It's just a little crush
An alarm blared from the nightstand next to Lexa's bed and was received with a groan from the tired woman wrapped up in a duvet.
"Can't I just sleep for five more minutes?" she thought to herself. She hit snooze and attempted to go back to sleep when she heard a voice from the bedroom next to hers.
"Alexandria Heda Woods, you better be getting up in the next few minutes and into that shower or I will kill you" the voice bellowed.
"Anya, you know I hate it when you use my full name. Nobody calls me Alexandria except for Grandma!" she replied back, rubbing her eyes and laughing.
"I don't care Alexandria, I need to be on time for work today and I know how long it takes for you to do all those braids you insist on doing in your hair. So if you want a ride to your office you better be quick" Lexa's older sister answered.
Lexa sighed and slowly made her way out of bed. She had recently moved into a new apartment with Anya, her sister who was three years her senior. Lexa had graduated from university before the summer and was lucky to have gotten a job in Child Protective Services, which was her dream job. She had worked so hard for this and she had always wanted to work with children in need and to do all she could to make a difference. A lot of this had to do with her experiences as a child. Lexa's parents had both tragically been killed when Lexa was only thirteen years old, leaving behind both Lexa and Anya behind. Unfortunately none of their family could take them in, so they were put into the foster system. Thankfully they were always kept together as Anya downright refused for them to be separated. They were moved around a lot before being adopted a year later by Mr and Mrs Woods.
Their adoptive parents hadn't planned on adopting a teenager, let alone two. But when they heard the girl's story from the case worker, and saw their pictures, they instantly fell in love and had to meet these beautiful souls. They only fell in love more when they met Anya and Lexa, even though Anya made it difficult for them to talk at first as she was protective of Lexa and very reserved. They met plenty more times before asking the girls if they could adopt them six months after their initial meeting. By now Anya had mellowed and really liked the couple. The girls both agreed and started their new life, with their new parents.
The Woods were amazing parents, and the girls both loved them dearly and were so grateful to them for giving them a home and a family. But they both carried scars from their past and didn't want to feel like they were replacing their birth Mom and Dad, a feeling that eased over the years when they realised that they would never replace their birth parents, but they now had another amazing set of parents and were very lucky. The girls both loved living with them but when Anya got a job in the city and wanted to get an apartment of her own, she asked Lexa if she would want to move in with her. Rent was expensive for one person and with Lexa having just got a new job also, she knew it would make sense for them to live together, plus they both felt they weren't ready to live separately yet. Lexa agreed and after a lot of arguing and compromise, the girls finally found a beautiful two bed apartment in the city with an amazing view. It was about a half hours drive away from where both of the girls worked and was surrounded by a lot of life and things to do.
Lexa was terrified of learning to drive, due to past experiences, which was why she either had to get a ride with Anya or get the bus, which she hated. So she agreed she would be up on time each morning before Anya needed to leave, which meant having to get up two hours before work started to have enough time to shower and eat.
This morning was her first day at her new job so she was anxious, as well as excited. It was going to be hard, this type of job always would be, but she could handle it. She just wanted to make everyone proud of her and do to well in life. She hoped she could pay her parents back for all they had done for her and Anya, even though her parents insisted that she didn't need to do that. She settled on saving up for them to go on a cruise, something they had always wanted to do, but didn't want to not take the girls with them. She knew this job would allow her to do so whilst also living comfortably; one of the perks of sharing an apartment with Anya was that all the bills were halved. As opposed to paying it all herself if she lived on her own. She was excited to be able to start her adult life and do things she wanted to do, and not have to worry about money too much. One thing in her life was missing though, but she wasn't sure if she was ready for that anyway.
After a quick shower Lexa dried her hair and started to braid it. Since she was around fourteen she had worn it the same way, intricate braids that crisscrossed over at the back with her natural brown waves cascading down her shoulders, since one of her foster mothers had shown her how to do it and she fell in love with the style. Anya thought that it was time she got a new style, but deep down couldn't deny that it really did suit Lexa; it framed her beautiful face perfectly.
Half an hour later the girls had eaten and were in the car on their way. Anya worked on the Police Force a few minutes away from where Lexa's office was based, so she would drop Lexa of first. The Child Protective Services office was in a very big building with eight floors, Lexa's new office was on the fifth floor. She said goodbye to Anya and made her way upstairs. She was excited to have her own office and looked forward to decorating it soon, at the moment it was pretty bare. It had a desk with a phone and computer, a comfortable looking chair, another chair opposite the desk, a filling cabinet and that was it. It definitely needed some personal touches.
Next to her room was a small adjoining room with a large glass wall separating the two that her assistant would be working in. Lexa would handle all of the cases herself but she needed someone to schedule meetings, home visits and answer phone calls if she was called out of the office. She had met most of the staff working on her floor during the interview stages but had yet to meet said assistant. A woman, who the only information she knew about her, was that she was called Miss Reyes. Her manager hired her; Lexa wasn't involved in the process at all, so she hoped that whoever her assistant was, that they would get along well and have a good working relationship.
She went to the staff room to grab a coffee before heading back to her office, she turned on her computer and set up all the programmes she would need. She put a calendar on the desk that Anya had got her for her birthday, which included pictures of them both with their family. Her Mom had got her a plant so she put that the window sill so it would get sufficient sunlight and not clutter up her desk too much. She stood by the window for a few moments, taking in the view and having a moment to herself before the meeting she would have to attend with her colleagues in twenty minutes time. The sun was shining and Lexa could feel the heat on her olive skin, she closed her eyes for a few moments to enjoy the feeling, when she was startled by a knock on the door and spun round quickly to see who it was.
"I'm so sorry to have made you jump. I'm Raven Reyes, your new assistant. I'm sorry I wasn't here earlier. My friend gave me a ride, but I had to walk round the block from the hospital she works at as she was running late, which is quite difficult with this." The petite brunette woman replied, sounding very out of breath.
Lexa looked down to where she had pointed and saw a brace around the woman's left knee. She looked up and saw a flustered looking face and sensed nerves by the look in her eyes, she walked over and shook her hand.
"I'm Alexandria Woods, but I go by Lexa. It's really nice to meet you Raven. Don't apologise for being late, you are just on time. Please take a seat. Are you ok?" she said sincerely, pointing to the chair in front of the desk and walked around the other side and sat down herself.
Raven smiled at her and sat down slowly, holding onto her knee. She was a very beautiful girl, with long brown hair and dark eyes. She was dressed in a suit jacket and blouse with smart trousers and high heels, which surprised Lexa.
"It's nice to meet you Lexa. I've heard a lot about you, but it's nice to put a face to the name. Oh and I'm fine thank you, just having problems with my knee today. I shouldn't have worn heels but I wanted to make a good impression. All my flat shoes are too casual for work and it didn't help that I had to walk that extra distance thanks to my tardy friend" she laughed.
This made Lexa laugh in return, she knew what it's like to have tardy friends, and she hated to admit it, but she could be tardy sometimes too. Never for work but when she met up with friends or family, usually because of the time it took to do her hair, as her sister loved to remind her at every opportunity. She got lost in her thought for a moment before coming back to her senses and saw her new assistant watching her.
"Please from now on wear anything that you are comfortable in, you won't be working outside of the office so you can wear any shoes you like as long as they aren't crocs" she spoke, receiving a laugh from Raven. "Don't hurt yourself for the sake of shoes; it's not worth it at all. If you need us to get you a better chair that will be more comfortable to sit on, please just let us know".
Raven smiled at her, Lexa didn't want to make any assumptions about the girl or her leg so tried to be as sincere and kind as she could, but she also wanted her to be comfortable at work.
"Thank you, I appreciate the offer. But my chair should be fine. I am starting to get the strength back in my leg, but it is taking time and slows me down a little. The accident that caused this only happened six months ago, but I have had enough of sitting around feeling sorry for myself. So when I saw this job advertised I knew I could easily do it and it would be good for me. So I applied and her e I am" she replied.
Not wanting to pressure the girl into talking anymore about herself or her injury, Lexa decided to change the subject.
"We have to go to a meeting in about five minutes, it's just a formality so we can all meet each other, then when we come back I can go through what your role will entail and what needs to be done today. Do you want a coffee before we go?" she said getting out of her seat and walking towards the door.
"I would actually love a cold drink, I'm a little flustered after that walk" Raven replied fanning herself with her hand.
"Sure thing, I will go see what they have in the staff room and be right back" she answered with a smile.
The rest of the day went really quickly, Lexa and Raven got more acquainted with each other and Lexa went through what she would need Raven to do each day. Lexa didn't need to leave the office for any cases today so she was able to get to know the office and her co-workers more, which she was glad for. It's always nice to break the ice with people and get all the initial awkwardness of meeting new people over and done with in one day. Anya would be picking up Lexa on her way back from work at around five thirty pm. It got to around five twenty and Lexa went to Raven's room and told her she could leave when she was ready, as she was just about to leave also. Raven collected her belongings of her desk and put her heels back on that she must have removed at some point, with a grimace on her face. This concerned Lexa a little; she hated to see people in pain.
"Do you have far to walk Raven? Is your friend picking you up?" Lexa asked a concerned tone in her voice.
Raven moved her head up from looking down and met Lexa's eyes with her own, a smile on her face. "My friend was going to text me and let me know if she could get me from here, but I haven't heard from her so I assume she's still working, so I will have to walk around the block again and wait for my friend to finish work and get a ride home" she stated.
"My sister will be here any moment to pick me up; we'll give you a ride to the hospital. I don't want you to aggravate yourself more" Lexa replied.
"That's really kind of you, thank you Lexa. Do you not drive? Most people our age have their own cars. I obviously can't drive though" she said looking sad.
"I don't drive, no. I had a traumatic experience that shook me up and made me too nervous to drive. I couldn't even get in a car for a long time after. It's abit silly really" she said feeling embarrassed.
Raven looked at her with empathy and nodded "I know all about traumatic experiences, it's not silly at all. Are you sure your sister won't mind?"
Lexa smiled "Of course not, she's like me; she wouldn't want to think of someone having to walk and be in pain. I can't let you do that when you wore heels to make an impression for a job working for me".
The colleagues made their way to the elevators and down to the car park, which by this time Anya was waiting. She smiled when she saw Lexa and looked curiously at the girl limping alongside her.
"Anya, this is my assistant Raven. Would you be able to give her a ride to the hospital so she doesn't have to walk the block in those heels for the second time today?" Lexa asked her sister.
"No worries at all sis, nice to meet you Raven. I hope my sister hasn't been too strict and made you wish you never took this job" Anya laughed looking at Lexa, who at this point was sitting in the seat next to her rolling her eyes at the comment.
"Oh not at all, she has been nothing but kind to me. I was so nervous for today, but I am glad to be working for someone as nice as Lexa. I feel like this job will be good for me" She replied with a cheerful tone in her voice.
The girls made the short distance to the hospital and pulled into the car park. Lexa got out of her side of the car and made her way round the other side to open the door and help Raven out, when she heard a voice shout her assistants name and turned around to see where it was coming from. A beautiful blonde woman came out of the main entrance doors smiling and made her way over to the car that Raven was getting out of.
"Hey Rae, what are you doing? Did you get a ride with a random because I was going to be a little late to get you? I'm sorry I made you walk round the block this morning. I was hoping I would be early to collect you this evening but we had an emergency that I couldn't leave so I've only just finished." the blonde said whilst looking from Raven to Lexa, then to Anya, and back to Raven again.
Raven laughed and got her purse from the seat next to where she had been sitting "Clarke, this is Lexa. I work for her, I'm her assistant. She didn't want me to walk the block again as she unfortunately had to witness me being flustered this morning because you were tardy, so she said her sister would give me a ride, and Anya very kindly agreed" Raven replied pointing at the girls in turn so as to introduce them to Clarke. "She also said that I don't need to wear smart shoes from now on, so thanks for suggesting I wear heels this morning and making me aggravate my knee. Some friend you are" She said with sarcasm.
Clarke laughed at this comment and Lexa couldn't help but notice how beautiful Clarke's smile was, and how when she laughed it lit her whole face up. Her eyes were an amazing shade of blue that reminded Lexa of the ocean. She must have been looking for a little too long because she noticed Clarke looking back, a look of wonder on her face, and felt her cheeks blush as she had been caught looking at her assistant's friend.
"Thank you so much for giving my Rae a ride and for making her day go well. She deserves it, after all she's been through" Clarke said looking at Raven with a sense of sympathy in her voice. "I'm sure I will see you again at some point, no doubt I'll be tardy again and Raven with have to blag another ride from you both."
This made Lexa and Anya laugh, Clarke seemed to have a good sense of humour she thought to herself. She knew it probably helped working at a hospital, she knew it did with her job which can get very serious at times. She wasn't sure in what position Clarke worked at the hospital, but she had 'Dr Clarke Griffin' on her name badge so knew she was a doctor and that she wouldn't mind knowing more about her assistant's friend. She couldn't put her finger on it, but she found Clarke so intriguing and felt herself drawn to her. It wasn't just that she was very beautiful, but she had a sense of humour and was obviously very smart with being a doctor after all, and that was a always a huge attraction in women for Lexa. She couldn't resist a woman who not only made her laugh but had a level of intelligence that matched her own.
Clarke said to Raven that they had better get home and have dinner, so Raven told Anya thank you for the ride and said goodbye to Lexa and that she would see her in the morning. Lexa replied goodbye to Raven and said goodbye to Clarke and that it was nice to meet her.
She walked back round to get into the front of the car next to Anya when she heard Clarke mention her name, although her back was to her and she had her arm around Raven and they were walking away from the car. She assumed they were just talking and that Clarke wasn't trying to get her attention, she probably didn't realise Lexa could still hear them, so she leant down and was about to open the door when she heard something that stopped her in her tracks.
"I'm just saying Rae, Lexa is gorgeous. I need to know more about your new co-worker who was very kind to my little Rae Rae on her first day" she heard Clarke say to her friend.
Lexa's cheeks turned a shade of crimson and she quickly flung herself into the car incase Clarke and Raven turned back around and saw her, embarrassed that a comment like that had made her have butterflies and blush.
"Did you hear that Lex? You are so in there with Dr Griffin." Her sister laughed whilst elbowing Lexa in the ribs and speaking slightly louder than she would have liked. Which made Raven and Clarke turn round and look into the car at an embarrassed Lexa who wished the seat of the car would eat her up at that very moment. Raven laughed and turned back round in the direction the two girls were walking, Lexa looked down for a moment before looking up and meeting Clarkes gaze, and saw her smile and raise her eyebrow at Lexa, before turning round and walking with Raven again.
Truth be told, she wouldn't mind being in there with Clarke. But she was sure Clarke was just polite and complimenting her to Raven with the comment about her being gorgeous. She doubted that anything more would ever happen, but she couldn't help but hope that it would.