heartbreak girl | s.m.

54 | the gemma standard

chapter playlist ⏯
• high - 5sos
• everything i didn't say - 5sos
• ghost of you - 5sos

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a couple weeks later
gemma <<<

"Can you sort these?"

Lily, Isaac's assistant, dropped a stack of manuscripts on my desk.

"Sure," I replied. I did not want to sort them, because that's not really what I'm here for, but seeing that Isaac is out right now and I don't want to be the cause of consternation, I agreed.

"Great," she said with a fake smile. "Alphabetically, by author's last name."

I know that.

But I just nodded, and she left. Working here with Isaac has been pretty good, honestly; he lets me read manuscripts, shows me the ins and outs of what his job is like, and we go out to lunch all the time. I think Lily is jealous, and that's why she hates me; maybe she was the one he used to take to lunch. I don't know. All I know is that I enjoy his company, and I enjoy books, and I like the gig I've got right now.

July has just begun, which means I've been doing this for roughly three weeks. It keeps me busy; between this and Jesse, I haven't had much time to dwell on Shawn. That doesn't mean I don't still think about him all the time and cry myself to sleep over the whole thing, but it's not as bad as it used to be.

Speaking of Jesse, I am so thankful that we are friends. Or, whatever we are. We make out sometimes, but that's it. Anyway—he just makes me feel so good. He's so kind and he makes me laugh all the time, and it's just like we found each other at the right time. We had always been friends, but because of my depressive episodes, I never saw my friends, and he and I never hung out alone. But we started hanging out a lot after the break-up, and I'm very grateful for it. Maybe he knows that being alone all the time would make it worse. Or maybe he's just trying to get in my pants. Either way, it's nice that he cares.

"Coffee Boy is here," Lily called out to me, as if she was annoyed by the whole thing. Coffee Boy is actually Jesse, because he brings me coffee all the time on his way to work, and that's just what Lily and Isaac have started to call him.

I looked up to see Jesse walk into the building, sunglasses on and two cups of coffee in his hands. He smiled upon seeing me, and my heart fluttered a bit. He sat down on the other side of my desk, which was situated in a private but somewhat awkward corner of the big room.

"Morning, Coffee Boy," I said to him, smiling as he handed me a cup.

"Morning, Office Girl," he replied, taking the sunglasses off to reveal those blue eyes.

"Thank you, as always," I told him, taking my first sip. I felt the energy start to course through my body already.

"You're welcome, as always," he said. "How's your day been so far?"

"Well, I've been here for an hour and I'm already ready to go home," I replied.

"Where's Isaac?"

I shrugged. "A meeting, I think. Should be back soon," I told him. "Sorry. I know how important those baseball talks are to you."

Isaac and Jesse strike up conversations sometimes when Jesse comes in here, because Jesse is annoyingly likable and outgoing. They most often talk about baseball, because Jesse loves the Red Sox, while Isaac loves the Yankees, so it's sort of this rivalry thing, I suppose? I don't really know.

"Maybe next time," he said. "Or I can wait for him. Will I distract you?"

"A little, but not that much," I replied, setting my cup down and getting back to work. "What are you doing tonight?"