The Assistant(66)
Author: Elle Brace

“It’s your turn.” He smirked, looking down at my yoga pants.

I pushed him away with a scowl. “Just get in bed. We have work tomorrow,” I pointed out, trying to cover up my blush.

“You only want me to get into the bed so you can take them off without me looking,” Adrian said knowingly, and I rolled my eyes in response.

“I’m glad you know me so well. Now, since you’re the one who brought it up, you can turn around now.” I smiled sarcastically and waited for him to do as he was told.

He shook his head. “If I remember correctly,” he began, still smirking, “I said that I’d do whatever you wanted for the rest of the day. It’s now 1:18AM, meaning that I no longer have to listen to you anymore.” His smirk transformed into a proud grin once I gave him a look of disbelief, and I threw the nearest object at him – which turned out to be one of his shirts.

“Turn around.” I scowled, blushing again.

“Okay, okay.” He laughed, putting his hands up in defense before slowly turning so that his back was facing me. I gave his figure a weary look before quickly shrugging off the pants and the bra underneath my shirt. I climbed into my side of the bed and covered up quickly.

Adrian turned back around as soon as he felt the bed dip, and his arms were around my waist faster than I was able to blink.

“I’ve missed this,” he said, sneaking a small peck on my cheek. “For the record, my bed is way more comfortable than yours.”

The mention of my previous bed instantly spiked up the anger within me, and I glared at him. “For the record, I liked my bed – you know; the one you forced me to move away from?”

Adrian let out an exasperated sigh before glaring back at me. “Get over it. I saved you from moving back with your parents. It’s not like that little shitty apartment meant anything to you anymore than-”

“It didn’t mean anything to me?!” I snapped, enraged now. “I had to work three jobs throughout my entire senior year and college life just to save up for that ‘shitty little apartment’ that you were so adamant on ‘saving’ me from. Then, whatever money I had left over from all my hard work was put into my ‘uncomfortable’ bed and tiny sofa. So excuse me if those things are worthless to you because you had everything handed over to you wrapped in a pretty bow; but they were my hard work. They meant a lot to me; and you took me away from that.”

I was shaking, feeling my anger take over again. Suddenly, I didn’t feel guilty anymore. I turned away from his shirtless figure in disgust, shifting all the way to the other end of the bed as a tense silence filled the room.

I felt Adrian shift slightly before a small light illuminated the dark room – I didn’t have to look over to know that it was his phone.

I closed my eyes in an attempt to sleep away my anger and get some rest before work tomorrow, but my phone vibrated on the small nightstand beside me. I picked it up to find a text from Adrian:

Hi ?

I ignored the text and locked my phone before placing it back onto the nightstand loudly to convey my anger.

My phone buzzed again:

I have a strong feeling that you’re ignoring my text.

I ignored it again just as another buzz erupted through the quiet room before I even had a chance to lock my phone again:

I’m sorry. I didn’t know it was that important to you.
I’d offer the apartment back, but… I don’t want you to move out, so that’s not an option. What can I do to prove how sorry I am? Not talking to you today was hard enough. I can tell you another thing that’s pretty hard right now as well…

I let out a surprised choke at the end of the message, making Adrian explode in laughter beside me. I put my phone back down onto the table before turning around to glare at him.

“Say it to my face,” I demanded once his laughter died down.

“Say what to your face? That I have a hard-on for you? Well, you’re really sexy when you’re angry so I couldn’t really control-”

“Not that!” I exclaimed furiously. “Your apology. Apologise to my face, not through text. Then you’ll be forgiven for good.”

Adrian looked uncomfortable, and I smiled smugly at the fact that our roles were reversed.

“I’ve apologised to you already,” he mumbled.

My eyebrows shot up. “Oh really? And when was this?” I asked, feigning curiosity.

“You know… before… When you were on my lap in the living room and I told you I’d do whatever you want-”

“You didn’t apologise. You only explained that you don’t regret making me move in and offered me something I took advantage of. I want a full-fledged apology – no texts, no re-worded sentences – a proper apology.” I crossed my arms in an attempt to look serious, but ended up looking awkward due to my position lying down.

I watched as Adrian opened and shut his mouth multiple times before giving up and turning back to the other side of the bed so that my back was facing him. I wasn’t going to crack at his inability to apologise until he found the courage to own up to his actions.

I don’t know how many minutes passed as I began to find myself slowly drifting off to sleep. Just before the blackness fully consumed me, I felt Adrian’s familiar arms wrap around my waist and pull me into him again.

“I’m not good with these kinds of things… and this is the third time I’ve ever done it in my lifetime… so, I’m sorry for… I’m sorry for…” Adrian trailed off, and I watched as a deep frown of thought consumed his features in the dimly lit room. “I’m sorry for taking you away from something you worked so hard for, and I hope that you will find a place in your heart to forgive me.”

I stared back at him in shock for a moment before blinking rapidly and nodding in response while processing his words. He sounded genuinely sorry, and I accepted them quietly. “Okay,” I mumbled, smiling a little.

“There you go with the flirting again. This is getting out of hand, Shortcake, if you want me, all you have to do is ask.” Adrian smirked, making me roll my eyes in response once again while trying to hold back a smile. And just like that, Adrian was back.

“Let’s go to sleep for real this time,” I suggested while yawning.

“Okay,” he agreed, “after I get my kiss.”

“You’re an idiot,” I grumbled before placing a soft kiss on his cheek.