The Three Of Us (Lauren/You)

| 6 | Twenty Questions (Plus Sixteen)

Your POV

My heart was pounding as I stood in front of a familiar door I've seen every day of my life and yet suddenly felt foreign.

You can do this, Y/N. You've practiced this in your head last night. You've practiced this in the mirror. You've practiced this with your teddy bear.

You can do this.

Taking a deep breath, I turned the knob and pushed the door open. The moment I did, James jumped up in his seat and scrambled to grab the remote control from the table and turn off the TV.

"Dad, I wasn't watching the—I was working—" He stopped once he saw it was me. "Jesus, Y/N. I thought you were my dad. What happened to knocking first?"

"I—I did," I timidly said, quietly closing the door behind me. "I think the TV was too loud for you to hear me."

James rolled his eyes and straightened his suit. "I don't think I need to tell you that my father cannot find out about this."

I had half a mind to tell his father about him neglecting his job. After all, the only reason he was in this position was because his father, the president of the entire company, wants him to inherit the whole thing. Because of that, he wanted me to guide James into becoming a good candidate. That's the reason I was even transferred from becoming the president's assistant to James'. I had hope he would change but we were already two years along and he's still the same spoiled brat he started as.

There were numerous times I wanted to quit but the president was a long time friend of my dad and I didn't want to disappoint him.

"Okay," I said.

James nodded. "Good. Now, why are you here invading the sanctity of my office?"

"Umm... I'm here—I wanted—"

"God damn, Y/N, spit it out!"

How about I spit on you instead?

I cleared my throat and walked closer to his table. "I was going to ask permission... to leave early."

"Why?" James asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I need to pick someone up from school."

"You have a child?"

I shook my head and looked down at my feet. "He's my friend's child."

"You have friends?"

I quickly wiped the smirk off his face with a hard glare. I was getting good at this glaring thing. Of course it didn't really mean anything unless I follow it up with words but hey, it was a start.

"So can I go?"

"Of course not, you have a lot of work to do." He then swung over to face his computer and began typing, a silent indication that he was dismissing the conversation. But of course, I already expected this so I was ready.

"I finished all of it."

James' fingers hovered unmoving on the keyboard before he swung around to face me again. "Where are my expense reports?"

I placed a tall stack of folders on his table and patted the top, the same way he did a few weeks ago.

"Done and arranged by month."

"Where's my contracts?"

I grabbed the red folders off the top and put them beside the stack. "Done and double-checked."

"Where's my event portfolio?"

I did the same but this time, put the yellow folders in the middle on the table. "Done and made copies," I said, gesturing to the green folders left.