Wrapped Around Her Finger ✓

23. Been a while

A/N: Spoiler alert if you haven't read The Freshman Tease!

Paxton

I'm exhausted. I haven't been getting much sleep. My mind has just been clouded with thoughts about Lina since she broke up with me almost two weeks ago.

So here I am, 8am, at the office.

On a Sunday.

There's just a lot of work I have to do. I wanted to get a head start on this week. That's all.

It's pretty quiet. I see a couple people here and there on my way up to the 35th floor. On my way to my office, I'm surprised to see Elizabeth is here too. She's sitting at her desk, filling paperwork. I knock lightly on her opened door. "Liz? What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same," she retorts, barely glancing up from her work.

"I was just feeling a bit...restless at home I suppose," I say sheepishly. "Figured I'd keep myself busy with work."

"Me too," she mumbles. She doesn't seem to be in the mood to talk, so I head to my office and get to work. I schedule several viewings of potential office spaces.

I don't realize until my stomach growls that it's nearly noon. I didn't eat breakfast today, I haven't had much of an appetite lately. I don't think I've seen or heard Elizabeth leave her office, and I text her.

P: Are you hungry? I was about to order food

E: Yeah, where from?

I send her a link to a menu

E: I'll take B12, thanks Pax

I knock on her door as I walk by and plop the bags of takeout onto the coffee table in my office. She comes in and walks to the table.

"That one's yours," I say, pointing to the brown paper bag with 'B12' messily scrawled onto the side in pen.

"Thanks Pax." She picks up the bag and starts leaving.

"Actually Liz," I stop her. "Do you want to eat in here?" I ask a bit awkwardly.

She turns around, and hesitates for a moment. "Yeah, sure." She places her bag back down onto the table and sits next to me. I take a banh mi wrapped in parchment paper out of my bag, while she takes out plastic bowls of soup and noodles from hers.

We mostly just make small talk. Things about business and what not. After we finish, I discard the containers and utensils into the wastebasket by the door.

"It's been a while since it was just the two of us like this, huh," I chuckle as I sit back down.

She nods and looks thoughtful. "Yeah, probably not since we dated."

"Are you alright by the way? You know, after what happened on Friday." 

She grimaces a bit. "Yeah...I'm fine," she mumbles, looking at her lap. I know she isn't. She's trying to hide it, but I can still see the same fragile and broken look on her face. There have been countless times where I've wanted to pull my hair out because of her, but it still breaks my heart to see the girl I grew up with like this.

I lightly place my finger under her chin to tilt her head up. She looks at me with her big brown eyes. They're alluring and mysterious pools of darkness, but there's sadness hidden in there too. It makes me want to comfort her. I wordlessly place my arm around her shoulder and gently pull her closer to me. She doesn't resist and leans against my side. I smell her familiar floral perfume I've grown accustomed to.