In the meantime, Johnny came to my room after he finally found out which room is mine, he knocks and waits.

"Baby?"
"Go away."
"I'm not going anywhere."
"Please, leave me alone."
"No, Baby, I'm not leaving you alone either."

I open the door and look at him with an angry expression. He sees my red eyes and tears that stream down.

"I know what you're going through."
"You don't, no one knows."
"You forget what my parents are doing."

I want to react to that, but I see his serious expression. I start to feel embarrassed now. I am crying because dad is not accepting me for who I am, while he has a mother who wants him dead and a father who thinks he is good for nothing. I look down and sniff once.

"Can I come in?"

I move away from the door and went to my bed. He steps inside and looks around. He closes the door. He smiles, and noticed that just like my bedroom at home, there is nothing that shows that I am a little girl. I redecorated my rooms after I lost my virginity. Not to act like I am an adult, but because I realized I am no little girl anymore, and I wanted a room that shows just that. I wonder why dad never noticed that before.

I lay down on my side, with my back to him while I try to stop crying. He looks at me and sits down on the bed.

"You don't have to be here, you know."
"I know, Baby, but I want to."
"Why?"
"Because I know how it feels, and I want to be there for you, because I know you'll be there for me too and I never had anyone before who knows what I'm going through. I told you this yesterday already."

I only listen to him while I look at my dresser. I see a picture with dad standing on it. I was still a little girl there, sweet, innocent, and pure. The way dad would love to see me for the rest of my life.

"Every time I try to talk to dad about my life, he gets so offensive."
"He wants to protect you."
"He wants to keep me naïve and celibate, not protect me."
"Baby."

I turn my head a little to look at him. I see his expression and I inhale deeply.

"Your father loves you, more than anything in this world, everyone can see you're his favorite, even your sister knows that."
"You just say that to make me feel good."
"No, Baby, I'm telling you the truth. Your father is terrified about the idea of you growing up and leaving his life that he tries to keep you the little girl he always thinks you were, but."

He inhales deeply. I watch him moving a little and see him trying to smile. I wait for him to go on.

"But you're not that girl anymore, you're grown up, you're an adult who wants to make something of her life, someone who matters in this world, someone who isn't afraid to stand up for other people no matter what it cost them."
"I want a job that I love to do, I want to love someone who doesn't only care about having sex, I want to live somewhere I feel at home."

I see him listening to me, I see his eyes and they are soft. I want him, but it is not a good idea to begin something with him, not as long as I am his assistant, not as long we are working together.

"I'm sure you'll find all those things one day, and you shouldn't let anyone hold you back. I'm sure you're going to change the world, Baby."
"What about you?"
"I'm a lost case, I can't be saved. I did too many bad things in my life that I'm surprised that dad even considered to give me a quarter of his company. Every time he starts about Billy, I get angry, but you know what?"
"What?"

He inhales deeply. I see him entwining his fingers and looking down. I move myself in a sitting position as I keep watching him. He turns his head to look at me.

"Dad is right. Billy would be a much better heir to his heritage than I would be. Billy works hard, he loves to work, he loves helping others too. I look up to him, he's amazing."
"I hope I will meet him one day."
"You will, he always goes with us to Kellerman's to work there as an allrounder. He always says that he does this because then he feels like having a holiday."
"Sounds crazy."
"It does, I know his father is not giving him much free time, but I think he actually does this also to be with me and Pen. We grew up together, Billy is like a brother to me."

I try to smile, but I fail so miserably. I feel so stupid, like my problems do not even matter because of his. He sees my face and moves. I look at him and start to frown.

"What are you doing?"
"I want to show my support to you."
"By laying down next to me?"
"Yeah, I want to make you see that you can always come to me if you need a shoulder to lean on."

I roll my eyes and dry my cheeks. He keeps looking at me as he lays on his back.

"Come, lay down."
"Why?"
"Because I want you to feel more at ease."
"Should I trust you?"
"You can trust me, Baby, I won't do anything inappropriate. I promise."

I move and lay down. He looks at me and moves his arm a little.

"Come."

I look at him and move closer to him. I lay my head on his shoulder.

"You've got permission to cuddle me if you want."

I giggle a little. He looks at the ceiling while he is thinking. I inhale deeply and start to smile a little.

After a few moments I move myself closer to him and lay my arm around him. This feels really nice. He feels softer than I thought he would.

"Why did you never had a girlfriend?"
"I have had girlfriends, but my relationships never lasted longer than a month."
"Why not?"
"Because I'm an asshole, at least according to my exes."
"Then they don't really know you."
"I haven't been a particularly good boyfriend to them either, Baby."
"You want to tell me?"

He shrugs a little and I feel him inhaling deeply. I cannot phantom how perfect I fit into his form. I know it sounds weird, maybe a little creepy, but I mean it. It is weird, I never thought that was ever possible, and yes, I have seen way too many romantic movies.

"Well, first, I never took their feelings in consideration. Second, I'm not the most romantic person on this planet, and women love to be swept off their feet and be romanced all the time. Third, most of them actually just used me for my money or to make someone else jealous."
"That's pathetic."
"I guess…"

He sighs. I close my eyes and listen to his heartbeat. It is very soothing. This is actually a very intimate position to lay in, even if it is for comfort purposes only. I should not lay like this with my boss, but I know he tries to be there for me.

"I think you deserve someone who loves you for who you are."
"Baby, I'm not good at those things, can you believe that I never said the three words ever to any of my ex-girlfriends?"
"Does it scare you to say them?"
"It feels if I do that, that they expect something from me."
"You should let your heart lead you when it comes to love, when it feels good and right, you'll say those words without fearing of any expectations."

I move and lift my head up to look at his face, he moves his head and looks at me, trying to smile. I smile as I look at him.

"You'll find your true love one day."

He keeps looking in my eyes, it is like he is trying to find something in them. I can see him searching. I smile now, he looks adorable when he is confused, or trying to figure things out.

"We were talking about our fathers, you know."
"Yeah, and Baby, I think you should talk to your father."
"I don't know."
"But I do, I see that now, your father seems at a loss. He loves you, but I think he needs to realize that he needs to let you go without thinking he has lost you."
"Since when do you sound so wise?"
"I don't know, it's weird, isn't it?"

I giggle about that. I give him a kiss on his cheek. He starts to smile.

"Thanks, I will talk to him."
"I'm glad to hear that."

I can see him wanting something else. I roll my eyes again and get off my bed. He keeps looking at me as I went to the mirror to look at my reflection.

"You should talk to your father as well."
"I tried, but he's not listening to me."
"Keep trying."
"Baby, I'm hotheaded, and he's hotheaded too, even more than I am. You know what he said the last time I tried?"
"What did he say?"
"That he only will take me serious when I've fallen deeply in love and that I want to settle down, and as far as I know he thinks I will never do that."

I turn to look at him, he gets off the bed and looks at me. I think about my own life. I know I am just doing this job since a week, but I feel like this is where I belong. I might not want to be an assistant for the rest of my life, but the company is great. Dancing is great, it keeps people from the streets, I can see how much Johnny loves it, and also Penny and his father. Even if Johnny feels like he is not good enough to lead the company, I know he cares a lot about the company, otherwise he won't put up so much to try to get more customers. He is doing his best, he might not show it in a good way with his behaviour sometimes, but I know his heart is on the right place and that he cares a lot.

I am going to say something I never thought I would ever say.

"I want dance lessons."

I see his eyebrows going up. His surprise is real, I can tell. Then I see his face changing, he starts to smile. I am starting to believe that he saves this smile only for me. I never saw him smiling like this at anyone else.

"I will teach you."
"Let's go downstairs before they start to think we're doing something else."

He chuckles about that. I open the door to go downstairs. He follows me with a smile.