Professionals pt. 2
Enemies to Lovers.
My favorite trope.
It had been a few weeks since you and Alex had...broken company protocol. As much as you'd think things would be better between the two of you, that was hardly the case.
It was time for you to go to work but you couldn't help but think of all the weird interactions between the two of you.
Two weeks earlier
"Hey," a muffled voice interrupted your train of thought.
"Hey!" The voice grew louder the second time, finally catching your attention.
"Oh- sorry," you apologized, "I didn't realize-"
"It's okay, I just need to get these papers."
You stepped back, slightly embarrassed. Zoning out at work. You're supposed to be a figure of authority. It was you and Alex who made all the big decisions, after all. Yet, here you were, fantasizing about him in front of the printer. You could barely remember if anything even needed to be printed.
It's stupid. I mean, he probably doesn't forget what he's doing at work because of you. He probably barely gives you much thought.
You carried on with your day, trying not to become distracted. You noticed him almost every time he walked past your office door. You always came to work earlier than him and always knew exactly when he would be walking to his office. Never exchanging any of the polite pleasantries you would expect two co-workers to share.
When you weren't in your office, the two of you were usually walking to meetings together or discussing plans in his office. Despite your turmoil early on, the two of you made a hell of a team. He even stood up for you when people mistook you for his assistant and not partner. A rare act of kindness for Alex (even though it is kind of the bare minimum).
You walked into the break room, hoping to find it empty with an at least half-full pot of coffee to be waiting for you.
Oddly enough, the coffee pot was full.
But Alex was in there with another coworker. Another woman.
Damn.
It was probably nothing. They were only having your basic small talk. Surely it was nothing. It shouldn't matter, anyway. It's not like the two of you were exclusive. Despite your reasoning...
You were jealous.
As badly as you wanted to get his attention, you were better than that. You had more dignity or maybe pride. You got your cup of coffee. They both greeted you. Once again, odd for Alex. You smiled pleasantly and greeted back.
Normally, you would sit in the break room, sip on your coffee, and stare down to the city below, but, you left with your dignity intact and headed to your office.
A few minutes later, Alex walked by and stopped by your door. He had a few files in hand.
"Here, can you put those files with the project file from earlier this week?"
You two had a system, it balanced out the workload. But you had more of an eye for organization than he did so you kept everything in order.
"Sure. Just lay them on the corner right there."
He laid the files down and lingered a moment longer than expected.
"Is there a reason you didn't sit in the break room today?"
You furrowed your eyebrows together, "What?"
"It's just that, almost every day you will go get a cup of coffee and sit in the break room at around nine, but, you didn't today. I was just curious if that had anything to do with me and that pretty new temp sitting in there."
