Ava

The next morning wasn't how I'd expected my first day at work to go. I'd woken up late, so I didn't have time for breakfast. Molly had given me an earful for missing breakfast, but I'd grabbed a donut from the pantry and left in a hurry. The traffic didn't help my situation either. When I went flying through the doors of my soon to be office, I was a breath away from kissing the ground had I not held the door tightly. My hair was a mess because of the marathon I'd just ran from the parking lot to here, and I'd never felt this sleepy in my life before. Well, that's what I get for getting shit faced drunk the night before.

All of the employees were standing at the entrance, waiting for me. Their eyes were wide when they saw my condition, some even whispered among themselves. I clenched my fists, clearing my throat. "Good morning, everyone. I'm Ava Thompson, and since Mrs Collins has retired, I will be in charge of the Las Vegas business starting today-"

"You're junior partner." A voice interrupted my speech. I blinked when I registered a man scowling at me. He appeared to be in his late forties, with a bulging stomach and balding head. "Why did they give us a junior partner? We need someone experienced."

"I assure you-"

"I don't need your assurance. This is outrageous. Does the head office not care about the Vegas department that they sent a kid to supervise us?"

"Robert!" The woman beside him hissed and pulled his arm.

I stared at the man for a few seconds, taking slow steps inside the building. It was big, probably thirty stories high. Nothing compared to the New York office, but unique in its own way. There were fewer employees though. Only a couple of handful. "Robert, is it?" I walked in front of him. "Do you want me to repeat my degree to you? Do you doubt the board so much that you think they'll send someone incapable to supervise you? Actually, I'm not here to supervise. I'm just someone who will report the progress to the head office. I'm an employee, and I expect all of you treat me as an employee. Not your boss."

Robert's scowl deepened if that was even possible, but when the woman beside him dug her nails in his arm, he didn't say anything. 

"How long have you worked for Smiths, Robert?" I asked him.

"Ten years." He spat out. "And I-"

"I've worked in Smiths for three. They still made me a partner, junior or not. What about you?" I raised an eyebrow when he didn't say anything. 

Then I turned to the entire crowd. "I'm not here to be your enemy. You're all going to be my colleagues and I respect each one of you. That being said, excuse my language, I won't take anybody's shit. Ever. I appreciate constructive criticism, I welcome it. But I don't tolerate hate without a reason. I'm your employee as long as we maintain a mutual respect. But if you overstep your boundaries I will have no option but to take action, even if I don't want to."

Some nodded, some whispered, some didn't do anything. I smiled, "Alright, off to work. We got lots to do today."

I walked inside the building without another word. I'd been told my office was on the top most floor and I was excited to see it. My boss had told me it was bigger than my previous one, and my previous one had been big enough. So when I turned the knob to my office, my mouth hung open. It was beautiful and it was so much more than what I'd expected. Black and white, a huge window giving me the best view of the city. I stood at my door, gulping, trying to absorb it all.

"Miss Thompson? Is everything okay?" I heard someone ask from behind me. It turned out to be short woman, pixie cut hair and a warm smile on her face. One look and I liked her. "I'm Brenda, by the way. I sit at the reception."

"Good morning, Brenda. It's a pleasure to run into you. Please call me Ava, though."

Her smile widened and she nodded. "Ava. What can I get you? We have coffee, tea-"

"An iced coffee, please. No cream." I smiled as she turned around and walked away. Taking a deep breath, I walked into my office. It was mostly empty, waiting for me to fill it up and make it mine. My laptop sat on the table, the only familiar thing in this unfamiliar room.

I heard the sound of footsteps and I turned around, hoping to get my coffee, but it was an entirely different woman than Brenda. She appeared younger, probably my age, and was accompanied by a guy. "You were bomb out there!"

I scrunched my eyebrows. "Excuse me?"

The guy nudged his elbow into her stomach. "That should not be your first sentence to someone, Kira." Then he turned to me and gave me his hand to shake. "Keith Miller. This is my sister, Kira. What she meant was-" 

"I meant you were bomb! You should've seen Rob's face after you left. Priceless. I'm sorry about him though. He's a hard ass to everyone, but once you get to know him he warms up."

"I don't care if he hates me." I replied to her. "I'm not here to be loved by anyone. My personality is something someone either entirely loves, or entirely hates. There's no in between."

"I love it! The entire girl boss bitchy vibes. We're twins, can you tell that?" She asked excitedly, cupping his face and pushing it closer to hers. "I work in the sales dep, by the way. Just wanted to drop by and say hi to you. I'll get going. Bye!"

I watched her disappear with my eyebrows raised, shaking my head, smiling softly.

"Yeah, she gets a bit too excited sometimes." Keith said to me. "Everyone respects you. You're junior partner at twenty six, that's not something you get on a silver platter. Everyone's just a bit hesitant. We don't like change that much."

I nodded. "That's understandable. I'll try my best to not change the ways. But I do have my own way of working and-"

"That's alright. Change is good sometimes. We're all hoping this one falls into that category." He smiled. "Anyway, I'll see you later. Have a good day."

"You too."

Work hours were till five in the evening. I bid goodbyes to whoever I could see, and I was grateful they all smiled and wished me back. My boss had sent me here with many aspirations and I didn't wish to disappoint her. I didn't care if my employees didn't like me as a person, but if that affected work, it mattered. I didn't want that.

I'd asked Jett for the address to a gym. It had been a few days since I'd worked out and it made me itch. I was used to working out. So I followed the maps to come face to face with what appeared to be something really fancy. I was still in work clothes, and I grabbed my bag, making my way inside. The lady at the reception looked up when I entered, and raised an eyebrow. "Are you a member?"

"No-"

"Ava?" Elias. It was him. He was behind me but I'd heard that voice whisper my name so many times I didn't need any confirmation. "What are you doing here?"

"What do people do at a gym?" I asked him when he walked in front of me.

He raised an eyebrow, his eyes giving me off a message that froze me. He wasn't impressed by my answer, but not surprised either. "She's with me. Let her in."

The receptionist nodded and motioned me to go ahead. Elias walked beside me, his shoulder touching mine, which he didn't acknowledge, but didn't move either. "Do you come here a lot?"

"A regular." He nodded. "How was work?"

"Surprising. Some like me, some don't."

"They don't know you yet." Some people came to give him a high five and he smiled at them. They looked at me with a confused expression, but then got back to their work. He motioned me to a hallway. "There's the changing rooms. I'll see you in a few?"

I nodded and walked towards the direction he'd pointed. Changing into a pair of yoga pants and a sports bra, I grabbed the water bottle from my bag, putting it on the ground where I saw others, then walked outside. Elias was lifting weights when my eyes collided with his form, and my mouth parted. It had been months since I'd seen him work out, but I remembered how sexy he looked. Still, this was so much better than my imagination.

I walked over to the treadmill first. I was in the mood for cardio today. People didn't bother me. I didn't know if it was because I seemed too into my workout, or because of Elias. He didn't approach me the whole time as well. Only when I walked over to sip from my water bottle, I heard him behind me. "Good?"

"Mhm."

"Crunches?" 

I turned around, biting back a smile. "The usual?"

He walked to the centre of the room where a mat was kept, running a hand through his hair and lying down, lifting up his knees, placing his feet on the mat. Then he tilted his head and looked at me. I bit my lower lip, standing up and walking in front of him. Keeping the front of my feet on his toes, I bent down and rested my hands on his knees. "Four sets of twenty five each."

He lifted up his body with an ease that left me breathless. We had worked out with each other a million times, but the way he did everything so proficiently still surprised me every time. "Ten sets of twenty five each, amor."

I raised an eyebrow. He didn't break a sweat by the time he finished. Our eyes had never left each other the whole time, and an unspoken emotion had passed in both of ours. There was something going on between us. There was no point denying that anymore. If he was able to leave me panting just by a look, I knew it was something. 

He got up on his own. "Your turn."

"I'm not doing crunches today."

"Why?"

"Cardio."

"Cardio's too easy. For you." He said. 

I scoffed. "I don't want difficult all the time."

He shifted closer to me, sneaking his arms around my waist, flattening his palms on my ass and pulling me against his chest. I gasped inaudibly at the sudden move. His palms grabbed a chunk of my ass and squeezed until I moaned and gripped his arms. He tilted my chin up with his forefinger. His eyes were smouldering when they met mine, anger along with a hint of smugness on his face. "Did you just roll your eyes at me, Ava?"

-⍣-

*clears throat* Uhm, so yeah, we all know what's gonna happen now.

I had a maths exam this morning and it absolutely sucked but I think I did well? I don't know lmao, they asked some weird ass questions and now I'm starting to understand why people don't like maths. Calculus SUCKS.