|6| Sunflowers and heart flutters

I think you're made of flowers

How you bloom when there's light

On your skin

~ butterflies rising

____________

On Monday morning I make my way towards my office and feel my heart flutter at the sight of not one but two bouquets on my coffee table

I've never ordered myself two bouquets before so I know with certainty that one of them isn't from me...unless the floral shop mistakenly gave me an extra one

Walking over to the flowers I look them over, one of them is an assortment of different creamy white and pink roses,

And right next to the roses there's a stunning assortment of sunflowers, lavender, and different little flowers spread throughout the bouquet, a small white notecard catches my attention that's slightly hidden in the flowers

~𝚂𝚞𝚗𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚎

𝚍𝚘𝚗𝚝 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚢 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚕𝚞𝚗𝚌𝚑 𝚒 𝚆𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐

My heart does summersaults at the nickname, I'm not quite sure what's with him calling me sunshine but a part of me thinks it's cute,

And then he goes and gets me Lunch and flowers? He's going to make a grown woman cry in the middle of her office,

It's small things like this that show he's not the man people make him out to be, yes he may be cold and rude but what hard-working businessmen are sunshine and rainbows?

And he's nice to me and that brings on a wave of happiness In my heart.

_____________

While I'm working on scheduling Mr. Huxley's week I catch my eyes drifting to the flowers, they bring a warm feeling to my chest, I also catch myself rereading the note he sent as well,

A smile spreads across my face as I think about how he remembered me saying that I haven't received flowers in a long time,

And by a long time...I mean pretty much never, the only people who ever got me flowers were my parents but there both gone now and have been for a while,

I'm sure a part of him felt pity for me and that may have been a reason he sent the flowers...but either way, it still brings me joy that he sent them, whatever the reason may have been.

I get a knock on the door which brings me out of my thoughts,

"Come on in" I grin even though they can't see me yet

A woman walks in with a smile and puts a bag down on my desk before telling me to have a good day

"Thank you, you too" I smile and wait till she leaves before looking in the bag

Yet I don't need to even open the bag to know what's inside

"Sandwich" I moan thinking about it

I take it out and notice a chocolate chip cookie at the bottom of the bag, a gasp escapes my mouth,

It's just a cookie but still...

Today just seems to get better and better,

After I get done with the lunch I get right back to work but make sure to remember to thank Aaron and hug him,

After answering countless client's phone calls as well as sifting through emails and directing important ones to Mr. Huxley, I work a little bit on the rooftop project and ideas for it,

2 hours go by until I hear Mr. Huxley's voice on the intercom,

"Vanessa I need you in my office," he says

Perfect time to thank him I think to myself as I make my way down to his office

I knock twice and hear a 'come in'

I walk on in and smile seeing he's wearing another dark blue suit, my favorite

"You needed to see me?" I smile walking to his desk

"Yes I need you to move the meeting you had scheduled on Wednesday to Friday instead," he says typing on his computer then redirecting his attention to me, his eyes briefly look at my lips if I'm not mistaken,

"Alright" I smile nodding and making a note on my phone

"Anything else?" I ask putting my phone away

"No that will be it for now" he shakes his head watching my movements

I smile and walk toward him

He looks at me with a brow raised as I come closer to him

Since he's so tall and his chair is pretty high I can easily hug him when he's sitting down on his chair

And that's what I do, I wrap my arms around his neck and he doesn't do anything for a moment,

I almost pull away thinking maybe he's not comfortable with me touching him until his arms slide around my waist pulling me closer into the hug

"Thank you for the flowers and lunch" I whisper

He chuckles the sound immediately filling my stomach with a fluttery feeling "how do you know it was me exactly?" He raises a brow in amusement when I step slightly out of his hold

"Cus no one cares enough to listen and know I love flowers and sandwiches" I give him a warm smile along with a shrug

"Well they should care, and it was no problem," he says sighing leaning back in his chair and watching me carefully

"Hey before I forget why do you call me sunshine?" I asked curious about the random name,

He doesn't say anything for a moment as if he's contemplating in his head whether he should tell me anything or send me back to my office,

"I'm not entirely sure, you're just so joyful and radiate the warmth and happiness of the sun, it's the same thing with how we take the sun for granted...or just forget it's there until the sun hides behind a cloud or it's nighttime, you remind me of it because I know people take you for granted but not your missing presence the minute you leave the room, but good thing I'm not stupid enough to ignore it" he gives me something between a smile and smirk

My heart warms and swells with emotions at his words, I've never felt appreciated or even seen, and it's funny because in a way I guess I can see what he means, the one time I had a sick day almost everyone at the office would call me nonstop with questions, but when I'm here everyone ignores my presence,

"It's funny because before you showed up the sun felt invisible to me...like it wasn't even in the sky, and then you showed up in my building and it felt like the sun itself was standing in my office, like my bad day was suddenly forgotten by the warmth of your smile" he chuckles and shrugs as if everything he just said isn't making my knees week and heart burst with happiness

I bring him back into a big "you are aware everyone in the office is pretty stupid" I mutter quietly

"And why's that?" The smirk in his voice doesn't go unnoticed by me

"You're not cold or rude in my eyes, you're honestly my favorite person...I guess you're right about the whole sun thing, people don't notice you either...at least the real you " I smile

"Well I guess you're more like the moon, it brings light in the darkness but most people are asleep to notice it in its full glory"

"You're something else sunshine" he gives me a small smile while chuckling and shaking his head

I grin at him "alright well I'm going to go reschedule what you wanted, thank you again"

"No problem" he does the smallest smile that's barely there but I notice it

I get to the door until he says my name

I turn my head slightly to look at him

"By the way you're my favorite person too, there's not many peoples presence I'm happy to be around but yours is my favorite by a long shot," he says leaning in his chair watching me intently, his gaze never strays or gets distracted as he watches me

My whole body lights on fire and a warm smile makes its way on my face, I feel my face flush as I exit the office hoping he doesn't see the blush covering me,

But By the sound of him chuckling as I walk faster towards my office, it's clear that he saw how red I probably am,

I haven't been anyone's favorite person in a very long time

It feels nice that someone cares even a little bit

And it feels good to know my smile did something for someone and made their day even slightly better,

____________

Getting back to my office I quickly reschedule the meeting and get focused on work, as well as finishing up some last-minute things for the day,

I'm so deeply focused on my work that I nearly don't hear the sound of a knock on my door

'Come in' I say putting a smile on my face for whoever is behind the door

I look up to be met with the blue eyes of Mr. Huxley

I tilt my head in confusion, he usually calls me in by the intercom if he needs something

"You're still here? I thought so since your door was closed but what are you still doing here?" He laughs tilting his head to the side and leaning against the door frame

I look at him confused and by the look on my face I'm sure Aaron sees it too

"You're here two hours overtime again Vanessa" he sighs deeply

I look at the clock and crap he's right...I was so into the work I didn't even realize

"Wow I didn't even notice how fast the time went by" I laugh and try my hardest not to stare at how perfect he looks as he effortlessly leans on the door watching me with a brow raised

"Aren't you here overtime too?" I ask with a smile

"I'm the boss so I'm here overtime almost every day" he looks at my desk filled with papers, my journal, computer, purse on the side as well as trinkets and pictures of my parents and me, he redirects his attention to me after a moment

"Come on I'll take you home it's dark outside" he sighs walking over and gesturing me to follow

I usually take a taxi since I don't have a car but I guess he's right, it is pitch black outside and it's probably safer to go with him instead of waiting for a ride out in the dark

"Alright thank you" I smile grabbing my purse and shutting my computer off as well as straightening the paperwork

I follow him to the elevators and we don't say anything as we wait, nor do we say anything when we get inside them,

My body starts heating up at the close proximity in the confined space we're currently in

I'm not one to be claustrophobic but his presence and scent make me feel intoxicated and dizzy, I'm in a daze of feeling his body heat right behind me

It's so quiet in here that all I can focus on is our breathing

I'm so focused on his proximity that I don't realize the doors have opened until I feel Aaron's big warm hand on my waist causing me to clear my throat and look up at him

"You okay?" Aaron looks at me with a brow raised and a slight smirk as if he can read my thoughts

I clear my throat "yep" I smile with a nod

"You sure? you looked like you were in another world there for a minute, you also look flushed " he chuckles

"Sorry" I awkwardly laugh and clear my throat once more

His hand makes its way down on my lower back guiding me out of the elevator.

When we arrive at the parking garage he opens the door for me to his car and starts driving

Not even two minutes into driving, I look out of the window to see Henry wrapped up in the blanket I got him rocking back in forth,

Even with the blanket he's probably still freezing

"Hey can you please pull over for a minute," I ask Aaron while opening my door before he can even fully stop

"Ummm alright?" He says looking at my movements in confusion,

The minute he parks I jump out of the car

"Where are you-?" I hear Aaron talk but don't stop to listen as I walk closer to Henry

I take out the $50 I have in my wallet and hope that's enough for him to buy a jacket or something to help, I make a note to carry more cash with me

"Hi Henry, it's Vanessa" I smile warmly

He looks up and he immediately breaks out into a smile but frowns a second later

"Vanessa hey, what are you doing out here in the dark by yourself!" He exclaims

"I'm not alone don't worry, we were driving and I saw you and wanted to give you this," I say handing him the money

"I hope that will help with getting you a jacket or something warmer" I smile slightly

He starts tearing up "you're too kind Vanessa" his voice cracks

I feel the warmth of Aaron's presence behind me, even before he says anything

"Why are you talking to a random homeless man on the street" Aaron whispers in my ear

I turn my head and almost faint when I see how close his lips are to mine,

There to close, so close that if I even move a muscle our lips would connect,

Oh dear Lord...I would be lying if I said I didn't think about kissing my boss on occasion, but that's probably only because I spend so much time with him during the past two years of working for him

I try composing myself and act like non of this fazes me one bit "that's my friend Henry, he looks like he's freezing to death so I gave him some money to buy something warm" I whisper back

His eyes move down to my lips as I talk, he probably realized just how close we are, I see his tongue poke out of the side of his cheek and I almost think he moves closer but I speak before he can do or say anything because I'm panicking on the inside

"I met him last week, remember? The reason I was late" I smile tilting my head slightly away from his face

"You're Emergency, yeah I remember," he says amusement lacing his voice as he clears his throat stepping back slightly

"Well of course it was! I needed to buy him the blanket and food, that's more important than your coffee" I sigh with a frown

"You're right" he nods as he watches my upset reaction

I see him pulling out his wallet and taking out $100

My heart warms as I see him give it to him

"Hope that helps a little" Aaron says and walks back over to me

"Gosh you two are just the sweetest people," he says crying looking at the money

"Thank you so much," he says standing up on shaky legs

I immediately meet him in a tight hug

"Consider this a hug from both Aaron and me" I laugh knowing Aaron won't want to hug him

I'm surprised he even allows me to hug him let alone get within an inch of his personal space,

Any time a woman has tried hugging him and would touch his shoulder he would get pissed, even so much as a flirty comment at an event and he would dismiss the woman in an instant

"Thank you again, dear, and to you too" he smiles looking at Aaron

"No problem" Aaron nods putting his hands in his pants pockets

I pull away and walk to Aaron but stop dead in my tracks when I hear henry

"You guys make the perfect couple" he grins with a nod

Oh gosh, what do you say to that?

I smile at him and open my mouth to say he's just my boss and friend but Aaron beats me to it

"Thanks," he says leading me to the car

Did he just?

I try saying something but realize Aaron's already opened the door for me to the car,

"Why'd you agree with him" I laugh as I awkwardly shift in my seat when he gets in

"Why waste time correcting?" he shrugs turning his car on

I nod my head slightly but on the inside, my heart is doing flips

I'm not even sure why since it's most likely he said it for the sole reason that he didn't want to be near him for another minute and wants to just get home, but my heart can't help but beat faster at the thought that maybe he likes me

"Thank you for giving him the money, I feel really bad for him" I sigh slumping in my seat and beginning to fidget with nerves

He puts his hand on my thigh calming my fidgety behavior "it was no problem, and what were you thinking running out of the car in the dark without waiting for me" he shakes his head with a look of disapproval on his face

"I wasn't" I grin up at him

"Clearly" he mutters with a slight shake of his head as he starts driving

-----notes-----

Hope you enjoyed this chapter, it's messy and not the best but I needed to upload it on schedule 😭

Vote and comment ♡︎

Word count: 2937