Making herself some dinner she couldn't help but let her mind wander to Angel. The name was kind of odd, but it seemed to fit him, plus she really didn't have any room to talk when it came to strange names anyways. After this evening she couldn't help but beat herself up for the way she had treated him this morning, but it wasn't like he hadn't deserved it. Regardless, between him and Lindsey's antics throughout the day her mind sure was turning around in regards to this little opportunity.
Of course she knew better than to even think about an office romance, but making a few new friends never hurt anyone. Plus it was well known that Lindsey McDonald had connections and lots of them, if she could manage to stay in his good graces there was no telling what opportunities might await her.
OoOoO
The next morning she made sure not to hit snooze on her alarm even once, after much consideration she skipped the coffee shop completely and in doing so she managed to miss the brunt of rush hour traffic. Making sure she grabbed Angel's coat, she bit back the smallest stab of disappointment when she entered the elevator alone heading up to the twelfth floor.
As she had expected she was one of the first ones in the office. Folding up the borrowed jacket she went to place it in one of the large bottom drawers of her desk. The last thing she needed was to draw attention to the fact that she was showing up to work on her second day with a male coworkers jacket, even though it was completely one hundred percent innocent that was exactly how rumors got started.
It was only after she had gotten back from grabbing a water bottle from the fridge in the breakroom that she noticed the small card propped up against the coffeehouse cup on her desk. Picking it up she lightly traced the bold script which spelled her name, the faintest smile gracing her lips.
The card simply read, "Hopefully this isn't considered as weak, -Angel." and behind the note there was a gift card to Neimans. Her eyes about bulged out of her head at that, she was pretty sure she couldn't afford a freaking pair of socks from there, but she couldn't help but feel her heart swell a bit at the gesture. Still there was no way she could accept such a gift, deciding she would insist it was too much and give it back whenever she returned his coat she tucked it safely inside her purse.
Unfortunately she was pretty sure that Angel probably worked up on the top floor, a place she had yet to work up the courage to venture up too. It wasn't that she was scared, but things had been going so well, and after so much hesitation and anxiety she was finding herself actually enjoying this place, so far at least, she just didn't want to chance it by crossing paths with a certain someone up there.
"Well hello there gorgeous," came Lindsey's voice interrupting her from her thoughts. "Please tell me you don't plan on making this a habit, trust me I will never be here for you to impress before eight a.m."
Her head shook, "Nah, I was just trying to beat the traffic, trust me when I say that yesterday morning was nothing less than an adventure."
It always made him nervous when he knew that parts of his team showed up before him. Angel had a bad habit of being the first one in the office most days and every once in a while he would get some wild hair up his ass, deciding that he needed to walk through and see just what everyone else was up to and poking his nose into things he really didn't need to be concerning himself with for everyone's sake and more than likely scaring off people that they really couldn't afford to be losing left and right. Given he had very little time left to prepare for possibly one of his biggest meetings he'd been in charge of this year, with a handful of strangers no less, and no matter how promising they seemed, and then hopefully have a project to go forward with from there... well, that was already enough to make him want to have some sort of heart failure. Add in Angel taking even a single one of these people out right now was more than he was wanting to imagine.
"Besides, with a new routine and all, I still have figuring out the best route over this way to beat traffic and arrive on time daily, planning out exactly how long I can sleep in without not being late, how to get a cup of coffee along the way and all that," she added with a hint of a smile.
Lindsey chuckled a bit and nodded his understanding as he placed his briefcase down. "Do you have a longer or shorter drive to make it out here?"
"Longer, but not by too much. Thankfully. I get a handful of extra songs in the mornings so I can't complain too much there."
"I keep trying out different podcasts, not so sure I'm into that whole thing though."
Buffy took a sip of her coffee, one of the little apology gifts she wasn't going to mind taking Angel up on at least. "I don't like people talking on my radio," she told him, her nose wrinkling up a bit. "I don't do those podcast things, I also don't do morning talk shows, little commercial breaks... or anything of that nature... nope, not here for that. I'm a big station skipper."
"Probably a much smarter choice."
OoOoO
Angel sighed, pouring himself a second glass and quickly downing its contents as he stared up at the portrait of his late grandfather. Today was feeling fucking long... and for him that was saying something. And it only felt more looming with the fact he wished he could just go home at the end of the day, shut his brain off, shower, change into some comfortable pajamas, and simply pass out... but he knew all too well that would never happen. Not for him.
All too often he found himself ready to get the hell out of this building and just go home, just get away from here, then once he was and then had nothing to distract him from his own thoughts he'd be praying for morning to be right back in these damn walls.
The fact that he'd had a surprise phone call from one of his family's oldest friends and one of his grandfather's former biggest business associates sure hadn't help matters any. Every conversation with the old man seemed to be a lot more reminiscing about what life once was rather than staying on subject and that just took too much out of him to deal with.
Angel knew he only meant well, he wanted to reach out, to help, and what the fuck every else but he just couldn't. Being asked how he was - truly, talking about his family, that nervous pause before the advice or trying to tell him everything wasn't his fault or something along those lines would come and it was just too much.
Sighing again, "I have no idea how in the hell you managed all of this," Angel whispered up to the portrait. Silently he added how he didn't know much longer he was going to be able to keep this shit up.
He had never been meant to take control of this place and the more time went on the more evident that seemed. He tried... sometimes anyway... not that it seemed to matter. With the circumstances leading him here, how rushed everything had been, how resentful he was so much of the time, and everything branching out from there had created an endless cycle of chaos.
OoOoO
Angel sat back down at his desk with the intention of replying to an e-mail Harmony had now pestered him about a total of four times before he yelled at her to leave him alone but without thinking about it he instead found himself searching for Buffy's file once more. His heart leaped a little as this time he found one, short, to the point, not much information about one of their newest employees but it was something.
He read over her profile until he had it memorized, then read it some more. Her official photo was added on as well and he spent more time than he would have liked to admit staring at that as well, his thoughts becoming a little dark and depressing as he wondered if she'd liked her coffee he'd taken a chance on this morning, or if that and the gift card was too much, too little... He wondered what she was doing right then, how things were going on the floor below him, if her second day here was going better than the first...
OoOoO
Buffy was a bit worried she wouldn't have some run in with him after all today, getting to the parking garage she waited five, then ten, then fifteen minutes... feeling crazier by the tick. When she did finally spot him though she let out a breath of relief, climbing back out of her car and calling out to him.
"Hi," he greeted, coming closer.
"Hi," she echoed, suddenly feeling nervous. "I-I, uh, I just wanted to thank you for the coffee," she rushed out and held out his jacket. "And for letting me borrow this yesterday, that was very kind." Angel lifted an eyebrow as she also held out that shiny gift card back out for him to take. "And I need to return this to you as well because that is also very sweet but would be very wrong of me to take."
"I thought you could use it and replace your jacket from yesterday."
Buffy chuckled a little, "Oh, no, I got that! That's just... that's way too generous and I can't accept, but thank you for the thought."
He stared at the card, then her, not taking it. Not even when she tried to jiggle it and hope he took up on the gesture. "Do you not like the store?"
"I like to window shop there, and even that seems like I'm way too poor to even do," she laughed and found she had to pretty much force him to take the damn thing back.
OoOoO
"You look kind of sad," Buffy suddenly said. "Kind of sad, and a lot tired. Like my grandmother would have said, you look like your soul is tired," her voice slightly sang.
"That's assuming I have one," he tried to joke. "Pretty sure this place has been slowly sucking what's left of that out of me since the day I got here," he admitted.
She felt a sharp stab of sadness pierce through her, he just seemed so lost, so alone, and she never wanted anyone to feel like that. "What about when you're at home? I mean surely you have someone waiting for you there, maybe you could even take a few days off, grab your sweetie and get away from here for a few days. Everyone needs a little soul charging some time."
He shrugged, "Sometimes I think about it, calling in or just not showing up, but then I remember that I just don't have that luxury. My Grandpa, he worked here back when this was the place to be, and I just feel like I'm failing him somehow. Like every decision I make is wrong, everyday I can't wait to go home, but as soon as I walk through the door it's as though a whole new set of failures smack me in the face. At least when I'm here I know what I'm supposed to be doing, what I'm in charge of, outside these walls I'm…" he paused, realizing for the first time that he was pretty much pouring his heart out to this poor girl who wasn't even aware who he was.
"You're what," her voice betraying her, coming out as more of a breathy whisper, almost like she was daring him to continue.
He couldn't help but notice the way her eyes seemed to sparkle as the light filtered in from the side of the garage. The way her lips barely parted as she listened seemingly almost to have the ability to look right inside him. He smirked, "Talking entirely too much, I'm sorry, I'm sure you have somewhere to be."
"Hey," she grinned, "No biggie, as you witnessed yesterday I am definitely prone to my own little outburst from time to time, as far as I'm concerned we're even."
"No you were right yesterday in my…" he stammered, "I mean in the elevator, I'd been an ass. You had every right to feel the way you did. And," he paused to dig his pocket, "I'm afraid we won't be even until you take this back," he told her softly, holding the gift card back out to her.
"Angelll," she half whined, "I told you it's too much, besides do you know how out of a place I would feel at a place like that. Have you ever even been inside a Neiman Marcus before, that's where people like I dunno Oprah shop, not girls like me."
For some reason he didn't like the way she seemed to think so little of herself, before he knew what was happening he felt his mouth moving, "I'll tell you what, if nothing catastrophic happens here tomorrow then I'll meet you out here for lunch. It will get me out of this place for a bit and I'll take you to whatever store you want. Neimans, Gap," he grinned, "Walmart, whatever you're comfortable with."
"Ha...ha…" she blew out a long breath, there was no way she should agree to this. He'd been nothing but a gentleman, well other than their first meeting anyway, but honestly she almost felt like a completely different person stood in front of her now. Instead of turning him down though she heard herself agreeing, on one condition, that he promised her they wouldn't be gone longer than an hour, she really wasn't trying to make any bad impressions her first week here.
OoOoO
The entire drive home he replayed their conversation again and again and again. He wasn't sure what the hell had gotten into him or why he'd pushed for her to go to lunch with him tomorrow. Had he even a lick of sense in his damn brain he would have just taken the damn card back or better yet refused to take it back and just left it at. He was playing a dangerous fucking game here, who couldn't just start befriending random employees, especially random beautiful female employees, there was no telling what the rest of the office would think.
Not that he cared what anyone said, not about him anyways, but she was new and the last thing he wanted was to be the reason she ended up with a bad reputation. He just couldn't help himself though, even though he didn't understand it, he wanted to know her, he wanted to enjoy this short reprieve of getting to know someone who wasn't only after his money, his name, his power… even if it all blew up in his face in the end.
She was working under Lindsey, which meant that he was pretty sure their paths would cross inside the office by the end of the week when all the big meetings started taking place. A part of him was enjoying this little charade far more than he probably should, but another part of him couldn't wait for her to just know who he was. Of course he figured that as soon as she put the pieces together and found out who he really was then the whole dynamic between them would change. Though that didn't mean he couldn't have a bit more fun in the meantime.
OoOoO
The next morning she was early again, having foregone stopping by the coffee shop once more. With the extra distance she had to travel she figured it was either that or wake up an extra half hour earlier and that just wasn't going to happen. She was however surprised to find a fresh latte sitting on her desk just like it had the day before, a small smile graced her lips as she looked around for a certain dark haired employee, but he was nowhere to be seen.
The cup was still warm though so he must not have dropped it off too long ago she told herself, Then briefly wondered just what time he usually made it into the office, she was early, but knowing the little that she did about him it wouldn't surprise her if he was the first one here.
Lindsey had once again chastised her for being so early, saying that she was going to make him look bad if she kept showing up before him each morning. But once she showed him everything that she'd gotten accomplished in the short time she had the office to herself he didn't seem to mind as much. No matter how hard she tried not to she could help but steal a glance at the clock every so often. More than once she had convinced herself that she should just cancel this whole thing, but then she remembered she didn't have his number, which only left her with the option of tracking him down in the office, something she wasn't too keen on trying just yet, especially not upstairs.
Though Lindsey had informed her that she would be sitting in on a meeting tomorrow with himself and his boss, he hadn't referred to him by name but Buffy knew exactly who that meant. She wouldn't lie, a small knot had formed in her stomach at the thought, but Lindsey had promised her that everything would be okay and that there wasn't anything to worry about.
She almost found herself asking if Angel would be in attendance too, but just as it was on the tip of her tongue she thought better of it, not wanting to see what can of worms she might open. If anything she figured she could always ask Angel later and not raise any warning with her boss on that front.
Deciding it best to just push the handsome dark haired man out of her mind until it was time to meet up with him for lunch, she closed her eyes and counted to three quickly before going over the plans for tomorrow one more time. She really hoped they could pull this off tomorrow, of course she and the team were being asked to do very little during the whole thing with Lindsey taking on way too much given he was left scrambling and all, but you never knew what could really happen. She didn't exactly know her boss well by any means but she could tell all of this meant a lot to him and she was enjoying the project so far. She really didn't mind helping him get a win here and maybe even seeing this thing through... at least for a bit longer.
OoOoO
After informing Lindsey that he didn't need to bother bringing him anything on break since he would be out of the office, he then ignored the prying questions that followed in a couple text messages from his friend while he nervously waited for Buffy to join up with him. Rubbing his hands together a few times he thought he was thankful that while it was still colder out than he would personally prefer, it at least wasn't raining cats and fucking dogs today.
He was well aware this whole situation had to be this side of insane but he was really hoping against his own better judgment that she wouldn't turn his offer down now that she'd had time to think more about it.
Based on her body language and the look on her face once she spotted him and began making her way to where he was waiting, he was pretty sure she was going to cancel on him with some excuse or another, but he barely gave her a chance to even greet him in the first place before he was telling her he hoped she wouldn't have too much trouble finding something, hoping she would still have time to shop and maybe grab something quick to eat before their hour was up and they would both be needed back here.
"Oh, come on, it'll be fun," he told her when she still tried.
"Endlessly bizarre maybe," Buffy countered but had a hint of a smile on her face.
Angel shrugged. "That too," he agreed. "Sometimes we all need to do something crazy and off the wall though."
OoOoO
Having had her follow him out, he'd gotten a bit ahead of her near the end of their journey so had enough time to park and found a spot to look for her near the doors. He watched as she eyed his vehicle as she got closer, looking then to him, the large building looming before them, then back to his car. "What exactly do you even do at Angelus Enterprises?"
"Run the place," he dared to answer with after a brief pause.
Buffy huffed out a bit of laughter at that, "Uh huh. Well whatever it is you're doing it seems to be paying off I guess."
He shrugged again and turned the focus back to her and how her day was going as they made their way inside.
"I think I was doing a lot better before Lindsey confirmed a certain someone I'd rather not cross paths with would be in attendance," she told him. "You might have trouble believing this but I do really try and think the best in other people but it is very unnerving you know, I mean there's no end of stories and rumors and everything on that front. I keep picturing... well, a whole series of worst case scenarios and things that could go wrong tomorrow which I really need to stop doing."
"I think you'll be alright. Lindsey seems to think highly of how everything is looking from my understanding."
"I hope," she said with a sigh, pausing to look around. "Do you know him?"
"Lindsey? Well, yeah." She shook her head. "Oh," he said quietly. "Yeah, I guess you could say that."
"And... well you absolutely don't have to answer this, but do you think he's as... um... as hard to deal with as everyone put it out there he is?"
"I think that would require a very complicated answer."
"Fair enough," she shrugged.
OoOoO
"I am really starting to think taking you up on that offer about Walmart would have been a better plan," Buffy whispered after her eyes had attempted to break free from her face for probably the tenth time.
"Would you stop looking at the price tags to everything, find something you actually like and let me worry about the rest."
She looked over at him like he'd grown a second head. "Okay, as much as I love my coffee stained blazer, I'm pretty sure I can soak and scrub it back to glory. And, as much as I love it, I wouldn't have for a second thought to pay some outrageous price for it and I'm not about to let you pay..." she held up the closest jacket she could grab, "oh my gosh, a thousand dollars on something. Not to replace mine. I mean I get you're trying to go above and beyond but really, you are a stranger to me, and all you did was happen to bump into me then acted like, well, more people than I'd like to admit probably would have."
"Do you like that one?" he asked, ignoring her little rant there, nodding his head toward her hands.
She shook her head quickly, then harshly whispered her unflattering opinion of the piece. "You know, some of these things really seem to make sense about their prices. It's not something I would spend personally but I get it for those who can, you know. Then you see things like that in the mix and that's a big what the fuck situation."
"Well, what does catch your eye? Just look around and hand it off, don't look at the tag, just... look around, see if there's something that stands out," he told her again.
She sighed loudly, coming around to scan the area first. "You know, shopping is supposed to be a fun activity. This right here is way too stressful for that."
OoOoO
It had taken a lot more effort than he was used to on these kinds of things, but Buffy had at least looked at a few she said she liked, trying a couple on as well, until there were a few final contenders. Watching her close enough, he could already tell which one she in fact liked the most by how her eye kept fluttering back its way to it.
He gave her a few more minutes before going to grab it back up himself, hearing her already whining his name again and telling him she couldn't accept any of this. "I promise it's fine besides we're quickly closing in on that hour you've been so worried about."
He had her there, she'd even went so far as grabbing his arm a few times to check the time on his watch when they walked between stores. Taking a deep breath she tried to ignore how odd all this truly was. Angel seemed to be going above and beyond just to make sure she was happy, and she wasn't quite sure what to make of that.
She blushed, taking the bag from his hands, "Thank you."
OoOoO
Trying to beat the clock they had decided to just grab something to go from one of the small cafés next to the shopping center. Of course Angel wasn't worried about either of them running late, but he couldn't exactly let her know that. If it came down to it he could always shoot Linds a text letting him know she was going to be late but then he'd end up having to deal with that never ending train of questions.
Climbing from his car, his mind drifted to tomorrow and what that meant. As much as he wasn't used to this business of someone not knowing who he was, a part of him couldn't help but find it refreshing. With her he didn't have to act like the professional, he could just be himself, whoever that was these days. He knew he should head straight for the elevator and leave her be, but he just couldn't help himself as he walked up behind her car and waited for her to get out.
Falling into step behind him she tried to thank him again but he just waved her off, "I already told you it's not a big deal."
"Well it is to me," she grinned, "I mean it's definitely not every day some hunky stranger whisks you away on a shopping spree."
"Hunky?"
She gave a little shrug, she could almost swear she saw a blush creeping over him, sometimes she really wished she had a better filter, though she supposed there was nothing wrong with a little teasing either.
Fumbling for his key card to get the elevator working he tried to discern whether or not she was actually flirting with him, but before he could give it much thought he heard the cutest laugh erupting from her. "So should I expect to see you at this meeting Lindsey's is so worried about tomorrow?"
"Lindsey's worried?"
"Eh," she adjusted the bags on her arm, "I think he just wants to impress the big guy. He mentioned something about really enjoying working with us, I think he's mostly worried about us all to make a good first impression… If that's even possible," she quietly added a second later.
Angel just smirked, "I wouldn't worry too much about it, something tells me Liam's not going to have any issues with you or anyone from your team. Now Linds, he always seems to be screwing up one thing or another." He chuckled, " But if it makes you feel any better I'll save you a seat."
She honestly wasn't sure if that made her feel better or worse. From all the chatter she'd picked up on since learning she would be working for the next bit of time Lindsey Mcdonald was the closest person to Mr. Angelus. Other than himself and a handful of other employees they were mostly working with an ever changing staff due to the young Angelus' inability to be impressed.
She blew out a long breath, "I sure wish I had your optimism."
OoOoO
Lindsey had given her a funny look whenever he saw her stepping off the elevator but he hadn't said anything and she didn't either. Not that either of them really had the chance, nearly as soon as she got back to the office, Harmony, who she quickly came to learn was Liam's assistant came down saying he was needed upstairs. For as little patience as their boss was said to have, and as quick as he was said to fire people she couldn't help but notice what a freaking bimbo he had for an assistant. As much as she tried not to judge people based on other's opinions the more she learned about that man the less she cared for him.
Since they had pretty much got everything squared away for the meeting she spent the rest of the day trying to think of anything and everything else that may come up tomorrow. Lindsey had mentioned something about needing to find a hotel with a convention center for the annual Christmas party since the one they had used in years prior conveniently seemed to be book.
It had taken quite a bit of research and way too many phone calls but she'd actually been able to come up with a few decent options. She had no idea how many rooms, if any the company planned to splurge on, but with a little persuasion she'd been able to secure the presidential suite at each with no additional cost should they sign the contract. Smiling to herself she sure hoped this was enough to get in her boss's good graces.
Opening excel she quickly made a spreadsheet of the three options, being sure to include the cost of each, both the catering and bar packages, and the amount of time they would be allotted. Christmas was still nearly two months away, but in all honesty that didn't leave anyone a whole lot of time to plan a party for a company as large as this one. Remembering that Linds had also spouted off something about a profits and loss report for the last quarter she made sure to print two copies of that as well before finally powering down her computer.
ButImBroken:
Cowritten with Scribes1015!