Chapter 40

Chapter 40
Nyra's POV

"Looks like you're my match after all," the deep voice whispered in my ear.

Holding a glass of wine, I had to be at the office gathering for our recent victory. The place smelt like sweat
and cologne, and it made me nauseous. I was happy that I had been selected, but
moments like this made me wish it would last.

Which was undeniably impossible.

“Oh hey,” I said curtly, as I
turned to meet the eyes of Finn, his creamy shirt and tailored trousers, the
smile he held and everything else that made him a gentleman.

I wondered how he found me even
when I sneaked off to the far end of whatever they were doing.

“Congratulations Miss Fisher, not
everyone can impress such an exquisite brand with drawings.” There was still
this smile on his face that made me turn away from him even as he got
comfortable on the high stool beside me.

“Well, I guess the universe feels
like being generous today," I started to say.

“Trust me, if it's about the
universe, then my sun sign says I should be extremely lucky this time of the
month," he sipped. “But guess who I lost too," he winked at me.

I forced a smile once again, his
presence made me nervous in a way, that I wanted to ignore him till he left and
along with his curiosity that I smelt from afar, it made my body tense up, just
having him around.

Taking a small sip while trying
to ignore his presence, I felt him suddenly move closer enough to whisper into
my ear.

“Do you fancy parties?”

He asked, but I shook my head in
response, dreading the next question that could come in.

“Hmm, me neither. I am too
uptight with work that I have no time for such…. But I made an exception
today.”

He looked directly at me while
saying it and I met his eyes, innocent and curious.

“Why?” I asked

“To talk to you,” he replied
almost immediately.

All my life, I had only ever been
maltreated, rejected, treated with disregard. Having someone genuinely
interested in what I had to say was more than expected.

Though it was no new knowledge of
how gullible humans could be, most times, it felt satisfying to play along.

“I mean, we are friends now and
friends talk to each other," he added, bothered by my silence.

“Mr Walker…

“Please, call me Finn,” he
corrected, and I nodded in agreement.

“Finn,” I said. “You really don't
have to be nice to me.”

My voice seemed like a whisper,
but he heard because there was suddenly a small smirk on his face.

“I know, right?” He replied, then
looked away for a brief moment. “But I do have to be nice to someone who's
going to be designing for Vogue soon enough.”

His reply made me chuckle
lightly, how carefree he was and how easily he turned everything into something
to laugh about.

“So, tell me, I hear you're
living with Miss Fiona.”

This was one of the topics I
didn't want to talk about. I didn't want my victory to be tied to Fiona's
status. In fact, it was like a past trauma to always be defined by the value of
other people.

But here, I was starting afresh
and didn't want to let it happen.

“Yes, I am, but she's my boss,
and we need it that way.”

I told him.

“Keeping up with the boss and
employee relationship even behind closed doors? That's awkward.”

“Not to me,” I said, distracting
myself by sipping from my glass again.

“Hmm, did you know I love the
texture of your hair?”

Huh?

I furrowed my brows

“My hair? But you haven't…” I
stopped.

“Felt your hair before?” he
started, then reached for the hair across my face and brushed it back behind my
ear. “Just did.”

Biting the end of my lips, I
opened my mouth to say something, but the sound of my name interrupted me.

“Oh, hey Tina,”

Ella sang.

“I've been looking everywhere for
you”, hooking her arm across mine, she urged me to stand up and that I did.

“Excuse me," I told Finn
before leaving his sight and followed Ella to another side of the restaurant.

I was suddenly relieved that Ella
had come along. I went with her willingly even though it was the same gathering
I had excluded myself from. It was much better than being around Finn.

“Please tell me something's going
on between both of you, office romances are the best…” she said, draping her
arm around my shoulders.

“... Nothing is going on," I
made a face as I cut her off. “He's just taking the whole welcome to the office
energy too far. Don't forget he spilled coffee on me the other day.”

“Oh pleaseeee," she smiled
sheepishly at me, pulling me closer till I noticed the faint smell of alcohol.

She was drunk.

We both sat down around a table,
where she crossed both her legs and said:

“Finn is a darling, helps out
with almost everything.”

“Exactly!”

I almost screamed out. He was too
innocent to pick interest in a wolf.

“Then he should look for someone
who needs help.”

“Not his fault he fell for you
instead”, laughing hysterically till she coughed and coughed. Suddenly, she
pushed me from her and turned to the other side to throw up everything she had
drunk and eaten since today.

“Are you okay?” I tried to reach
out to her to help her calm down, but she turned back to me and smeared
whatever came out of her mouth on my shirt.

I stood there, reeking of
something stale and regretting why I even came to the gathering.

As I watched them taking Ella
away, I knew I had to go back home, but I had spent my money on wine since I
didn't want the alcohol.

Picking up my phone from my bag,
I dialed the only person I could think of.

“Um Fiona, can you come to pick
me up?