Repetition Compulsion

18.

For Sera, working at Blake and Gray's was a different experience. All the other employees were friendly and the atmosphere was generally quite warm.  She was learning so much about the industry, and getting a lot of hours in during the same process. So despite the initial discomfort due to her history with Abimbola, for the first time ever, Sera actually felt like she truly belonged somewhere. 

Abimbola hadn't brought up the incident in the elevator or tried asking her out again since she said no. He was being professional about the whole situation. However, despite all that, Sera still felt a little awkward whenever she had to interact with him. Under normal circumstances, Sera would have left the company and found another internship elsewhere. But these were not normal circumstances. It was the end of the year, and Sera knew she was lucky to have gotten an internship at all. Besides, she really liked Blake and Gray...more than she liked any other places she had been placed to finish her yearly internship.

For the rest of the week, Sera attended Orientation with the rest of the interns. Only two of the three interns she had met on her first day had managed to pass the interview stage and were now part of the office interns. Amongst them was Samantha who was a petite and quirky blond who was always chewing gum, and Tyler, who was a very tall boy with bright pink hair, and a sassy, confidence laced personality that was even brighter than his hair. Sera didn't really interact much with the other interns. Partly because they were all always so busy, but mostly because she didn't really like their personalities and approach to life, and she didn't feel like pretending. They both gave off superficial energy, and Sera didn't like that, so she stayed away from them.

***  

It was the day of the function that Sera had been invited to by Abimbola. And after about thirty minutes of trying out clothes and outfits and trying to pick out the right one, Sera finally decided on a long maroon dress with long sleeves that left her shoulders exposed. She also put on some red lipstick and silver block heels to match her dress as well as the color of her hair.

Just as she finished applying the red lipstick, she heard her doorbell ring. It was just after 7, so she assumed it was Abimbola coming to pick her up. She took one deep breath in, looked at herself in the mirror one last time and then grabbed her handbag. She was both nervous and excited at the same time. Except when she opened the door, Abimbola Blake was not on the other side.

Troy was.

His cold eyes met Sera's, and she immediately felt her palms get a little sweaty, and her heart beat a little faster. She had been anticipating him reaching out to her again, but now that he was on her front door, she was quickly reminded that this was not what she wanted or needed. All the negative memories surrounding their relationship came flooding to the surface, sending a shiver down her spine.

"Well...aren't you gonna to let me in?", Troy demanded. There was something harsh, uncaring and impatient about his voice. There was an unlit cigarette hanging on the side of his mouth and his lean, muscular body was slouched in, giving him a very "lazy" and "uninterested" look.

Sera moved to the side, allowing him enough space to walk past her on his way in. As he walked past, he did a double take, scanning her from the bottom up. His eyes landed on her breasts, where they lingered for a while.

"You going somewhere?", he asked, slamming the overnight bag he was holding on Sera's kitchen countertop on his way to the living room.

"I'm going out with Nahi." Sera replied. She was quite surprised by how the lie rolled so smoothly and effortlessly off her tongue, but in that moment, she knew it had to be done. Troy never would have let her go out if he knew she was going out with another guy. Granted, it was her boss, but somehow she doubted Troy would understand any of that.