Always Second Best
Chapter Ten.
Even though I'm absolutely positive that what I'm about to do will, in the long run, make my life easier and happier, every limb of my body is shaking as I ride the elevator up to the office floor. The ding from the confined space echoes in my ear and I walk out of the area slowly. After taking a deep breath I walk toward Nick's office.
I notice that he's on the phone, and he's probably on the phone with someone extremely important but I walk on inside his office, sitting down in the chair in front of his desk. When his conversation is over he hangs up the phone and looks at me with this confused looking face. It's probably because I'm in jeans and a t-shirt instead of my usual dressy attire.
"Miley, what are you doing here? I told you to take a while off," he reminds me. I nod my head, and focus on the wood that his desk is made of. This is the most life altering thing that I have ever conducted. You could say I'm a little nervous.
"Right, that's what I'm here about," I start, not sure where to go from those few words.
"Okay…" he trails, waiting for me to continue. I gulp down the lump that keeps getting bigger in my throat.
"I'm here to give my two weeks' notice," I say, finally getting the courage to look up at him. His eyebrows scrunch together in confusion.
"What are you talking about?" he questions. I know that he knows what a two weeks' notice is but I'm not sure that he knows exactly why I'm giving him one.
"I cannot work here anymore. I'm sorry, I've really enjoyed being here but in order for my life to be even the slightest bit enjoyable then I need to quit. So, I'm giving my two weeks' notice. Also, since I have a lot of time saved up I was hoping that you would allow me to take those days for the next two weeks," I ramble. The thought that before I even stepped out of my apartment building I had what I was going to say to a T in the back of my mind causes my words to come out dry and emotionless.
"Um, Miley? Is something wrong? Did I do something? I'm so confused." My eyes focus back on the wood of his desk. I didn't expect him to ask questions, I just expected a quick 'okay, I hope you feel better' sort of thing.
"I just, I just can't work here anymore. I'm sorry," I say, knowing that if I go into a deep explanation my voice is going to crack. I swallow the lump again.
"Miley, you can't just quit and not tell me why, I'm not going to just let you quit with no explanation," he says, walking around the desk and squatting down in front of me. I close my eyes when I feel the water specs starting to cover my eyes. My stupid full of emotion personality is starting to get to me.
Of course I don't want to quit. I want Nick to fall in love with me and have my happily ever after. I love this building; I want to work here my entire life and then some. I love my job and I love all the people here. But could you imagine walking into an office everyday knowing that you had to work with the man you're in love with that's in love with your selfish sister? I just can't do it.
"Please don't make this any harder than it already is," I whisper. His hand comes in contact with my knee, rubbing small circles on the cloth of my blue jeans.
"I don't want you to quit Miley, you belong here. How about you take a couple months off, maybe three? Would that be okay? Then you can come back. It'll be like you quit temporarily," he offers. I shake my head, he's being too nice. I want him to be angry.
"I can't work here any longer Nick, now are you going to give me the next two weeks off or not?" I question, raising my eyes to his. I know he can see the water covering my eyes but I just don't care anymore.
"Um, okay. You can have the next two weeks off," he says, removing his hand from my leg and standing back up.
"Thank you," I say, getting up from my seat and starting toward his door.
"Wait, Miley," he says. I turn around, sinking my teeth deep into my lower lip to keep myself from bursting into tears.
"What?" I question. He hands me a small envelope, I take it and then leave his office, letting the tears slip down my face when I'm in the elevator.
The ding erupts again. Once I'm outside of the building I sit down on a bench, pushing my face into my hands and allowing the tears to flow into my hands.
After a few minutes I've recovered from my outburst I look down at the small envelope in my hands. My name is written on the front in Nick's writing, I would know what it looks like since I've worked with his papers since I started working in his office.
I open the envelope and pull out a small invitation card. To Taylor's birthday party. Next week.
Everything is written in Nick's handwriting, this either means that Taylor had him fill out her invitations or he secretly filled one out for me because he believes that Taylor and I are just having sister-sister difficulties. I roll my eyes and go to slip the paper back into the envelope when I notice something printed on the back of the card.
Please come.
-Nick
I can't help but feel my heart beat pick up a little at the meaning that I put into his words. Even if he doesn't mean it in a sentimental way he still wants me there. And that's enough to encourage me to suck up my pride and attend my sister's birthday party.
A/n: It's short again, sorry. I'm thinking maybe two more chapters? Possibly three. I'm not really sure but there won't be very many.