I Hate You

16. "i kinda like it when you're bossy. it's hot"

I did this to myself. This whole mess that I'm in, I let him do it to me and what's worst of all, I liked it.

I wake up to the bright sunlight piercing through my window and a headache. I wasn't exactly hungover but I didn't feel great either, to say the least. Now I remember why I never go out on weekdays. I slowly get up and rub my eyes. I look for my phone to check the time to find out that it's already 8:41. I quickly snap out of my tired state and jump out of bed.

I'm scrambling to find a decent shirt to wear since I had originally planned to do laundry the night before. I manage to throw on a simple white tank top and some blue jean shorts because it was burning hot outside. I throw on a light cardigan, grab my keys and I'm out the door.

I can already tell that I will be needing extra coffee to get through today.

After nearly scraping a lamppost on the way to the office I finally make it upstairs. "Howdy partner," a familiar voice calls out behind me. "I heard you had a wild night yesterday!" Max hollers. My eyes widen as I turn to her amused cheeky grin. "What? Who told you that?" I pull her away from curious ears because she's talking a little louder than she should.

"Tori, she said she saw you on some guy's lap last night?" She pokes me. "I mean honestly I'd be pissed that I missed out on that if I wasn't so busy planning a wedding."

"Max, I'm—" I begin. "Relax, I'm just glad you had a fun time." She waves me off.

I guess Brandon didn't spill the beans to her yet, this conversation would've gone a lot differently if he had. I'd like to keep it that way for now. Until I can figure out what the next move is, I can't even fathom telling Max about it, she would lose her head. After making a quick iced coffee run I was ready to get settled in.

My office was empty when I arrived which gave me a bit of time to recuperate and devise a game plan. Clearly, things with Brandon were headed in the wrong direction and I stopped it just in time. That's what I get for being so open and vulnerable with him, never again. He was taking advantage of my drunken state and under no circumstances will I ever let it get to that point again.

"Good morning," Brandon exclaims as he bursts through my door causing me to jump in my seat and clutch my chest.

"You're late." I fix my hair and pull up my project now that we can finally start working. "Oh my bad, someone had to take a cab all the way back to the bar to get their bike back. Oh wait, it was me." I am not in the mood for his snarky attitude.

I edit away and shut him out so I can really get in my zone. "You won't even look at me." He notices. "We're just gonna pretend last night didn't happen?" He leans in close and almost whispers.

"What didn't happen?" I turn to him and give him the satisfaction.

"Oh okay, so that's your tactic? Don't worry. I'll play along." He scoots back over to his desk.

"Look, you're reading too much into this, it was just an alcohol-infused mistake. It meant nothing." I try to put an end to his scheming. "Oh, it meant nothing, huh?" He shot up from his seat and that's when I saw the devilish look in his eyes. I tried to ignore it but it was undeniable.

"Yep, nothing." I turn back to my computer. At this point no one is getting any work done.

"You know I think you're lying," I can feel him scooting in closer but I resist. "Because I didn't think it was just some kiss."

The lies escape his lips, so alluring and beautiful. Like a lion closing in on his prey, I can see how this would draw me in and capture me. "Seriously it meant nothing." I persist, though my heart was racing yet again.

His devilish grin turns into a smirk. "Just get back to work." I order. I've had enough of his delinquent acts, this is a workplace for christ's sake. To my surprise it worked, I fought the lion off and survived the fight. It was almost thrilling. In the corner of my eye I see him roll his chair back to his desk in defeat as I try to catch my breath.

"You know, I kinda like it when you're bossy. It's hot."

That's it.

"I don't have time for this right now," I stand myself up and push off my desk. "I have to speak to Sophie." I rush out of the office and straighten myself out before marching to her door. There's a thousand things I want to say to her right now and most of them would probably make me look bad as an employee so I compose myself.

"Hey, Sophie do you have a minute?" Luckily she wasn't in a meeting and she made time for me. She's always in and out of the office I'm surprised I even caught her.

"I really wanted to talk to you about my assistant," I begin, though I had not exactly prepared what I wanted to say. "I am thrilled that you guys decided to promote him to full-time, I'm only concerned with how this will affect his role in my office," I say.

"Nothing will change, he is still there to assist you however he is more committed to the company and will have his own tasks along with yours." She explains. "Yes, well, my concern with that is that he will not be able to keep up with the responsibilities—"

"I know what this is about Jess, you think I don't notice these things but I do."

I gulp. Am I really that transparent? There's no way word could've travelled to her that fast and regardless we never did anything inappropriate in the actual workplace. Not that it makes it any less wrong.

"You're worried he's going after your promotion."

It's evident that I am stressed. The look on her face tells me she's trying to reassure me.

"Jess, you have been with us for over a year now. You are our most proficient and talented editor, I assure you if you keep your head in the game and push through this project, you will have great things coming your way. A lot more responsibilities that I know you are most certainly up for and ready to tackle."

I feel incredibly relieved and motivated. I can't believe I got so wrapped up in this drama when it doesn't even matter. This promotion, that's what matters.

//

I blissfully ignore Brandon all the way up until lunch then I set off to find Max. I need to talk to someone level-headed and normal for a change. I dig into my cafeteria salad because my body desperately needs greens after the long night I had. I catch up on some much-needed gossip and enjoy a peaceful lunch far away from Brandon and his shenanigans.

He has completely lost his mind. I cannot believe who I have become I could barely concentrate on my work yesterday. I have been blinded by his acts of kindness. I hardly believe they are out of the goodness of his heart. He's had other intentions since he got here and I'm stopping it now before it gets out of hand.

"I have been crazy busy lately but how about a girl's night?" Max suggests. "I'm free this Friday, no guys at all, I'll even kick Brian out."

I laugh at the thought of her kicking Brian out of his own home. I am beyond excited for this, finally some guy-free time.

"Let's do it."