Strictly Professional

17: Trophy

ELLE

"Oh, Elle! James sent you another package!" Bri's voice dripped with mockery the second I stepped foot back into our flat after returning from work. I scoffed, but not at her. But at Niall, who I haven't seen in over two weeks, yet he's made sure to send gifts over. First, it was the flowers in my office. I was partially okay with that. After all, it did seem like a genuine gesture. But then things got a bit out of hand.

After that, gifts got pricier. First was a new laptop, since he knew mine was almost a decade old and laggy. I was skeptical about it, but decided to just be grateful. After all, I did need a good laptop to be able to work better. And he should've stopped there. But of course, he didn't.

Diamonds are a girl's best friend, and that's something I did agree on. There was no lie I enjoyed gazing at a luxurious set of jewelry, planning on treating myself to it when I could afford it. He seemed to have guessed that, because about two weeks ago, a box was delivered to my house. Inside was a pair of dangly diamond earrings, glistening with all the colours of the rainbow. I found it ridiculous that he'd get me something so expensive for no reason at all. I wanted to send the gift back, but there was no indication on the packaging or from the delivery person to tell me where he got them from.

Almost a week after that, there was another delivery. This time it was a pearl necklace, which didn't seem as expensive as the earrings, but I was sure it had a hefty price tag as well. I couldn't send that back either, and maybe he knew I'd wanna try and do that and made sure I couldn't. So the two boxes sat in a drawer of my dresser, under piles of clothes with the intent of being handed back directly to him.

I was beyond irritated and done with him, thinking that a set of diamond earrings or a pearl necklace would make up for his absence. It's not like we fought or anything. He's just been away for a few weeks.

After that weekend in his house, he never invited me over again, so we'd end up in my bed every few days. I thought we had made some progress and he'd finally manage to open up to me even further, but it seemed like we were back to square one. I tried to convince myself I didn't mind though, keeping our odd arrangement going. We'd go out and then he'd come over, we'd spend the night together and wake up in my bed before each of us returned to our separate lives. That went on for almost a month, amidst of which we had gone ahead with the purchase of the building in Soho and gotten started on renovating it to be ready before summer began.

But he still had a career in football, and that demanded him to travel for a few weeks, playing a couple of away games. But the club was ready, and tonight was the grand opening. He came back in London last night to be present on the first night, the press buzzing with the news and the party organized overflowing with celebrities in the guest list. But he was insisting I was present too, which I found completely pointless. He wouldn't have it though, doing everything in his power to convince me, even letting me bring my friends along. So I made sure to get Bri, Liz and Megan all on the guest list. If I had to be there, at least I'd have them with me.

"He's starting to really annoy me." I complained to Bri as I kicked my heels off and hung my blazer to the back of a chair, placing my purse on the table.

"He's annoying you because he's showering you with gifts?" Bri laughed, getting off the couch and walking to where I was standing.

"Yes! This is not what I signed up for and he knows that!"

"What did you sign up for Elle? It's obvious things between you haven't progressed into more than just sex! So what's wrong with him getting you things? I reckon it's a pretty fair trade. It's like he's your Sugar Daddy." I instantly cringed at what she said.