Been Hit Before - Brian Quinn

The morning after.

"Morning" Q said through his husky morning voice. I had barely been awake for five seconds, but it seemed that he had been awake for a while.

"What time is it?" I asked, looking towards the window, noticing from the daylight that it was already later than when I had usually left for work.

"Relax, you just slept with your boss, remember?" He smugly yet jokingly responded. I felt my cheeks begin to warm in that moment as I remembered last night. The last thing I had planned on doing was sleeping with him so soon. Once you start sleeping with someone, that's when you become attached. At least for a girl anyway. For all knew, he could have just wanted that. He was a guy, after all. And I always had a hard time trusting them.

"And so you're just going to tell the other guys not to fire me just because I slept with you last night?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Pretty much." He replied, as he pulled the covers off of him, and scoured the floor for his shirt and pants. I was a little taken aback by his comment, so I didn't respond, which was when Q looked over his shoulder at me and chuckled. "I'm kidding." He continued laughing. "Just tell them you had car troubles."

"And what about the part where we turn up together?"

"I picked you up because you had no other way of getting into work?"

"But why wouldn't I just call a mechanic?"

"Why do you have to over think everything?" He laughed.

"Sal will know."

"Sal won't care." Q replied.

"But I'll care." I responded.

"Why?"

"Because, I don't do this kind of thing all of the time. It's embarrassing!"

"And you think I do?" He retorted, probably getting annoyed that I was making this into a much bigger deal than what it actually was. I shrugged.

"I don't know. Do you?" I quizzed, looking him dead in the eyes. He sighed, before pulling his shirt over his head and turning towards me.

"Honestly, there was a time when I did. But not anymore."

"You did it last night."

"Yeah, with you. Not some random chick of the street."

"You've just met me. I'm technically a random chick to you. Besides, if it wasn't me then it would have most likely been the other person that would have gotten the job instead of me."

"I don't understand why you're mad at me, I didn't force you into anything."

"But you're joking about it!"

"Look, I don't know what some douche bag did to you before to make you so insecure, but that's not me. That's not what I'm about. I didn't sleep with you because you were a target, or however you're making yourself out to sound. If I just wanted sex, I'd go to a bar, or I'd go to a club. I wouldn't choose someone that I had to face at work every single day."

"So I'm insecure now?" Heck, I even know that I'm insecure, but it's only okay when I say it.

"You just overlooked everything that I just said." He said, looking me in the eyes, awaiting a response that he never got. "I'm gonna get to work, you coming?"

"Nah, my car is magfically fixed." I looked at him, I could see that he was fed up, but I felt angry. Angry at myself for letting myself get into such a situation. I was supposed to move here to focus on my work, and I had already got myself into loggerheads with a guy once more, and that is something that I told myself I wouldn't do. Maybe I just couldn't be as independent as I had hoped to be.

After Q had left my apartment, I showered and was on my way to work, I stopped to pick up a sandwich on the way, knowing that I was already late, so there really was no reason to start rushing now.

As I pulled up, I saw Q's jeep parked, and I began to dread seeing him.

Walking into the office, I sat down in an empty seat next to Sal.

"So how was last night?" He looked at me, smirking as if he was a girlfriend that wanted all of the sordid details. And though the details of last nights events were indeed sordid, the last thing that Sal would know were exactly that.

"What, oh fine. It was okay." I replied, trying not to seem shifty, but I knew I seemed the opposite. I was terrible at lying.

"Just okay?"

"Do we really have to talk about this right now? I have a ton of work to be doing." I said, as I collected some papers before me and moved across the room.

As I looked up, I saw Q - who was still in yesterdays clothes - sit down in the seat that I had just been sitting in. I saw them exchanging a few words before they both looked over at me. Q then got up, and began walking towards me.

"I'm sorry..?"

"Huh?" I turned slightly, so that I was now face to face with him.

"I'm sorry." He repeated, seeming genuine.

"Sorry for what?"

"...I don't know. I just thought that was the right thing to say in this moment."

"Well do you think you need to be saying sorry?"

"I don't. But I worry that you want me to."

In that moment I knew that I had overracted. I was just disappointed in myself for letting this happen again. I didn't want to fall for a guy, especially one as charming and slick and Q. Those were the types of guys that made me anxious the most.

"No, I'm sorry. I overreacted. You were right, I am insecure. Especially with guys. I shouldn't have taken it out on you."

"So does that mean my unneeded apology is unneedingly accepted?"

"That's not a word, but yes." I smirked.

"So does this mean you'll come out to lunch with me on break?"

"Sure." I replied.

-

As we were closing up on set for lunch, I was packing away some of the microphones when I saw Q and Sal whispering to one another once again. It wasn't the same as how the two of them would usually communicate. Today seemed much more different. Whether I be paranoid of Q telling him about last night or not, it would have still gained my suspicion. After packing away the last one, I decided to make my way up to the pair of them.

"Hey, you ready to go?" I smiled towards him. Q then looked at Sal, looking as awkward as ever.

"Actually.. Can I take a rain check on lunch? Something came up and I.."

"Right.." I looked at Sal, and then back at him. "I get it, I'll see you later." I turned and made my way to my car, before he even had the chance to respond.

Maybe Sal had told him that I acted like an unreasonable bitch when he had asked me a question as simple as "how was your night?"

I guess I couldn't blame them for wanting to say clear. I had to rethink my way of handling these scenarios. That's if I could even stay at this job, as my time here was already much harder than I had anticipated, and that's not talking about the work.