Prompt: Cobb-boss. Ariadne- secretary. Somewhere along the way, Ariadne has become a permanent fixture in his life. She is much more than his secretary, she is his Ari.
Dominic Cobb was a busy man, a busy rude heartbroken man whose wife walked out on him with a man name Robert Fisher. Since then, he was angry and heartless. He had gone through ten secretaries within a span of 6 months. His longest lasted 2 months. Shortest was three days.
Arthur, his best friend and partner, was not happy. People were talking and things were not looking good for anyone.
So when Arthur bumped into his old friend (and ex girlfriend of like two weeks) Ariadne and found out that she was out of a job, and left to take care of her daughters, he begged her to take the job. She was not amused, she was overqualified and not Cobb's biggest fan, the one time she met him he called her a kid but she needed the money.
So she put on her black skirt, her white shirt, a black jacket, and a red tie. She digs her heels out of the closet and sighs.
"Mommy you look different."
She turns to stare at her eldest daughter, Athena. Her daughter was the exact image of her.
"Mommy is going to go to work with Uncle Arthur."
"Can I come?"
Ariadne laughed and kissed her daughter's head.
"Where's Penelope?"
"With Uncle Arthur."
She walked outside to find Arthur playing peekaboo with her baby, Penelope.
She held her hands out and scooped up her daughter.
"Hey baby!"
She kissed her daughter's head.
"Ready to go?"
She nodded and grabbed her purse, her daughter's bags, and her briefcase.
"Are you sure…"
"There is a daycare. You will be fine. They will be safe. Miles is a good person. Like a grandpa."
"I trust you."
"So let's get this circus on the road."
Arthur drove them in his car.
"Eames can't wait to meet you."
"Eames….Your husband. Sorry I missed the wedding, Robert….. was being himself."
"An a …"
"Not in front of them!"
Arthur laughed and looked back at the girls who looked like the woman beside him.
When they arrived Ariadne smoothed out her skirt and took a deep breath.
She took her daughters to the daycare where Miles immediately gained her trust.
Meanwhile Arthur went to tell his best friend about the new hire.
"You are kidding!"
"Cobb."
"What does she know? She got married and had kids, married some rich guy, never worked a day in her life."
She cleared her throat and both men turned around to look at her. She swallowed hard. Dominic Cobb had always been a looker but age suited him, he was more handsome that she remembered. However he still was a jerk. He looked a bit shocked and shamed that she heard but she could care less.
"Actually during high school I waited tables and bartender. I got my degrees in business management and psychology and am currently taking online classes. I worked from home mostly. I have two daughters both in day care and the only reason I am taking this job is because I need the money and Arthur asked me too."
Ariadne turned on her heels in a huff. She was furious. How dare he!
Yes, she made the mistake of getting married right after high school but it was mostly to get away from her abusive father. What she had done was trade was prison for another. Her father for Robert Fisher. She was 18 when she married Robert, she was now 23. She learned her lesson.
Ariadne walked to her office and got to work making it hers, placing pictures of her daughters on her desk and arranging the flowers Arthur and Eames sent her in the vase. She added a few candles and sharpened her pencils and organized her pens and made her desk all pretty.
She sighed.
For lunch, she skipped it in favor of working on some art.
Ariadne had always loved art. She was amazing at it. She also wanted to be an architect or an artist but her husband refused. She was currently taking classes online and in the evenings on Monday and Thursday nights.
During her half hour lunch break, she sketched. Her fingers flew across the paper, forming a masterpiece. When she was done, she managed the capture the look of shock on Cobb's face when he saw her. She frowned irritated and shoved it into her desk.
She turned on her laptop and began sorting through all the emails which were a lot, but she was fast. She made quick work of them and took notes. She read through some files and arranged Cobb's schedule.
She notice that all his evenings involved his kids. She saw that many of the invites for galas required dates and saw that Arthur had written to get him a date.
By the time she was done, and getting ready to leave for her class, she had done more than any other secretary.
She picked up her daughters and took them to school with her leaving them at daycare. In a few weeks, Athena would start kindergarten and Penelope would be left in day care. She made arrangements to leave work early to pick up her daughter and then head back to work. She had Wednesdays and weekends off, something she was gratefully for.
That night after class, she fell into bed exhausted.
She and her daughters went to work everyday. She avoided Cobb unless she needed him, and he turn avoided her. This continued on for awhile.
Then the incident happened.
Ariadne was working on a new proposal when the news reached her.
"Robert is here, for the kids."
She rushed downstairs to find her boss glaring at her ex-husband.
"They are my daughters!"
"Arthur. Call security."
"You can't do this. Just because you are mad that I fucked your wife, doesn't mean you should take it out on the kids."
Ariadne had enough and she rushed forwards with the intent to slap him but two arms wrapped around her waist and she was pulled back into a solid, tall chest.
Robert was taken away by security shouting curses and threats as he left.
She didn't realize how badly she was shaking until she was crying.
Her savior held her closer and she rested her head over his heart, the strong beat soothing her.
After a while, she calmed down and looked up to see that she had soaked Dominic Cobb's shirt. He had stopped her from slapping Robert.
"I informed security that he is not allowed anywhere near here. The police are here so you can file a restraining order. Also if you want, I can get a lawyer so you can get full custody of the girls."
She nodded, feeling embarrassed, yet thankful and tired.
He cupped her face and looked her in the eyes.
"I'm taking you guys home."
He walked her to her office and they got her purse and jacket. He then went to his office and got his things. When they went back down, the kids- all four of them were ready to go. Cobb picked up Penelope and Ariadne braced herself for the scream, however her daughter simply giggled. Phillipa held onto Athena's hand while James grabbed hers. He chatted away about a dinosaur and some alien. Ariadne smiled. He sure was cute
He lead them to his car and shook his head when she looked at her car.
"I'll have Andi drive it over, she has been dying to do something that just coffee runs."
Ariadne smiled at the thought of the 19 year intern.
He strapped Penelope in her carseat. He had Phillipa help Athena and James with theirs.
Ariadne slide into the passenger seat. Dominic looked over at her and chuckled. He leaned over her and grabbed the seat belt, clicking it into place.
She tense at how close he had gotten to her. She was all confused and jumbled up inside. Seeing Robert hurt but seeing how kind Cobb was to her made her head spin.
They drove to a fancy house.
"Who's hungry?"
He helped the kids out and gently placed a hand on her back and lead her into the house which she suspected was his.
There they found a pretty woman dancing in the kitchen as a man sat at the counter laughing.
"That's my housekeeper and the butler."
"Dom!"
The woman turned around blushed at the sight of her boss.
"Ellen. Sorry, there was an emergency at work. This is Ari and her kids Athena and Penelope."
Ellen smiled.
"Dinner will be ready soon. Leo can finish up."
She then lead Aridane to another room and gave her some fresh jeans. "These belonged to Mal, she left all her jeans behind, took all the fancy stuff. Here is one of Dom's shirts."
Aridane got changed into the clothes and walked out to find Cobb in jeans and that he had taken off his tie and jacket and loosen his collar. He had his sleeves rolled up and Penelope was in his arms.
"The kids are watching a disney movie. Ellen and Leo are finishing up and then heading home."
Ariande isn't sure if it was the fact that he saved her or if it was the wine or her daughter in his hands but her heart began to beat faster as she took him in.
He too took her in, she looked adorably sexy in his shirt.
He sighed and kissed Penelope's head absentmindedly.
He handed her back to her mother and grabbed plates and napkins and took them to where the kids were engrossed with the movie.
He set up everything and then had Ariadne sit down as he brought out the pizza.
They all got settled down and Ariande was surprised to find that she was actually having a good time and that Cobb wasn't like she thought him to be.
Cobb likewise couldn't remember the last time he had fun with a woman and his kids.
He insisted that they spend the night because they were not sure if Robert would go to her apartment.
It was really easy to find the girls clothes to wear since Pippa had outgrown most of her stuff. For Ariadne, he simply gave her a plain cotton blue shirt.
She jumped into the shower as all the kids got ready for bed. By the time she was down, it was story time.
Cobb was surprised to see how good she looked in his shirt and how at ease his kids were around her.
After the kids went to bed, he opened up a wine bottle and proceeded to get to know his secretary better.
They talked all night. They discussed past and family and exs and everything from the stars to the moon to dragons.
He gave her his bed and he slept on the couch after they finished talking.
That was how Ellen found them the next morning.
The next week, Ariadne ended up inviting him over with the kids and she cooked pasta.
After that they fell into a pattern.
Every Friday, they would have dinner together.
They started working better in the office too.
She spent more time in his office and he is hers.
They ate lunch together and she was his date for important meetings and dinners.
She became his right hand woman and between them and Arthur business thrived.
She also did some of her own designs, which impressed many of their clients.
Six months had passed since the day Aridane has started working for Cobb.
In those six months, he stopped being Cobb and became Dom, she became Ari.
Their Friday nights turned into Friday nights and Saturday mornings.
Athena and Penelope had toys and clothes at Dom's place and his kids at things at hers.
There was an extra toothbrush in the bathroom and when it came time for Philipia, James, and Athena to go to school, Ariadne was one of the people allowed to pick her up.
They took the kids out together.
Neither one of them realized just how important they had become to each other.
Not until the Winter Gala.
Andi, the intern agreed to baby-sit the kids while Dom, Arthur, Eames and Ari went to mingle with the rich.
Eames and Arthur created a scandal as they entered together, despite that they had been each other dates for the past three years and married for two.
Dom and Ari went together.
Dom wore a black suit with a white shirt and a blue tie that matched his eyes. Ariadne wore a dress in the matching color. It was long and off the shoulder with a low corset back.
They were the most talked about at the gala.
People kept asking if they were a couple and although they denied it, many didn't believe them.
The signs all pointed to a relationship.
Their eyes were always on the other. They would always touch each other. The nicknames, the dances, how comfortable they were.
Many people were happy for them both.
However, Mal and Robert were both at the ball and made a shocking entrance.
Mal was dressed in gold and Robert wore a match tie.
They arrived late and many people recognized them.
Mal of course got to work talking with the girls and flirting with the men while talking bad about the lovely couple. Robert did the same.
Dom overheard Robert and simply asked for him to be escorted out. As the guards dragged them out, he threw a punch, breaking Robert's nose.
Ariana scolded him but helped him wrap his hand. He had hurt himself earlier that week trying to move heavy furniture.
He them went up in front of everyone and told them,
"She is my Ari. She's the most beautiful girl I know. She's loyal and kind and hardworking. She's an amazing artist with a huge heart. A wonderful mother. In the year that I have known her, she has impressed me and has left an impression in all aspects of my life and in my kids lives. I don't know what I would do without her in my life."
He then walked back to his date, where she was blushing and smiling at him.
He pulled her to dance and she asked him.
"So I'm yours?"
He laughed and kissed her.
"And I'm yours."
Arthur whistled when he saw the two of them together.
"It's about time."
The next weekend, Ariadne moved into Dominic Cobb's place with her kids.
That summer, they got married in the backyard with the people they loved with them.
They welcomed a new baby nine months later, another boy- Nicholas Patrick.
Ariadne got her degree in architecture and the business expanded.
They lived happily ever after.
When Dom was asked to describe how he knew he fell for his wife, he laughed and said "I think I always loved her but never realized it. She just stop being my secretary and became my Ari."
It always made his clients laugh and the wives swoon.
So it's been a while Wallflowers. I'm trying to get back into the swing of things. I graduated a few weeks ago, so I'm free and I hope to be around a lot more. Let me know what you think.
Love You Wallflowers
- Queen