More Than Business

Chapter 20

**NICKI POV**

I woke up from my nap, realizing I had slept most of my day away. I heard voices outside my office and leaned against the door to eavesdrop.

"I'm gonna go check on her." I heard Drake say.

"No you aren't." Lydia protested.

"Why should you be the one to do it?" Drake asked.

"Guys don't start fighting again." I heard Vanessa's voice.

"I've known her longer." Lydia reasoned.

"You stay out here with OJ and I will go check on her." Drake said.

"No you are not telling me what to do." Lydia snapped.

"Both of you stay out here! I'll go check on her." Vanessa exhaled, "in the meantime, get yourselves together."

I heard her footsteps draw near and I went and sat on the couch.

"Hey, you're up." Vanessa said softly as she entered.

I waved.

"You feeling ok? They're a little hectic out there." She spoke calmly and sat beside me, "Listen, I know what happened and I am here for you."

"Thank you." I smiled.

"You need anything?"

"Coffee please."

"You should be hungry, should I grab you some food?"

"Yeah, that would be nice."

"Like real food or just a snack?"

"A snack.."

"Alright I'll be back."

"Thanks, and can you bring OJ in?" I asked.

"Of course." she smiled and walked out.

She returned with OJ.

"They are fighting about who will get your stuff." she explained.

That night I was cuddled in bed with OJ when I received a text from Aubrey:

-Hey are you awake?

_yeah, as always..

-can we talk?

_ofcourse..

-can I come over now?

_um.. Sure

-Lydia is restricting my contact with you at the office

_let me know when you get here.. Drive safely

I awaited his arrival patiently, stretched out across the couch watching FRIENDS on TV.

I heard his car park out front and him knock on the door. The house was quite warm, yet I had thrown on a hoodie over my bare bra out of mere courtesy. My usual sleep attire was a bra and shorts.

I opened the door for Aubrey.

"Hey" he smiled.

"Hey" I smiled back.

"Did you figure it out?" he asked.

"Figure what out?"

"What you really want.." he explained.

"I... I don't know how to figure it out." I confessed.

He wrapped his arms around me.

"I'm sorry" I said wholeheartedly.

"Its okay, I know Lydia was influencing you." he consoled.

"I have a mind of my own. She didn't force me to do it. I agreed to it." I confessed, "I didn't know you were sincerely interested in me. I took for granted that it was just you know.. Like how some guys are just sexually attracted to pretty much any woman. If I would have known how sincere you were about it I would have never done this. I would never want to hurt you."

"Can I ask you something?"

"Mhmm"

"What happened this morning that made you give it up?"

I pulled away from the hug and looked him in his eyes, "I realized that I felt the same way about you."

QOTD: I wanna do some sort of writing competition with you guys.. Who's interested?

AOTD: The competition will be your opportunity to get detailed feedback on every aspect of your writing and help you grow as a writer. Don't worry it will still be fun I won't make them too complicated lol. I want at least 5-10 participants (more than 10 would be awesome).

4 participants so far... Anyone else?