Strictly Professional

14: Mixed Signals

ELLE

I wasn't sure what I was expecting, but I couldn't hide the surprise on my face when I woke up next to him the next morning. But there he was, quietly snoring as he laid on his back, facing away from me. Hair tousled and a bit knotted, cheeks puffy and tinted pink. I sat up and rubbed my face, stretching my arms and being cautious with my moves to not wake him up. Checking my phone for the time and discovering it was almost eleven in the morning, I decided it was about time to get the day started.

I slowly slid out of bed, having some trouble doing that since I was starting to feel a bit sore. I had slept in just a T-shirt and some underwear, so I slipped on a pair of black leggings and I was good to go. I slowly creaked the door open and stepped out before closing it behind me again. The place was dead silent, so I figured Bri was either asleep or away. After paying the bathroom a visit, I made my way to the kitchen.

First order of business was making some coffee, so I got started on doing that, pulling the coffee maker to the centre of the confined counter space and opening a cupboard to retrieve the bag of filter coffee and the packet of paper filters that were necessary. As I began the process of making the coffee, I contemplated making breakfast. I didn't know if I should, because preparing breakfast for someone who just spent the night did seem as a step towards a relationship, which was something that he didn't want. That I didn't want.

But I didn't know if it was rude to not make breakfast for him. He was still a guest, and I was always taught to take care of guests. Then again, it was almost noon, which meant it was probably too late for breakfast. So maybe I should just wait until he gets up and ask him. That is, if he'd want to stay and not just leave the minute he'd get up.

I was overthinking the situation way too much, and I realised that when I looked at the kettle of the coffee maker to discover the coffee was done. I sighed and shook my head, feeling absolutely ridiculous I spent the last five minutes pondering if I should make Niall breakfast. I got a mug from the same cupboard above me and poured myself some coffee, getting some milk from the fridge to add to it.

With my coffee in hand, I turned around and made my way to the small archway that was the entrance of the kitchen. The unexpected presence of a man that was a complete stranger to me made me scream in fear and shock. The mug slipped from my hand, falling to the floor and shattering to pieces with an ear piercing sound. The man stared at me just as shocked, brown eyes wide in surprise.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to scare you!" He quickly spoke, extending his tattoo covered arm over to me in an attempt to help me calm down. But I couldn't. Not when someone I've never seen before was standing in my house, seemingly comfortable since he was barefoot, wearing just joggers and a T-shirt. His black hair was messy, probably from sleep.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" I asked, taking a few steps back to distance myself from him.

"Bri brought me here. I'm-"

"Elle, what happened?" Niall's voice cut him off. He shouted from the distance, his footsteps getting louder as he approached. He finally reached the kitchen a second later, still in just his boxers since he was probably abruptly awoken by my scream. He stared at the man just as confused as I was, examining him carefully.

"Who's that guy?" He turned to me, walking past him to stand in the empty space between us.

"I don't know, I was just making coffee." I shook my head, glancing at the man who awkwardly stood  in the archway between the two rooms.

"What's all this fuss about?" Bri walked in, rubbing the sleep off of her eyes as she complained about the noise. She stopped in her tracks once she saw all of us standing around the kitchen, most of her attention on the man that was half naked.