Coming Back Home

Chapter 27

I walked towards the building at work and tried to shake the feeling that Theo had given me. I had never seen him like that before, and it wasn't a side that I cared to see again.

I had almost reached the door when I felt a hand on my arm.

"Madison!" Natalie said as I turned to look at her.

"Oh, hey, good morning," I said.

"I called your name like three times, you good?" She asked.

"Yeah," I said with a sigh, trying to shake myself out of my weird mood, "I'm all good, hi."

I tried to give Natalie a convincing grin and we walked inside.

"So I'm assuming you'd like to keep our little weekend activity to ourselves for now?" Natalie asked as we stepped on the elevator.

"Yeah I'm thinking that's probably a good idea," I said with a grin.

"Probably," she responded.

I felt her fingertips teasingly graze over mine as the elevator moved up.

"Did you not just say we were going to keep that to ourselves?" I asked her as I raised an eyebrow.

"I don't see anyone else in here," she said with a smirk.

I shrugged, not wanting to admit that she was right. She stepped closer to me and leaned down and quickly pressed her lips against mine. They were gone before I had a chance to protest.

"You better watch it over there," I said, feeling my cheeks turn red.

We continued to talk and joke as we walked off of the elevator and into the office. I went and sat down at my desk and began to turn my computer on when Ella popped over into my doorway.

"You know," she said as she crossed her arms, "I can't figure you two out."

Please dont try to, I thought.

"Um, what do you mean? Natalie and I?" I asked, trying to sound completely clueless.

"Uhh, yeah," Ella said, "you hate each other, then you're great, then you barely talk, now you're best friends."

"Ella, I told you how weird things were between us and how we used to be best friends, that's all it is," I said, trying to convince her.

She nodded, and I still wasn't sure if she believed me.

"We're still kind of trying to figure things out after we didn't talk for so many years, just a lot of stuff to sort through, you know?" I continued.

"Yeah I guess that makes sense, it would be pretty weird for you two," she said.

"Sure has been," I said with a grin, "sorry if it's made things awkward around here."

"Oh no," Ella said, waving her hand dismissively, "it's been kind of entertaining honestly."

"Oh really?" I said, raising my eyebrows at her, "I'm glad my awkwardness could be entertainment for you."

I grinned at her as she tried to suppress a laugh.

"Sorry," she said.

"Well hopefully we're done entertaining you now and things are normal," I responded.

"I'm not counting on it, but we'll see," Ella grinned at me as she stepped back into her office.

***

Later that day, Natalie called me and asked if I could come to her office. She sounded serious, and it was making me nervous.

"Hey," I said as I knocked on her door, "everything okay?"

"Come in and close the door," she said as she waved me in.

Well shit, now I was even more nervous. I stepped inside and shut the door behind me.

"What's going on?" I asked suspiciously.

Natalie got up from her desk and walked towards me, keeping a serious look on her face.

"You don't know why I called you in here?" She asked as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Um...no?" I said hesitantly, "should I?"

Natalie raised her eyebrows at me, looking like I clearly should know why.

"Well whatever it is, I - "

Before I could finish, Natalie took another quick step towards me and her hands were on my waist.

"Natalie!" I whispered intently, "what are you doing?!"

"Scaring the shit out of you apparently," she said with a smirk.

"Well yeah, aside from that," I said.

She backed me up against the wall and pressed her lips against mine. I knew this was a terrible idea but the rush of it all was keeping me from backing away just yet.

I finally forced myself to pull back and I put my hands on her shoulders.

"What the hell was that?" I asked her with a grin.

"Aww, you're done already?" She asked me teasingly.

"Uh yeah, as much as I hate to say that...I'm thinking this probably isn't a great idea," I responded.

"Oh I know it's not," she said as she leaned in to kiss me again.

"Natalie," I said breathlessly, pulling back but keeping my lips close to hers, "you're killing me, I'm not trying to get caught making out with you in your office."

"Fine," she conceded with a smirk.

"Why don't you come over to my place after work? That'll give you something to look forward to," I said.

I watched her eyes light up as she nodded enthusiastically.

"You're like an excited puppy," I said to her playfully.

"Can't say I've ever been described that way," she said, "but you are kind of right."

She reluctantly stepped away from me and I leaned my head back against the wall.

"You better stop scaring me like that," I said quietly.

I lifted my head up to look at her and she still had a mischievous grin on her face.

"I make no promises," she said, "you're free to go back to your office now."

"Oh am I?" I asked her in a challenging voice, "thank you for that."

She walked over towards me again and grabbed on to the door handle.

"See you after work," she said quietly in my ear.

She gently kissed my neck behind my ear before opening the door for me.

"I kind of hate you for this by the way," I said, "but yes, you will."

She gave me a sly grin and a small wave as I walked out.

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