The following morning, Ayla had slept, but it had been a struggle as she randomly woke up in the middle of the night, and Xavier was on her mind.
When would it stop?
Now it was time for her to head to work, and she wondered how today would unfold.
She got off the bus and it was raining, she dashed to the office, but it was already too late as the water had done a bit of a number on her.
Her white blouse clung to her, but she did not have any spare clothes. She contemplated what she should do.
Should she go home? But that would take time, so she was going to ask Carrie for a spare top.
The weather app had fooled her real good, it was supposed to be a sunny day with no clouds in site.
She crossed her arms over her blouse, and her eyes widened when she saw Xavier arriving at the same time.
Ugh, she had such rotten luck. She couldn't face him wet, and most of all, Ayla was not ready for the encounter they had yesterday.
What would he say, and how would she respond to whatever words he would want to say to her?
Most of all, he would kiss her again, and would she be able to resist? Her mind was on emotional overload.
So rather than use the elevator, she headed for the stairs.
She walked and walked, finally, she made it to her floor. Ayla headed to Carrie's desk in a rush.
"Ayla."
She turned, and so did everyone in the office.
Xavier came to her, and he took off his blazer. "Put this on, your blouse."
How had he noticed? Had he seen her and waited for her? Her stomach flustered a bit.
She nodded quickly, not wanting people to carry on watching them, "Thank you, Sir, I will make sure to bring it back to you as soon as possible."
Ayla groaned inwardly. Why did she have to over-explain herself over a blazer, and why didn't she reject it?
She knew the answer but didn't want to face it, for now. She needed to talk to Sammy so badly.
Xavier walked away, and she put on his blazer. It was much larger, and she sat down cautiously and did not look at anyone.
His scent enveloped her, and for a moment she wished he could hold her. She snapped out of her thoughts.
Lunch time came, and Ayla began heading towards her friends,
"Ayla, come here."
She turned to Claire, Great she thought.
She got in and found a bunch of her friends too,
"Who do you think you are?"
Her tone shocked her; she had never heard Claire sound so rude.
"Sorry?"
"Why are you bothering Xavier?" Claire replied.
"I never did."
"Are you slacking on purpose?" Claire snapped out.
"No, my work is done on time and you have seen that….."
"Then stop acting all helpless, making him worry, and baby, you're all the time." Another girl jumped in.
Helpless, when had she ever acted like that? Xavier was the one who was always in her business.
"I don't do that."
She didn't care about them being her superiors; she was going to defend herself if it was the last thing that she did.
"You might think you are not, but you are." Another girl replied.
"How?"
Today, she had the time of day, she was not going to allow them to bully her, time for war.
"Don't act so clueless, Ayla, you know what we mean."
If she carried on to argue with them, this conversation was not going to go anywhere, and she was outnumbered.
"Alright, I will make sure to stay out of his way."
"Leave," Claire replied.
Gladly, she thought, not that she would tell them, as that would flame them to come after her even more.
Ayla went to her friends and could see that they, too, were waiting for their chance to go in on her, too.
Great, this was going to be a very long day, all thanks to Xavier's action. Couldn't he see that she was the one taking the brunt of everything?
She took a deep breath and was ready to take them head-on, well, she hoped.
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