Falling

Tacos

Chapter Song: Promise- Eve 6

Noah had shown up to work at her usual 9:00, a half hour before her crewmates and a full hour before her bosses. She liked that they were given some liberty when it came to their work schedules and much preferred showing up and leaving early. She had some interesting dreams the night prior involving a pair of specific blue eyes, and she had made sure that her morning run was dedicated to forgetting about the awkward encounter.

Imagine her surprise when his car was parked in the back lot when she pulled in. She was always the first to arrive at Mythical Entertainment, but today it seemed like he had beaten her to the punch.

Noah weaved her way through the halls of the office building, turning on light switches as she went, before brewing a fresh pot of coffee in the little crew lounge off the main room. She hadn't seen Link yet, but she assumed he was in his office. It was strange that he hadn't turned on any of the lights when he had entered, but Noah decided not to read too much into it. He must have had a busy day for him to come in so early. Quickly pulling two mugs from the cupboard, Noah dressed them both with a little cream and added sugar only to hers, a sweet-n-low going into the other cup. She briefly wondered how she knew the way he took his coffee as she made her way past her desk, depositing her mug on its surface, and down the hall leading to the shared office.

He didn't answer when she knocked, and she briefly wondered if she had imagined his car in the parking lot.

"Link?" She called out, knocking lightly again before waiting.

She heard muffled noises coming from the other side of the door, but it was still another 30 seconds before he answered. Noah sucked in a breath of surprise at the disgruntled man before her. Link's hair was sticking up every which way in little tuffs, with the left side squashed almost flat. His white tee was wrinkled, again the left side was rolled and crinkled just a little more, and Noah noticed he had no shoes on. The bleary eyes that stared back at her were heavy with sleep. That's why he hadn't turned on any lights...

"Oh," she gasped, "I'm sorry. I didn't, well...I made coffee and..."

She stopped short when Link raised his arms over his head and stretched his tall frame. His shirt rose with the motion and her eyes briefly found the stretch of tan skin above the band of his boxer briefs. It took her another second to realize his pants were unbuttoned like he had pulled them on in a hurry.

"That was nice of you to bring me some," he smiled sleepily, grabbing the mug from her and retreating back into the office. He left the door open, his way of inviting her inside, and was content when he heard her soft steps a few paces behind him.

"What time is it?" He glanced at the clock on the far wall of the room just as Noah answered him as well. Link groaned before plopping onto the couch, bringing the steaming mug to his lips. He stared down into the light brown mix, realizing that she had gotten his coffee perfect and appreciated her attention to detail.

Link knew he should be embarrassed that Noah had caught him sleeping in the office. Even more so that she was seeing him in his current state, which reminded him his pants were unbuttoned, but as she sat in Rhett's big yellow chair, toeing off her Toms and tucking her feet underneath herself, he felt nothing short of comfortable. She had that sort of presence about her, it was one of the reasons they had hired her in the first place.

"This coffee is really good," he told her, taking another sip.

"Thanks. I make it every morning before the rest of the crew get here." She smiled at him and he noticed that she had a little freckle near the left corner of her mouth.

"Ah, when do they get here?" He usually came at 10, and most everyone was already here by then. He needed to make sure he was more put together before they showed up.