The Apprentice (Girlxgirl)

Chapter Twenty One

When I woke up the next morning, my phone told me it was almost eleven. I hadn't woken up so late for a long time, luckily we didn't have anything to do at work today.

I went out into the living room to find Alex typing something on Ellie's laptop, with Ellie sitting beside her, watching her.

"Hey," I said, and they both looked up at me. Alex's smile made me blush as I remembered last night.

"Finally decided to get out of bed, did we?" Ellie joked. "Jay, come look at this, Alex might be able to get us a new contract with a magazine."

"Really?" I asked, moving closer to them.

"Yeah, I helped set up the website a couple of years ago. The CEO was one of my dad's friends, she's really nice. I just sent her an email and she wants to meet with us next week." Alex replied.

"Oh my god, that would be amazing!" I said.

"Yeah, I also spoke to Rico last night, he's opening a new club tomorrow night and his photographer dropped out, he asked if we could do it."

"Rico?" Ellie asked embarrassed, "I don't know, that could be quite awkward."

"Ellie, I did tell you he had a reputation with women. He knows you would be included in it, and he asked, so I doubt it's gonna be awkward," Alex laughed.

"Yeah, just wait til we've finished taking pictures before you stick your tongue down his throat," I added, and Ellie threw a cushion from the sofa at me. "But seriously Alex, all of this is great, thank you."

"You're welcome. You've helped me out so much this week, it's the least I could do." She smiled at me again, and my stomach felt weak. I excused myself so I could go take a shower.

~~~~

Ellie and I were sat in my car outside Damien Ryles' house, waiting for Alex to get some of her things together. She was wearing Ellie's clothes today.

"I think you need to tone it down a bit with Alex you know," Ellie said to me randomly, and I didn't understand her.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"It's good that you're being so nice to her, and I know she needed somewhere to go and all that, but I think she might have a little crush on you."

"What?!" I asked, and my face suddenly felt hot.

"C'mon Jay, you must have seen the way she looks at you, I just think you should be careful. She just came out of a relationship, and you're the one consoling her. Just... make sure she doesn't get the wrong idea." She said, and I looked away awkwardly.

"I won't give her the wrong idea, Ellie. She's a nice girl, and she needs some help now, and I wanna help her."

"Yeah I know, just don't get-" Ellie was interrupted by the boot of the car opening. Alex had come back from the house with a few bags.

"All sorted?" I asked her, and she nodded.

"Now, we've gotta go speak to your lovely father," Ellie joked. We needed to terminate the contract with him, so we made our way to his office.

~~~~

The meeting with Damien was relatively painless. He made it clear how he was disgusted by my actions, and he wished he had never introduced us to his daughter. Alex waited in the car so she didn't have to listen to his bullshit.

When Ellie and I had finished at Damien's office, we all went to the new house to build some furniture. It was gonna take a lot of work to get it how I pictured it, but it was almost liveable now.

"I'm gonna run down to the shop, back in five," Ellie shouted from down the stairs.

"Okay," I yelled back.

Alex and I were building a bed in her room. I had already bought the bed as I planned on having a guest room.

"So, Rico's opening... Are we just there to take photos, or can we get drunk as well?" I asked Alex.

"We can always get drunk with Rico," she laughed. "He probably wouldn't care if all the pictures were blurred to be honest."

"Sounds good, I think we could all do with a drink really." I said. The conversation seemed pretty awkward to me, after what Ellie had said to me in the car.

"Are we okay?" she asked me, noticing me being awkward.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, last night, things got a little intense, and I feel like things are weird with us now," she said.

"I wouldn't say it was intense," I said, and Alex raised an eyebrow at me, "Okay, it was a little. I don't really know what that was about. It's just... Ellie said something to me earlier, that she thought that you like me, and I know it's probably-"

"I do like you, Jamie." She interrupted.
The butterflies were back again, and my heart was beating fast. I felt like everything around me was in slow motion as Alex moved towards me. Her face was only a few inches away from mine, and I stared at the familiar yellow flecks in her green eyes.

Still in slow motion, I felt a hand touch delicately on my waist, and I could feel her face in front of mine. My lips parted slightly, waiting for her lips to meet them.

"I'm back, and I bought wine!" Ellie's voice rang through the house.

My eyes shot open as Alex's hand left my waist. We stepped away from eachother and continued building the bed, as we heard Ellie's footsteps coming up the stairs.

I gave Alex an awkward smile, before turning to see Ellie in the doorway with a bottle of wine and three glasses.