hey, hello

As your eyes met Jay’s green ones, Jay pulled his hand back gently, taking your phone and turning it face down. The vibrations could still be felt, but it wasn’t as in-your-face as it had originally been.

You couldn’t really read the look on Jay’s face, so he spoke.

“How often does she do this?”

Your lack of an answer was enough of an answer for Jay.

Jay looked like he was struggling to say something but ultimately decided to keep his comments to himself as he took another swig from his beer, one hand still resting atop yours.

You raised an eyebrow at him and Jay merely gave you a smile.

You felt the corners of your lips tugging upward subconsciously and you looked back down at your drink. You heard a faint chuckle before Jay gently pulled his hand back.

You hadn’t even realized when your phone had stopped vibrating.

You didn’t make any effort to flip your phone back up, merely taking another sip from the drink in front of you.

The rest of the evening passed with comfortable banter, and you didn’t even feel the urge to get up from your seat, until Jay stopped you from ordering another drink, insisting that he take you home even though your apartment was walking distance from the bar.

Jay even insisted on walking you straight to the door. You glanced back up at him.

“Thank you,” You said, quietly.

A small silence passed between the two of you and you swallowed, almost losing yourself in the deep green eyes that were looking at you.

Jay seemed to pull himself out of it first, clearing his throat.

“Good night, Y/N.”

You smiled back at him, unsure if what you were feeling was relief or disappointment, maybe a bit of both.

“Good night, Jay.”

“Thank you, Mr. Riley.” You said, shaking his hand as the signed contract now sat on the table.

Andrew turned to shake hands with Jay as well, smiling. “You got a good one here.”

Jay turned to smile at you without saying anything.

“We’ll set up another meeting with your team once we have everything sorted.” Jay assured the client, seeing him all the way out as you went to wait in his office.

You didn’t hear the door open as your fingers fidgeted, but you looked up when the door closed. Jay gave you a smile, that reminded you more of the Jay at the bar, rather than your boss.

“This was impressive, Y/N.” Jay said quietly. “This deal is even better than…”

Jay paused, unsure if he really should bring it up again. After all, he’d snapped at you without getting all the facts and he still couldn’t shake the expression you had on your face when it happened. You weren’t upset or disappointed. Jay hadn’t been able to pinpoint it at that moment but later he’d realized. It was a look that told him you’d been here before. That really bugged him.

You glanced at him, your eyebrows raised. You had no idea where he was going with this.

Jay cleared his throat, deciding not to bring it up.

“It was a job well done, we should celebrate.” Jay said, pausing a little to read your micro-expressions.

When you didn’t respond, he continued, “Am I being too forward if I ask to buy you dinner tonight?”

You froze, glancing back up at him, your eyes slightly widened as you blinked stupidly back at him, a thousand thoughts racing through your head.

By instinct, you’d almost said yes immediately, before you were reminded once again that you needed to get the Jay from the bar out of your head and remember that he was your boss. He was everyone’s boss here.

Jay seemed to be able to read your thoughts and spoke again. “I know we got off to a rough start and given the situation right now, the optics aren’t… ideal. Especially for you. So, no pressure, alright? I just… I wanted to put it out there. I want to buy you dinner. Just… think about it. I promise I won’t hold it against you if you say no.”

He ended with a smile, and the Jay from the bar jumped to the forefront of your brain again.

You couldn’t help a smile as well, before nodding. “I’ll… think about it.”

Jay smiled. “That’s all I ask.”

You nodded, excusing yourself before you left his office.

The small victory you had with Life Construction, along with the acknowledgement you’d gotten for a job well done, for the first time since you’d joined this darned company, seemed to keep you afloat for the rest of the day.

It felt like you’d finally found a life buoy after treading in deep still waters for a long time.

The effect was so dizzying that even Laura’s snide remarks or Edward’s quiet glares seemed to float past you as if they weren’t there at all.

At least, until Laura arrived at your desk with a stack of invoices.

You weren’t even sure if you managed to keep the disdain out of your eyes when you looked up.

“It’s that time of the year again.” Laura gave you a grimace. If you didn’t know better it would look like she empathized with you and felt bad about having to leave this yearly stack of invoices on your desk.

But you knew better.

In the first place, this stack of invoices had absolutely nothing to do with you.

Stuffing all the things you really wanted to say into a deep dark corner of your mind, you merely nodded.

You’d been inclined to say yes to dinner. You hadn’t really worked out what it all meant. Maybe it was just Jay being a nice boss, but what he said about optics kind of off-balanced that argument. However, you’d shoved it to the back of your mind, refusing to think about it or let it confuse you further.

You opened the in-house chatting application the company subscribed to which allowed for quick internal communications and typed Jay a private message.

Dinner sounds great, but maybe not today.

You were slightly tempted to add in a reason, but it just wasn’t in your nature, and it felt like you were stooping to their level, running to the boss to make other people look bad. Even though they were just facts.

So, you decided to leave it as that, especially after Jay responded with a thumbs-up emoticon that seemed as positive as it could be.

However, as you worked and the clock ticked later, you felt the unmistakable pains of stomach cramps. You felt yourself wondering if it was because you hadn't had anything but an extra cup of coffee since lunchtime.

That was probably it, mixed with the negative emotions and anxieties toward Laura and the mountain of invoices she had left on your table. You'd spent the last hour mentally calculating in your head if it was even possible to finish tonight and if your anxiety wasn't this crippling, you might have finished more than you already had. However, you'd made significant progress, anxiety and all.

You had barely finished that thought when another cramp ripped through your abdomen.

Reaching into your bag for your medications, you figured you would take a pill to alleviate the symptoms and at least finish what you were working on.

Yet, that plan was shot to the ground when your fingers alone weren't able to locate your pill box and you remembered with a sinking feeling that you had taken it out last night to refill it. With annoying clarity, you even knew exactly where you had left it - right in the middle of the table so that you wouldn't forget it.

So much for that.

You glanced at the mountain of documents that hadn't seemed to go down and tried mentally calculating if you could at least finish the one you were working on.

You'd tried your luck but you had probably pushed it a little too far. When you had finally gotten up from your desk after finishing an extra unplanned document, you'd been greeted with a pain that seemed to rip through your abdomen, and through your middle. You swore you were almost torn in half.

The pain brought you to your knees as your legs buckled.

Cramps weren't new to you, but the intensity of the pain was. The shallow breaths you were taking didn't seem to help much and you felt a little disoriented as if the room was spinning and getting faster with each second that you remained stuck on the ground before your desk.

You didn't hear him walk in, but you know who the voice belonged to, without a doubt.

"Y/N? What's wrong?"

You couldn't answer him but the one hand that was pressing onto your abdomen twitched, exerting even more pressure, as if you could outdo the pain the cramps were exerting on your body.

"Alright, that's it. I'm taking you to the hospital. Can you stand?”

You didn't know what he was talking about honestly. You could barely maintain your current position. Which was why the moment he tried helping you up, you all but collapsed into his arms.

“Y/N!”

THANK YOU FOR READING!! PLEASE TELL ME WHAT YOU THOUGHT OF THIS!!

As your eyes met Jay’s green ones, Jay pulled his hand back gently, taking your phone and turning it face down. The vibrations could still be felt, but it wasn’t as in-your-face as it had originally been.

You couldn’t really read the look on Jay’s face, so he spoke.

“How often does she do this?”

Your lack of an answer was enough of an answer for Jay.

Jay looked like he was struggling to say something but ultimately decided to keep his comments to himself as he took another swig from his beer, one hand still resting atop yours.

You raised an eyebrow at him and Jay merely gave you a smile.

You felt the corners of your lips tugging upward subconsciously and you looked back down at your drink. You heard a faint chuckle before Jay gently pulled his hand back.

You hadn’t even realized when your phone had stopped vibrating.

You didn’t make any effort to flip your phone back up, merely taking another sip from the drink in front of you.

The rest of the evening passed with comfortable banter, and you didn’t even feel the urge to get up from your seat, until Jay stopped you from ordering another drink, insisting that he take you home even though your apartment was walking distance from the bar.

Jay even insisted on walking you straight to the door. You glanced back up at him.

“Thank you,” You said, quietly.

A small silence passed between the two of you and you swallowed, almost losing yourself in the deep green eyes that were looking at you.

Jay seemed to pull himself out of it first, clearing his throat.

“Good night, Y/N.”

You smiled back at him, unsure if what you were feeling was relief or disappointment, maybe a bit of both.

“Good night, Jay.”

“Thank you, Mr. Riley.” You said, shaking his hand as the signed contract now sat on the table.

Andrew turned to shake hands with Jay as well, smiling. “You got a good one here.”

Jay turned to smile at you without saying anything.

“We’ll set up another meeting with your team once we have everything sorted.” Jay assured the client, seeing him all the way out as you went to wait in his office.

You didn’t hear the door open as your fingers fidgeted, but you looked up when the door closed. Jay gave you a smile, that reminded you more of the Jay at the bar, rather than your boss.

“This was impressive, Y/N.” Jay said quietly. “This deal is even better than…”

Jay paused, unsure if he really should bring it up again. After all, he’d snapped at you without getting all the facts and he still couldn’t shake the expression you had on your face when it happened. You weren’t upset or disappointed. Jay hadn’t been able to pinpoint it at that moment but later he’d realized. It was a look that told him you’d been here before. That really bugged him.

You glanced at him, your eyebrows raised. You had no idea where he was going with this.

Jay cleared his throat, deciding not to bring it up.

“It was a job well done, we should celebrate.” Jay said, pausing a little to read your micro-expressions.

When you didn’t respond, he continued, “Am I being too forward if I ask to buy you dinner tonight?”

You froze, glancing back up at him, your eyes slightly widened as you blinked stupidly back at him, a thousand thoughts racing through your head.

By instinct, you’d almost said yes immediately, before you were reminded once again that you needed to get the Jay from the bar out of your head and remember that he was your boss. He was everyone’s boss here.

Jay seemed to be able to read your thoughts and spoke again. “I know we got off to a rough start and given the situation right now, the optics aren’t… ideal. Especially for you. So, no pressure, alright? I just… I wanted to put it out there. I want to buy you dinner. Just… think about it. I promise I won’t hold it against you if you say no.”

He ended with a smile, and the Jay from the bar jumped to the forefront of your brain again.

You couldn’t help a smile as well, before nodding. “I’ll… think about it.”

Jay smiled. “That’s all I ask.”

You nodded, excusing yourself before you left his office.

The small victory you had with Life Construction, along with the acknowledgement you’d gotten for a job well done, for the first time since you’d joined this darned company, seemed to keep you afloat for the rest of the day.

It felt like you’d finally found a life buoy after treading in deep still waters for a long time.

The effect was so dizzying that even Laura’s snide remarks or Edward’s quiet glares seemed to float past you as if they weren’t there at all.

At least, until Laura arrived at your desk with a stack of invoices.

You weren’t even sure if you managed to keep the disdain out of your eyes when you looked up.

“It’s that time of the year again.” Laura gave you a grimace. If you didn’t know better it would look like she empathized with you and felt bad about having to leave this yearly stack of invoices on your desk.

But you knew better.

In the first place, this stack of invoices had absolutely nothing to do with you.

Stuffing all the things you really wanted to say into a deep dark corner of your mind, you merely nodded.

You’d been inclined to say yes to dinner. You hadn’t really worked out what it all meant. Maybe it was just Jay being a nice boss, but what he said about optics kind of off-balanced that argument. However, you’d shoved it to the back of your mind, refusing to think about it or let it confuse you further.

You opened the in-house chatting application the company subscribed to which allowed for quick internal communications and typed Jay a private message.

Dinner sounds great, but maybe not today.

You were slightly tempted to add in a reason, but it just wasn’t in your nature, and it felt like you were stooping to their level, running to the boss to make other people look bad. Even though they were just facts.

So, you decided to leave it as that, especially after Jay responded with a thumbs-up emoticon that seemed as positive as it could be.

However, as you worked and the clock ticked later, you felt the unmistakable pains of stomach cramps. You felt yourself wondering if it was because you hadn't had anything but an extra cup of coffee since lunchtime.

That was probably it, mixed with the negative emotions and anxieties toward Laura and the mountain of invoices she had left on your table. You'd spent the last hour mentally calculating in your head if it was even possible to finish tonight and if your anxiety wasn't this crippling, you might have finished more than you already had. However, you'd made significant progress, anxiety and all.

You had barely finished that thought when another cramp ripped through your abdomen.

Reaching into your bag for your medications, you figured you would take a pill to alleviate the symptoms and at least finish what you were working on.

Yet, that plan was shot to the ground when your fingers alone weren't able to locate your pill box and you remembered with a sinking feeling that you had taken it out last night to refill it. With annoying clarity, you even knew exactly where you had left it - right in the middle of the table so that you wouldn't forget it.

So much for that.

You glanced at the mountain of documents that hadn't seemed to go down and tried mentally calculating if you could at least finish the one you were working on.

You'd tried your luck but you had probably pushed it a little too far. When you had finally gotten up from your desk after finishing an extra unplanned document, you'd been greeted with a pain that seemed to rip through your abdomen, and through your middle. You swore you were almost torn in half.

The pain brought you to your knees as your legs buckled.

Cramps weren't new to you, but the intensity of the pain was. The shallow breaths you were taking didn't seem to help much and you felt a little disoriented as if the room was spinning and getting faster with each second that you remained stuck on the ground before your desk.

You didn't hear him walk in, but you know who the voice belonged to, without a doubt.

"Y/N? What's wrong?"

You couldn't answer him but the one hand that was pressing onto your abdomen twitched, exerting even more pressure, as if you could outdo the pain the cramps were exerting on your body.

"Alright, that's it. I'm taking you to the hospital. Can you stand?”

You didn't know what he was talking about honestly. You could barely maintain your current position. Which was why the moment he tried helping you up, you all but collapsed into his arms.

“Y/N!”

THANK YOU FOR READING!! PLEASE TELL ME WHAT YOU THOUGHT OF THIS!!

As your eyes met Jay’s green ones, Jay pulled his hand back gently, taking your phone and turning it face down. The vibrations could still be felt, but it wasn’t as in-your-face as it had originally been.

You couldn’t really read the look on Jay’s face, so he spoke.

“How often does she do this?”

Your lack of an answer was enough of an answer for Jay.

Jay looked like he was struggling to say something but ultimately decided to keep his comments to himself as he took another swig from his beer, one hand still resting atop yours.

You raised an eyebrow at him and Jay merely gave you a smile.

You felt the corners of your lips tugging upward subconsciously and you looked back down at your drink. You heard a faint chuckle before Jay gently pulled his hand back.

You hadn’t even realized when your phone had stopped vibrating.

You didn’t make any effort to flip your phone back up, merely taking another sip from the drink in front of you.

The rest of the evening passed with comfortable banter, and you didn’t even feel the urge to get up from your seat, until Jay stopped you from ordering another drink, insisting that he take you home even though your apartment was walking distance from the bar.

Jay even insisted on walking you straight to the door. You glanced back up at him.

“Thank you,” You said, quietly.

A small silence passed between the two of you and you swallowed, almost losing yourself in the deep green eyes that were looking at you.

Jay seemed to pull himself out of it first, clearing his throat.

“Good night, Y/N.”

You smiled back at him, unsure if what you were feeling was relief or disappointment, maybe a bit of both.

“Good night, Jay.”

“Thank you, Mr. Riley.” You said, shaking his hand as the signed contract now sat on the table.

Andrew turned to shake hands with Jay as well, smiling. “You got a good one here.”

Jay turned to smile at you without saying anything.

“We’ll set up another meeting with your team once we have everything sorted.” Jay assured the client, seeing him all the way out as you went to wait in his office.

You didn’t hear the door open as your fingers fidgeted, but you looked up when the door closed. Jay gave you a smile, that reminded you more of the Jay at the bar, rather than your boss.

“This was impressive, Y/N.” Jay said quietly. “This deal is even better than…”

Jay paused, unsure if he really should bring it up again. After all, he’d snapped at you without getting all the facts and he still couldn’t shake the expression you had on your face when it happened. You weren’t upset or disappointed. Jay hadn’t been able to pinpoint it at that moment but later he’d realized. It was a look that told him you’d been here before. That really bugged him.

You glanced at him, your eyebrows raised. You had no idea where he was going with this.

Jay cleared his throat, deciding not to bring it up.

“It was a job well done, we should celebrate.” Jay said, pausing a little to read your micro-expressions.

When you didn’t respond, he continued, “Am I being too forward if I ask to buy you dinner tonight?”

You froze, glancing back up at him, your eyes slightly widened as you blinked stupidly back at him, a thousand thoughts racing through your head.

By instinct, you’d almost said yes immediately, before you were reminded once again that you needed to get the Jay from the bar out of your head and remember that he was your boss. He was everyone’s boss here.

Jay seemed to be able to read your thoughts and spoke again. “I know we got off to a rough start and given the situation right now, the optics aren’t… ideal. Especially for you. So, no pressure, alright? I just… I wanted to put it out there. I want to buy you dinner. Just… think about it. I promise I won’t hold it against you if you say no.”

He ended with a smile, and the Jay from the bar jumped to the forefront of your brain again.

You couldn’t help a smile as well, before nodding. “I’ll… think about it.”

Jay smiled. “That’s all I ask.”

You nodded, excusing yourself before you left his office.

The small victory you had with Life Construction, along with the acknowledgement you’d gotten for a job well done, for the first time since you’d joined this darned company, seemed to keep you afloat for the rest of the day.

It felt like you’d finally found a life buoy after treading in deep still waters for a long time.

The effect was so dizzying that even Laura’s snide remarks or Edward’s quiet glares seemed to float past you as if they weren’t there at all.

At least, until Laura arrived at your desk with a stack of invoices.

You weren’t even sure if you managed to keep the disdain out of your eyes when you looked up.

“It’s that time of the year again.” Laura gave you a grimace. If you didn’t know better it would look like she empathized with you and felt bad about having to leave this yearly stack of invoices on your desk.

But you knew better.

In the first place, this stack of invoices had absolutely nothing to do with you.

Stuffing all the things you really wanted to say into a deep dark corner of your mind, you merely nodded.

You’d been inclined to say yes to dinner. You hadn’t really worked out what it all meant. Maybe it was just Jay being a nice boss, but what he said about optics kind of off-balanced that argument. However, you’d shoved it to the back of your mind, refusing to think about it or let it confuse you further.

You opened the in-house chatting application the company subscribed to which allowed for quick internal communications and typed Jay a private message.

Dinner sounds great, but maybe not today.

You were slightly tempted to add in a reason, but it just wasn’t in your nature, and it felt like you were stooping to their level, running to the boss to make other people look bad. Even though they were just facts.

So, you decided to leave it as that, especially after Jay responded with a thumbs-up emoticon that seemed as positive as it could be.

However, as you worked and the clock ticked later, you felt the unmistakable pains of stomach cramps. You felt yourself wondering if it was because you hadn't had anything but an extra cup of coffee since lunchtime.

That was probably it, mixed with the negative emotions and anxieties toward Laura and the mountain of invoices she had left on your table. You'd spent the last hour mentally calculating in your head if it was even possible to finish tonight and if your anxiety wasn't this crippling, you might have finished more than you already had. However, you'd made significant progress, anxiety and all.

You had barely finished that thought when another cramp ripped through your abdomen.

Reaching into your bag for your medications, you figured you would take a pill to alleviate the symptoms and at least finish what you were working on.

Yet, that plan was shot to the ground when your fingers alone weren't able to locate your pill box and you remembered with a sinking feeling that you had taken it out last night to refill it. With annoying clarity, you even knew exactly where you had left it - right in the middle of the table so that you wouldn't forget it.

So much for that.

You glanced at the mountain of documents that hadn't seemed to go down and tried mentally calculating if you could at least finish the one you were working on.

You'd tried your luck but you had probably pushed it a little too far. When you had finally gotten up from your desk after finishing an extra unplanned document, you'd been greeted with a pain that seemed to rip through your abdomen, and through your middle. You swore you were almost torn in half.

The pain brought you to your knees as your legs buckled.

Cramps weren't new to you, but the intensity of the pain was. The shallow breaths you were taking didn't seem to help much and you felt a little disoriented as if the room was spinning and getting faster with each second that you remained stuck on the ground before your desk.

You didn't hear him walk in, but you know who the voice belonged to, without a doubt.

"Y/N? What's wrong?"

You couldn't answer him but the one hand that was pressing onto your abdomen twitched, exerting even more pressure, as if you could outdo the pain the cramps were exerting on your body.

"Alright, that's it. I'm taking you to the hospital. Can you stand?”

You didn't know what he was talking about honestly. You could barely maintain your current position. Which was why the moment he tried helping you up, you all but collapsed into his arms.

“Y/N!”

THANK YOU FOR READING!! PLEASE TELL ME WHAT YOU THOUGHT OF THIS!!

As your eyes met Jay’s green ones, Jay pulled his hand back gently, taking your phone and turning it face down. The vibrations could still be felt, but it wasn’t as in-your-face as it had originally been.

You couldn’t really read the look on Jay’s face, so he spoke.

“How often does she do this?”

Your lack of an answer was enough of an answer for Jay.

Jay looked like he was struggling to say something but ultimately decided to keep his comments to himself as he took another swig from his beer, one hand still resting atop yours.

You raised an eyebrow at him and Jay merely gave you a smile.

You felt the corners of your lips tugging upward subconsciously and you looked back down at your drink. You heard a faint chuckle before Jay gently pulled his hand back.

You hadn’t even realized when your phone had stopped vibrating.

You didn’t make any effort to flip your phone back up, merely taking another sip from the drink in front of you.

The rest of the evening passed with comfortable banter, and you didn’t even feel the urge to get up from your seat, until Jay stopped you from ordering another drink, insisting that he take you home even though your apartment was walking distance from the bar.

Jay even insisted on walking you straight to the door. You glanced back up at him.

“Thank you,” You said, quietly.

A small silence passed between the two of you and you swallowed, almost losing yourself in the deep green eyes that were looking at you.

Jay seemed to pull himself out of it first, clearing his throat.

“Good night, Y/N.”

You smiled back at him, unsure if what you were feeling was relief or disappointment, maybe a bit of both.

“Good night, Jay.”

“Thank you, Mr. Riley.” You said, shaking his hand as the signed contract now sat on the table.

Andrew turned to shake hands with Jay as well, smiling. “You got a good one here.”

Jay turned to smile at you without saying anything.

“We’ll set up another meeting with your team once we have everything sorted.” Jay assured the client, seeing him all the way out as you went to wait in his office.

You didn’t hear the door open as your fingers fidgeted, but you looked up when the door closed. Jay gave you a smile, that reminded you more of the Jay at the bar, rather than your boss.

“This was impressive, Y/N.” Jay said quietly. “This deal is even better than…”

Jay paused, unsure if he really should bring it up again. After all, he’d snapped at you without getting all the facts and he still couldn’t shake the expression you had on your face when it happened. You weren’t upset or disappointed. Jay hadn’t been able to pinpoint it at that moment but later he’d realized. It was a look that told him you’d been here before. That really bugged him.

You glanced at him, your eyebrows raised. You had no idea where he was going with this.

Jay cleared his throat, deciding not to bring it up.

“It was a job well done, we should celebrate.” Jay said, pausing a little to read your micro-expressions.

When you didn’t respond, he continued, “Am I being too forward if I ask to buy you dinner tonight?”

You froze, glancing back up at him, your eyes slightly widened as you blinked stupidly back at him, a thousand thoughts racing through your head.

By instinct, you’d almost said yes immediately, before you were reminded once again that you needed to get the Jay from the bar out of your head and remember that he was your boss. He was everyone’s boss here.

Jay seemed to be able to read your thoughts and spoke again. “I know we got off to a rough start and given the situation right now, the optics aren’t… ideal. Especially for you. So, no pressure, alright? I just… I wanted to put it out there. I want to buy you dinner. Just… think about it. I promise I won’t hold it against you if you say no.”

He ended with a smile, and the Jay from the bar jumped to the forefront of your brain again.

You couldn’t help a smile as well, before nodding. “I’ll… think about it.”

Jay smiled. “That’s all I ask.”

You nodded, excusing yourself before you left his office.

The small victory you had with Life Construction, along with the acknowledgement you’d gotten for a job well done, for the first time since you’d joined this darned company, seemed to keep you afloat for the rest of the day.

It felt like you’d finally found a life buoy after treading in deep still waters for a long time.

The effect was so dizzying that even Laura’s snide remarks or Edward’s quiet glares seemed to float past you as if they weren’t there at all.

At least, until Laura arrived at your desk with a stack of invoices.

You weren’t even sure if you managed to keep the disdain out of your eyes when you looked up.

“It’s that time of the year again.” Laura gave you a grimace. If you didn’t know better it would look like she empathized with you and felt bad about having to leave this yearly stack of invoices on your desk.

But you knew better.

In the first place, this stack of invoices had absolutely nothing to do with you.

Stuffing all the things you really wanted to say into a deep dark corner of your mind, you merely nodded.

You’d been inclined to say yes to dinner. You hadn’t really worked out what it all meant. Maybe it was just Jay being a nice boss, but what he said about optics kind of off-balanced that argument. However, you’d shoved it to the back of your mind, refusing to think about it or let it confuse you further.

You opened the in-house chatting application the company subscribed to which allowed for quick internal communications and typed Jay a private message.

Dinner sounds great, but maybe not today.

You were slightly tempted to add in a reason, but it just wasn’t in your nature, and it felt like you were stooping to their level, running to the boss to make other people look bad. Even though they were just facts.

So, you decided to leave it as that, especially after Jay responded with a thumbs-up emoticon that seemed as positive as it could be.

However, as you worked and the clock ticked later, you felt the unmistakable pains of stomach cramps. You felt yourself wondering if it was because you hadn't had anything but an extra cup of coffee since lunchtime.

That was probably it, mixed with the negative emotions and anxieties toward Laura and the mountain of invoices she had left on your table. You'd spent the last hour mentally calculating in your head if it was even possible to finish tonight and if your anxiety wasn't this crippling, you might have finished more than you already had. However, you'd made significant progress, anxiety and all.

You had barely finished that thought when another cramp ripped through your abdomen.

Reaching into your bag for your medications, you figured you would take a pill to alleviate the symptoms and at least finish what you were working on.

Yet, that plan was shot to the ground when your fingers alone weren't able to locate your pill box and you remembered with a sinking feeling that you had taken it out last night to refill it. With annoying clarity, you even knew exactly where you had left it - right in the middle of the table so that you wouldn't forget it.

So much for that.

You glanced at the mountain of documents that hadn't seemed to go down and tried mentally calculating if you could at least finish the one you were working on.

You'd tried your luck but you had probably pushed it a little too far. When you had finally gotten up from your desk after finishing an extra unplanned document, you'd been greeted with a pain that seemed to rip through your abdomen, and through your middle. You swore you were almost torn in half.

The pain brought you to your knees as your legs buckled.

Cramps weren't new to you, but the intensity of the pain was. The shallow breaths you were taking didn't seem to help much and you felt a little disoriented as if the room was spinning and getting faster with each second that you remained stuck on the ground before your desk.

You didn't hear him walk in, but you know who the voice belonged to, without a doubt.

"Y/N? What's wrong?"

You couldn't answer him but the one hand that was pressing onto your abdomen twitched, exerting even more pressure, as if you could outdo the pain the cramps were exerting on your body.

"Alright, that's it. I'm taking you to the hospital. Can you stand?”

You didn't know what he was talking about honestly. You could barely maintain your current position. Which was why the moment he tried helping you up, you all but collapsed into his arms.

“Y/N!”

THANK YOU FOR READING!! PLEASE TELL ME WHAT YOU THOUGHT OF THIS!!

As your eyes met Jay’s green ones, Jay pulled his hand back gently, taking your phone and turning it face down. The vibrations could still be felt, but it wasn’t as in-your-face as it had originally been.

You couldn’t really read the look on Jay’s face, so he spoke.

“How often does she do this?”

Your lack of an answer was enough of an answer for Jay.

Jay looked like he was struggling to say something but ultimately decided to keep his comments to himself as he took another swig from his beer, one hand still resting atop yours.

You raised an eyebrow at him and Jay merely gave you a smile.

You felt the corners of your lips tugging upward subconsciously and you looked back down at your drink. You heard a faint chuckle before Jay gently pulled his hand back.

You hadn’t even realized when your phone had stopped vibrating.

You didn’t make any effort to flip your phone back up, merely taking another sip from the drink in front of you.

The rest of the evening passed with comfortable banter, and you didn’t even feel the urge to get up from your seat, until Jay stopped you from ordering another drink, insisting that he take you home even though your apartment was walking distance from the bar.

Jay even insisted on walking you straight to the door. You glanced back up at him.

“Thank you,” You said, quietly.

A small silence passed between the two of you and you swallowed, almost losing yourself in the deep green eyes that were looking at you.

Jay seemed to pull himself out of it first, clearing his throat.

“Good night, Y/N.”

You smiled back at him, unsure if what you were feeling was relief or disappointment, maybe a bit of both.

“Good night, Jay.”

“Thank you, Mr. Riley.” You said, shaking his hand as the signed contract now sat on the table.

Andrew turned to shake hands with Jay as well, smiling. “You got a good one here.”

Jay turned to smile at you without saying anything.

“We’ll set up another meeting with your team once we have everything sorted.” Jay assured the client, seeing him all the way out as you went to wait in his office.

You didn’t hear the door open as your fingers fidgeted, but you looked up when the door closed. Jay gave you a smile, that reminded you more of the Jay at the bar, rather than your boss.

“This was impressive, Y/N.” Jay said quietly. “This deal is even better than…”

Jay paused, unsure if he really should bring it up again. After all, he’d snapped at you without getting all the facts and he still couldn’t shake the expression you had on your face when it happened. You weren’t upset or disappointed. Jay hadn’t been able to pinpoint it at that moment but later he’d realized. It was a look that told him you’d been here before. That really bugged him.

You glanced at him, your eyebrows raised. You had no idea where he was going with this.

Jay cleared his throat, deciding not to bring it up.

“It was a job well done, we should celebrate.” Jay said, pausing a little to read your micro-expressions.

When you didn’t respond, he continued, “Am I being too forward if I ask to buy you dinner tonight?”

You froze, glancing back up at him, your eyes slightly widened as you blinked stupidly back at him, a thousand thoughts racing through your head.

By instinct, you’d almost said yes immediately, before you were reminded once again that you needed to get the Jay from the bar out of your head and remember that he was your boss. He was everyone’s boss here.

Jay seemed to be able to read your thoughts and spoke again. “I know we got off to a rough start and given the situation right now, the optics aren’t… ideal. Especially for you. So, no pressure, alright? I just… I wanted to put it out there. I want to buy you dinner. Just… think about it. I promise I won’t hold it against you if you say no.”

He ended with a smile, and the Jay from the bar jumped to the forefront of your brain again.

You couldn’t help a smile as well, before nodding. “I’ll… think about it.”

Jay smiled. “That’s all I ask.”

You nodded, excusing yourself before you left his office.

The small victory you had with Life Construction, along with the acknowledgement you’d gotten for a job well done, for the first time since you’d joined this darned company, seemed to keep you afloat for the rest of the day.

It felt like you’d finally found a life buoy after treading in deep still waters for a long time.

The effect was so dizzying that even Laura’s snide remarks or Edward’s quiet glares seemed to float past you as if they weren’t there at all.

At least, until Laura arrived at your desk with a stack of invoices.

You weren’t even sure if you managed to keep the disdain out of your eyes when you looked up.

“It’s that time of the year again.” Laura gave you a grimace. If you didn’t know better it would look like she empathized with you and felt bad about having to leave this yearly stack of invoices on your desk.

But you knew better.

In the first place, this stack of invoices had absolutely nothing to do with you.

Stuffing all the things you really wanted to say into a deep dark corner of your mind, you merely nodded.

You’d been inclined to say yes to dinner. You hadn’t really worked out what it all meant. Maybe it was just Jay being a nice boss, but what he said about optics kind of off-balanced that argument. However, you’d shoved it to the back of your mind, refusing to think about it or let it confuse you further.

You opened the in-house chatting application the company subscribed to which allowed for quick internal communications and typed Jay a private message.

Dinner sounds great, but maybe not today.

You were slightly tempted to add in a reason, but it just wasn’t in your nature, and it felt like you were stooping to their level, running to the boss to make other people look bad. Even though they were just facts.

So, you decided to leave it as that, especially after Jay responded with a thumbs-up emoticon that seemed as positive as it could be.

However, as you worked and the clock ticked later, you felt the unmistakable pains of stomach cramps. You felt yourself wondering if it was because you hadn't had anything but an extra cup of coffee since lunchtime.

That was probably it, mixed with the negative emotions and anxieties toward Laura and the mountain of invoices she had left on your table. You'd spent the last hour mentally calculating in your head if it was even possible to finish tonight and if your anxiety wasn't this crippling, you might have finished more than you already had. However, you'd made significant progress, anxiety and all.

You had barely finished that thought when another cramp ripped through your abdomen.

Reaching into your bag for your medications, you figured you would take a pill to alleviate the symptoms and at least finish what you were working on.

Yet, that plan was shot to the ground when your fingers alone weren't able to locate your pill box and you remembered with a sinking feeling that you had taken it out last night to refill it. With annoying clarity, you even knew exactly where you had left it - right in the middle of the table so that you wouldn't forget it.

So much for that.

You glanced at the mountain of documents that hadn't seemed to go down and tried mentally calculating if you could at least finish the one you were working on.

You'd tried your luck but you had probably pushed it a little too far. When you had finally gotten up from your desk after finishing an extra unplanned document, you'd been greeted with a pain that seemed to rip through your abdomen, and through your middle. You swore you were almost torn in half.

The pain brought you to your knees as your legs buckled.

Cramps weren't new to you, but the intensity of the pain was. The shallow breaths you were taking didn't seem to help much and you felt a little disoriented as if the room was spinning and getting faster with each second that you remained stuck on the ground before your desk.

You didn't hear him walk in, but you know who the voice belonged to, without a doubt.

"Y/N? What's wrong?"

You couldn't answer him but the one hand that was pressing onto your abdomen twitched, exerting even more pressure, as if you could outdo the pain the cramps were exerting on your body.

"Alright, that's it. I'm taking you to the hospital. Can you stand?”

You didn't know what he was talking about honestly. You could barely maintain your current position. Which was why the moment he tried helping you up, you all but collapsed into his arms.

“Y/N!”

THANK YOU FOR READING!! PLEASE TELL ME WHAT YOU THOUGHT OF THIS!!

As your eyes met Jay’s green ones, Jay pulled his hand back gently, taking your phone and turning it face down. The vibrations could still be felt, but it wasn’t as in-your-face as it had originally been.

You couldn’t really read the look on Jay’s face, so he spoke.

“How often does she do this?”

Your lack of an answer was enough of an answer for Jay.

Jay looked like he was struggling to say something but ultimately decided to keep his comments to himself as he took another swig from his beer, one hand still resting atop yours.

You raised an eyebrow at him and Jay merely gave you a smile.

You felt the corners of your lips tugging upward subconsciously and you looked back down at your drink. You heard a faint chuckle before Jay gently pulled his hand back.

You hadn’t even realized when your phone had stopped vibrating.

You didn’t make any effort to flip your phone back up, merely taking another sip from the drink in front of you.

The rest of the evening passed with comfortable banter, and you didn’t even feel the urge to get up from your seat, until Jay stopped you from ordering another drink, insisting that he take you home even though your apartment was walking distance from the bar.

Jay even insisted on walking you straight to the door. You glanced back up at him.

“Thank you,” You said, quietly.

A small silence passed between the two of you and you swallowed, almost losing yourself in the deep green eyes that were looking at you.

Jay seemed to pull himself out of it first, clearing his throat.

“Good night, Y/N.”

You smiled back at him, unsure if what you were feeling was relief or disappointment, maybe a bit of both.

“Good night, Jay.”

“Thank you, Mr. Riley.” You said, shaking his hand as the signed contract now sat on the table.

Andrew turned to shake hands with Jay as well, smiling. “You got a good one here.”

Jay turned to smile at you without saying anything.

“We’ll set up another meeting with your team once we have everything sorted.” Jay assured the client, seeing him all the way out as you went to wait in his office.

You didn’t hear the door open as your fingers fidgeted, but you looked up when the door closed. Jay gave you a smile, that reminded you more of the Jay at the bar, rather than your boss.

“This was impressive, Y/N.” Jay said quietly. “This deal is even better than…”

Jay paused, unsure if he really should bring it up again. After all, he’d snapped at you without getting all the facts and he still couldn’t shake the expression you had on your face when it happened. You weren’t upset or disappointed. Jay hadn’t been able to pinpoint it at that moment but later he’d realized. It was a look that told him you’d been here before. That really bugged him.

You glanced at him, your eyebrows raised. You had no idea where he was going with this.

Jay cleared his throat, deciding not to bring it up.

“It was a job well done, we should celebrate.” Jay said, pausing a little to read your micro-expressions.

When you didn’t respond, he continued, “Am I being too forward if I ask to buy you dinner tonight?”

You froze, glancing back up at him, your eyes slightly widened as you blinked stupidly back at him, a thousand thoughts racing through your head.

By instinct, you’d almost said yes immediately, before you were reminded once again that you needed to get the Jay from the bar out of your head and remember that he was your boss. He was everyone’s boss here.

Jay seemed to be able to read your thoughts and spoke again. “I know we got off to a rough start and given the situation right now, the optics aren’t… ideal. Especially for you. So, no pressure, alright? I just… I wanted to put it out there. I want to buy you dinner. Just… think about it. I promise I won’t hold it against you if you say no.”

He ended with a smile, and the Jay from the bar jumped to the forefront of your brain again.

You couldn’t help a smile as well, before nodding. “I’ll… think about it.”

Jay smiled. “That’s all I ask.”

You nodded, excusing yourself before you left his office.

The small victory you had with Life Construction, along with the acknowledgement you’d gotten for a job well done, for the first time since you’d joined this darned company, seemed to keep you afloat for the rest of the day.

It felt like you’d finally found a life buoy after treading in deep still waters for a long time.

The effect was so dizzying that even Laura’s snide remarks or Edward’s quiet glares seemed to float past you as if they weren’t there at all.

At least, until Laura arrived at your desk with a stack of invoices.

You weren’t even sure if you managed to keep the disdain out of your eyes when you looked up.

“It’s that time of the year again.” Laura gave you a grimace. If you didn’t know better it would look like she empathized with you and felt bad about having to leave this yearly stack of invoices on your desk.

But you knew better.

In the first place, this stack of invoices had absolutely nothing to do with you.

Stuffing all the things you really wanted to say into a deep dark corner of your mind, you merely nodded.

You’d been inclined to say yes to dinner. You hadn’t really worked out what it all meant. Maybe it was just Jay being a nice boss, but what he said about optics kind of off-balanced that argument. However, you’d shoved it to the back of your mind, refusing to think about it or let it confuse you further.

You opened the in-house chatting application the company subscribed to which allowed for quick internal communications and typed Jay a private message.

Dinner sounds great, but maybe not today.

You were slightly tempted to add in a reason, but it just wasn’t in your nature, and it felt like you were stooping to their level, running to the boss to make other people look bad. Even though they were just facts.

So, you decided to leave it as that, especially after Jay responded with a thumbs-up emoticon that seemed as positive as it could be.

However, as you worked and the clock ticked later, you felt the unmistakable pains of stomach cramps. You felt yourself wondering if it was because you hadn't had anything but an extra cup of coffee since lunchtime.

That was probably it, mixed with the negative emotions and anxieties toward Laura and the mountain of invoices she had left on your table. You'd spent the last hour mentally calculating in your head if it was even possible to finish tonight and if your anxiety wasn't this crippling, you might have finished more than you already had. However, you'd made significant progress, anxiety and all.

You had barely finished that thought when another cramp ripped through your abdomen.

Reaching into your bag for your medications, you figured you would take a pill to alleviate the symptoms and at least finish what you were working on.

Yet, that plan was shot to the ground when your fingers alone weren't able to locate your pill box and you remembered with a sinking feeling that you had taken it out last night to refill it. With annoying clarity, you even knew exactly where you had left it - right in the middle of the table so that you wouldn't forget it.

So much for that.

You glanced at the mountain of documents that hadn't seemed to go down and tried mentally calculating if you could at least finish the one you were working on.

You'd tried your luck but you had probably pushed it a little too far. When you had finally gotten up from your desk after finishing an extra unplanned document, you'd been greeted with a pain that seemed to rip through your abdomen, and through your middle. You swore you were almost torn in half.

The pain brought you to your knees as your legs buckled.

Cramps weren't new to you, but the intensity of the pain was. The shallow breaths you were taking didn't seem to help much and you felt a little disoriented as if the room was spinning and getting faster with each second that you remained stuck on the ground before your desk.

You didn't hear him walk in, but you know who the voice belonged to, without a doubt.

"Y/N? What's wrong?"

You couldn't answer him but the one hand that was pressing onto your abdomen twitched, exerting even more pressure, as if you could outdo the pain the cramps were exerting on your body.

"Alright, that's it. I'm taking you to the hospital. Can you stand?”

You didn't know what he was talking about honestly. You could barely maintain your current position. Which was why the moment he tried helping you up, you all but collapsed into his arms.

“Y/N!”

THANK YOU FOR READING!! PLEASE TELL ME WHAT YOU THOUGHT OF THIS!!