|1| Mr. Huxley

The flowers

were dressed In nothing

But light.

~Mary oliver

_______________

I take slow sips of my coffee savoring the flavor as it hits my tongue, the smooth velvety coffee to creamer mixture feels like a warm hug on a cold night, my eyes close while I enjoy this peaceful moment in my office, the smell of Caramel and sugar pulls a smile to the corners of my lips,

Working for Mr.Huxley isn't exactly riveting, I rarely make time for myself since all my energy goes into work, the company I work at is the biggest design and remodeling company in New York, I have the luxury of being the "great Aaron Huxley's" assistant, I won't lie it's a good job, great even,

Usually, my days at work consist of:

- grabbing coffee for Mr. Huxley and myself.

-smiling at everyone I see and hoping they smile back (they usually don't)

- work, work, and more work usually I get called into Mr. Huxley's office to grab paperwork, but other than that he calls me via the intercom in my office

- I pray and hope the day would be a little better and more interesting than the day before (usually it's the same old routine)

- I have a sandwich for lunch since it's the best thing to exist (next to hugs)

- and then I leave smiling at everyone and getting upset when almost no one smiles back (especially Mr. Huxley, I haven't seen that man smile once in my two years of working here)

I love making people happy, there's something about seeing their whole face transform into a big grin that sets your day up for more happiness,

And knowing I made someone smile means a lot, I try living every day making good decisions and trying my hardest to make some sort of difference even if it's something minuscule,

It's important to remember we don't know what anyone is going through, I try to remember that all people look at life differently and they also handle situations differently too.

So maybe let's say Mr.Huxley just doesn't handle life as good as maybe I do...which is alright but it would be nice to see him smile, to know every compliment I give him, or smile I send him gave him maybe just a small ounce of happiness ,

A smile can change someone's day drastically, I know it changes mine.

I'm only about 5 sips into my coffee when I hear the beep on the intercom and then Mr. Huxley's voice

"Vanessa come to my office now," he says in his usual irritable tone

Well, great...this should be fun,

I put my coffee back down on my coaster but not before taking one more sip, I take a deep breath letting it linger in my mouth before stepping out of my office and closing the door,

I walk down the hall to the door with the name 'Aaron Huxley' on it

I knock two times until I hear a 'come in'

I walk in and say a bright "good morning" he doesn't acknowledge me or what I said, his face is stuck into his Computer which he's doing work on

"Sit," he says not taking his eyes off the computer

I don't wipe the smile off my face because maybe a smile will brighten up his day, maybe just maybe he won't be as grumpy and people around the office won't say cruel things about him,

"How may I help you, Mr. Huxley," I say smiling

He takes a deep breathe and massages in between his brows

"Why are you smiling? It's 6:30 in the damn morning, nothing to be happy about Vanessa" he mutters in confusion, exhaustion, and maybe some annoyance

Well someone needs a hug this morning...

I still have a slight smile on my face "well there's lots to be happy about, even in the mornings" I laugh lightly shrugging my shoulders

He takes another deep breath He then picks up a stack of papers and slides them over to me

"I need you to go through all these papers before Friday's meeting," he says looking at me briefly before looking back at his computer

Well, great looks like I won't be able to check out that new sandwich place I heard about today...Gosh, I could use a sandwich right now.

"Alright" I nod standing up

"Is that all Mr. Huxley?" I ask making sure I don't get yelled at when I leave before he's finished talking

"Yes Vanessa you may leave," he says with a bored tone, still looking at his computer typing away

"Okay I'll have these done as soon as possible" I nod once more though he can't see me and head towards the door

I turn around before exiting "that color looks nice on you by the way"

It does the dark blue suit looks nice with his dark hair and piercing blue eyes

I hate that I'm attracted to my boss, but it's impossible to not notice how gorgeous the man is when you've worked for him for two years,

Working with him every day, seeing him all the time, going to meetings, events, and constant trips to his office for paperwork, its grows and now I'm sure I have a crush on him,

But I push it away and lock that small part of me that wants to think of what it would be like, but no I remind myself a relationship is the last thing I need right now, and I'm quite sure I'd be the last person on Mr. Huxley's list of who he wants to date or spend the night with,

He sighs "it's just like any other suit" he looks at me with his mouth in a straight line

I shrug my shoulder "maybe but the color looks good" I let a smile tug on my lips, I watch for a second hoping for any smile or emotion other then boredom and annoyance but I see nothing,

I see him shaking his head before I close the door to his office and head to my mine

Working for the highest paying business owner in New York has its perks

Like the fact I have my own office, most assistants usually have just a mere desk but I lucked out with a whole office to myself

I decorated it with books and there's even a pretty white Bouquet on a table by my dusty pink couch

I love that couch it makes me happy and its beautiful and an inviting color,

And you may be thinking, wow Vanessa you get flowers sent all the time, but the Sad truth would be that I have only gotten flowers a couple of times in my life

I feel like receiving flowers is an amazing feeling, so I just send them to my office every week, and sometimes I'll send some to Mr.Huxley he thinks I'm strange but they make his office look less dark and sad, and maybe just maybe it will make him smile,

And I have the flower shop pick whichever kinds they want for me so it's like a nice surprise every week, and almost like receiving them from someone else since they weren't picked out by me,

I grab my now warm cup of coffee and walk to my window which shows the beautiful New York City busy streets, and buildings in the distance as well as right across from us,

I have lived here for 2 years and managed to only explore local coffee shops, sandwich places, and a few shops, working for Mr.Huxley takes up most of my life and time,

Don't get me wrong I love working for him, the pay is wonderful, the job could be worse and my boss is very nice to look at so overall it's not the worst thing to complain about,

Ok, when I say my boss is nice to look at I'm not lying, the man is to perfect for his own good, he's tall, has dark hair, and those beautiful blue eyes...I could stare at them all day,

I wonder how handsome he would look when he smiles...

I'm lost in thought thinking about my gorgeous boss that I don't even hear when someone enters my office until a throat is cleared, I turn around to see wren, she 5'9, blonde hair, skinny, and absolutely gorgeous, she's very business forward as-well...she has smiled at me but I've realized that's only when she wants something, And seems like that's one of those times

"Hi wren, sorry I didn't see you there" a small smile plays on my lips as I take my coffee cup away from my face

"Hello" the smile on her face is forced and makes me feel dispirited that its only there for her to gain something

"It's fine Vanessa, so listen I am running late to a lunch meeting and I don't have time to finish this project for the Friday meeting and I was wondering if you could maybe finish it up and like come up with a quick little idea" she smiles at me and yet again it's fake and there for the sole purpose of me helping her,

I really don't want to do it and I hate feeling like I'm being used but if she's running late to a meeting and it might be important and I certainly am not doing any important meetings so why not help someone out and take some stress off her

"Of course, just put everything you have so far for the project on my desk" I smile kindly at her taking a seat behind my desk

"Thanks so much, Vanessa you're the best" she smiles as she walks out of my office, and that time the smile was real and it made me feel successful in a way that I got one real smile at work,

I sigh and slump down in my chair as I look at my now almost empty coffee cup,

Looks like another night where I stay overtime doing work and no delicious café coffee,

Granted I don't have much of a life outside of work so it's not like I'm missing out on anything, but it would be nice to live my life more fully then doing work all day,

My mom died when I was 19 from heart failure

And my dad died when I was 10 because he gave his heart to my mom

It lasted her 9 years before the heart began to fail again and at that point, the doctors said she was lucky to survive that long with my dad's heart

Since my dad was a bit older his heart wasn't as strong as someone who's in their mid-twenties but the doctors said his heart was the only option because they didn't have time to wait for a new heart and my dad was willing to take that risk so his daughter would have a mom

I will be forever thankful for my dad and the sacrifice he made for me, and my mom

I wouldn't be who I am today without my mother by my side, she's my biggest role model in life and I will forever miss her.

So I live this life for her and my dad, though I would like to live it a bit more...but cus of work that's kind of impossible so I kind of have to live it up in the office single and alone

But it's alright someone has to do this job and I'm perfect...not to sound too cocky or anything

I take a deep breath before diving into the Papers in front of me,

Wren comes back into my office and places a USB on my desk

"Thanks again Vanessa you are a lifesaver, well I have to go before I'm late for this lunch thing" she smiles

"No problem have a good day wren" I smile back watching her strut away as if she's on a runway,

I plug the USB into my computer and huff, There's barely anything done to this project except a crappy title, looks like I'm going to fall asleep on the couch in my office tonight.

After getting half of it done I realize that I can check if Wren's meeting will be much longer and if I need to complete all of this myself,

My mouth parts in confusion as I see no meetings marked for her on the company calendar, maybe it's for a different company? Or maybe she forgot to put it on the calendar?

I take a deep breath before typing away on the computer getting lost in the idea I've been wanting to write for a while but haven't gotten around to it, hopefully, they will like it and consider it at least.

-----notes------

I'm aware that's not how a heart transplant works but I'm stupid and a specific cute thing I have planned is based on the fact her dad gave his heart to his mom so...*cue shrugging shoulders* it's Wattpad so I'm using that as an excuse to not make it accurate

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Word count: 2250