Sick Like Me (Sick Like #1)

Chapter 26

TWENTY-SIX

“I think we should all dress up for Halloween, don’t you agree?” Stefan asked loudly into the office to no one in particular. He was fishing for at least one person to agree so he could make the claim to Casey that it was a great idea and that everyone was on board.

But the room remained silent, to which Stefan narrowed his eyes. He expected at least one person to speak up, but the few people in the room at the time remained silent.

Casey shot him a look from over her computer on the far side of the room, while Stefan dared to nudge me in the side with his elbow. “Ash,” He whispered, and pulled a face close to a puppy dog’s. “Come on butty, you love Halloween.”

“That doesn’t mean I want to dress up for it while at work,” I rolled my eyes at him, continuing to make notes on the shared PowerPoint we used to send Mrs King—Carol—the vision for her new home.

We were on iteration six, and I half suspected we weren’t even halfway through all the demands. Carol had a vision for what she wanted, and while we tried our best to follow her notes, it was hard to ensure we could design everything to be perfect to her tastes.

Some of her wants were unrealistic, but I found it hard to tell her so. So I did as she asked and showed her samples of her requests, only for her to discover the unrealistic wishes on her own.

Sure, she had told me she wanted me to be harsh with her if something was too much, but I refused to offend one of the company owners. I doubted she would have argued with me over it, but I refused to potentially risk my job.

It also didn’t help that we had to make a separate document with a bullet point list of all the things we would need to hire other external people in for, such as building on to the garage to include a gym space for Mr King, and landscapers to build a large pool on the grounds somewhere.

I sat back and closed my eyes for a second, my fingers lightly resting on top of my keyboard without pushing down any keys. I let out a slow breath, trying my best to clear my mind of any fog.

I had been staring at the same page for what felt like hours, and the words were starting to blur together. I had to finish the page, then I would close it on and move onto something else, I silently promised myself.

But Stefan seemed to be oblivious to my growing tension and dared to kick the side of my boot with his shoe. I opened my eyes quickly and turned my head to the side to shoot him a glare. “Wise up.”

Stefan shook his head, and only then did I notice his eyes were not on me, but locked in on something behind me. “Butty, I hate to be the barer of bad news but is that your boyfriend and fuck buddy walking towards us?”

I snapped my head to the hallway where the glass doors gave our room a false sense of privacy. My lips parted, and sure enough walking down the hallway towards us was a small group of people.

At the head of the group stood Jodie Clay, the finance manager for King Family Furniture. Closely behind her was an older looking man, short with grey hair that looked neatly gelled and locked into place.

Behind him by just a few paces, I noticed the shorter and muscular Owen, his white shirt hugging his biceps that looked almost uncomfortably so. Beside him stood Dakota, in his tall glory. He was muscular in a lean way, so his shirt fit him perfectly and somehow made him look all the more distinguished.

It was wrong to be thirsting over the man who was my ‘boyfriend’s’ co-worker. But Owen had claimed himself my boyfriend without ever asking me to be official. Sure, we went on several dates and often tried to meet up once a week which had turned into movie and takeaway nights as of recent, but something about him made me feel like I was missing something—some one .

Owen was all sunshines and butterflies. He was like a breath of fresh air that kept coming even in my darkest of days, when I felt like the current was going to drag me to the depths and steal all my oxygen.

In contrast, Dakota was more like the suffocating darkness at the bottom of the waters. It was alluring and made you curious to explore the depths, but a part of me felt like I was never going to be allowed close enough to learn more.

I finally tore my eyes away from the group and looked to my side to find Stefan moving his fingers over his keyboard, without pressing down a single key. He was trying to look busy, I noted.

Not but a few seconds later, the sound of the doors slamming open became the introduction tune to the hurricane of a woman known as Jodie Clay. Casey had been unsuspecting to the intrusion and stood as if on instinct to the noise, only for her shocked expression to turn into a warm smile.

“Jodie, to what do I owe the pleasure?” Casey walked around her desk to give her best friend a small hug.

Jodie was tall in her heels, and it made her look all the more intimidating. Jodie had the worst case of resting bitch face I had ever seen, and it didn’t help that she often sounded monotone. But she was secretly the sweetest woman you would ever meet.

“I’m just showing the FinOptix guys around the branch. They’ve only seen the showroom so I thought I would show them some of our other department like the design team,” Jodie smiled, looking around the room.

Casey kept her hand’s on Jodie’s lower arms, but leant her body to see around the woman. “Welcome to the customer services and design department. Would any of you like a cuppa?” She asked, her eyes crinkling at the edges as she smiled.

The small group of people before her listed off what they wanted, to which Casey waved them off to sit at one of the empty ‘meeting tables’—a circular table in the empty space between our desks and hers.

Casey walked over to where Stefan and I sat, the break room right behind us. I felt eyes on me at that moment, but I kept my own trained on the computer before me. I couldn’t register the words I was reading, but if I looked busy, then I would at least get some peace.

“Shall I come and help you,” Stefan offered, to which Casey gave a quick nod of her head. Stefan leant down and gently tapped my arm, correctly assuming that I was beginning to zone out. “Do you want a coffee butty?”

I looked to the right to see him, nodding my head. I ensured I kept facing away from the group of intruders, mostly to make sure Owen didn’t see me and speak to me in front of Dakota. Sure, Dakota knew Stefan and I were an item, but that didn’t mean I wanted to rub the fact into his face .

Not that he would give two fucks, he would just act as if he never saw the whole ordeal or would probably use it as an excuse to humiliate and degrade me during our sexual texting sessions.

I turned back to my desk, the soft thud of the door closing behind me sounding deafening. It felt as if all my senses were amplified, as if my body was on high alert expecting there to be a threat.

I sucked in a deep breath, then let it out slowly before I placed my hands back on my keyboard. I read over the comments on the right side of the screen, implementing them onto the page.

I then opened the internet tab and scrolled through more inspiration photos, trying to chose the right ones that mostly matched the demands of the Kings’. The more I focused on my work, the less I focused on the intruders in the room causing my hairs to stand on edge.

I heard talking, but none of the voices were the one I had become addicted to. The voices were mostly quiet, so I couldn’t gauge what they were talking about. Not that it was my place to.

But then the soft melody of his voice sounded, and even though it was quiet, it still felt as if the words were directed right at me. My hands seized for a second, but the impeccable timing of Stefan Moore saved me from the uneasiness.

Stefan opened the door behind me and placed our drinks down on our tables firstly. I gave him a small smile, whispering a small thanks. I picked up the drink immediately, my hands coming to wrap around the mug to warm them.

I tried my hardest not to look as Casey and Stefan then carried drinks over to the table of newcomers. I kept my eyes on my computer, but all the words felt as if they were merging together once again and I couldn’t keep focus.

“Thank you,” Kota’s velvety voice sounded into the room, and I had to resist the urge to sneak a peak of him. I had noted he wore a black suit when I saw him in the hallway, but other than that brief glance, I kept my resolve strong.

I was meant to be meeting Owen that night for a movie night, our ‘date night’ of the week. But after seeing Dakota, all I could think about was asking that man to come over my house instead so I could waste my time on someone I deemed worth while.

That made me sound harsh, as if I was saying Owen was a waste of time. While he was a lovely man, he wasn’t the one that I was wishing for. He was still fun to spend time with. He made me laugh and made me smile, and what more could a woman ask for?

But I wasn’t a normal woman. I didn’t want someone who could bring me butterflies. I wanted someone who would destroy me, bring me to the depths of myself that even I didn’t know existed, only just to build me back up again.

And that was partially what Dakota did.

He brought me down, destroyed me in some ways. But he never stuck around long enough to build me back up, be that over text or the time we actually hooked up. He left me on the floor wondering what I did so wrong to not even be worth two extra minutes of his time to bring me back.

The reminder of the sinking pit in my stomach after our sexual encounter reminded me that I deserved better than that, I deserved someone who would do the best of both worlds for me and not just half.

But I was addicted to begging for his attention again. I was left hanging for the next time he decided he wanted me.

I did my best to push the thought process aside as I sipped my coffee. I flinched and rushed to place the cup down, the liquid hot. Stefan sat in his seat right at that perfect timing and let out a small laugh.

“Be careful butty, it’s hot,” Stefan warned a little too late. I rolled my eyes, and just as I finished my eyes landed on the group sat around the curved table—the one place I was avoiding .

My eyes found him immediately, only to find he was already looking at me. I sucked in a small breath through parted lips, finding it hard to look away. Thankfully Owen seemed too locked in a conversation with another man beside him to notice.

“Babe, you’re staring,” Stefan leant close to me and he spoke in a low voice, loud enough for just himself and I to hear.

I let out a sigh, knowing he was right. So I tore my eyes away from him reluctantly and used all my strength not to look at him again.

But thankfully, I had the king of distraction as my best friend and desk mate. “So, did you decide what you wanted to dress up as for Halloween?”

“For the office,” I narrowed my eyes, turning in my chair to better face him. “I’m going to dress up as the professional Ashton Barret. For the night out with you and Pey… I have no idea.” I let out a sigh.

It wasn’t like me to not know what I wanted to be. Autumn was my time of year, and Halloween was what I looked forward to most. “Are we going to that scare fest thing up the Jones’ farm again?” Stefan asked.

Two years ago, when I first met Stefan, he introduced Peyton and I to the farm his family used to take him to as a kid. In the early Autumn time, you could go there picking pumpkins and squashes of all sizes. Closer to Halloween, and on the night of, they hosted scare routes which you could drive around on a tractor, or you could walk your way through their haunted mazes.

It had changed our tradition ever so slightly, but Stefan was a great addition to our lives regardless. Peyton and I would get ready at mine on Halloween, then we would go pick Stefan up who sometimes drove us to the location.

We would go inside the main hall area, get some drinks and unwind. Then we would go in groups around the routes. We spent most the night there, and then we ensured as we drove home if it reached midnight, then we would play “Fairytale of New York” by The Pogues, the song we always used to kick off the festive Christmas season.

“What are you and Peyton going as? Are you going in a couple costume?” I asked, to which Stefan choked on his tea. He rushed to place it down, his eyes seeking out the emotion on my face. He wanted to know if I was mad, if I had really caught them out. “Come off it butty, I saw the way you two were the other week at Club Temptation.”

Stefan let out a sigh. He neither confirmed nor denied there was anything going on between them. He just replied to my question, as if it had been any other mundane question, with a simple, “We’re going to be Mavis and Johnny from Hotel Transylvania.”

I let out a small laugh, but the look on his face told me he was serious. I chewed the inside of my lower lip, trying to stop my smile. “That’s so fucking cute, you’re such a Johnny it hurts.”

Stefan rolled his eyes but smiled, and I could tell he was proud of the compliment. That meant he was the one to choose the outfits for them, and I half suspected Peyton disagreed with the choice but followed along with it after much begging from Stefan. Stefan could be very persuasive if he put his mind to it.

“If we want to go on Halloween night, we’ll want to preorder the tickets now. It’s ￡14 per person to preorder, but we get the ￡5 back once we attend the night,” Stefan switched tabs on his computer to reveal he had already been scoping out booking the tickets. “Is your man coming with us?” He asked, his eyes flickering over to the circle table.

“Which one?” I asked unironically, to which Stefan let out a large bark of laughter. I felt my cheeks flush and eyes on my skin. He was looking at us. So I kept my reserve and remained trained on Stefan.

“I am not inviting either man, it’ll be just you, Peyton and I, got it?” I said quietly, leaning closer to Stefan to ensure our conversation could not be overheard by prying ears.

Stefan held his hands up in self defence, then moved his hands over his keyboard as he dove back into work. I followed suit, trying to finish up the final notes before I closed the PowerPoint and opened up my emails.

From the corner of my eye, I couldn’t help but notice Stefan kept shooting looks past me to the circle table. I kicked his leg gently under the table, then I opened the private messages we shared on our work systems.

I scrolled through the list, then I found my messages threat with Stefan. I clicked his name, then typed into the message bar to warn him.

Me: Stop staring at them.

Stefan shot me a sideways glance, his lips turning up ever so slightly at the edges to reveal the hint of a smile on his lips.

Stefan M: I can’t help it, new people make me nosy.

Within no time, I rushed back a response.

Me: Well learn to be un-nosy then.

I then closed off the messages and went back to reading emails.

Not but ten minutes later, Casey walked the intruders out of the department, even following them through the building to the front doors where I half suspected she would use her time to natter to Jodie about anything and everything.

I let out a sigh of relief at the peace being brought back to the room. Stefan wiped his arm over his forehead dramatically, then he turned to me and wagged his eyebrows. “Your boyfriends were both here eying you up, which one will you go home with tonight?”

As if right on queue, I felt my watch vibrate on my wrist. But I resisted the urge to move my wrist to read whatever the notification was. I half suspected it to be from Owen, probably telling me he just saw me but I looked ‘too busy at work’ .

I was in no mood to answer him.

“I hate how much you promote me and my multi-dating life,” I stated, then frowned slightly before shrugged. “Well, dating one man while sleeping with another. Technically I’m only dating one man.”

“You’re telling me you and Kota have not gone on one single date, and will not go on a date?” Stefan asked, spinning his chair around to face me.

Stefan was a romantic, and looked surprised by my claim. He knew me as somewhat a romantic too, but parts of me were starting to realise maybe I wasn’t cut out for dating. Maybe the dark side of me that Dakota had woken back up took over all my relationship potential.

I shrugged again. “I don’t know.”

“Do you not want to go on dates with him?” He asked, tilting his head to the side like a confused puppy.

“I don’t know,” I repeated the words, finishing up the email I had been writing before pressing send. “I just know that whatever we have works for us. I don’t think I’m cut out for dating.”

“If that’s the case,” Stefan let out a small sigh, running his tongue over the front of his teeth nervously. “You should end it with Owen, otherwise you’re just going to lead him on. He deserves better than that.”

We both knew Owen was a relationship man. He was likely what most women would want in a boyfriend, and I was hogging him and holding him up from meeting whoever the woman he was going to spend the rest of his life with.

But I wanted to be selfish for a little longer. I enjoyed Owen as a person, and I wasn’t sure that if I ended things, he would remain my friend. If he knew what I was doing with Dakota, that would hurt him more. But that was something I would need to figure out.

“Yeah,” I whispered as I nodded my head in agreement. “He does.”