It was a bright morning during this cold season, I sat on a crimson chair as I awaited for someone from the office to pick me up from the lobby.

I held my phone tightly, letting out a deep sigh.

I'm so relieved at landing myself a new job, I didn't know how much longer I could've lasted as a personal trainer, surrounded by my perverted boss and colleagues.

In fact, my entire life has been filled with perverts, I had home lessons but I always caught my personal teacher looking at me with lustful eyes, same for my college teachers, it was so irritating. Being cat-called at every corner I turn, every company I enter, not to mention being approached by men who cannot even speak a single sentence without breaking down in front of me.

They find it so hard to talk to me, like geez, I don't bite.

Just then I felt my phone vibrate in my hands, I looked at the number and rolled my eyes.

"Ughh, speaking of pervs," I declined and placed my phone back in my bag.

After that big hissy fit that he caused two weeks ago, I'm surprised he's even trying to call me back after labelling me a quote on quote:

"PSYCHOPATH"

When he was the one that cheated on me.

I sighed.

When am I going to meet a good guy?

Mom suggested I find a man just like Dad, in the hardworking sense of course because Dad is a bit... much when it comes to working.

I don't want a guy who doesn't pay attention to me and spends most of his lips near a computer when he should be making love to me instead. But, I guess it wouldn't be all bad right?

I mean, Dad had nothing, but his dedication was what drew Mom to him, I've dated a lot of rich guys and they are all either shallow or boring with no hint of a backbone to get things rolling themselves.

There was my last boyfriend... Eugghh, he had ambitions and drive and was on his way to running his own nightclub but he wasn't loyal and always... degraded me in a way. I don't need a freak show of a boyfriend who believes women are lower than him, I just need a normal guy.

Is that so much to ask for?

"Ms Heartfilia!" A voice called out to me. I straightened up and wore a smile on my face to look more presentable.

A ginger-haired young man walked up to me in a black shirt that was tucked into his black trousers that were held by a thin belt. He wore white designer sneakers along with a Rolex watch on his left wrist.

He smirked down at me as he held a hand out, "I'm Loke and I'll show you around the office today!"

"He's handsome," I thought.

"It's a pleasure to be working with the company!" I smiled happily and with vigour, I shook his hand.

I was glad to be a part of a company that was one of the top-ranking companies in the whole of the United States. I had finally made it and was working my way up to continuing that generational wealth that my Dad shoved in my and Michelle's throat all these years.

Loke gestured for me to walk with him. We moved through the bustling crowd of people in the lobby of the building which had a long desk of receptionists tapping at their keyboards with big smiles on their faces, catering to the needs of the people in the office.

We walked up to the pair of elevators that were located behind a wide transparent glass shield that sat behind the receptionists. He pressed the available button and one of the elevators answered that signal and began to make its way down from the third floor.

It didn't take longer than a minute for the elevator to arrive and with its pleasing sound of a bell, two doors departed from one another and introduced us to a normal-looking space with slightly golden walls and a giant mirror at the back that was begging for us to step inside and give us a ride.

Loke held an arm out for me to step in first, "After you,"

"What a gentleman," I thought as I stepped inside, looking up at the doors as they came together once again.

Throughout most of the morning, Loke showed me around the giant building for each floor. The office building wasn't just a tall jenga block but more of a quadrangle type of building so each floor was long and big to walk through, I got to meet most of the managers today who were polite to me instead of treating me like a piece of meat they could just get their hands on, and I was given the prestigious ID card with a pink-coloured lanyard with the company's logo patterned along it.

We got through the morning and decided to take a break, so he led me back down to the lobby to show me around the area. As we stepped out of the elevator, Loke smiled down at me.

"So, Ms Heartfilia, how are you finding everything?" He asked.

"Great honestly, I love that everyone is kind and sweet, and the managers are very mature and demonstrate leadership. I'm really looking forward to working with everyone later today,"

This was it.

The job I've always wanted with a workplace full of wonderful people who don't gawk at me with such horny expressions and don't see me as an easy prize. I'm human too, and I deserve to be seen as a person who is worth getting to know. This is my brand new start, and I can't wait for all the great things that will come to pass.

"I'm delighted to hear that. So, what are your tastebuds craving, I'll pay for your lunch, so just name anything and-. Oh," He stopped as his eyes caught glimpse of someone who was just walking through the main entrance.

The person held their backpack by one strap and tapped their ID on the automatic gate that made a beeping sound and opened its flaps to let him in. It was a man, a slightly older but young-looking one at that, he was tall and looked up at us with these slick, sharp eyes, onyx-coloured pearl pupils that shot daggers at me and Loke, he looked extremely tired, but the stare was enough to make it go unnoticed.

I looked up at Loke who just grumbled as he stuffed his hands in his pockets and glared at the man. I looked back at the guy who was walking up to us with no intention to actually say a word, he wasn't wearing flashy clothes like Loke and a rather normal light blue shirt that was unbuttoned at the top for the world to see his defined collarbone, navy blue trousers that were held up by a simple brown belt, a blue jacket that was wrapped around his waist, and casual black shoes.

What is this? College?

Does he not know what company he is working at, this is Fairy Tail Corp?! Why is he wearing such simple things?

But the most baffling thing about this guy was his fluffy pink hair... did he dye it? The dress code I received during my interview said to not come to work with dyed hair but despite all of that, even though his dyed hair was a surprising colour, he dressed like he just came from lounging at home, the thing that really stood out was this guy's eyes, and his attire really expressed it.

I felt my heart pound in my chest.

Why is he looking at us like that?

"Already back from lunch, Dragneel?" Loke said with a giant smile on his face. It was like his previous glare just instantaneously disappeared.

Dragneel? That's an odd name, a surname perhaps?

Mr Dragneel didn't respond and just kept on walking, getting closer and closer to us. He probably doesn't like Loke as much but as the new colleague, I will introduce myself, there is no need for bad blood because two mutual colleagues have issues with each other, right?

I took a step forward and held a hand out, "Good afternoon Mr Dragneel, I'm Lucy Heartfilia, your new colleague, I look forward to getting to work beside-."

I felt a brush of air pass my shoulders, a strong cologne rushing past my nostrils, I looked back and saw the pink-haired man making his way to the elevators behind us. I heard Loke grit his teeth.

"Is that how you treat your new colleague, Dragneel!? Get back here right now, idiot," Loke said and Mr Dragneel looked over his shoulder with the intent to kill, glaring at Loke with these stone-cold eyes and no care for what will happen if he and Loke were right next to each other.

"No." Mr Dragneel said bluntly and continued his march towards the elevator.

"Urrggghhh," Loke messed with his hair and looked up at the ceiling with annoyance, "This guy! I'm sorry about that, Ms Heartfilia,"

I turned to the redhead with a bright smile, "It's okay, I can understand if he's shy,"

"Shy doesn't even begin to cut it," Loke shook his head, "Anyways, let's get that lunch shall we,"

"Aye!"

Loke showed me the closest food spots that were around the office, it was truly magnificent and made working here even better. We ended up getting tacos in the end and Loke and I connected on a friendly level, he had a bad-boy look to him, so I naturally assumed he would be trouble in the beginning, but he was really sweet and expressive in everything he does which made me feel comfortable around him already. Our lunch was beginning to come to an end and we quickly made our way to the office and up to the fourth floor where I will mostly be working in. We all gathered in the meeting room, there were a lot of men on this floor and only a few women but the team seemed nice.

Loke stood beside him with a hand on my shoulder, "This is Lucy Heartfilia, everyone! She is a part of our Sales Team, please welcome her kindly,"

"It 's a pleasure to be working with you, please take good care of me!"

"We are happy to have you!" They all cheered in unison with big grins on their faces.

"Indeed we are, I am Erza Scarlet, the head of this branch. Beside me is Gray Fullbuster, the Sales Manager, so you'll operate under him for the time being and because our Analytics Manager is away right now, this is our Lead Analyst... um, where is Natsu?" Mrs Scarlet said as she pointed her arm at an empty seat.

"Not here again obviously," Mr Fullbuster grunted.

"Is he gone for lunch?" A brown-haired colleague asked.

"You know how Dragneel is, he doesn't take breaks," A black-haired colleague responded.

"Hardly eats either," Another colleague said.

"He's probably still at his station," One colleague said.

"Okay, excuse me for a moment," Mrs Scarlet said as she removed her glasses and took a step out of the meeting room. Everyone remained in silence and just stared at the door.

I turned to Loke with confusion and whispered in his ear, "Um... what's going on?"

"You'll see," Loke responded to me.

Not even a minute later, Mrs Scarlet came into the room dragging Mr Dragneel by the ear, she towered over him as a mother who was about to discipline her child and Mr Dragneel stared back at her like a misbehaving child.

"The email was very clear, come to the meeting this afternoon and no lagging behind! We have a new colleague and you should properly introduce yourself," Mrs Scarlet growled at Mr Dragneel who just looked back at her with annoyance written on his face.

"You're the animal who put 7 thick books on my desk, of course, I couldn't make it to the meeting," Mr Dragneel said with a rather... rational, calm tone, even though Mrs Scarlet was barking at him.

And what's with that response?

Animal? Does he really talk to his superiors like that?

"An animal, huh? That's a new one, do you mind repeating it, hmm?" Mrs Scarlet said with these hellish eyes that made everyone including me's skin crawl and Mr Dragneel didn't really jump at this. but instead, remained still with a sweat drop coming down his head.

"I apologise, ma'am," He said calmly before turning to me with that same blank glare and bowing before me, "I am Natsu Dragneel of the Analytics Team, if you have any issues regarding the work I do, do not hesitate to speak with me,"

That's much better.

"Good," Mrs Scarlet said before slapping his back, "Now, everyone, return to their stations, we have a lot of work to get through today, and make it snappy!"

"YES MA'AM!" Everyone including myself saluted at Mrs Scarlet.

I'm starting to like this place.

I got into everything much quickly and was welcomed warmly by everyone. With the way I engaged in meetings and work as a whole, people quickly got used to my mannerisms, way of acting, and overall behaviour. I was known as the Mother Baker or Fitness Guru by most people in the office which made me happy, to say the least, because now I was being treated like any other person in a team, it beats working in a gym where the guys only talk to me to sleep with me.

I got used to my work hours and began doing extra activities outside of work, such as running a yoga class for mothers and teaching bakery to all ages at my local leisure centre. It was the life I was happy with rather than being cat-called by jerks and living off my parents' money, I was finally at a place where I could restart the one journey I've always struggled with...

Love.

Now, when it comes to love, I'm not a guru at that. My love life was really through the connections my dad had with other prestigious and well-off families or colleagues in his line of work, which is how I met my first love who was a wealthy boy from England who had all the looks and the money but he was scared of almost EVERYTHING. We were 15 at the time but that didn't equate to being a little girl about trivial things.

If he had spilt something, he would jump up on the table and act squeamish, not wanting to come down if it isn't cleared up, what really turned me off by him was his lack of ambition and dreams, he had no plans and just wanted to live off his father's money so I quickly got away from him. My next relationship was with a guy at 17 who I didn't meet through my father this time and rather at college, he had dreams, and promises and was creative, but he didn't stick to any of his promises and was lazy with the creative talent he had, not to mention, he was constantly horny - so I instantly cut him off.

And then there was my last relationship, with him.

Sting Eucliffe.

We had met through my father once again, but due to my last failed attempts, I was a little on edge with him and started out being friends. I quickly learned through my friendship with him that he was everything I had dreamed of in a boy; funny, cute, endearing, relaxed, and optimistic. He wanted to do anything and everything as long as I was fine with it, and we quickly began dating, he knew me well enough to not take me to expensive dinners or anything the people with wealth do, we saw movies like normal teenagers, and stayed in our relationship until 25, and that's when I noticed him becoming more... off.

A lot like his father.

But I don't want to get into my story with Sting since he's the worst part of my early 20s. But if there is anything I've learned from all of my past relationships, is to find a man who doesn't want much. I grew up in a household where I was lucky to have both my parents and sister in my life, so I was always taught by my Mom that I had to be a keeper for my future husband and that I should use my dating life to practice for that.

Despite the flaws of my previous boyfriends, I showed every one of my boyfriends the best care they could ask for, and then some. I made sure I did all the laundry, cleaned up for them, cooked for them, kept up with their bills, made sure I knew where they were at all times, and kept an eye on them.

To be a keeper is to watch your lover constantly so that they can be safe, healthy, and happy. I didn't seek out a lover when I was in Fairy Tail though, mainly because this weird thing started happening where if I appeared in the office, all the men would run to me with stars in their eyes and ask me odd questions about my day, my hobbies, what shows I liked, my favourite colour, the lot of them.

I couldn't say that I hated the attention especially since I was a well-liked colleague in the office, but they all gave off the vibe of a follower, a sheep in the herd, kind of mentality. I saw no difference in their characters because they all acted the same towards me, except for Loke, if anything, he was always leading the crowd. I didn't mind it as it became a natural occurrence and I knew how to make my way through the crowd and block out all odd questions but I started to notice that there was always one person who didn't crown me as a Queen and ask me such weird questions.

The shy one himself, Mr Natsu Dragneel.

He would always be at his desk, glaring at the guys who ran up to greet me every morning, but he always remained in his seat, watching his screen with intense focus, not caring about what was going on around him.

At first, I found it annoying.

It was like he was looking down on us for being cheerful, and I couldn't lie to myself if I said that it didn't hurt my pride a bit. But Mr Fullbuster changed my view on Natsu during a meeting about the Sales and changes to the data, once we had finished, Loke commented on the data.

"It's now 6:00 PM everyone, thank you for the work today!" Mr Fullbuster said as he placed the remote for the tv on the table in front of him.

Loke stood up to the screen that was still on, "Wonky yet sturdy, I can't exactly trust this. Why don't we get Dragneel to stay behind a bit and work this out for us?"

"It's the end of the day, Loke. Mr Dragneel has to go home too,"

"It doesn't matter, Dragneel barely cares about going home anyways, he probably sits around in this office after hours, jacking off to porn on his system," Loke scoffed, "He's just a dickhead who thinks he's better than everyone else,"

"And why do you think that?" Mr Fullbuster asked as he glanced up at Loke whilst packing his bag.

Loke scratched the back of his head, "Because he hardly gets involved with the office events, always leaves early when a party kicks off, and barely attends meetings. That screams pride,"

"Well, that's partly true..."

"You know Loke, if Natsu wasn't so adamant about work, then you'd probably be out of this office by now," Mr Fullbuster said with a neutral expression.

"What?" Loke gritted his teeth as we both looked up at Mr Fullbuster to hear him out.

"Think about it, without the Analytics Team, how can the Sales team operate with the amount of data we receive day-to-day? Every minute, the sales change and the Analytics Team comes to our rescue. Erza has been hiring and firing people left and right in that team, hence why it's so small, but the one who always remains is Natsu. Without fail, without breaks, and without any complaints, he always, ALWAYS gets the job done especially with one of our best being out of commission right now. I understand though, Natsu is a bit... of a dedicated worker, but remember this office is a place of work, not fun. If his goal is just to make money, then let him make money," Mr Fullbuster explained, "You can't knock a man for his hustle now, can you? Alright, I'll see you two tomorrow,"

"Have a safe journey home, Mr Fullbuster," I bowed as he left.

He was right though.

How can I knock Mr Dragneel if I barely got to know him? I assumed the way everyone talks about him to be his real personality, especially with how he refused to greet me down in the lobby.

So,

I decided to watch him, watch how he works, how he interacts with people. He was always so quiet, calm, and relaxed, his face showed stress but he still powered through it. The way he would stare at his computer, and the way he would write in books before moving on to the next one, reminded me of how my Dad used to work when I was small.

I found myself caught in a trance, mesmerised by the way he would always finish his work and continue with the next one that would be set for him the next day.

He's not that bad.

He's just a man that wants to get his work done.

He isn't shy either. I passed him a few times in the hall and greeted him, and in response, he would nod at me and return to wherever he was going. All this watching and studying made me feel a certain way towards him, it was as if he was the kind of man I was searching for all this time.

He didn't throw himself at my mercy every time I appeared, so it made me wonder what kind of person he is to not act like Loke and everyone else. He speaks nonchalantly every time I get the chance to see him and I've begun to notice his features more and more now.

Dreams of him started to ensue, I even began pleasing myself to him every night when I got home from work. And it was always those eyes, that stare was pasted at the front of my brain, it's all I think about when I wake up, and I lust for him, to look at me with those eyes and make me into a state of only pleasure and madness as he makes love to me.

It didn't take long for me to realise that Mr Dragneel became a part of my schedule: checking up on him 5 minutes before work begins, checking up on him 5 minutes before lunch period, checking up on him 5 minutes before work ends, and just watching him from afar during the day, thanks to the part of the office I work in being opposite his own section. Sometimes, I would occasionally go out of my way to give him a bottle of water now and then.

But even with just a water bottle, he would always go through stress, every day. Having to deal with our colleagues who always curse him behind his back, and dump books on his desk every day without even a greeting to him or any conversation with a man who makes their job easier.

It was unfair and made me angry. It reminded me of the time when I went as a classic nobody in high school, who showed less skin and focused hard to get a high grade in my subjects, the girls in my class would label me as the nerdy rich girl who looks down on everyone when I was just minding my business.

And I saw what I never saw before.

Natsu and I are the same.

And the more I watch him, the more I feel like...

This man needs me.

I need to protect him and be a supporting rod for him. But I can't do that as a random colleague who gives out water bottles to almost... all of our colleagues, it doesn't make me special to him and he probably doesn't think too much about it.

I will just have to do this the normal way and become a good friend.

But will that be enough?

Every day I watch him, he becomes more of a necessity to me, I can't have him as just a friend, I need to be more to him and he will be the world to me.

Finally, a man worth chasing!

A month later and the mirror begins to regain all the pieces it had lost. Being with Sting wasn't a bad form of experience being with him taught me a lot and allowed me to use certain tools to gain the advantage of making Natsu and me closer.

I had found what the people in the drug business know as "roofies" in the Archive & Records room, which I found quite odd to be lying around in one of the aisles, but it gave me a great idea and so I used the keycard that Mr Fullbuster gave me to access the computer in that room which allowed me to find Natsu on the system.

Phone number.

Email address.

Home address.

And next of kin.

I knew Natsu would still be at the office by the time I finished up in the Archives room, so I used two tablets and mixed them in the bottle of water that I would take to my new favourite person in the office.

I handed him the bottle which he began to drink almost immediately and not even 10 minutes later, he started feeling drowsy, and as the kind keeper that I am, I took him home.

See! I'm an excellent person.

And this is how far it has come...

Look at us now!

Telling each other our life stories that were truly traumatic to us but trusting the other person to hear you out.

You trust me, Natsu.

So that means you want me just as much as I want you,

"Don't be, I told you that I trust you, Lucy," Natsu turned to me with a giant grin.

Look at that grin, he's so cute, I always want to see him like this. I don't want to see him tired, exhausted, and stressed out anymore! He's an entirely different person whenever Lisanna is around, he's more prone to messing around and it shows that he's not a cold human being after all, a person that I can...

Truly give my heart to.

If we become a unit, will I be able to draw out that real version of himself? Can I revive the Natsu that died when his mother left him?

I looked down at my hands, fidgeting around with my fingers, my heart was beating, it was beating loud, like a drum, I wanted to have Natsu.

Like, right now.

I can't even hold these feelings back anymore, I thought I could control myself if I was just near him but my body craves for more. He's thanked me so much today and yesterday, that I can't even keep count of the times I lost myself in my daydreams filled with lust, love, and desire.

Natsu continued talking, "Like, I'm serious. Now I get why Loke and the others come to you about their problems, it's just so easy talking to you. I guess I just needed someone other than Gildarts and Lisanna to talk to about this,"

You're so cruel, Natsu.

You keep doing this like I'm able to control my urges for you.

I held my arm tightly.

I can't take this anymore...

"You know, I used to dislike you at first because I thought you were just another woman who would use her beauty to get what she wants but you're cool, Lucy." Natsu calmly turned to me with a huge toothy grin, "Hehe, truly-."

That's it!

With no hesitation, or anything, or anyone to hold me back, I pounced at Natsu, pulling him towards me and kissing him deeply, I thrust my tongue into his mouth and danced around with his own tongue. This was truly exhilarating, having something that felt so far away in your palms after such a long time was amazing.

With my eyes closed, I pressed onto him as he leaned back on the counter but I couldn't see his face, I was drowning in the surge of butterflies that were rising in me, my body was in heat and I wanted more from this pink-haired god that was standing in front of me.

I moved back from the kiss, tugging at his bottom lip and letting it go when our eyes locked once again. He was looking at me with a much different expression now, the kind of one I was dreaming to see from him.

Wide eyes, lifted eyebrows, and his mouth agape.

I smiled up at him with lustful eyes, my face felt hot so I must be as bright as a tomato right now, "I see you can make more than just one expression,"

I took his right hand and placed it on my chest for him to feel my beating heart, "Natsu, I... I really like you,"

This is what I wanted, no, needed to be completed.

I'm nothing without you Natsu and you feel the same too... right?

Please tell me I'm right, so we can be more than we are now. We can call the dinner off and share a night of passionate love-making, we can spend the entire night flipping and turning in all sorts of positions, any one that'll satisfy you, Natsu. Life has been so cruel to you, and I want to show you that with me in your life, nobody will ever do anything to harm you ever again.

"Lucy..." He spoke up.

"MHMM?" I nodded my head excitedly, ready to receive his answer.

Just then, the front door burst wide open and made me jump off of Natsu in a hurry.

"WE'RE BACK!" Lisanna roared as she brought in two folding chairs, "We had to get these from downstairs so we all don't sit on the floor, is the food ready yet?"

"Nah, it's still in preparation," Natsu responded, his face back to normal as always.

"Really? We've been gone for so long though," Lisanna whined.

"It's only been 7 minutes or so, Liz," Natsu responded, turning around to the pot behind him.

Lisanna pouted, "That's still long though,"

I went over to the sink and splashed my face with water.

"Why did they have to come back now..." I thought to myself as I clenched my fists.

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To Be Continued