Breaking free (GxG)

Chapter 14 - Empire

“Brooke”, a soft voice called next to my ear as a gentle hand rested on my back to shake me. I opened my eyes and blinked several times to be sure I wasn’t dreaming.

Why the fuck was I waking up to a pen and paper? I lifted my head slowly to have a better view over it and instantly recalled how I'd fallen asleep in the middle of my writing session.

“Babe”, what I recognized as Taylor’s voice called so I spun my head to look around me and there she was, sporting her brightest grin and looking more gorgeous than ever.

Hello butterflies.

“I’m sorry”, I croaked and sat up slowly to be sure my back wouldn’t stay stuck from this bad position. I’d have to stretch that before turning paraplegic.

“I don’t even get a good morning?”, she asked in a saddened voice.

“Come get it”, I said hoarsely and patted my lap so she moved and straddled me as her arms found their spot around my neck. She flashed me a cute grin and leaned her head forward to attach our lips for a few seconds before pulling away always so gently.

“I missed you last night”, she whispered so I opened my eyes to look at her.

“What happened to your lips?”, I asked knitting my eyebrows in confusion.

“You still have lipstick on, it probably stained”, she explained and shrugged nonchalantly so I brought my fingers to my own lips to check for myself and I was indeed wearing red lipstick.

Oh shit! The surprise! She couldn't see me like this! My eyes widened and I looked down at my body, only to find it still covered by the robe.

“You’re okay, baby?”, Taylor asked softly so I looked back at her in panic.

“Yes”, I blurted out and nodded frantically to try and keep a focused mind.

“Do you want to explain to me how you ended up spending the night in my office instead of my bed?”, she asked raising an eyebrow questioningly.

“Well, I… I found you asleep so… it cancelled my plans and I wasn’t tired so I came here to write that thing for… Alexandra… and I stayed up very late so I guess I fell asleep… just like that”, I reeled off stammering and bent to the side to see if my papers were still there.

“You seem distressed”, she said worriedly.

“No”, I mumbled and shook my head but I was still focused on trying to spot every single one of my papers.

“How many hours did you spend working on that thing?”, Taylor asked blankly so I brought my attention to the clock to count.

“Five?”, I said completely taken aback. It couldn't be. I lifted my finger and pointed at each number to recount but it was still five. I hadn't realized.

“I think you disintegrated your neurons”, Taylor said very seriously and that made my head snap in her direction.

“What?”, I asked raising my eyebrows in disbelief.

“I get that you might be tired and emotionally drained but you’re acting very strange. I can’t help but think that this exercise messed with your head and completely disturbed you. Unless there is something else that’s causing you some sort of anxiety but you need to tell me if that’s the case”, she rattled out in a sweet voice while looking at me with this never ending careness in her pretty blue eyes.

“Yeah. All that”, I said nodding in confirmation and gave her a thumb up to congratulate her bright mind. She understood me very well.

“Why don’t we go put you in the shower?”, she offered and cupped my cheek tenderly.