niia!!

authors note: happy birthday to my gorgeous diva Cara!!! please ignore any chandugiri in the middle of these lines. i suck at writing and alot of POV switching so meow. AND OUT OF CHARACTER VERY MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!, NO CANON SETTINGS a very non-canon Levi will be demonstrated so theres that. hes there for pairing purposes. (ALSO for other divas reading this, the fic's for a specific person, but no characteristic details so could be read as reader x character because reading is for all yihau.) NO WARNINGS BTW! smut not available because its scary to write.

no beta read, we die like eren. (waoh shakespeare is shaking)

Context(i suggest reading this before the fic): Reader is the head designer of a Fashion company's office in France(Paris specifically), used to study in America during teenage years and pursued her career in Fashion. other characters include Levi, also was in the same school as reader and now is in her office as well, works in the Finance department. Assistant/receptionist is gonna be named Nia. also Levi's parents are divorced so that gonna take part in the story indirectly.

"coffee cups are certainly a way to practice juggling..." mumbled off Cara, as if the clock would tick ANY slower.

at this point its just time pass, there were better things for her to do instead of climbing up this mountain of stairs. being one of the most important people in a single department is both flaunting and tiring to the core.

the things people do for a job...

slam!

"these errands are going to be the death of me, when will we actually get to buisness?" Cara said out loud, more of a complain than a question,

"until this heat wears off, we are NOT getting peace in here" the other girl replied.

another coworker walked by,

"aint'a new guy coming around? im jus' hopin' for a bonus man" Stanley grumbled—ignore that old dude(for filler purposes because i said so😛) hes just here for the money and its WAY too clear. "don't want another idiot in this flock-"

"nyeaahh.. sucks to be you, i heard from the ground departments apparently he's one of those nepo babies. yaaaarr in another life!!" Nia sulked,

"you two keep procrastinating on this pile, im gonna check out the ideas from the editors department" Cara walked away in hurry, her cup in one hand and files in the other.

"i've a bad feelin' about this" he raised an eyebrow, still staring at his computer screen.

Nia squinted her eyes at the man, "is that your opening line because this is the 5th day in a row you said this-"

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Its the second day of a leave, the covers of your bed smell of fresh laundry even though it was washed just yesterday. maybe some rest doesn't hurt at all, you do need a break in a while sometimes. the comfort doesn't go away, only makes you slumber under the pile of-

ring ring ring! ri-

"oh my GOD WHY WONT- hello?" your voice changed once you picked up the phone, classic,

"report to the office immediately, do not make me wait"

before you could comprehend who that was, it hung up. leaving you on a cliffhanger, just pray its not a whole hour of lecture and a risky position of getting suspended. damn this calender!

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'well shit is shit.', she thought as she finally took the elevator. the traffic was already hell, cars moving slower than a math class and the constantly ear ringing horns.

Paris has its perks as well as its disadvantages.

before she reached her cubicle an unknown figure stopped her,

"do you look at the time or are you ignorant?"

"excuse me? hey today was supposed to be a le-" suddenly the said figure was not so unknown at a second glance, "-vi..?"

the awkward silence stood in between.

"its Ackerman for you— today's 13th, not 12th. check your dates." grumbled off the walking rock.

the sudden appearance of someone from the years of her past hit her like a truck, was this the 'new guy' Stanley was talking about? she thought she was hallucinating at this point, she surely woke up from that alarm right? right???

(yes the transition from "leave" to "levi" was intentional WAIT PLEASE NO TOMATOES PLIJ)

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"is THAT the new Finance guy??!!" Cara shout-whispered, it was break time again—

the dark haired grump was not so far away. She was leaning halfway over the shared table with her friend, eager to know if anything is even real. her eyes would pop out already if it was biologically possible.

"well yes he literally came in yesterday!" gave back Nia, trying not to SNAP her head back even though she knows who Cara is talking about.

"girl I WASNT HERE YESTERDAY!" the whispering could not possibly get louder, at this point anyone could hear if they werent minding their business.

"oh yeah- well too bad, this guy is NOT normal. do they pick up people from a rehab center?"

"I KNOW THIS DUDE!"

"YOU WENT TO REHAB????"

"NO YOU IDIOT- he was in my school!"

okay now the confusing set in further. as the ingredient of the tea that is about to spill walks out of the break room, they both watch him intensely— staring daggers at his back.

"you?? and him?? .... actually im curious IS HE THAT NEIGHBOURHOOD CRIMINAL YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT A FEW DAYS AGO??"

"NO-"

memories filled Cara's head.

the library lulled of nothing but silence, before it was broken by whispers. the air smelled like dust and a book's suffocating pages.

"heyyyy~" a younger version of Cara swirled around,

"dont 'hey' me, this is a library." Levi said.

"are you gonna just act like a loner all the time? just grades arent gonna help you man"

"i dont have time for people, stop bothering me."

"oh come on! the school's hosting a graduation party, you better show up"

"im not going there to 'socialize', all they do is blast frustrating music."

"i'll be there either way, just stay for a while!"

"... fine"

"thats what im talking about!!" she ruffled his spikes of strands, walking away in content.

the boy was left stranded in half hesitant. a party was already hell, but a graduation party? do not let this guy start. if anything, he'd rather stick his head in his studies rather than even go out for a while.

socializing is NOT in his dictionary.

· · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·

who would have guessed a simple graduation party could go down in minutes?

stubbornness and pride takes over in such situations, leading to consequences that should be debated if the police station is worthy of a resolution or parents of each person involved.

after a fight between a boy with an empty head and another guy with screws loose in his — not even a singular bandage can help with the results.

a different kind of monday, this one is.

the life-sized speakers behind them sounded louder than ever, multiple led light reaching miles away, the roads lit in neons.

just a moments after something like a bar fight, Cara and Levi sat on the ground—

"now what did i tell you!" worry, masked as annoyance came out of Cara's mouth.

"whatever, its not that big of a deal" he said, leaning back on the ground. his scratched up knees a few inches away from his chest and his hands beside him, grabbing the grass.

Cara kept wrapping the white bandages around his knees, not bothered by the silent stains of red coming up on the cloth.

"... im sorry"

"for what!!??"

"I DONT KNOW. i didn't like how that guy was spitting out random shit. he kept saying you were only bothering me for money and what do you call it- clout" huffed Levi, nothing seemed to make sense to this idiot.

"so what? i can fight for myself. you do not get to treat me like someone fragile and frail, you do not get to make me-"

suddenly his head fell on her shoulder, all that came out his mouth was mumbling—

"i just dont know how to tell you how much i want to hold your hand like that, why does every guy and girl except me gets your affection." the feelings inside of him spilled out atlast.

"you dumbass, you cant be serious. i literally kept bothering you for all these days you're saying you dont 'get my affection'?" holding up his head, Cara tilted hers.

"i thought you were like that because you wanted free food from the canteen since i always had enough pocket money to pay doubl- OW! WH-." Levi winced out.

Cara's gripped up his hair, placing a kiss on his lips. the more seconds passed, the more his face reddened— anything else and he'd surely faint.

"oh and yeah, that too. take me on a date on the weekend, ill let you off the tax hook" boldness took over Cara for that moment.

him, on the other hand, gave slurred sounds that couldn't be understood. nothing made sense, but a chance is a chance. and he'd take it.

it took him days to find out where to go, crossing out names of a hundred places — he'd run out of things and eventually settle on the first word he heard on whatever came up on a random tv show.

· · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·

a museum is a classic hangout place for people like these two, one only stares at labels and the other judges the canvas.

could've decided on a resturaunt or cafe, but well, a certain guy wanted to be a bit fancy.

its been a while since they entered the rooms full of frames and kept walking around whilst ranting on a hundred topics—especially making unimaginable scenarios of god knows what about the painters.

though, like the gentleman he is — he walked her home. standing on her porch, they kept talking. conversation after conversation, even after the date already ended. his face seemed a bit off, like a bug bit him in the mouth.

"hey, you've been staring off in the clouds more those paintings for half this evening, gonna tell me something or what?" she asked out of half-joked concern,

"my dad."

he turned his face back to her, "he wants custody, its complicated."

her face froze, was this the time or place to utter something like that? he has no sense of timing, or any possible way of resolving this.

"and youre you're telling me this now?"

"i didn't know what other moment to say it, i just found it this morning."

"you can't be serious." her brows furrowed till they almost touched — "didnt you say hes in france" a plead hid in her voice.

only an awkward silence followed, but his eyes glanced away, ".. yes"

"i dont- why so sudden? youre only going there for a while right?" she shifted closer, "right?"

"im not sure."

the unreciprocated eye contact hit her much harder than expected. she turned away, going inside her house before she could process her emotion, leaving him at the door like he left her to deal with that. tears overwhelmed her skin.

days passed by in the office, but Levi's coldness stayed— only ever flickering a glimpse at Cara. it seemed professional to him, but to genuine degree it was frustrating. is he ignoring his feelings or her? both at the same damn time.

the 2 second eye contacts, or the slight touches from handing files, or even the shared chairs he seems to sit in the moment she leaves. is he purposely yearning from afar or wants to hold her but wont? again the same answer. complication is in his blood and stubborness will always win.

its been 3 days. they still havent talked of their feelings yet the unsaid words linger in the air.

cats gotta be out of the bag at this point, even the other workers are contemplating if somethings going on. the HR manager is having mind issues on what ruling to give, but the others? oh theyre already ditching their computers to spy on these not-so-secret love birds.

talk of the town? more like the main subject of gossip during coffee break.

past stories are an inch away from overlapping, yet a decade away from the present events.

Cara was sitting aimlessly behind her desk, magazines of the latest fashion trends piled on top of eachother, would have been a whole hour of gold-bricking if it weren't for an email from the branch manager himself—

"Trip to New york on Wednesday, 18th July. Partner will be Levi Ackerman, Financial assistant. Hotel and Concierge name will be emailed within 24 hours. blah blah bla-"

wait. partner will be WHO?? her eyes widened, looming over the screen.

'what the fu-'

another email popped up in bold letters, god ITS ACKERMAN.

she hesitantly clicked on the message—

"dont think im just tagging along, im not waiting for you."

is he fiesty or genuinely passive aggressive about not liking you?? might as hell write it on a billboard in capital letters...tf.

Cara slumped her head on her keyboard, she only saw the letters right infront of her eyes and yet couldn't type out a message. god she needed coffee right now or the world is gonna end this'll be her last moment.

She left her desk and walked to the break room, unusually empty this time for some reason. she didn't pay it any mind and kept filling up her cup with espresso to the brim, though she felt this wierd presence of something in the room-

"OH MY GOD- wH-" she yelped at the sudden appearance of the particular email sender, INCHES away from her. well not really that close BUT YOU GET IT HES STILL STANDING THERE LIKE A ROCK WITH BLUSH BLINDNESS, because his face WARMED UP at her catching him in the stalking-like act.

"youre coming to New york right?" he grumbled like a sheriff on duty, even with that reddened face. for reason his tone sound a bit- actually no dont fall for delusions STOP THAT

"yeah???" her body was still stuck in alert mode, who sneaks up to someone like that??

all he did was give out a "hm" as he nodded, followed by his exit.

She was left quite confused, what is this guy on? on text he's like a rivalling dictator and in person he turns into a mixed delayed-masaledaar pancake. how do you reunite with a childhood friend properly if hes like this?

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Eventually the date came upto the 18th, and Cara was, well—in air, quite literally in the air. it felt nice in buisness class, the screen infront of her played the credit scenes of "Crazy Rich Asians", a classic flight movie.

after a few minutes the plane landed, a big sign stood on the large grounds saying "WELCOME TO NYC" near the shiny black windows of the airport building. it felt refreshing to come to another city.

The car ride to the hotel with Levi was a certain demonstration of awkward silence, nothing special happened. but his pathetically rude exterior did not budge, though he was the one handling your heavy suitcase and unloading the luggage while refusing to let you hold anything else other than your bag, like damn calm down with those mixed signals man??

The whole day was spent walking from corporate headquarters and business centers, back and forth. an ocassional coffee break between the hours was necessary for survival, and time passed till your watch read "09:45" with a miniature "pm" on the side.

the other employees in new york were quite friendly, even suggesting a night out in the clubs.

Cara felt eager to know every part of this city, saying no was impossible — to which Levi hesitantly agreed after the pressure from the begging employees.

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The whole room glittered under the silver lighting and the neon hues as the music blasted off from the loudspeakers, you felt the bass of the music within your chest bumping up like a second heartbeat.

on one hand there was you, dancing off like it was your last day on earth after your 3rd shot of tequila— on the other, there was Levi way over the opposite side of the room sitting with his half-empty glass of scotch from the highest shelf(i cant think of any other alcohol except "daaru", SOS).

it didn't take long until the others began to book their ubers one by one, leaving you and him in the crowd.

excitement engulfed you as you kept surfing through the pile of people, stopping was not gonna be your next move(that was a metaphor oke dont throw tomatoes plij). at some point you had to be dragged away by the much shorter grump who was way too desperate to go home. he was quite literally begging to get away from the loud echoes, getting smushed by the crowd midway-

hold on, is he drunk???

troughout the whole car journey, the only rants that came out of you were complaints about your feet hurting, it felt like a ramming truck when he changed your stilletos into the shoes he was wearing without taking "no" for an answer.

you reached your room with your heels dangling off his fingers. a scene straight out of a movie.

the very next morning, your memory was halfway washed off by the alcohol, but your head felt like it would fall off. even Levi was acting all weird and flustered throughout the rest of the day, only speaking a few words here and there—

"I'm gonna be at the morning and afternoon appointments. be ready at 7:45 sharp, i'll- book a cab before and after." he spoke up, you two were in the middle of breakfast in your hotel room(holy reference??)

"i can get ride myself, what is up with the condescendence?" you furrowed your brows, the toasted bread still in your mouth,

"please, i insist." he pleaded. (shhh i suck at writing, imagine this is kaandftaani level patheticness)

and so, the grogginess from the morning followed you till the sun set. like a workaholic, you couldn't stay still, having felt the need to do something. the afternoon was spent in talking to the higher ups and receptionists through your laptop.

finally, the last meeting with the New York branch was scheduled at 8:00PM sharp. and so, it went smoothly— mainly due to the confidence in your presentation and his slideshows. your high hopes did not let you down, and here you were, back in the cab.

"you're free right now, are you?" Levi sparked up, his questionable eagerness to do something was visible.

"well.. yes, is there anything important?" a reply came from you,

"i was wondering you'd like to go to a really nice place in here-" he was about to say more, but shut himself up before getting his hopes high.

"yeah" your acceptance certainly riled him up— his eyes widened with delight, it felt way too foreign to see him like this.

"oh- okay" he mumbled, his soul was bouncing off of the car doors at this point.

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The both of you walked near the waters surrounding the lines of skyscrappers and buildings. It truly felt refreshing to be in such a state, maybe find him again wasn't that bad. a firework show was about to start no sooner, the greatest time of the year for this event

you jogged upto the end point where the waves kissed the sand and sat down, he came along, almost anxiously if you could say.

suddenly, a flower was placed on the palm of your hands—

"i've been meaning to say something." his voice threatened to stutter,

"hm?"

"ever since i met you, i never happen to shake off my feelings. i dont think i enjoyed the single moment after the day i left you.. when i came into this office i was just- confused.. i didnt know how to react and i acted like an idiot."

you weren't sure of how to answer, humour got the best of you instead

"oh yeah? keep staring daggers at me and i might thinking you're about to murder me"

his gaze did not waver, "cara. im not sure if you ever forgave me but i just want you to know that the only person whos occupied every inch of my mind and evey corner of my heart-" he paused, after saying that in one breathe, "i truly find you irritably fascinating. my eyes can't leave you and neither can my consciousness-"

you immediately cut him off, your lips met his. your hands curled into his hair, there wasnt a possible way to be more intimate. on pulling back, his face was as red as ever. the sound of loud fireworks went off in the back as the light shone upon your faces.

"god, youre so beautiful.." he uttered, eyes full of adorance—

you only chuckled at his whipped state, "mhm, and you're the guy i happen to love"

his eyes stayed as big as a seal's, staring into yours as he broke into a smile finally. he started giggled like a drunkard, intoxicated in your reciprocation.

you began you laugh back, the both of you were on and on like jesters at this point. cupid did a good job this time, old emotions crept upto you and it did not render you stoic.

· · ─ ·✶· bonus!!

It was a few days after the fireworks show, you were busy with your pile of work, the new collections of designer gowns were going to be released in a few days, but you felt the need to bring out the potential extravagance in them.

"ugh! why wont this stick!" your frustration boiled up,

"you know what- just try it on. literally this mannequin us NOT doing any justice." Nia suggested,

"girl if that's the way i might as well"

the dress fitted you quite perfectly, the monochromatic shades contrastsd with your hair, a lone line of fur rested on your shoulders as Nia kept on stitching another layer of maroon onto the off-shoulder sleeves. a slit on the sides of the lower half showed off your curves with certainty.

as you finally adding modifications, the dress still on— you twirled infront of the mirror, trying to think how the model would move in this. your assistant left the room for getting references from magazines, and you felt quite the primadonna in the glistening fabric.

"shabbash cara!" you smiled at yourself.

a mumble uttered from the entrance of the room— "cara mia-"

you turned your head to look, and it was none other than levi and a bundle of magazines in his hand threatening to fall, like he did, in love. his irises stayed on you as his face warmed up—

"so, how do i look?" you teased, turning to him while brushing your hair off of your shoulders.

a reply did not seem to be certain in the atmosphere, he mumbled like a toddler on trying to give a response and just shut up instead as he kept blushing furiously— embarrassment got the best of him and he placed the magazines in your hand before it fell off of his and left, fixing his crooked glasses.

your assistant came back with two coffee cups in hand, about to walk into a wall while craning her neck to look at Levi.

"whats up with that guy? he looks like someone hot ironed his face" she asked,

"mhm, dont worry about that" you gave, your eyes still on the back of his head. as you looked at Nia— her face contorted and her nose scrunched. furrowed eyebrows and awkward frown stayed on her face. wait, is she thinking of-

"NO NOT THAT YOU IDIOT" you immediately corrected,

her face stayed the same as she shook her head in terror— "in the middle of the OFFICE????" her expression curled.

"NO- WHAT ARE YOU ON ABOU-"