Ink-stained Heart || Bendy x OC/Reader

Ch. 1 - The Workshop

Julie managed to reach her cubicle just as the bell signaling that it was eight o'clock chimed. She let out a soft sigh of relief and took her position at the desk before turning on the computer. Today was doomed to be another long day of doing the same work as usual; she could sense it. But, with an air of slight opposition, she began.

As a nineteen-year-old with little experience in the field, it was truly remarkable that she had managed to be hired by the boss of Marvelous Marigold Studios, a blooming graphic design company that was becoming increasingly popular with many important people in the industry. Yet despite this, she was hardly of any importance to the organization. In fact, it became blatantly clear to her over the past year that she was only hired because the boss's son had taken a strange liking toward her.

"Hey, Jules!"

And speak of the devil...

"Heyy, Max," she mumbled and absentmindedly waved at the male now peeking over the cubicle wall.

"How's it going? You look beautiful today."

Julie fought back the urge to flee to the break room, instead glancing up to give him a forced, pleasant smile. Looking at him from an outside perspective, he could easily be seen as attractive: his curly locks of black hair fell over his forehead in spiralling swoops, bringing out the curious sparkle in his blue-green eyes, and his jawline perfectly shaped a charming smile that always seemed to be warm and welcoming. His body, while not chubby, wasn't skinny either. It gave the appearance that toned muscles were hidden under his clothing, which was probably true considering how everything else about him was near perfection.

Everything except his personality, that is.

Sure, he conveyed the impression of a sweet man, but to her he was disgustingly similar to her ex-boyfriend, Ethan, a control freak who had used her for his own sick and twisted fantasies and cheated on her multiple times. After she had found out about this, he had hurriedly fled to another country with all of her money, leaving her in the dust with no one willing to support her. (cliche much?)

And that was when Max swooped in, attempting to serenade her and instead somehow landing her a job at a major company. She could at least thank him for that. But if the girls he brought in every other week and constantly flirted with were any kind of evidence, it was obvious that he was nothing but a player, just like Ethan.

"I'm doing fantastic, thanks," she responded and pretended to be focusing on her work, hoping he'd fall for it and leave her alone. But of course, he didn't.

"That's cool," he trailed off in disinterest. "Soo, um... do you maybe wanna go see a movie with me tonight? I have an extra ticket," he held up two crumpled pieces of paper that she guessed had been haphazardly shoved into one of his pant pockets.

Julie couldn't help but wince. She was expecting a poorly delivered question like this, but wasn't exactly prepared for it this time around. She racked her brain for some sort of excuse to say no, but it was as if her mind had completely shut down. She silently cursed to herself, her eyes desperately scanning the desk for inspiration... until they finally landed on a faded envelope leaning on the monitor with several ink splotches smeared across it, something she had completely forgotten about until now.

She made eye contact with him once more and flashed another fake smile. "I, uh... I actually need to go somewhere important tonight. It has to do with my uncle," she bit her lip and pulled the sleeves of her shirt down, suddenly feeling anxious. It wasn't a lie; she really did have to be at a place that concerned her uncle Joey Drew, the animator behind many successful cartoons.

"Oh, I see. Mind telling me where?" Max tilted his head questionably. She almost rolled her eyes in annoyance but managed to catch herself.

"It's his animation workshop. He sent me this letter requesting that I stop by. Says he needs to show me something," she gestured to the envelope on the desk. Again, not a lie. He frowned but shrugged.