her, "Where are you staying?"

"Ummm," she smiled sheepishly. "In a hotel? I don't have a place yet."

"You wanna stay with me?" I blurted out, and she stared at me in confusion. "I mean, I rent an apartment with two rooms, and I could use some help with the rent, and I'm just really lonely, so do you wanna stay with me?"

She just continued staring at me. "Stay...with you?"

I suddenly realised that it was rather inappropriate to ask my work supervisor to stay with me. "Oh...I mean, I'm sorry if that seemed a little rude, but I was just wondering...yeah."

She stopped walking and punched me in the shoulder. "Of course I'd like to stay with you!" she laughed as I rubbed my shoulder. "It's hard to rent a place here."

I sighed in relief as she continued laughing at me. "Is it okay, though?" I asked. "Like, I'm working under you, but you're living with me."

"Nah, it's alright," she smiled and hooked her arm in mine as we walked up the street back to the office. "In work, we'll just be colleagues, okay? But in real life, we're friends. We'll just have that boundary. I guess everything will be fine."