Here's something that had been gathering dust on my computer.
Based on the following prompt: "I have been driving for the last 5 hours and all I want is some god damn beef jerky, so GET YOUR HAND OFF THE LAST PACKAGE ON THE SHELF YOU MAY BE HANDSOME STRANGER, BUT NO ONE IS STANDING IN BETWEEN ME AND THAT SALTY SNACK". I tweaked it a little but still hope you like it ^^
It started with granola bars.
That was something Thiana was absolutely sure.
It had not been a big twist of fate, nor a dashing encounter that led to love at first sight.
Actually, when she first met E. Aster Bunnymund she was ready to topple him down and bite at his jugular. And she was going to do just that if he didn't put that damn granola bars back to the shelf where it belonged.
Ooo Three years ago ooO
"But what do you mean that I have to do the presentation?" Thiana asked, holding her phone to her ear with her shoulder and typing up her report. "That's Gabrielle and Joan's job!"
"Their skills are more useful somewhere else. I need them to take care of the Warren project" The voice on the other end said.
"But I need them to do the presentation or it'll set me back too much and the reunion is tomorrow!" She exclaimed. "I'm already juggling with the expense report you asked and the charts."
"Then I suggest you get back to work." Her boss said curtly and hang up.
She stared at her phone as the rage slowly started to bubble inside her. Her boss: Adam. That self-centered son of a...flea-ridden monkey!
She had never liked him but everything went to hell the moment she threatened to denounce him to HR for workplace harassment if he ever tried to lay a hand on her again. After that he had decided to make her pay for rejecting his advances every time he could. Making her do extra work was by far the harmless thing, if she counted his disgusting commentaries and insinuations when she was around.
She sighed and leaned forward, using her arm as a pillow. She almost felt like screaming her lungs out in frustration.
Thiana got up and walked to the main bedroom and peek inside, smiling at snoring sounds of her three little sisters from her bed. Without waking them up she covered them with the blanket they had already kicked to the floor in their sleep and closed the door.
Well, yet another night of little sleep. On top of that, her stomach decided to remind her that it still existed and that it refused to go on without being appeased.
She was certain that there were no more leftovers on her fridge so her last resource was the stash of treats hidden on the upper shelf of the kitchen cupboard. Stretching as much as she could, her hand felt the way to where her box of granola bars was and when feeling the cardboard box she grinned.
Unfortunately, her happiness was short-lived for when she opened it, she found it empty.
Looking at how many plastic wrappers were sticking out of the trash bin, she should have probably seen it coming.
Not a single store in her neighborhood was open at 3 am. Now that's completely understandable for any reasonable person, but Thiana was completely far from that at this point.
She was sleepy, cranky, hungry and after way too many cups of coffee she felt her hands were shaking a little. And there were no more freaking granola bars in her entire apartment. Not a single one.
And when any other person would simply go on without them, she was having none of that crap. She probably was too fixated on it, but once she was this frustrated and tired, there was no satisfying her until she got what she wanted.
She wanted granola bars, and she was getting granola bars!
When unable to sleep, E. Aster Bunnymund usually went for a jog. It helped with the creative block and to expend some of the pent up energy, and after beating his own personal record, he was feeling pretty good about himself.
Everything was better at this hour, when the streets were almost deserted and the city was quieter.
Spotting a 24 hour store, he decided to pick up some stuff before going back home.
The middle-aged store clerk barely looked up from his magazine when the slide doors opened to him and Bunny quickly navigated the aisles for a box of cereal, some milk and other basic groceries. And when he was almost sure he had everything and started to make his way to the register when a colorful box caught his eyes.
Granola bars. Now that he thought about it he should have some of those lying around in his apartment when in need of a snack.
But when he finally grabbed the last pack a rather strident voice was heard.
"I have not been driving for some damn granola bars this past hour for someone to take them, so GET YOUR HAND OFF THE LAST PACKAGE ON THE SHELF! YOU MAY BE HANDSOME, BUT NO ONE IS STANDING IN BETWEEN ME AND MY SNACKS!"
When he turned around he saw a petite woman with a rather disheveled and tired appearance. He is quite tall in comparison to her but the tiny woman looks more than ready to tackle him down and snatch the package from his hand, if the fire blazing in her eyes is something to go by.
"What are you..."
"Give me the box"
Had she really almost growled at him? Geez, this woman was crazy.
But before she had to repeat herself, he decided to comply with the vicious little menace she appeared to be and surrendered the box to her. With a quick swat, she took the box, payed for it and disappeared on her car.
He was fixed to his spot as he watched her leave.
'Well, that was something.'
4pm and Thiana was restraining herself from hugging the coffee machine and never letting it go. She was sure that consuming this amount of the bitter beverage had to be detrimental to her health, but she really was dying to get another cup. Not even the all-nighters she had pulled in university had her like this.
She dragged her feet to the meeting room for the presentation of the Warren expansion process and groaned because the end of this day couldn't come any slower.
She pushed the door open and was received face first with her boss's scathing side-comments. "Glad that you decided to join the meeting, Miss Singh. Now can you please take your place so we can start?"
'You complete and utter ass.' She bit her tongue before those words could leave her mouth and decided that it wasn't worth it at the moment. Breathing in, she turned the projector on in an almost robotic demeanor and stood besides the screen without taking her eyes from her notes. She was a professional who knew how to do her job and no one could tell her otherwise. She could do this, after all she practically had to shoulder the whole project herself and take care of her siblings at the same time.
Now, a long bath and to spend some time with Madhuri, Kushi and Aishwarya at the end of the day was a promise that kept her going.
"Good morning," Her 'business voice' was on and she was ready to walk out of this meeting with a signed contract under her arm and enjoying the look on her boss's moronic face. "Before we begin I'd like...Oh!" She gasped when she saw the man that was sitting at the other end of the table.
'He's the guy from the store!' All red alerts were going off on her head and her high spirits for the end of this day seemed a long time ago. She might have been too hasty to look at finer details at that specific moment, but she recognized the man she had almost assaulted for a box of granola bars. Well, not assaulted per se but then and there she was more than ready to knock down some teeth in order to get her snacks.
And not only was he in the same room with her once more, but also he was the client that had hired her company for financial planning of the expansion of his bakery and that she had been working so hard on.
The man in question also seemed to recognize her and was still in his place with his emerald eyes wide open.
'I'm so dead.'
Adam cleared his throat and snapped her out of her trance. "May we continue, Miss Singh?"
"Yes! My apologies." She looked down at her notes, hoping that her heart beat would slow down to its original pace.
Gathering the shreds of her courage, she looked at the people on the meeting room. "As I was saying, before we begin I'd like for you to look at the folder in front of you."
It was certain that she would exit this room without a contract (and possibly without a job), but dammit, she was not leaving without a fight.
The second she found an ideal moment to leave the room, she took it by muttering and unintelligible excuse. The presentation was over and the client had decided that he needed a bit of time to think it over.
And her intuition told her that he was definitely not going to do such thing. At least he had been polite enough to not immediately report her to her boss for her disrespectful behavior last night.
Already making an inventory of the things she had to take with her when she was sacked, she didn't notice someone calling her until a big hand grabbed her arm.
"Miss Singh, wait!" A voice with an Australian accent brought her back to reality and made her turn around.
There he was.
Oh, she was so fired.
To say that Aster was dumbstruck was the biggest understatement ever possible.
Somehow, the image of the angry little woman had stayed with him and every now and then, she would sneak back to his thoughts. And he wasn't completely sure of what had left such an impression on him, but the undeniable fact that he had gone over their brief encounter many times still remained.
She had looked really angry, yes, but there was such a vivid spirit inside, ready to fight for what she wanted when out of resources. She had looked like she was about to knock him out and the idea amused him, considering the substantial height difference.
He had discarded the idea of meeting her again or even talk to her, but then she had appeared in that meeting room with a solid professional attitude and ready to jump into action.
The change in her expression when their eyes met and how hers grew incredibly big, told him she had recognized him too. Her deer-in-the-headlights expression looked kinda cute, though, he mused.
The way she bounced back, was also something that he didn't anticipated. Miss Singh had recovered from the shock almost immediately and slipped back into her business mode as if nothing had happened. Her modulated voice was practically the only one that was heard throughout the entire meeting. Every point of her presentation hit right on the spot and demonstrated how well versed she was in the subject.
Miss Singh even managed to got his full attention in the subject, when his knowledge and interest in the financial area were almost non-existent. Give him a kitchen and a tray of freshly-baked goods every day and he would be a happy man.
Aster was thankful he was able to see that fire from last night resurface on her eyes. But this time it was different. It was not in a threatening manner, but the determination and audacity told him that she was determined in her endeavor of defending her work till the last moment. And that made him hung to her every word the rest of the meeting.
The moment she had left the room, he knew he had to follow. The man muttered some excuse, mildly annoyed at the way her boss watched her retreating form and the derisive tone he had used when speaking to her, and quickly exited room to try to find the woman that had left such a unique impression on him.
And now that he had, he had no flipping idea of what to say.
"I'm so sorry!" She stared at the ground, and felt her cheeks burn with embarrassment. "I can't apologize enough for my behavior last night. I'm really sorry."
Now was the moment she had dreaded the instant they recognized each other. He probably was there to tell how he was going to report her to that rat of Adam and make her sorry for what she did.
Oh, how her boss would relish at this. He had been searching for another reason to make her life impossible, anyways. Thiana hated how much he would rub it on her face.
"I wanted to thank ya."
"I know, and I swear I would never- wait, what?"
"I wanted to thank you." He repeated, scratching the back of his head and trying to not show how nervous he was. "Your presentation was amazing and... I could tell how much effort you put into it. I've never seen someone so enthusiastic 'bout their job and I appreciate how much dedication you put into my shop."
As Thiana kept staring at Aster with a mixture of confusion and remorse, he gave a friendly smile. At the store, she had acknowledged he was good-looking, but now the daylight allowed her to see he was truly attractive. Eyes of a unique green color that shown like no one else's, blue-black hair and definitely rather muscular beneath that suit. Oh and his teeth!
Despite his rather handsome appearance, the way he was now was a bit comical. He was in front of her, all unsure of what to say and certainly wishing to be out of that business suit. It was obviously not what he was used to. The fabric looked rather worn out, but it was clean and gave him a really nice appearance. Right now, he was a little kid who had been forced into his nice clothes and she thought that the image was rather cute.
The young woman had seen the pictures of the bakery, and thought it looked so lovely and cozy. The way it was decorated and the different baked goods on the display cabinets, gave such a warm and comfortable vibe and she could see how much work and love the owner had put to create something like that. It made her feel like giving her very best to come up with a way of make others see it too.
"You're not angry at what happened last night?"
"I admit it surprised me a lot. But I'm sure ya had your reasons for acting that way." He chuckled. "Plus ya looked kinda threatenin' and I was always told to pick my battles wisely."
She bit her lip to stop herself from laughing. She sure looked scary last night.
"I would like for this project to happen." He said and he extended one hand. "Please, take care of my bakery. It's my life."
"Thank you." She smiled broadly and shook his hand in agreement, truly grateful for being given the chance. "Let's make it work."
And make it work they would.
ooO Present Day Ooo
Looking back, the whole situation looked like out from a bad comedy film but she admitted she wouldn't change even the tiniest detail.
It had been almost three years from that unusual encounter, three years full of ups and downs in which they had been thankful for the other's presence, and three years with reason to look for every moment spent together. Her sisters were completely elated by the tall guy that came to visit their big sister (man who also secretly brought them delicious cookies) and had become a common fixture among the Singhs.
So as Thiana watched said group sprawled around Aster, all sound asleep after watching a movie, she couldn't be more thankful to him for being at that store in the early hours of the morning.
Quickly looking down at her left hand, a smile spread across her face at the beautiful ring on it. A willow twist silver band with an oval cut emerald as center stone with two tiny diamonds on the sides.
The fact that he had proposed to her by going down on one knee and presenting first a granola bar package instead of the usual jewel box, made her laugh and they exchanged a secretive smile at the inside joke that no one else really understood. Then in a more serious but in no less lovingly way, he produced the ring from his pocket and slid it on her finger when she said yes.
In the end, it was true that all's well that ends well. And at least she had got granola bars out of the deal.
(The image I used for the ring is this one: : 236x/21/77/49/217749ae66c6a97b2041ffb6cebf826a. jpg. Just in case you wanted a better look)
Thanks for reading :D
Don't forget to R&R to let me know what you think.
And special thanks to sweettoothforever for her review and prompts. I'm trying my best to get better ^^