The Assistant(61)
Author: Elle Brace

Daniel hurriedly passed the files and the USB stick over to Adrian in fright, before casting a brief look over in my direction and calmly walking out of the office.

“What was that?!” I exclaimed as Adrian slammed the large stack of files on the small coffee table that was close to our current position in the office.

“I’ve made another rule,” Adrian spoke out of nowhere, ignoring my question. He dragged his glare away from the space Daniel had occupied and focused his steely gaze on me.

“Um… Okay, what is it?” I asked, biting my lip curiously and temporarily forgetting his irrational behaviour towards Daniel.

Adrian smirked, before snaking his arm around my waist again. I tried not to shiver from the familiar and warm contact, before looking up at his satisfied expression for his answer.

“Rule three: you’re moving in with me. Tonight.”

Chapter Seventeen

I stared back at Adrian’s expression, blinking blankly for a few moments, before bursting into a fit of laughter. I had momentarily believed him, before it registered in my mind that he was just joking. I began to laugh at his ridiculous suggestion – then abruptly cut myself short once his serious expression didn’t change.

“You’re not serious,” I stated.

“As the plague,” he remarked, smirking slightly.

My expression turned skeptical. “No way! Not happening!” I exclaimed, giving him a look of disbelief.

His smirk instantly fell and was replaced with a frown. “Why not?”

“Because- Because- Just because! No! You’re my boss, its wrong.” I wasn’t going to lie, the thought of living with Adrian – waking up with him on a daily basis, watching movies together, having dinner together – had my stomach doing summersaults and my heart feeling like a feather; but I wasn’t going to tell him that. He was my boss.

“I don’t care. You’re moving in and-”

I cut him off. “Adrian. I can’t move in with you. I like my apartment! I worked my ass off to get it – it’s small, comfortable, and perfect to me! Plus, I have friends that like to see me every day and family who visit on occasion! And what about all the reporters that follow your every move? Moving in with you will send a wrong image out to everyone and-”

“And I don’t know how many times I have to say this to you, I don’t fucking care about how I look to the public. I care about you. So move in with me.” His tone was still commanding, and I had a feeling he wasn’t going to change his mind on the matter any time soon.

I sighed, before meeting his eyes. “Adrian…” I trailed off, not knowing what else to say to change his mind, before my phone began to ring, filling in the silence that settled in the office. “Hello?” I answered, not bothering to check the caller ID.

“Smelly Emily,” a deep voice answered, making a large grin instantly stretch across my face.

“Flaky Blakey!” I squealed in excitement at the recognition of my older sibling’s voice. “Have you come out of hibernation? Or come back from space? Because no other excuse will be accepted for not calling me for this long!” I grinned broadly. My eyes briefly flickered over to Adrian’s tall form, which was now leaning against his desk with his hands in his pockets and staring at me with an amused smirk.

“It was your turn, not mine!” he replied.

My grin instantly transformed to a shocked expression, and my eyes narrowed at the small coffee table that was in my line of vision. “It was not!” I argued, “Don’t you remember? I called you and you were at Michael’s house, and then you snuck out to the bathroom to talk to me and then you promised you’d take the double shift because you had to end my phone call short!”

Blake was silent for a moment, before I heard his tongue click in recognition. “That’s right, and my favourite pair of boxers ripped that day. That sad, sad day.”

I rolled my eyes and grinned at the same coffee table I was looking at earlier. “You’re such a dork.”

“That’s because I had to live with you for 17 years. You were bound to rub off on my amazing personality just to sabotage my-”

“Shut up, Blake!” I laughed, making Adrian’s smirk grow even wider as he watched. He began walking over to where I was, and pulled me into his torso from behind.

“Anyway, guess who’s coming over this Sunday, Smelly Emily?” Blake asked, oblivious to my physical position.

“W- Who?” I stuttered, suddenly feeling every hair on my body stand up from Adrian’s touch.

“Me, dufus!” Blake exclaimed. “And mom and dad; so you better make something nice for dinner!”

My mind momentarily stopped focusing on the feeling of Adrian’s arms around my waist and I focused my attention to the phone call with a small frown. “That’s… a surprise… Why?” I asked out of disbelief. “I mean, not that I don’t want you guys to, because I do! I miss you heaps! Well, you and our parents. No, wait, that didn’t sound very nice. What I meant was-”

Blake cut me off with a laugh, and I felt Adrian’s chest vibrate from a low chuckle behind me. “Smelly, chill! I know what you mean. Mom has been complaining to me that she hasn’t seen you for too long. So, I decided we’d pay you a visit. Sunday, we’ll be there at 4PM. See you then, Smelly Emily!”

I smiled and ended the phone call, before it registered in my mind that Blake couldn’t see me, and I gasped and turned around to Adrian. “I just accidentally hung up in his face!” I exclaimed with wide eyes, feeling panicky.

Adrian smirked down at our close proximity, and I instantly began blushing. “I’m coming over this Sunday,” he informed bluntly as his expression became serious.

Accidentally hanging up on Blake suddenly didn’t seem like such a big deal, and I focused all my attention to my boss with a stern look. “No, you’re not. I have plans that I know you’re trying to interfere with. And just to be clear, Blake is my brother; no one you should be getting all possessive about the way you usually do,” I warned.

“I know that. I’ve read your profile. That still doesn’t change the fact that I’m coming over on Sunday.”

“No you’re not, Adrian!” I hissed, frowning up at him. “This is my family. If you show up, they’ll think there’s something going on between us!”

He studied my expression momentarily before shrugging. “Fine, but you’re moving in with me.”