y/f = your friend
y/l/n = your last name
"Goodnight (y/f), see you tomorrow." I smiled, hugging my coworker.
"See you tomorrow. Bummer you have to work late." She replied, pushing her lip out into a pout.
"I don't mind. It's-"
"Fun yes I know you've mentioned it. You're the only person I know who likes working late (y/l/n)." (y/f) said, shrugging and walking out the door. I waved my last goodbye to her and smiled, shaking my head. (y/f) was a bit of a party animal, going out to clubs every night and crashing on my couch every night at like 3 am while I worked. Of course, until she just decided to move into the guest bedroom and live with me. Uninvited. But it's okay, I still love her.
For once I wasn't planning on staying late tonight. I thought I'd give myself a break and go out, have fun. But my boss asked me to stay late and, can't say no to the boss right?
Especially if you have a crush on him.
It was now 12:20, we closed the restaurant 20 minutes ago and now I was sitting with my boss, Louis, in the backroom, going over paperwork.
He's the restaurant manager, I'm the assistant restaurant manager. Kind of like a manager in training, except less training and more manager work stuff. Which they consider training I guess. Louis is a great manager, he just doesn't take much work. He tackles financials sure, which is a big job, but he leaves most of the other tasks to me. I know more about this restaurant than he does. I know what's going on in everyone's lives when to schedule certain people's shifts, the regular customers. I like that part of the job. Which is why I'd never want to be a manager. I'd give up all the fun pets about my job.
***
Louis's POV
"Is there any way we could fit in another employee?" She asked. I didn't hear it first, too busy studying her. How she mouthed out the words she reads while she reading, how she clicks her pen when she gets nervous or anxious or just needs to fill the time.
"Louis?" She said again, her finger freezing on the pen to look up at me.
"Hm?" I said, snapping out of it.
"Room? For another employee? Do we have it?" She said, smiling. "What's wrong your usually so focused." She laughed, returning to her calendar.
"Ah, it's nothing. Long day." I lied. "Who did you want to hire?" I asked, replying to her question. She stared at me curiously, knowing I just lied to her face.
"UH, Laurie from the kitchen. She has a nephew looking for a job and she was wondering if we could hire him as a busboy." She said, starting to click her pen again. Then she smiled and looked down. "You should go home."
"No!" I said quickly, causing her to look up and raise her eyebrow. "I mean, I just have a lot of work I'd rather get it done here. I don't like bringing work home." I said, trying to cover up.
"Me neither." She said warily, keeping eye contact with me until she flipped a page. "So how much are we able to pay him?" She asked.
"Who?" I said confused.
"Laurie's nephew. Jacob."
"Jacob."
"Yes, Jacob." She laughed again. Her laugh was so light and sweet. A beautiful sound, unlike other people I know who cackle.
"Yes, we can afford to pay him minimum wage." I finally said.
"Great I'll start him Monday." She wrote something down in her notebook, then wrote it on the calendar. I looked back at my work and signed things. It was quiet for a little while, till I cleared my throat and turned to her.
"Just out of curiosity, how old is Jacob?" I asked. She looked up in thought and tapped her pen on her bottom lip.
"Umm, I think he's about my age? Not sure about the exact age but Laurie was talking about him one day and said we were close in age." She said, moving her hands around as she talked.
"He's uh, he's your age- have, have you ever uh... met him?" I said awkwardly.
"Yea, yea not a very formal meeting but he came in last week to ask for an interview so I just interviewed him then, just in case." She said. She was trying to keep a straight face but the corner of her lips was pulling up a bit. "Why, do you have a problem with him?" She laughed. I scoffed and looked back down at my papers.
"No I just think um, boys that age are a little... immature," I said, pushing my hand through my hair nervously.
"Oh come one you're only a few years older don't act all high and mighty." She laughed. Then she gasped.
"What?" I asked, head shooting up to look at her.
"You think I'm gonna date him!" She exclaimed.
"What? No! No that's not- uh, that's not what I was thinking." I stuttered out.
"Uh-huh. Well, no need to worry. I don't date coworkers." She said, checking off boxes on her paper. My heart dropped. Of course, she doesn't date coworkers. She's responsible, she's got a lot to handle plus school on top of that.
***
Your POV
There was an awkward silence after that.
God, why did I say that! Now he's never gonna ask me out.
Louis and I always flirted back and forth with each other and I thought that meant he liked me. Since I figured it out I've been trying to push him into asking me to dinner or something but now I've just messed it all up.
I looked up from my papers to see he had his head in is hands.
"Are you okay? Sorry, I shouldn't have brought that up it's not-"
"I think I'm gonna go it's getting late and I'm pretty much done here. I'll see you tomorrow (y/n)." He said, getting up.
"Wait! Louis!" I said, chasing after him through the back doors to the main room of the restaurant.
"Louis..." I tried calling his name again, and sure enough, just as he was about to walk through the double glass doors, he turned around.
"What? You wanna go you can too. You wanna hire that guy go right ahead." He said, eyes not looking at me. His eyebrows were furrowed and his jaw was locked.
"No, I just-" I cut myself off, not sure if I should say it or just leave it alone. I bit my lip and started fiddling with my fingers. His eyes softened in response, finally landing on my face.
"Just what?" He whispered, stepping closer to me.
"Nothing I- I should probably let you go-"
"Say it (y/n)." He said, his hand coming up to my cheek. I looked up at him, eyes glossing over.
"I just don't want you to leave," I said softly, just barely a whisper. He smiled and leaned down, bringing our faces close together.
"I'm not going anywhere." He said, then he closed the gap between us and softly placed his lips against mine.
I closed my eyes and let myself fall into his embrace. He dropped his bag and put his arms around my waist, pulling me into him. A burst of confidence flew through me and I threw my arms around his neck, tugging him down to get closer and tangling my fingers in his hair. The kiss was starting to get rough now as I climbed onto him, legs around his waist as he sat back on a table.
All of a sudden he chuckled and pulled away.
"What happened to not dating coworkers?" He smirked.
"Oh shut up," I said, pulling his face back to mine.
Let's just say I broke my rule many times with him.
