Jo

"I love you," Lena whispered, pressing a sweet kiss to my cheek. She smiled and pulled away, rubbing my arm.

"You could just stay," I muttered, leaning against the wall.

She tilted her head over, grinning. "Yeah? I could be your assistant for the day, give Amanda the day off?"

I stood upright, pulling her close to me. I scanned the hallway, making sure no one could hear me.

"You could be my personal personal assistant," I whispered against her ear, earning a giggle from her.

"And what are the requirements of that job?" She asked, grinning as she bit down on her lip.

The elevator opened and I cleared my throat, grinning down at Lena. Milo stepped out of the elevator, stopping in his tracks.

"Hey, Jo," he greeted.

"Look at how much this idiot's grown," I said, folding my arms over my chest.

"Hi, Milo," Lena greeted, holding her arms out for a hug.

He winked over at me and wrapped his arms around her neck, rolling his eyes back into his head with a smile.

I slapped the back of his head. "That's my wife you're fantasizing about."

Lena laughed, making Milo let go of her. "Well, you shouldn't get to keep her all to yourself. In my personal opinion. Very selfish, Jo."

I could see Cecilia's eyes locked on the three of us, a grimace on her face that was impossible not to detect.

"You're cute, Mi," Lena said, patting his bicep.

"Feel that? I bet it's more than Jo's got."

"I don't need to prove my masculinity to you by flexing my bicep," I said, folding my arms over my chest, "but it's not."

Lena laughed, pulling her hair down from the ponytail it was in. "I've seriously got to run, very soon."

Milo's jaw was agape as he watched her rake her fingers through her hair. I allowed him to fantasize, or whatever the hell he was doing, for a moment longer before snapping him back into reality with a hard slap on his back.

"Come on," I said, "wipe the drool."

He shoved me back, chuckling. "Dick."

I pressed a kiss to Lena's temple. "I'll be home early today."

"Yeah?" She asked, looking up at me.

I winked. Milo wrapped an arm around her neck, grinning. "I'll be home early today, with flowers."

"Irresistible, I tell you," Lena teased, patting his stomach, "bye, guys. Don't get too wild while I'm gone."

Milo and I stood beside each other and watched as she walked towards the elevator.

"She wears that outfit really well," he quietly admitted, rubbing the nape of his neck.

"I've been lucky enough to see-"

"Oh, my God, I get it," he groaned, leaning his head back, "you two have sex all the time. God."

"I was going to say her in sweatpants and a big t-shirt, but okay," I said, "maybe you should have some sex."

I stopped at Cecilia's desk, reaching into the candy jar. "This should be illegal."

She giggled, looking up at me as she stacked some papers. "What?"

"These damn lifesavers," I said, "hard lifesavers, cherry. Bye."

Milo sat on the edge of her desk. "You've got contacts, right?"

"What do you mean?" I asked, looking over at him.

"You know," he said, "hook ups."

"I'm married, dipshit," I deadpanned, "so no, I do not."

"Fuck," he muttered, "if I was married to Lena, I wouldn't need contacts either. So one of us is winning."

Cecilia rolled her eyes and stood up. "Excuse me."

Milo folded his arms over his chest. "That is an uptight woman."

"She's close to your age."

"I'm not hooking up with Cecilia."

"I wasn't suggesting-"

"I mean, the whole nerd look? It's cute. Hook up material? Not necessarily."

I looked over at him, chuckling. "Bold of you to assume she'd even want to hook up with you in the first place."

"You should've seen the way she was looking at me a few nights ago."

"You've got an ego, I'll say that much."

He patted Cecilia's desk and walked into Fred's office, making Cecilia peek out from around the corner.

"You heard that?" I asked, grabbing another lifesaver.

"Yeah," she said, tucking her hair behind her ear.

"Trust me, being desirable to Milo Parker should not be a goal of yours," I muttered, shaking my head.

She nodded, biting down on her bottom lip. "Yeah."

~*~

Cecilia

I opened the doors of King Corporation, biting down on my bottom lip as I awkwardly held my purse in front of me.

I'd spent my lunch break, plus some time, getting a complete makeover.

"Hey, Cecilia," the receptionist greeted, grinning.

I frowned. I was still recognizable?

"Love the look," she said, before picking up the phone and taking a call.

I smiled, walking over to the elevator. The ride up thirty floors felt like only seconds, and I stepped out of the elevator as soon as I made it to the top floor.

I quietly passed through the important men, holding my bag close to me. I saw Milo standing at Fred's door, making my eyes go round as I hurried over to my desk.

You did this for him. Why are you hiding?

Milo was chuckling about something, I wasn't sure what, and his eyes met mine.

He folded his arms over his chest, tilting his head over. I cleared my throat and tucked my unusually straight hair behind my ear, turning on my computer.

I tried to act like I wasn't internally freaking out, although I most definitely was.

Fred's door opened and out Milo walked, his hands in his pockets as he neared me.

"This is new," he said, lifting an eyebrow.

I looked up at him. "Yes."

"Why?" He asked, "hot date tonight?"

He braced his palms on my desk, eyes in thin slits.

"N-no," I answered, shaking my head.

"Well, there must be something important today."

I bit down on my bottom lip, looking up at him from under my eyelashes.

"Don't tell me you did all this for me," he said, grinning an egotistical grin.

I scoffed, standing up. "Yeah. You're-"

He stopped me from walking away from my desk, his hand wrapped around my wrist. "I personally like your other look just as much."

I pulled my wrist away from his grasp. "If only I cared."

He smiled down at me, resting his hands on his hips. "You really didn't strike me as the firecracker type. Put the glasses back on, you're a lot nicer with them."

I shoved past him and walked into the ladies room, standing in front of the mirror. I'd gone and blown at least half of the money I'd earned from working for Fred on a simple makeover.

All for it to be put to waste.

I couldn't tell if I was angry or sad, but either way, I felt tears pricking at my eyes. I quickly wiped the tears from my cheeks, dabbing my skin with a towel.

The door flew open and I sniffled, turning away from it.

"Chilly out today, isn't it?"

I panicked as soon as I heard Alexis's voice. Does she just make conversation with anybody in the ladies room?

"Yeah, for sure," I answered.

"Cecilia?" She asked, "I didn't know your hair was so long, oh my."

I turned around, tilting my head over. "Don't ask."

She dropped everything in her hands, wrapping her arms around my neck. "Aw, sweetheart. Why are you crying?"

I shook my head. "I'm just not enough. Even after all of this."

She pulled away from me, gently wiping my cheeks. "Cecilia, you're more than enough. You're beautiful. Where's this coming from?"

I shook my head, looking in the mirror.

"I hope you didn't do this for a boy," she quietly said, raking her fingers through my hair.

"I did," I said, nodding.

She sighed, turning me around to face the mirror. She rested her chin on my shoulder, rubbing my arms. "You look inexplicably beautiful, Cecilia."

I smiled a small smile.

"And you also looked just as beautiful before it all," she said, "I need you to know that."

I bit down on my bottom lip, nodding.

"Do you understand?" She asked, spinning me around to face her.

I nodded, smiling.

"Don't ever feel like you need to change yourself for a stupid boy," she said, "definitely not my brother."

I laughed, shaking my head. "He's so into Lena. I guess I thought if I did my makeup and had straight hair, maybe he'd be into me, too."

She smiled, tucking a chunk of hair behind my ear. "Don't tell him I told you, but I think he might have a thing for your look, too."

She grabbed her things from the floor, nodding towards the sink. "Here's a makeup wipe. Gently fix the mascara on your cheeks. And come out of here and make all those men stutter on their own words."

She winked and opened the door, closing it behind her.

~*~

Fred

"You asked to talk to me?" Cecilia quietly said, leaning against my door.

I nodded towards my desk, earning Alexis's eyes. "Go easy," she mouthed, twirling a strand of hair around her finger.

Cecilia stood in front of my desk, making me stand up. "You know what I'm going to say."

"I actually don't," she muttered, looking up at me.

"You spent two and a half hours on that today," I said.

She bit down on her lip. I felt like I was scolding my daughter, and I didn't like it, not one bit.

"Cecilia, I hired you because I thought you'd be responsible," I said, "not because I was looking for a kid to raise."

Alexis tilted her head over, watching my every move.

"I don't want to have to be hard on you, Cecilia," I said, shaking my head, "it's the last thing I want to do."

"I understand," she said, nodding.

"You what?" I asked, completely taken aback.

"I understand," she said, "it was irresponsible of me to stay gone so long. I knew my time limit and I really overdid that."

Alexis's eyebrows shot up, and I was sure mine were in a permanent furrow.

"I get it," she said, nodding.

"O-okay," I muttered, scratching the nape of my neck.

"I get it," she said, "if you take off an hour or two of my pay. My behavior was inexcusable."

I bit down on my bottom lip, bracing my palms on my desk. "You can go home if you'd like."

She nodded, shooting Alexis a weak smile as she walked out of my office.

"That went so much smoother than I thought it would," I sighed, sitting on the edge of my desk.

Alexis was seated on my couch, her head resting in her palm. She stood up, walking over to me.

"Are you ready to go?" She asked, watching as I stood up.

I nodded, leaning over my desk to sign a few papers. "Just a-"

She wrapped her arms around me from behind, resting her face against my back. "I want it, Fred."

"You want what?" I asked.

"I want to have to reassure my daughter," she said, looking up at me as I turned around, "I want to have to sit back and watch you put your foot down, even if I hate it."

I sighed, wrapping my arms around her neck.

"I want that, Fred, and today made me realize how much," she said, looking up at me, "and how soon."

I looked down at her, clenching my jaw. "Grab your coat."

She watched me grab my coat from the rack next to my door. "Was that you disagreeing?"

I shrugged into my jacket, shaking my head. "No. I'm taking you home and putting a baby in you."

I hadn't seen Alexis look so taken aback in quite some time.

"Is that okay with you?" I asked, nodding down at her.

She nodded, her eyes round. "Yes."

I pressed a kiss to her temple, smiling. "Come on, then."

~*~

HI GUYS

let's just all say: fred king is iconic

YOU GUYS ASKED FOR MORE MI AND CECILIA SO I GAVE

also jo and lena WILL BE MORE ABUNDANT IN UPCOMING CHAPTERS. i know they haven't been very present, but i found the first section to be extra cute 🥺

i also have some aesthetics of Fred and Lex's house! 😍 these have been in the works for a bit because i would not actually hurry up and find decent pics so i blame myself for this

BEAUTY AM I RIGHT

okay i guess that's all i can blabber about today. so i love u guys dearly and hope ur all doing super well <3

all my kisses,
jay