Chapter 5

Emily

Emily

I stop the car and wait for Logan to step out. Once he closes the door behind him, he turns towards me and realizes that I'm still inside.

"You're not coming?"

"I'm using the backdoor. Just walk inside and ask for Josh."

He frowns. "Are you ashamed to be seen with me or something?"

"Yes. Especially when you're wearing sneakers without socks and another NYU hoodie."

He rolls his eyes. "Fine, your loss."

Okay, sure, it's embarrassing to walk inside with someone who's dressed like a skater boy, but the real reason why I don't want to walk with him is that I think I might have my period and Melanie, my assistant, is going to meet me in the parking lot to give me some painkillers.

I really don't need Peter Pan to realize that I have my period on.

I park my car and spot her pink hair right away. I've been working with Melanie for the past two years. Although she's in her late twenties and the age difference between us is around six years, we've still grown really close.

She's always here early, has a really good memory, and can organize all the messy drafts that I put together. I can say that we're a good team with confidence.

She grins when she sees me. "You look like shit."

"I got my period this morning and I'm dying. You know Adam's 'no-painkillers' policy."

"Yikes. There you go." She hands me two pills and some water.

After gulping them, I thank her and return the bottle of water.

"Actually, can I have the whole bottle?"

She hesitates for a second. "Em, I don't think that's a good idea."

"I promise I'll be careful... it's just that the first day is always the worst and I'm going climbing in two days so I might need them again."

She groans. "Ugh, fine. I hate that I can't say no to you sometimes."

I give her a tight hug. "You're the best."

"So, Sabine just texted me that a really cute guy came in asking for Josh."

Ugh, Sabine. Here we go. Sabine is this actress-wanna-be who's only working here to make enough money to spend her weekends auditioning. She's okay-ish but I don't trust Hollywood-wanna-be's.

"And like, apparently, he's Josh's new secretary. He's from New York and here for the summer- Wait, why are you not surprised?"

Before I can say anything, her jaw drops. "Oh my God. Is he Adam's nephew that you had to show around yesterday?"

"Yep."

"Oh my God, Em. I totally hate you right now for not telling me!! This is so exciting. He's living with you too!"

I just shake my head, knowing exactly where this is going. "Mel, I love you but you seriously have to stop fangirling. I can see that you're getting ideas, but I reassure you that pigs are more likely to fly."

She squeals again once we leave the elevator. This is going to be so painful. I can just picture it: Logan walking around in the office, giving his annoying sexy smirk to Melanie and Sabine, and then charming Josh with his lame jokes and - Ugh. I'm not emotionally ready for this. I hate attractive people.

"Good morning, sunshine," Josh greets happily. "Why do you look like you're plotting someone's murder in your head?"

"Because I am? It's yours, and Adam's, and his," I grumble as I look at Logan, who's already mingling with Melanie and Sabine. I'm not sure I can take any high-pitched laughter today. Not to mention that my cramps are getting worse by the second.

As you can probably tell, I'm not Sabine's biggest fan. She has her arm on Logan's shoulder, playing with the hem of his hoodie. I look away and notice that Josh has a slight smile on his face.

"The guy is not so bad. He knows how to use a Word document, so I'm glad."

I shake my head. "Don't talk to me for the rest of the day. Or the year."

I close my office's door and open the window before pulling out my laptop.

I have to submit a report regarding the preservation of specific land sites in Mount Sannine, which is one of the highest in the region. I also have to map tomorrow's mountain hike. Part of our work is organizing mountain climbing trips to raise funds for the free sports classes we're giving. I end up spending the next seven to eight hours glued behind my desk.

I try to focus but my mind is preoccupied with so many things. I'm just really stressed about all those changes happening. Before I know it, I open the painkillers bottle and take another pill. My stomach drips with guilt, but I force myself to just focus on my work.

By the time I'm done, the office is empty except for Peter Pan, who's scrolling on his phone. Even Mel's.

"Where is Mel?"

He looks up at me. "Finally, you're done. She left, like everyone else. It's four-thirty."

I roll my eyes. "Of course they did. You could have gotten a ride with one of them, you know?"

"Yeah but I don't know. I felt bad for ditching you."

I'm taken back for a second. I've always been the last person to leave the office, but it's kind of nice to have someone there...

"Thanks, I guess," I mumble awkwardly.

"Anyway, surprisingly, this was not so bad."

I raise an unimpressed eyebrow at him. "What? Writing a Word document?"

"Ha ha, very funny. But no. I mean, sure, getting five hundred bucks for writing people's names and e-mails is kinda dope. But all in all, I like the vibe."

"The vibe?" This conversation hurts my ears.

"Yeah. Everyone's so nice. I was worried they'd be more like you, but I'm glad that you're the intruder here. No offense."

"None taken, I know exactly what you're talking about."

With Sabine identifying as an aspiring Scarlet Johnson, Melanie dying her hair every week, and Josh being Josh, I am absolutely not offended.

He chuckles before holding the door open for me, which makes me blink at him. "Did Melanie give you a How-not-to-piss-Em off tips or something? You're being nice."

"She might have mentioned that you absolutely hate sloppiness. And people who wear shoes without socks."

I quickly hold a hand up. "Let's not go there again. I'm still not over this morning's trauma."

He laughs again as I lock up the door behind me.

Once we're inside my car, Adam calls him so he puts him on speaker.

"So, let's start with Em. On a scale from one to ten, how bad was he?"

My lips curve into a smile as I watch Logan's facial expression change from cocky to insulted. "I don't know. I was in my office all day. Ask your boyfriend."

"Who is way more chill than you, by the way," Logan comments.

"Agreed," I mumble.

"I'm going to pretend that I didn't hear that. Okay, next, Logan, do you think you can manage not to get fired for the next two weeks?"

"Absolutely. This should be like a piece of cake."

"For some reason, this isn't as reassuring as it sounds. Anyway, should I get burgers for dinner?"

Once we agree on dinner, I hang up and remember that I need to get more tampons so I park the car next to the grocery store before turning to Logan. "I'm going to be inside for five minutes. Try not to do something stupid. Deal?"

"Deal."

Fingers crossed. I quickly walk to the store, get my tampons and try to resist the temptation to get ice cream but fail so I end up getting two big Häagen-Dazs caramel ice cream boxes. Once I walk back towards the car, I notice that Logan is not inside.

Of course. Why am I surprised?

My eyebrows furrow together as I try to figure out which store he went into. There's the grocery store I was in, but there's no way he was inside. Then there's the phone store - I don't think so. The automobile shop? Uh oh, yes, that sounds like him.

I walk towards the shop only to find him next to a motorcycle chatting with a guy. You have got to be kidding me. This guy seriously cannot be left alone for more than two minutes. I should be getting paid for this.

"A motorcycle? Seriously?"

He grins at me and for some reason, my stomach swells. Ugh, I hate attractive people. They can get away with anything (like buying a motorcycle) just because their faces are gorgeous.

"How are you going to pay for that? I'm pretty sure it's more than your five hundred dollars' allowance."

He shrugs. "I gave him my Rolex watch."

I pinch my eyes closed and sigh. "Of course, you did."

"What? I need a reliable mode of transportation and this is my cheapest option."

"A reliable mode of transportation? Excuse you, I've been driving you around."

"Yeah no offense, but your driving skills are shitty."

My jaw drops. He did not just insult my driving skills. "My driving skills are perfectly fine. And as for your motorcycle, I hate to break it to you, but there's a reason why these things are cheap here, you know? And that reason is that the roads are too unsafe to handle a motorcycle."

"Cynic," He mutters under his breath.

I literally let out a scream.