The Assistant(62)
Author: Elle Brace

I groaned. “Adrian! I am not moving in with you. Don’t make me list my reasons again.” I sighed, suddenly feeling tired of re-stating my argument.

“Don’t make me tell you my care factor about people’s opinion’s again,” he glared in response.

“Adrian-”

“I’ll give you time to think about it,” he cut me off, grudgingly. “Come on, we have a meeting.”

I bit my lip to stop myself from telling him that I didn’t need to think about it, and walked over to my desk, collecting all the necessary paperwork needed for the meeting.

We began to walk out of the office when I felt Adrian bend down so his lips were in line with my ear. “I forgot to tell you how good your ass looks in that pantsuit today. You should wear them more often.” He pulled away and I looked up at him with an expression of disbelief, blushing furiously from his arrogant smirk.

“Shut up,” I mumbled, pushing him away from my body.

***

Sunday came sooner than I liked, and I found myself checking if everything was properly positioned double, even triple times, before my heart was able to relax slightly. Amy was going to arrive any minute now to calm me down and have dinner with us, and I found myself mentally thanking my best friend once again.

Knowing my parents – my entire apartment would be evaluated to make sure everything was cleaned and positioned to perfection. If there was anything out of place, I’d be forced to move back in with them because I’m ‘incapable’ of living on my own.

“I’M HERE BITCH! Oh shit, are your parents here yet? I SAID WITCH, NOT BITCH – JUST TO CLARIFY!” Amy’s voice echoed through my quiet apartment, making me jump in my position just as she slammed the door shut. I turned to her and rolled my eyes as she held up a bottle of wine and fresh bread rolls. “Have no fear, superwoman is here!” Amy sung out once she scanned the apartment for my family.

I shook my head and grinned at her behaviour before pulling her into a hug. “I owe you big time,” I declared while taking the things out of her hands.

“It’s fine. I’m going to get to tease Blake the entire night anyway; you being related to him is pretty much paying me back.” She winked.

I laughed while taking out the bread rolls. “That wouldn’t have anything to do with your crush on him, will it?” I winked back.

Amy’s eyes went wide and she instantly began to turn tomato red – a trait I loved to see on her. “I do not have a crush on Blake.”

“Yet you react like that every time I bring it up.” I smirked while setting down the plates around the island in my kitchen. Luckily, most of the food was already prepared. I just had to toss the salad together and I was done. Unfortunately, my parents had decided to be late the one day that I was 100% organised.

“It’s not like them to be late,” Amy murmured to herself, mirroring my thoughts. She looked up and met my eyes and I nodded in agreement with a small frown etched on my forehead.

“Maybe I should call th-” My voice was cut off by a firm knock sounding from the living room, and Amy’s eyes instantly widened.

“It’s like they could sense we were talking about them!” she hissed frantically, making me laugh and throw a carrot in her direction.

She dodged it neatly and glared at me as we went over to the front door together. As soon as I opened the front door, I was engulfed in a hug.

“Emily! Are you sure you’re okay to live on your own? It took you quite a while to get to the door… Maybe it’s best if we sell this apartment and you can come back and-”

“It’s great to see you too, mom,” I grumbled loud enough to cut her suggestion off.

She pulled away from me with a small smile on her face, and I instantly regretted the harshness of my tone. “I’ve missed you so much, honey. Talking on the phone and that time with the face app isn’t really the same as real life, you know?” She pouted, and I looked into her brown eyes with the same longing feeling.

“I know mom,” I replied, placing a soft kiss on her cheek. “I’ve missed you too.”

“Stop hogging our daughter, Michelle,” a deep voice grumbled, and I instantly grinned as my dad held me up and spun me around in our traditional hug. “How are you, Kiddo?” My dad chuckled once I pulled him in for another hug.

“I’m great, how are you?” I asked with a huge grin.

“Great now that I’m looking at my little princess again. I don’t like this long distance thing you’ve got going on with us. I’m always having to fake lose against your mom in Mario Kart.” He gave me look of disappointment, and I began to giggle at his immaturity.

“Hey! I win those games fair and square. Your ego does not need another boost, old man!” My mom whacked my father’s arm, who chuckled at her weak hit. A sense of déjà vu washed through me as I remembered the night I had fought with Adrian over the same thing – except our fight was based on UNO cards. Adrian had been nagging me all week about moving in with him – to the point where he even wrote a list of why it was one of his best ideas ever. The list had things like; I get to see Adrian shirtless, and if I’m ‘lucky’, naked all the time; the kitchen was huge and I had an unlimited supply of food due to the fact that his apartment was a hotel suite.

The list had a total of 64 reasons on it, and most of them involved either a naked Adrian or me being naked. That didn’t mean it wasn’t funny though.

“SOMETHING SMELLS REALLY BAD IN HERE. OH, IT MUST BE SMELLY EMILY.” Blake shouted from behind our parents, pulling me out of my thoughts.

I laughed and attempted to glare at him with a grin, before he cracked a smile and pulled me into his buff torso. “I’ve missed you, little sis.” He laughed while ruffling my hair.

“I missed you too, Blakey Wakey.” I grinned while pinching his cheeks. He slapped my hands away, making us both laugh. “Why were you guys so late? You’re usually never late,” I pointed out with a small frown.

“Traffic,” Blake mumbled, looking a little worn out at the thought.

“Yet another reason why the long distance thing you have going on with us should end right – oh, hello Amy! I didn’t see you there.” My father brought up abruptly. We all turned to look at Amy, who was smiling in amusement at the exchange happening in front of her.

“Hello Liam, Michelle.” She nodded and waved at both my parents before turning over to Blake. I watched as her cheeks tinged a slight pink colour, but she covered it up by narrowing her eyes at Blake’s hair. “Is that… no… it couldn’t be, is Flakey Blakey back? I’m starting to see more white stuff appearing in that lovely jet black hair of yours, friend.” Amy smirked, making Blake glare back in response.