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Nova

I walked into the office, scared of what I might find.

I quickly greeted Amy and rushed upstairs to my floor.

When the elevator opened, I was hit with the smell of fresh bread. It threw me off guard.

Who the hell is baking bread in a law firm?

I saw people with plates in a line to where we keep snacks and coffee. Did Mae cater breakfast?

When I turned the corner, the surprise was ruined. I saw Theo at my desk with a bagel in front of him.

He was reading a book and wasn't paying attention to me. When I walked up to my desk, I set my stuff down, and I saw him shift his head to watch me.

"I saved you a bagel," He said.

I looked at the bagel.

I wanted it, but I didn't want to take it from him. There was a high chance that he poisoned it.

"I don't eat breakfast," I said, which was true. My stomach always hurts if I eat too early.

He gave me a look that said I-don't-belive-you. I ignored it.

"I also got you coffee," He grinned.

He handed me an iced coffee. I warily took a sip- it was my order from high school. 

It's still my order.

I made a fake grimace. "I don't order this anymore," I lied.

His grin slightly faltered, "Throw it away then. I'll get you another one."

I shook my head, "Unlike you, I don't let my coffee go to waste."

He suppressed his smile and stood up from my chair, "Your chair is really uncomfortable," He said.

"Then don't sit in it."

"You should get a new one," He spoke.

I ignored him, "Is the line your doing?" I asked, pointing to the people.

He nodded, "I bought breakfast for everyone."

"Why?" I scrunched up my nose. He doesn't even know anyone that well.

"Because I'm a kind-hearted man."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night," I murmured.

His smile widened. "What do you eat for breakfast?" He asked.

I took the first breakfast food that came to mind, "Waffles."

"Waffles?" He made a face.

"Waffles." I nodded.

I started with work. I don't always have papers to analyze- I usually look through cases with an actual lawyer and talk about the case with them, but the papers are part of my grade.

He dragged a chair from an empty desk and set it in front of my desk. 

"What do you do here?" He asked.

"Work."

He nodded, a smile toying on his lips. He was messing with the trinkets on my desk. He picked up a bracelet made out of embroidery floss and started playing with it.

"Do you want it?" I asked, taking him by surprise.

"No-?" He said.

I laughed, "You can have it. Roma gives me too many."

"Who?" he asked.

"A friend."

"Oh."

"Yeah, she has a boutique, so whenever she has extra, she gives them to me," I say, turning back to the paper Mae has me analyzing.

He nods, and I suppress a smile when he slips the bracelet into his pocket.

He's wearing black slacks and a black long-sleeved button-up. The first three buttons of the shirt are undone to reveal a silver chain. The sleeves of his shirt seem tight around his arms whenever he moves. 

I watch his ring-covered fingers trace over the other trinkets on my desk- a couple of crystals, small toys, and random stuff like pens and gum.

"Are you busy today?" He asked me out of the blue.

"No, not really," I answered.

"Get lunch with me, then." He said.

I shook my head, "I already did." I was referring to the day of the meeting at his office.

"I mean a proper lunch."

I shake my head again. "Nope. I'm busy today."

He narrowed his eyes at me, "You just said you weren't busy."

"That was before I became busy," I stood up and started walking to the paper room.

"What are you busy doing?" He asked, following my trail.

"Not going to lunch with you."

He let out an annoyed sigh.

I didn't magically start liking him because he didn't leave me alone yesterday. Or because he brought me coffee. I still have my reasons for disliking him. That doesn't change overnight.

"Tomorrow then?" He asked.

This man just won't stop.

"No."

How many more times will I have to say it to drill it into his thick skull?

"The day after tomorrow?"

I let out a slow breath, "No." I state, "I'm not going to lunch with you."

"Today?"

"Any day."

"Why?" He asks.

I don't want to have anything to do with you.

I don't say anything to him, making him more frustrated. 

Good. Maybe if he's upset enough, he'll leave me alone.

I get the papers I needed and walked back to my desk. Maes assistant came and asked me to go and talk to Mae.

Theo didn't follow me. Mae asked about him- I gave her the summary. Then, she handed me a stack of papers that I needed to analyze.

When I got back, there was a yellow sticky note on my desk that said: I had to go. I ordered you waffles. I'll be back every day until you agree to lunch. - T

I rolled my eyes but felt curious about the waffles.

Ten minutes later, someone dropped off something for me at the lobby, and I knew it was the waffles. I gave them to Amy.

The next day-

Nova

I walked to my desk and felt a mixture of relief and surprise when I saw that it was empty.

There was a white food container on my desk. It was waffles. There was also coffee- the kind that Theo had thrown into the trash when he first came.

I set the waffles to the side and took a sip out of the coffee. I started with work, for the first time all week, in peace.

No annoying people to follow me around. Although, I might miss having him be my Bitch.

Mae's office door opened, and she stepped out, laughing. 

Why on earth is Mae laughing to herself? Has she officially gone crazy?

Then, I saw the tall imbecile I thought I was free of step out of her office. He spoke to her, she threw her head back in laughter, and my hands tightened around the pen I was holding.

What is he doing?

His eyes met mine, and he gave me a big grin. I watched him finish talking to Mae and walk towards me.

"How's the coffee?" He asked.

"What were you doing with Mae?" I asked.

His smile widened, "Oh, you don't know?" He asked, "We're best friends."

I clenched my jaw and nodded. "Best friends?"

"Don't worry. You're still my favorite friend," he assured me.

I put a hand to my heart, "How sweet! Sad that you aren't even on my list of friends."

He fake pouts, "You wound me."

"Good," I grumble.

He sits down on the chair he had set in front of my desk. He starts to go through his phone.

"What's the point in you being here when you aren't going to talk to me?" I asked.

He looked up from his phone, "Hmm? I'm doing work."

"Do it somewhere else," I say.

"Do you want me to talk to you?" He smirks.

"No. I want you to leave."

"Are you getting lunch with me?" he asks.

"What?"

He waits for me to answer his question.

"No," I tell him.

"Then I'm not leaving," He says, going back on his phone.

I have to respect how adamant he is.

Luckily, I won't have to deal with his pestering for the rest of the week since it's Friday, and I have the weekend and next week off due to meetings that I can't attend.

He takes a business call, and I watch him. He looks so relaxed and casual doing everything. He could be talking to the president, and he would make it look like he was ordering pizza for football night.

"Right," He says into the phone.

He waits for a second, running his free hand through his hair.

"No, I'm not at the office."

He waits again, looking at me and studying my face- making my stomach swirl.

"Jordan's there."

He takes my coffee and takes a sip before scrunching his nose in distaste.

I bite back a laugh.

He sighs, "I can get that done, yeah."

He takes another sip from my coffee before making a face again and getting up to throw it away.

I scoff- that coffee was good!

He hangs up and goes, "Why would you willingly drink that shit?"

I dramatically groan and get up from my chair. "I don't understand what you have against my coffee, but you need to stop taking your anger out on it."

"I wouldn't have anything against it if you had good taste."

"So my taste is bad just because you don't like it?" I ask.

I can see him nod as he walks next to me.

We have a coffee station at the office. I usually buy my coffee somewhere else, but in a time of desperation- I'm going to make my coffee.

I point to a cute llama mug that I can't reach on the top row of the shelf, and he sighs before getting it for me.

I smile at him and turn away, putting the coffee pod into the machine.

"Theodore, do you want coffee?" I ask. "I'm not letting you drink mine."

He's leaning against the side of the counter, arms crossed over his chest. He's looking around the workplace.

"Hmm?" He asks.

I reach for the sugar and creamer when he moves. 

I start to turn around when I suddenly feel him flush against my back. His hands on either side of the grey marble counter, caging me in.

"Why is Henry at your desk?" He whispers.

My heart is stuttering because I can feel his breath graze my ear. I close my eyes. "I don't know."

"Really?"

I smell his minty breath.

I nod, unable to form words without having my voice shake.

The coffee machine beeps, signaling that my coffee is ready, but Theo doesn't let me get it.

"Are you going to lunch with him?" He asks.

"No," I say, pretending like he isn't affecting me.

I can feel him shift against my back as he reaches for my coffee. He steps away from me, and I watch him take a sip of it.

I'm hoping my face isn't bright red.

He hands me the coffee, and I quickly turn away from him to add creamer and sugar. I can't explain why my hands are sweaty, my heart is beating fast, and my face is hot.

I finish with my coffee and silently start to walk back to my desk.

Theo gets approached by a few people. In the short time he has been here- he has already become everybody's BFF.

"Hey Henry," I say.

"Why is Theo still here?" He asks.

I shrug.

"Wanna get lunch again?" He asks.

"She can't," answers Theo's deep voice.

I glare at him. He sends me a smirk.

"I was asking Nova," Henry says politely.

"And I gave you her answer," Theo says harshly.

Henry ignores him and turns towards me. 

I smile and politely decline his offer for the day- only because I don't want Theo making a spectacle.

When Henry leaves, I turn towards Theo and say, "You're an ass."

He doesn't say anything. He takes another sip from my coffee, and I resist the urge to smack him.

Then he says he has to leave.

I nod and watch him leave.

I realized that I still hadn't touched the waffles, so I called Amy and asked if she wanted them. She said yes, so I took them down to her.

I found more yellow sticky notes in the drawers of my desk, and I kept them all.

I finished work and left the office at around 6:30. I found more money folded into one of the sticky notes, but I had no one to give it to, so I just shoved it into my pocket.

A few people had asked me about Theo throughout the day, and I just told them we weren't close.

I stopped at a small thrift store on the way home because I wanted to pick up a few fall decorations for my place.

I used the money he had given me, forbidding myself from feeling guilty.

I got a small wooden pumpkin and a cute necklace.

I also picked up some take-out for dinner and spent my night watching a crappy movie. 

__________________________________________

I did a double chapter!! What did we think?

I have a semblance of a plan for this book now, so be proud, haha. I'm going to try and update as much as possible for the next few weeks because I'm traveling for a while soon, so I want to be able to give you guys content. 

Thank you so much for 1k reads!! That is crazy to me. 

As always, I love you so much. 

- Kay