Nick
He's not sure why he's being such a dick to the new girl in the office. Sure some people might describe him as an asshole, he's even heard 'grumpy old-man Miller' thrown around; but he's not an outright mean person. He just doesn't put up with a lot of crap. No-nonsense, that's a better way to describe him. He has relatively civil relationships with most of his co-workers; doesn't balk at buying a round of beers at happy hour, and yeah he's slept with a few of the females, even dated one for a while (before she turned out to be a crazy she-devil from the darkest pits of hell…who thankfully left the company shortly after their third break-up). He'll help out a colleague with little to no hesitation and he's an overall chill guy.
…Apparently all that goes out the window when it comes to her. Since day one he's given her a hard time, responding in clipped answers to her questions, silently rejecting any attempts she makes at small-talk, sometimes even blatantly ignoring her…and yet she seems unfazed by it all.
There's just something about her that gets under his skin. Maybe it's the pastries or whatever she makes and leaves in the communal kitchen all the time (the 'holy shit this is the most delicious piece of confectionery heaven I've ever had in my mouth' pastries). Or the way she's happy every single morning (how is it possible to be that perky at 8:30am) and seems to brighten up the office and everyone around with her presence. Or the way she softly hums under her breath when she's making copies…the fact that it was a Jim Croce song, one of his favorite musicians of all time (how the hell does she know Jim Croce…) should have endeared her to him, instead it disgruntled him further (Jim Croce is his thing).
Maybe it's the smile that lifts her lips whenever she makes eye contact with him. It's a weird smile that does weird things to him. A sort of secret smile…like she knows something he doesn't. Whatever it is, he doesn't like it and he's suspicious of it. No one is that nice without motivation. Everyone else in the office obviously adores her and give him a hard time for not being the welcoming smiley clown they want him to be. When he brings up his theories of her possible office manipulations, he's usually met with disbelief, an exasperated, "Dude, seriously?" or just outright laughter.
He sighs loudly, refocusing on the meeting he's supposed to be an active participate in. Leaning back heavily into his chair, he brings his hands up to rest on the back of his head. Leo is droning on about the latest batch of prospective big hit novels when he sees the new girl through the glass wall of the conference room walking among the rows of cubicles. She's wearing a frilly polka dot blouse with a teal sweater (that he noticed definitely does not pick up the darker specks of blue in her eyes when he nearly ran into her that morning as he was leaving the kitchen with a full mug of coffee…her eyes wide and apologetic as she helped clean the ensuing spillage…he had grabbed the soiled paper towels from her hand and left without a word, fighting the enormous sense of guilt at having almost burned her with the scalding liquid).
She stops at Sanders' desk, resting her elbows on the cubicle top, her right hand dangling with a sheet of paper. She says something to the goof and laughs softly at his response. Sanders, the idiot. Does he think he has a shot with this girl? No chance.
"Miller."
She's smiling down at the guy in a way that makes him clench his jaw and look away. After a beat, he cools his expression and looks back to find she's staring directly at him. Without taking her eyes off of him, she hands Sanders the paper she was carrying and her lips lift into that mysterious smile she's given him since day one.
"Miller."
He can't take his eyes away from her. There's a stirring in his stomach that he's going to attribute to hunger…even though he ate 20 minutes ago.
"Miller!"
He jerks in his chair, the spell between them broken.
"Yep. Yeah, Leo?"
"I want you to focus your energy on the Pepperwood series. And bring some new blood in, take the new girl, Jess, under your wing. Get her familiar. Let's see what you two come up with."
Wait. What?
"Leo, you gotta be kidding me," he brings his arms down to rest both elbows on the conference table. "Pepperwood is mine."
"Don't fight me on this, Miller. She's got talent and I'm interested to see what you two could produce."
Nick can only watch in dumbfounded silence as Leo dismisses the meeting and inane conversation picks up among his departing colleagues. He glances to his right to see if Jess is still standing by Sanders' desk but sees nothing. Rising quickly, he grits his teeth as he makes his way to Leo's office.
"Leo, listen, it's not gonna wor-" as he says this, Leo gets up from his desk with a phone to his ear.
"On the phone, Miller. Not changing my mind. Get it done."
With that Nick is met with a cold breeze to the face as Leo slams his door shut. Groaning, he rubs at his eyes in frustration, dragging his fingers down across the stubble coating his jawline.
"Hey Nick!"
Nick hunches in on himself, closing his eyes, he quickly tries to come up with a way out of the current situation. I have doctors….my dog is….on a conference meeting call…with Asia….documents….no habla anglais…she knows you speak English, idiot.
"I hear we're gonna be working together," the enthusiasm is practically bursting from her.
He realizes he should probably face her eventually. Spinning slowly he finally meets her eyes and something inside him tightens as her face splits into a full toothy grin.
"When do you want to get started?" She asks.
"Jess…this isn't…" gonna happen…you can't…I have 2 weeks to live…relocating my aunt…secret spy for the government…
Her wide blue eyes dart between his dark brown ones and her smile falls slightly. Releasing a heavy breath, he finally relents.
"Be in my office in twenty."
He turns away from her, thinking only of the flask he has stashed in his desk. He makes it five steps before his head involuntarily glances back at her.
She's still standing where he left her, watching him with that closed-mouth secret smile on her face.
AN: Here's another fic that was originally posted on tumbler but was requested to be posted here as well. To see the photo/gifs associated with each chapter please check out my profile. Thanks for reading!