Heartthrob ✓

sixteen

S I X T E E N

BEING BACK IN THE OFFICE FELT GOOD.

Sure, there was now an even higher risk of getting into more trouble with Ashton now that I was back on the homefront, but now I had Elijah and Eric to talk to and commute with again. While I couldn't tell either of them about Vivian staying at Ashton's place, they must've known Kelsey because the words 'secret project' triggered immediate responses of sympathy from the two of them.

Speaking of the secret project, I was still bittersweet about how it ended. I used my professional meddling skills to get Ashton to involve himself more in Vivian's life and he decided to stop holding me hostage in his guest bedroom because he began to trust his sister more, but that meant that I didn't exactly know how to get in touch with Luke.

But at the same time, it was nice to have more than one friend at work, even if that just meant two who were in a relationship and you were just the third wheel.

"Hey," Elijah said, coming around my desk for at least the fifth time as if he couldn't believe that I was still here. "What are you doing for lunch today?"

"Aw," I teased him, "are you paying?"

He scoffed before deciding to sit down on top of my desk as if I weren't sitting there and didn't want his butt all over my workplace. "Yeah right, but a bunch of us are going to Emilie's hotel to set up the venue and I want you to come with us."

I frowned at the mention of Emilie, and while I knew it was petty, I just couldn't help it. She and Ashton weren't right for each other, not to mention how the circumstances behind their relationship were extremely problematic. So in my most reasonable state of mind, while I couldn't advocate for me to be his girlfriend after all of the things I've put him through, they still weren't good for each other. The woman left her husband over a fake love letter that I wrote, who knew who she'd leave Ashton for. That is, if Ashton didn't leave her first like he was planning to after using her ballroom space for the venue.

"Well, it sounds like fun," I said. "But I don't know if I can go. I'm sure I have a lot of work to catch up on today." I had no idea because I didn't even check Ashton's inbox yet. I was just trying to get back into the groove without doing too much manual labor.

"Meredith might be there so Eric and I can pin her down while you go and beat her up."

I rolled my eyes. Of course, he would suggest some kind of violence against Meredith. He hated her more than I did for things that wasn't any of my business so I didn't ask him. "I'm not letting you live out your vendetta against Meredith through me, Elijah. Besides, I have work to catch up on, remember?"

He shook his head. "What kind of weak excuse is that, Fiona? You already knew Ashton's been working without a personal assistant for a while and it overwhelms him when he does everything for himself, but he did it all since you left on your little secret project."

I didn't know that because he didn't exactly bother to tell me. I had been gone this whole time expecting to have a temporary replacement or to have all of work waiting on me to finish it. But no, Ashton did it so I had nothing to do.

"Fine," I lied, throwing my hands up in surrender, "you caught me. I'm coming with you guys. I was just planning on sleeping at my desk and waiting for new calls and emails."

He chuckled, slapping me on the back affectionately and making me almost choke on my saliva from the impact. "I knew I could count on you, Fee."

When Elijah finally hopped off of my desk and headed for the door did I replay his words in my head and catch the nickname that he gave me.