Ties and Guitars (Fiolee)

Chapter 7: "Reading makes me sleepy."

"What chya reading?" Someone whispered in my ear. I nearly had a heart attack and dropped my book right on my desk and looked to see Marshall's face right next to mine. He was looking over my shoulder and snuck in to my cubical with out me noticing.

"Marshall, don't scare me like that" I told him.

"But what's the fun in that. Besides, I like to think of them as surprises" he smiled.

"Why don't you get back to work, I'm sure you're supposed to be doing something right now" I advised.

"Ouch, don't you like my company? I am hurt" he faked.

"Oh, poor baby" I rolled my eyes and picked up my book once again. Suddenly, he wrapped his arms around me from behind, holding me against him once more.

"You called me baby" he noticed.

"I-I meant it sarcastically and was referring to an infant" I corrected him.

"You're such a grouch, loosen up. It's okay, I call you sweetheart sometimes" he pointed out.

"Well you're you and I'm me, I don't call people by cliché pet names"

"Oh, so would you like an original pet name? How about grumpy? Buzzkill? Queen of boring-"

"Y'know for a lead singer in a punk rock band you're not that charming" I remarked.

"I got it: bunny"

"Why bunny?"

"Because you're innocent and cute, like a little bunny" he explained. The sound of someone clearing their throat caused me to look up to see Gumball which a disappointed look on his face.

"Sorry to interrupt, but might I remind you about our strict no PDA rule in the office" he spoke eyeing Marshall's arms around me.

"S-sorry" I stuttered removing Marshall's arms from around me.

"I'll let you guys off easy since this is the first time I've caught you, but don't let me see it again" he warned.

"Of course" I replied. Marshall remained silent as he gave Gumball a stern look.

"Marshall, you should probably get back to work" I told him.

"Okay, I'll see you later" he said before exiting my cubical and walking back to his.

"I'm really sorry about that, I didn't mean-"

"Are you dating him?" Gumball asked.

"N-no! I just met him two days ago" I argued.

"Fionna, you know office relationships won't work, try to control yourselves when you're near each other"

"Mr. Gumball, we're not dating-"

"Keep it that way" he snapped before leaving me to my work. I groaned and put my head down on my desk, burying my face in the sleeves of my cardigan. This is a disaster, my boss thinks I'm dating my co-worker, and worse, I technically am considering we have a "date" tomorrow. Ugh, I'm such an idiot sometimes. I decided to stop doing nothing and got started on work again, bringing an end to my reading break that Marshall interrupted earlier. My blue satin book mark was already in place, allowing me to close my book with no worries and turn my monitor back on to get something done.

~*~ later ~*~

"You better hope Gumball doesn't fire you for what you did" I told Marshall who was sitting next to me on the train home.

"What? A friendly hug? I doubt that'll cost me my job" he said rolling up his sleeves again.

"Why do you even have this job if you're in a popular band?" I asked.