#jg7

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reckless

/ˈrɛkləs/

adjective

heedless of danger or the consequences of one's actions; rash or impetuous.

Jack watched from the doorway of your little girl’s room as you sat on a stool beside her cot unaware of his presence. Closing the book you had just finished reading her a bedtime story from, you placed it on the dresser beside you. You re-extended your arm to pick up a small ballerina music box, twisting the little handle until you heard it start to chime. A soft tune filled the silent room, tears trickling down your cheeks causing you to wipe them with your warm knitted jumper. You took a deep breathe and studied your tiny human who was now fast asleep. She was everything to you.

“What am I going to do mama?” You asked her, knowing you weren’t going to get any advice or a comprehensive response regardless as to whether she was awake or asleep. She twitched a little but remained quiet. You and Jack had been together for four years now. He was doing well at Aston Villa and the national team, you were working part-time from home whilst bringing up your mini you. You had a roof of your head, beds to sleep in, food on the table. Above all you were in love and you were happy. But Jack wasn’t. He had cheated on you. And he knew you knew. But you stayed, not just for her but because he was all you had ever wanted. He was your everything too. Humming softly to the melody, you began to sing to her. You wished you were her age again. So innocent. So naive. Not a care or worry in the world. Sleeping so gently. The words parting your lips telling her how reckless your husband had been. How he’d been with another woman. How he’d told you that you were the only one for him. How he’d told you he’d never hurt you. How he had promised after the first time you found out that she meant nothing to him. You were broken. Not a clue on what to do.

Did you up and leave him? Did you try fight him in a court for custody? What if he won? Would he still let you see her? Where would you live? Would you have enough money to survive? Would you be able to raise your daughter as a single mother? Did you stay? Did you try again? Would he stop seeing her? How could you trust him ever again? Why did he want someone else over you? Was he not happy? Was he just bored of you now? Was she more of woman than you were? What did she have that you didn’t? Did he know how close you were to just being done with everything? You begged for answers, every thought and scenario possible running through your mind.

“Each day goes by and each night I cry, somebody saw you with her last night, you gave me your word, don’t worry about her, you might love her now but you loved me first..” you cried, singing faintly into the void. “Said you’d never hurt me, but here we are. Oh you swore on every star. How could you be so reckless with my heart?”

Tears were now in full flow down your cheeks, droplets landing on your knees. From his position, he looked on, his heart shattering at your state. He was now crying himself, trying to be as quiet as he could. The lyrics of the song you were singing like daggers. How could he have done this to you both? You were the two most important women in his life besides his mother. He left the room quickly. Standing up now towering over your one and a half year old, you wished her goodnight and placed the music box back on the unit. Turning on her night light and turning off the lamp beside you, you turned around, convinced you had seen a shadow but dismissing the thought. Making your way back downstairs to one of the rooms the opposite side of your house, you sat in front of the large grand piano that was placed in one of the sitting rooms. Pressing a few of the keys softly, you closed your eyes and sighed. Continuing the song you were previously singing to your little girl, Jack stood outside the door, his back against the cold wall listening.

“You check in and out, of my heart like a hotel. And she must be perfect oh well, I hope you both go to..hhh..”you paused not singing the last word as you really didn’t wish that on him. “I still have the letter you wrote when you told me that I was the only girl you’d ever want in your life, I guess my friends were right..” Unable to continue as you were now sobbing with your head in your arms on the top of the piano, Jack entered the room.

“Y/N…” he said softly, pain and sorrow in his voice. He startled you.

“Jesus Jack, you scared the shit out of me! I didn’t realise you were home, I thought you were out with the lads..” you jumped. His arms were folded when you initially saw him, but they were down by his side now in his pockets. He was sniffling himself.

“Can we talk?” he whispered, the light of the hallway now illuminating his body. You hesitated to reply but eventually nodded as he closed over the door as he motioned for you to sit on the couch. He sat in front of you on the coffee table, his fingers covering his mouth, thumb under his chin. Silence lingered in the air like stale food, only the only thing that was stale here was your romance. “I don’t even know what to say.” he began, his own head in his hands now as his elbows rested on his knees. “The song you were singing upstairs and down here, when I tell you it broke me to pieces.” he bawled. You didn’t know how to react, knowing he’d heard all of it. You wanted to comfort him but how could you when you needed comfort from him more than anything? “I’m so sorry Y/N..so fucking sorry. Fuck sake I’m such a fucking dickhead I ruin everything. Best thing in my life you two and I’ve just thrown it away.”

You couldn’t form words. Instead you just cried and cried, shaking your head. Looking up at you from his position, he closed his eyes before reopening them and joining you on the couch wrapping his arms around you. You just broke in his grasp, his hands rubbing your head, constantly kissing the top of it. There was a long silence, until you finally got something out.

“Do you love her Jack?” you asked.

“Huh? Of course I do, she’s my little princess.” He stated, thinking you were talking about your daughter.

“Not our child Jack. Do you love the woman you’re sleeping with?” you murmured. He was taken aback but responded quickly.

“What? No, no I don’t.” he answered confidently. “I promise you I don’t.”

“Then why? Why did you go near her?” you said now coming up to meet him, his face sending you over the edge every time.

“I don’t.. I don’t know. It was a drunk mistake. The biggest mistake I’ve ever made. She got me hammered but I’m done with her I swear on our kid’s life. I never want to see her again and I never will. Look I know won’t believe me and you probably will never trust me again Y/N, but I promise to stand by you both for the rest of my life no matter what. I know I haven’t be a man in the past, but from this night fourth I will do everything in my power to try to be the best man I can be. I love you both to the ends of the earth and I will never ever put myself in a position like that again. I can’t lose you both..” he trailed off, his brummy accent so thick.

“We can’t lose you either Jack.” you whispered as he wiped your tears and pulled you back in to him.

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decision

/dɪˈsɪʒ(ə)n/

noun

a conclusion or resolution reached after consideration.

Growing up with Aston Villa and England footballer Jack Grealish as your best friend was one of the biggest privileges you had been given in life so far. From the minute you got talking to the then five-year-old Brummie boy from across the street, who was adamant about showing you his new football boots and the frogs living in the pond out his back garden might you add, you knew he was going to be one of the most important people in existence to you.

Like every bank holiday weekend that he and you weren’t busy, it became tradition that you would both go home to your families and join them to have dinner, play board-games whilst drinking and spend the night reminiscing old times. Usually Jack’s girlfriend would join you both too, but he had mentioned on the drive down that she wouldn’t be able to make it.

You sat at one end of the ‘L-shaped’ corner sofa in the conservatory-type sitting room of his parents house, whilst everyone else was scattered and seated elsewhere. Jack sat opposite you on the arm of a chair down the other end of the room, his little sister beside him. On the tv-screen mounted on the grey painted wall appeared a video of an aged ten Jack scoring a goal, with you eagerly cheering him on on the sideline. You smiled embarrassed as your families teased about Jack pointing to you and mouthing the words ‘for you’ on the local pitch.

Looking down at your feet and shaking your head, your eyes came up to meet the blondish-brown haired man staring at you. His arms were folded, a blank expression on his face. You had noticed he had seemed off the whole day, but ignored it as you figured he was just tired from international duty. He quickly broke the eye contact and became fixated on his hands, now tugging at an elastic band between his fingers.

“Oh Jack! Look at you! Handsome then and still as handsome now.” Your mother exclaimed.

“Ay and don’t forget he’s still a cheeky little shit!” His dad joked. Everyone laughed, but there was still no reaction from him.

The next image to emerge on the screen was one of you both pretending to get married with a Harribo ring. You were both so young and innocent but you would have been lying if you said that the crush you had on him back then wasn’t still apparent now. You were certain Jack knew but you had never vocalised it and always passed it off if anyone ever mentioned it.

“Oh would you look at that!” Jack’s mother began tearing up as did yours. “So adorable.”

The final video of the tape to crop up was of your secondary school formal. As you descended the staircase of your family home, your date Jack awaited at the bottom, nervously waiting to place a beautiful floral corsage that matched your dress on your wrist.

“Oh god! Not the dress.” You cringed, watching your teenage self being filmed. For a split second, Jack’s eyes looked up at the screen, but refocused on the band in his hands.

“Oh don’t be silly Y/N, you looked gorgeous!” Jack’s mum smiled at you. “I still think you’re going to marry our Jacky some day Y/N.” she announced once again.

You smiled awkwardly, at the same time noticing Jack snap the elastic furiously and sigh, removing himself from the room to the kitchen. You didn’t understand why he was acting this way this evening, but the thoughts of the memories of his little brother who had passed years back and his girlfriend had crossed your mind. Shuffling to the edge of your seat, his dad looked at you and nodded, knowing it would probably be best for you to go and talk to him, since he didn’t like to talk to his family and you knew him better than anyone.

Stepping into the marbled kitchen, silence filled the room, the only sound was that of a large clock on the wall ticking away. Jack was stood with his back turned to you, hands behind him placed on the island in the centre. Deciding not to say anything straight away, you walked around and stood beside him, your reflections now visible in the window. You rested your head on his arm, his shoulder not quite reachable as there was a slight height difference.

“You gonna tell me what’s going on then?” You whisper-spoke to him. He remained silent, bowing his head to look at the tiled floor. You nodded, knowing that if he didn’t want to talk about it straight away, it was okay. You just wanted him to know your presence meant that you were there for him regardless. Minutes passed, still a word not spoken, until you moved your head back upright looking at him, turning towards him so you could see his puffy, red face from the small tears streaming down it.

“Jack?” You half smiled at him, giving him a reassured look. His head turned to look at you, biting his lip. “Y/N.” He croaked.

“Is this about Keelan?” You muttered. You were thankful Jack trusted you enough to have been able to open up to you at times about the grief of losing his brother at such a young age, even though he hated showing his emotions.

“No..” he sniffled, wiping his nose. “Not that.”

You look at him concerned, confused as to what he was upset about. “Is it about her?” You offered implying his girlfriend. He nodded a bit, closing his eyes, more tears beginning to fall. Grabbing a tissue from the counter beside you and running it under the tap at the sink, you wiped his cheeks to cool them down. You decided not to push on the matter further, realising if he wanted to disclose anything he would do so in his own time. Thinking of ways to cheer him up, you went to the sweet press above the fridge, grabbing a bag of mini Harribo’s from it. Fixing yourself so that you were now standing in front of your best friend again, you opened the bag, pinching out a small ring from it and holding it in your fingers in front of him earning you a small smirk as you smiled back.

“Well go on, don’t keep me waiting!” You joked. He chuckled, taking the sweet from you and putting it in his mouth. Looking deeply into your eyes, he fixed a hair behind your ear.

“It’s you-“ he mumbled.

“Wait what? Me? What have I done?” You asked even more confused now.

He took a deep breath, sighing once again on release.

“Can I ask you something?” He requested. You nodded softly. “Why are you so good to me Y/N? You go above and beyond for me. You always have done.”

You scrunched your face puzzled as to what he was putting forward. “I- uh, I don’t know what you mean Jack. I’m your best friend, that’s kind of what best friends are supposed to do isn’t it?.” He nodded in agreement.

“Yeah..but-“, he paused. “Nevermind.”

“No tell me..” you persisted.

He bit his lip, looking down at yours.

“She didn’t come down this weekend because we had a fight.”

“Over what?” You asked.

“She said it’s too hard to watch the videos and look at the photo albums of us together and hear our parents make jokes about us being soulmates and stuff. I told her I understood but-.” he trailed off again.

“Shit yeah well I mean I can only imagine. God that must be horrible for her, but we can ask them to stop, it’s not that big of a deal I mean if you love her and want to spend the rest of your life with her then we can make chan-,” he cut you off.

“That’s the problem. I don’t think I do.”

“Huh?” You said amazed at his statement. You thought they were really good together and he cared about her a lot.

“I got to thinking that maybe, maybe it’s you I’m in love with. Maybe it’s you I want to spend the rest of my life with. Not just because our parents say it but because you’re everything I want her to be. I care about her and she’s a great person, but she’s not you.”

“Jack I-“ you began once again.

“Like seeing all those memories and stuff over and over again. It just makes me feel shit because I know it’s you I want to be with. And she knows it too but I keep telling her it’s not true.”

Scratching your head, you decided to be honest with him. “Then you need to be honest with her. I’m not saying this for my own benefit, I’m saying this for both yours and hers.”

“But if you don’t love me back then do I risk leaving what I have with her?” He asked.

You caressed his cheek and chuckled. “Jack Peter Grealish, I have spent the past how many years supporting you with whoever you have chose to date? I haven’t always liked them, but I’ve always told myself that if they made you happy, then that’s all that’s mattered, even if I wasn’t.” This time it was him to return the look of confusion. “I am in love with you Jack. I always have been and I think I always will be.” You choked a little, fighting to hold back tears. “It’s you I want to spend the rest of my life with. But even if I didn’t, you can’t have your cake and eat it. You can’t stay with someone out of fear or not being with somebody else. But you’re an adult and it’s up to you what you do. The ball is in your court. Whatever decision you make, I trust it’ll be the right one for you and I’ll continue to support you and be happy for you.” You half smiled again sheepishly, the tears now spilling out. That statement was only half true.

He sighed with hesitation, pinching the bridge of his nose. An awkwardness had now filled the air, the first awkwardness you had ever experienced with him. Looking down at your feet and swaying a bit, you decided to end the conversation there and head to the bathroom to fix yourself up. Before you made it to the kitchen door, an arm grabbed you and pulled you back. Placing his hands either side of your face he pressed his lips against yours. Pulling away you heard him whisper in your ear. “Yeah I think I’ve my decision made. I’ll let her know when I see her. You’re all I’m every going to want Y/N” He smiled, resting his head against yours.

“Okay.” You whispered with a gentle smile back.

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A/N: Guys I am so fkn sorry if this is absolutely rubbish I haven’t wrote anything in years 🧚🏻‍♀️ x

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Groaning at the very loud alarm clock now going off on my phone to tell me it was time to get up for work, I grabbed it and squinted exhaustedly at the screen. Barely making out the numbers on it that indicated the time, I sighed and quickly hit snooze.

“Five more minutes,” I muttered to myself, putting it back down on the locker and turning over, whilst clutching the warm duvet back to my chest.

Today was set to be my first day in my new job working as a now fully qualified and experienced physiotherapist at AVFC’s training grounds. I was shitting a brick to say the least. Not only was I going to be working for an English Premier League club in Birmingham, something I had never experienced before, but this entire country was foreign territory to me. Without saying too much, growing up on a teeny island like Ireland was tolerable, but after spending twenty-four years there, I decided it was time for me to spread my wings and venture out into the world to meet new people and experience new cultures. I had previous worked for a League of Ireland club back home known as Shamrock Rovers, but after being notified about the job here in Aston, I took the offer up without even giving it a second thought.

My Mam however wasn’t too happy about the move despite me living on my own for the past four years now, because you know what all mother’s are like, constantly in a frantic state of worry and all that. It’s one thing to move out of the family home and start your own life, it’s another to move to a different country where she believes you’re a million miles away and she‘s never going to see you again. My Dad on the other hand was delighted for me, his only problem being that he supported Liverpool and it was Villa that I was going to be working for. As for the rest of my family and possibly the entire nation if they knew, there was only one thing they had their attention focused on, or rather one person. And he, was Villa captain himself, Mr. Jack Grealish.

Being a relatively big football fan too, I was aware of Jack’s past with Ireland and his decision to switch allegiance back to England. Though I didn’t particularly agree with it, I tried to bear in mind I didn’t know the whole backstory as to why he made the choice and how he must have felt making it either. So I decided I wasn’t going to let it influence me working here or dealing with him over it. Besides, it was none of my business realistically and it wasn’t like I had to be best friends with him or anything. At the end of the day, I wanted to better my own life and make a comfortable living for myself, so if it meant putting up with him purely just for the sake of being professional, I was going to do it. Also, it could have been worse right? If it was Declan Rice that I was going to be working with, I think everyone that knew me back home would have more of a reason to have a proper meltdown.

Now 7:45 in the morning, my alarm had started to sound again, and this time I knew I had to get up. Putting on my dressing-gown, I made my way to the kitchen in my small-sized apartment to make breakfast. It didn’t look like the most appealing building to live in from the outside, but the inside it was actually quite adequate and pleasant. Pouring myself a glass of orange juice and placing some Wheetabix and milk into a bowl, I made a start to what was going to be a busy and possibly overwhelming day. After finishing, I hurriedly got changed from my pyjamas into a casual black tracksuit and a pair of Nike runners, knowing that that was what I was going to have to wear until given a proper Aston Villa uniform. Once completing the tasks I had to do in order to get ready, I grabbed the keys to my car and my bag and made my way to the apartment block car park.

Upon arrival to the training grounds, I was greeted by HR and my soon-to-be coworkers, who happened to all be men except for two women, one of which seemed to be around my age. Everyone seemed lovely and despite suffering with an extremely severe anxiety disorder, I somewhat felt at ease. They all left until it was just myself and a man by the name of Alan, who was the lead physio here. Giving me a quick tour of the entire grounds, I felt nauseous. There was so much to take in. So much to learn. I began to think I was way beyond my depths, but my thoughts were briefly pushed aside when Alan reassured me that I would be looked after here.

“So, I think what we’ll do is have a quick cup of coffee, go through all your details, find out a bit about you and what your experiences back in Ireland were like with Rovers and then I’ll inform you on what way we work here.” he smiled. “Is that alright with you?”

“Yeah that sounds perfect”, I agreed and politely smiled back at him, my stomach now doing somersaults. Directing me back to the canteen, where I saw and met a good few of the players and other staff, we eventually sat and processed everything. I then got given my new AVFC uniforms and went to change. Once finished, Alan began to speak up again.

“Alright now that all that’s done, are you ready to get started?,” he asked respectfully and grinned.

“Uh, yeah sure, I guess so,” I replied taking a deep breathe and nervously beaming back.

“Great, well let’s head up to the clinic and see what, or rather who we’re dealing with today. You can bring your stuff with you and put it in your locker at lunch.” he said, shuffling out of his seat and standing up. Doing the same, we made our way to where we were going to be spending our days and working from. Having reached the clinic, Alan opened one of the assessment room doors and stepped inside as I followed behind him. Leaning against the radiator with his legs crossed and scrolling on his phone was our first patient, none of other than Mr. Jack Grealish himself. ‘Typical’ I thought to myself.

“Ahh Jack, how are you mate?” Alan remarked, as he made his way over to his desk and ushered me to sit on the chair beside him. Jack had now locked his phone and began to reply.

“All good bro and you?,” he chuckled, his Brummie accent thick and cheerful. Nervously watching them exchange words back and forth, I bit my lip. Jack’s eyes glanced at my own every so often.

“Yeah not too bad kid, not too bad. This is Ella by the way. She’s our newest member to the physio team. Ella, I’m sure you already know this but Jack here is our first team captain.” Alan announced now pointing between Jack and I and introducing us.

“Hi, nice to meet you”, were the only words to escape my mouth.

“Awh right okay, nice to meet you too.” Jack smiled and came towards me extending his hand as I edged off my chair and stood up to meet him. “I was wondering who the fit brunette was in the corner.” he continued, my cheeks now heating up as I blushed awkwardly.

“Uhm..,” I trailed off pursing my lips.

“And if there’s anything you should know about Jack here it’s that he’s a massive bloody flirt!” Alan threw his eyes up to heaven then looked at me and laughed.

“Ey what can I say?” Jack shrugged raising both his hands up as one does when they ask a question. “I’m a man of many talents.”

Nodding awkwardly with slightly clenched teeth, I took a deep breath and simply replied with the word “noted.”

If there was one thing that was going to put me off Jack Grealish, it wasn’t the fact he quit playing for my country to play for his own. It was how cocky and pretentious he came across. And how much of a player he seemed, at least from the outside anyways. I had heard quite a number of stories about him from various sources, as to whether they were just rumours or not, that was something I was going to have to find out. But definitely in no way romantically. Swiftly moving on, Alan began to discuss Jack’s injury history with me, the reason he was here at the clinic today being he was having some tightness and slight discomfort in his calf muscle. I could understand how he’d have calf injuries a lot of the time with the sheer size of them alone.

“Right, so let’s take a quick look at the problem shall we?” Alan voiced before motioning for Jack to lie on the physio bench. “Ella I think I’ll just have you observing for today but if I need a second opinion I might need you to give a hand. Is that okay?” he asked.

“Yeah, that’s fine.” I nodded, as he began examining the back of Jack’s leg. After a few minutes of going through different stretches with the blondish haired man sitting up on the framework, he called me over.

“What do you think Doc?” Jack queried.

“Well I don’t think there’s any major issues. It definitely doesn’t appear to be anything serious anyways. You might have just over-stretched it but I’d like Ella to assess to and we’ll go from there.” he answered.

Me? Was he serious? My first day and he wants me to start feeling up the first team captain‘s legs. I mean, I know it’s literally my job and I’m all for one jumping straight into the deep end because it’s the only way I’m going to gain experience here but still. Of all people. Of all fucking people. Alan’s words gained him a small grin from Jack, who was now watching me cheekily. He wasn’t unattractive in the slightest but god damn he really wasn’t behind the door about making it known that he was aware of his good looks and that in itself was annoying.

“Me? Right. Sure.” I gulped and made my way over to him. Just as I had started to grasp Jack’s muscle, Alan’s phone started to ring. He glanced down at it realising it was an important call and quickly answered. Before taking the conversation out to the hallway and shutting it over the door, I heard him give me a quick “I’ll be right back. Just give it a quick look over, you know what to look out for El.” Great. Not only was I now feeling Jack up but we were now alone in the room together. I decided I was going to stay quiet unless I needed him to move or stretch ever so slightly. But he picked up on my silence and briskly broke into conversation.

“So you’re Irish?” He asked rhetorically.

“Uh, yeah. Yeah I am.” I swiftly responded, avoiding eye contact as his own eyes traced every detail of me, almost as if he was observing me himself. “Does that feel okay?” I looked up to enquire him about the part of his leg I was now touching. His face had a bold look written across it, not even trying to hide his smirk.

“Yeah it does.” he responded and nodded slowly. Now inspecting another part, I gave him a small ‘what about here? any tenderness?’ to which he shook his head. Why was this so awkward? And why was he playing it off as if it wasn’t?

“Okay well I agree with Alan I think it’s just strained. Nothing serious. Ice and cold compress should help. Just don’t put to much pressure on it and take it easy with training.” I said now removing my hands and standing away from him but still being at his side.

“Thanks Doc.” he winked, making me unsure as to whether I was repulsed by him and wanted to get sick in my mouth or whether I actually found him quite seductive.

“No problem.” I commented, making my way back over to my seat beside Alan’s desk. Sitting down and staring at my feet awkwardly, I could feel Jack’s eyes glaring at me. Where the hell was Alan? What was taking him so long?

“Villa uniform looks good on you.” He remarked, doing a full body scan as I looked up.

“Thanks.” was all I could mouth politely.

“Bet you’d look bangin’ in a dress too.” he continued once again. “Like a proper queen or something.”

Scoffing with a small chuckle, I decided to respond with the only surge of confidence I was probably ever going to have around this man.

“Ha, yeah probably. But it’s not the dress that makes a woman a queen, it’s about the crown on top of her head. You should see me in one of those!” I smartly suggested, raising my eyebrows at him.

“Rather see you without anything.” he added, running his hand through his hair and his tongue across teeth as Alan re-entered the room.

Closing the door behind him and pulling down the small vertical shutter blinds of the office, Mr. Grealish began making his way towards me. Each time I took a step backwards, he took one forwards, until I eventually hit off of the desk behind me and was stopped. He towered over me, making me anxious as he ran a hand through his hair again and bit his lip. You know that look of mischief he always has? That’s exactly what he looked like right now.

“W-what are you doing Jack?” I mouthed.

“Nothing.” He mumbled, his ‘th’ sounding more like an ‘f’. Smirking, he brushed away a hair from my face past my shoulder, before placing his hands either side of mine on the desk, practically leaning over me. His eyes glanced at both of my own before making their way down to my lips and back up again.

“I need to um- I really need to get back to work Jack the clinic is busy and there’s documentation along with injuries to be dealt wi-“ I began rambling but he cut me off.

“No they’re not expecting you back yet gorgeous. I told Alan I needed to speak to you privately.” He said seductively. You know when every part of your body starts tingling. That’s what mine was doing at this current moment. I didn’t want him, but he was making me want him. So fucking bad. But I knew I couldn’t. I shouldn’t. But my god, I can’t explain how much I felt the urge to just latch onto him there and then.

“Talk to me about what-?” I asked, watching his observation. He had now moved on of his hands to my cheek, carefully caressing it with his thumb.

“What’s going on between you and McGinn? Saw you two having lunch together.” He announced. My stomach was literally doing flips, my breathing becoming increasingly heavier. However, I decided to hold my own in my response. I was determined on not giving in.

“There’s nothing going on between us. We just had lunch. Besides, it’s not of your business who I choose to spend my time with. Or didn’t you know that already?” I gulped.

Shaking his head, he kissed his teeth in a disapproving manner. “Should have been having lunch with me. Or didn’t you know that already?” He copied me, my eyes tracing his finger against my skin.

“You don’t own me Jack. I’m not just one of your many toys. You can’t tell me who I should be spending my time with instead. I mean, don’t you have somebody else to have lunch with?” I questioned.

“What makes you think that?” he responded with another question.

“Just what I’ve been hearing.”

Lightly scoffing with another smirk, he removed his hand from my face and placed it back down beside mine.

“I’m not interested in anyone else. And I know for a fact it’s not John you’re interested in.”

“I’m not interested in you either..” I verbalised, trying to stand up against him to leave but his stature was too elevated above me. Every freckle on his face was clearly visible to me.

“You know I have to give it to you, you’re good at your job Ella. But what you’re not good at is lying. I know you want me just as much as I want you.” he whisper-spoke.

“I’m not lying Jack.” I stated. But I was. I wanted to pounce on him like a puma. I wanted him to flip me around right there and then and fuck me against that desk. But I couldn’t. I couldn’t give in to him like that. I wasn’t going to be another one of his conquests John had talked about.

“No?” He asked, raising his eyebrows. Taking his hands away from either side of me, he stood upright and out of my way. “Alright, if you say so. I’m not forcing you at the end of the day.” He was now twirling his lip with his arms crossed. Standing up myself, I looked at him then down at my feet.

“Good.” was all I could get out.

“Good.” He repeated.

“Fine.” I let out a final deep breath.

“Fine.” He echoed, now sounding like a parrot. But a very enticing Brummy parrot at that, tongue in cheek looking so bold. I slowly started making my way to the door, wondering if I should have just went for it or not. As I grabbed the handle and opened it ever so slightly, he made it his mission to once again get his input in.

“Just so you know, I don’t see you as just another one of the other girls I’ve been with. I know you think I’m just saying it but I’m not.”

I turned my head back to look at him before giving him my opinion.

“Well.. it’s kind of hard to believe that when it’s only my second day here and you’re already trying to get in my pants. I mean, that’s what you usually do with all the new girls right?”

He stayed quiet after hearing my words.

“It’s not just that by the way. I have other reasons besides it not to go near you.” I said sternly.

Taking my place against the desk and stretching his arms behind him to hold himself up, he crossed his legs.

“Like what? The other stories you’ve heard about me with cheating and driving and all that? Not being professional, getting distracted and losing your job? Your family and your country finding out?” he widened his eyes, my own now doing the same. Was he reading my mind? Could he literally hear my thoughts? “Yeah thought that’s what they might be alright.” he teased. “You’re easy to read Ella. Thing is, as much as you might like the idea of abiding by the rules, I know you’re the type of girl who loves to break them.” He had picked up a pencil from the desk and was twirling it around with his fingers.

He was right. I did want to follow the rules. But I wanted him more. Debating on what to do, I braced myself, before shutting the door and locking it again. This time I was in control. I turned and leaned up against it, awaiting his arrival back to me.