indicate /in-dih-kate/
v. point out; show

TWO WEEKS WENT by in a flash. Avelina had learned to adapt to being Adrik's sidekick. Wherever he went, so did Avelina. She became well-known throughout Adrik's business and managed to grow on everyone. Her kindness melted the hearts of even the cruelest at the workplace.

"Ms. Santos, Mr. Zolotov has requested your presence in his office," Zaria smiled. One person who wasn't as bad she seemed was Zaria. After a while, she grew to actually being kind of nice.

"Okay, I'll be there in just a second," Avelina told her. Just as Zaria nodded her head and began to exit the room, Avelina stood up and cleared her voice.

"Hey, Zaria-real quick question," she spoke. Zaria raised a brow of patience. Her smile slowly growing on her features.

"You were kind of off on the first day we met. Why was that-did I do something to upset you?" Avelina questioned, her mind surfing over the memories of the first day at Adrik's casino.

"I was having a bad day. Me and my fiancé had gotten into a huge argument, and when I saw you, I thought you were going to steal my job," she spoke softly followed by a sigh.

"I'm sorry," Avelina responded, suddenly feeling guilty. She had no clue why she felt guilty, but couldn't ignore the blue feeling that overwhelmed her heart.

"What are you sorry for?" Zaria laughed out, once again, she turned towards the door, "boss doesn't like tardiness. Tick-tock, Ms. Santos."

Avelina nodded her head before following Zaria out of the room just as they were their separate ways.

As she was making her way to Adrik's floor, she waved at a few of the employees who politely waved back.

When she made it Adrik's office, she was immediately welcomed by his familiar masculine scent. The second her eyes found his, her face seemed to light up.

"Adrik, you've requested my presence," Avelina smiled as she made her way closer to him.

"Yes, we have a wedding to attend tomorrow. Jordan Dean will be arriving in precisely five minutes to do your measurements," Adrik told her before sitting down in his chair behind his desk. Avelina walked over to him and sat down on top of his desk near the edge. She noticed the way he seemed to cringe but didn't do anything to move her. He hated anything being out of place, and her body on his desk wasn't the best sight in the world.

"Measurements for a dress? Am I allowed to see what this dress or whatever it is, will look like?" She asked. He looked off for a moment before turning his attention to his computer.

"No," he answered her. She smiled brightly just before jumping down from his desk and walking behind him. It felt instinctive the way her head leaned down just to make contact with his as her arms would circle his neck.

"Everything about today has been so perfect," Avelina smiled as she breathed in his scent once more.

"Today has hit an all-time high surpassing 102 degrees whereas yesterday was only 100. This is only based on opinion, but yesterday was more preferable of weather compared to today. That also depends on t-"

"Adrik, you're so cute," she laughed, removing her arms from around his neck. He was quick to pull her arms back to where they were as he leaned back slightly.

"Cute?" He questioned. She couldn't help but nod her head with a huge smile playing out on her face.

Suddenly, the door opened leaving Avelina to pull away from Adrik. He didn't seem bothered at all.

"Oop, my bad, was I interrupting something?" A man asked. He had short tightly coiled pink hair. The caramel of his skin managed to glow as the light bounced off his model-like features.

"Uh, no, not at all. Um, who are you?" Avelina asked. She quickly realized how dumb of a question it was the moment she asked it. Adrik had just told her that he was coming.

"Jordan. You must be Avelina," he laughed. She nodded her head and slowly made her way over to him, unaware of what to do.

"And you must be Adrik. You are so much hotter in person," he waved, wiggling his fingers. Adrik was looking down at his desk, but Avelina knew he had heard Jordan's words.

Avelina chuckled slightly. She was loving the energy the man was shedding off. It was so much positivity and fun.

"Oop, sorry girl, I forgot that's your man," he said, walking over to a stool that was perched in the middle of Adrik's office. She didn't even realize it was there.

Nervousness clouded her mind at the thought of Adrik being right in front of her while she got her measurements done. They shared many intimate moments, but she didn't want things to be awkward. Especially since a man would be touching every nook and cranny of her body right in front of him.

Shaking her head, she rid herself of her overthinking habits. Then, her mind swam back to what Jordan had just said.

"He's not my 'man'. I'm just his caregiver," Avelina told him despite the guilt that weighed down on her words. It didn't feel right to say that when it kind of only felt half true. Her eyes swooped over to Adrik to see that he had already been looking at her.

"He's not your man, huh? Well, you do realize measurements require taking off your clothes, and it says here that we're supposed to be doing your measurements in this very office. So, 'caregiver', do you always get undressed in front of the sexy macho man?" He asked raising a brow before grabbing onto her hand and walking her closer to the stool. A burning sensation crept up to her cheeks, alerting her that she was supporting a huge blush.

"It's okay. I would, too," Jordan winked. Avelina couldn't help but chuckle slightly just before shaking her head. As much as she wanted to deny his accusation of getting undressed in front of Adrik, she knew it would be dishonest seeing as she had gotten undressed in front of Adrik a total of five times-four of them was completely his fault.

"I have to take off everything?" Avelina questioned. Jordan shook his head as he walked over to the case he had brought.

"Aw, you are so cute. No, you only need to take off your shirt, shoes, and pants," he answered from behind his back. Avelina nodded her head in response. She moved her hands over to her slightly tight dress pants just before taking off her shirt. She was left in only her plain black bra and matching underwear.

"Okay, please stand up on that stool, Miss Avelina," Jordan told her. She stood on it, facing Adrik. She noticed the way his eyes held her's as she perched herself on the block like she were on a pedestal. It left a chill to run down her spine seeing that he never managed to look away. She couldn't even bring herself to break the fiery eye contact.

"This is awkward," Avelina whispered to herself as Jordan began to measure her body.

"Not necessarily, sweetheart, I've experienced much worse," the man chuckled out just as Adrik stood up from his seat. He pushed the chair from under him and allowed his dress shoes to create a soft echo as he walked. His hands were inside of his pockets before he grasped his sunglasses and placed them on his face.

"You're leaving?" Avelina asked. Her shoulders fell as she realized she was confusing herself once more. It was inappropriate for him to stay, but at the sane time, she didn't want him to leave.

Biting down on her lip, she gazed into his covered eyes.

"I will come find you after Jordan and I are finished," Avelina smiled, trying to cover up her unprofessionalism by being more polished and business-like.

Adrik didn't say a thing as he opened his office door and walked out. The second he was gone, all the tension followed him out the door. She finally felt like she could inhale and exhale without all the blockage of nerves.

"Mm, honey, you got it bad," Jordan chuckled. Avelina scoffed playfully before turning her attention to the man measuring every nook and cranny of her body.

"No, I-I don't. I just take a personal liking to him. He's so inspiring-his honesty, courageousness, dedication-it's impossible not to look at that man and smile," she smiled, "you know?"

"'No, I-I don't,'" Jordan mocked her words jokingly. Avelina only smiled in response. She already liked Jordan mainly because of the waves of friendliness that shed off of him.

"Shoot, I'm not judging you. I would be in la-la-land thinking about his fine a*s, too," he said, raising a brow as he looked into Avelina's eyes. She knew he wasn't wrong about Adrik being a really attractive man. Sometimes she had to force herself to look away from him.

"I'm not in la-la-land. Come on, I work for him. That would be very unprofessional of me," she whispered the last part more to herself. Avelina couldn't help but sigh as she realized that she only kept telling herself that in an attempt to convince herself. Deep down, she felt like it was something more than just an employer and an employee. It was deeper than that, but it wasn't allowed.

"Girl, you say 'unprofessional' more than I say 'clothes'. I must be urine swimming around in a flushing toilet if you expect me to believe that there is something professional between you two. You almost just got booty-butt-naked in front of him like it was normal. Let's not forget to mention, when I walked in, it looked like you were about to throw him on his desk and devour that d*ck like it was a hotdog wrapped in a bun, honey," Jordan told her, making her cheeks burn in embarrassment.

She didn't know if she should laugh or continue to freeze up. Her mouth was left slightly ajar as she thought back to the moment Jordan had just walked in on her and Adrik having. She didn't realize she was being so obvious.

"I was not," Avelina scoffed, finally speaking up. He gave her a pointed look in response just before pulling away and writing her measurements down on a notepad.

"It's not my business, but honey, men like that don't wait around," he winked just before turning around and heading back over to his bag. Avelina thought about Jordan's words. She tried to imagine Adrik with a different woman and just couldn't.

"No woman would ever be able to understand Adrik the way I do," Avelina said suddenly. Jordan smiled at her in response. He then reached down to hand her clothes back to her. She only then realized that she was still half-naked.

"I will be bringing your dress to your home in the morning at ten. See you tomorrow, honey," Jordan said just before walking up to Avelina and planting an air-kiss on both sides of her face.

"Bye, Jordan. It was lovely meeting you," she smiled warmly. He returned her smile wholeheartedly just before gathering his things and exiting the office, leaving Avelina in there all alone.

She quickly placed on her pants, but she wasn't fast enough because the door swung open. Avelina's heart was quick to drop to her feet as a shriek escaped her. The sight of Johnathan entering the room with his jaw dropping only added onto her embarrassment.

"Oh, uh, woah, sorry. I was looking for the boss," He muttered before quickly turning around so his back faced Avelina. She took the opportunity to continue getting dressed with a deep blush coating her cheeks.

"Well, he's obviously not in here," Avelina said calmly despite how she really was feeling. She had to let out a sigh just to ease her frustration.

Just as she was buttoning up her shirt, the door opened again only this time, Adrik walked in. She recalled what Adrik had done to Johnathan when he had only asked her out, she didn't want to find out what he would do after seeing Avelina and Johnathan's awkward encounter.

"Get out," Adrik spoke. Her eyes widened as she looked over at him only to see that he was speaking to Johnathan. She couldn't recall the last time Adrik had spoken in front of Johnathan despite the time she had first met him. Only then, everything Adrik said was in Russian.

"Boss-" he began but was quickly cut off as Adrik pulled open the door to indicate that Adrik didn't want to hear another word. Smirking, Johnathan threw down a piece of paper before storming out of the room.

"Adrik," Avelina called out only to watch as he made his way back to his seat behind his desk.

Letting out a sigh, she walked over to the piece of paper Johnathan had left behind. Her eyebrows came together as she unfolded the piece of paper to see a name scribbled on it in the most ugliest handwriting. Narrowing her eyes, she managed to make it out.

"Vincent Santos. Adrik, who is Vincent Santos and why did Johnathan just leave behind a paper with his scribbled name on it?" Avelina asked, chuckling slightly before dropping the paper down on Adrik's desk. He looked at the paper before crumbling it up in his hand and throwing it in a trashcan.

"Vincent is a male that I have been looking for to help solve a problem of mine. Johnathan left his name behind because Johnathan is nothing but an immature child incapable of just a speck of intelligence," Adrik answered. Avelina opened her mouth to ask more but decided against it. The vibes Adrik was shedding off wasn't the most positive.

"Are you okay?" She questioned, walking towards him.

"No," he answered honestly. She let out a sigh before plopping herself down on his desk once more.

"Oh?" Avelina queried. "What's bothering you?"

"Jonathan was aware that I was not present in my office. He also knew of the fact you were in here getting measured," he said, clenching his fist. Avelina's eyebrow rose as she processed his words. Johnathan must've thought he was slick.

"Well, he's creepy," Avelina muttered.

"He is also unemployed. As of today, he no longer works for me. Please be sure to notify him," Adrik told her. She slowly nodded her head before standing up and walking towards the door. Just as she was about to pull it open, she froze.

"What will happen to me then?" She questioned.

"You work for me, Avelina. You have never worked for Johnathan. Believe me when I say that you are staying."

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