I ONLY NODDED. I don't trust my voice when I'm around guys this cute. I kept staring at him as he smiled lopsidedly at me, looking me down.

"Can I help you?" I snapped at him, not that impressed by his behavior as with his looks.

"Hmm. I was around and saw you sitting here all by yourself," he said, glancing over the dance floor with the various stage lights dancing around.

"And I'm supposed to care because?"

The guy looked over to me and narrowed his sparkly grey eyes at me. "Dance with me."

I let out a laugh. "You must be out of your fucking mind. How do you know my name?"

Who does he think he is, coming up to me and offering a dance so confidently? Might as well buy me a cocktail while we're at it.

"Oh, my manners flew out the window," he smiled, putting his hand between us. "I'm Mason."

"I am the girl that's not impressed by your hitting-on skills, so please move on." I wave him off, glancing away.

"Oh, wow," The guy nodded and chortled as he shrugged and stood off his chair. Good. He's leaving. "Didn't know I was gonna be straight up rejected. But, anyway, congratulations on the promotion."

"Tha-," My lips parted and I frowned at him. "How did you...?"

"I'll see you around, Unimpressed Girl."

Needless to say, I stared him down as he disappeared into the crowd and had to shake my head to refrain from flipping him off in the day of celebrating my promotion. I am not going to let some stranger ruin my mood. How did he know my name, though? That was kind of really creepy, actually.

Belle came siren-ing towards me a minute later with a glass of vodka in her hand. "Hey, girlie!"

"Belle," I breathed a sigh of relief as I took in her relaxed posture. Not that Belle ever looked stressed or anything. "Well, you look like you're having fun."

She gave me a look and raised the drink in her hand in a toast before she paused. "And you don't. Where's your celebratory spirit at, huh?"

I rolled my eyes but grinned as she signaled for the bartender to get me a glass of alcohol. Too soon, I was on my third drink and sweaty with too much dancing activity. Belle literally kept swinging her hips the entire time, to every freaking song -and even if there was no song playing, she's out there, swaying those hips. I tipped my head back and laughed at her, unintentionally glimpsing a serious-faced Harry talking with another guy, a guy that looked familiar. I frowned and stopped to watch as I realized it was the guy that was supposedly hitting on me earlier.

The fact that they were walking out of The Violet together was just as strange as Harry looking not even a bit drunk. I leaned towards Belle to practically yell in her ear that I'd be right back before I went for Harry.

Once the cold breeze of air hit me outside, though, I almost stumbled back from the goosebumps deciding to suddenly appear all over me. I shivered, muttering under my breath.

"Flower, what are you doing out here?" Harry's voice comes from behind me, like he'd just gotten out of the club. He looked around then at me, worriedly.

"I thought I saw you..." I trailed off, stopping mid-sentence before I shook my head and smiled. "Nevermind, I'm starting to get really drunk."

Harry laughed. "Fuck yeah. It's your day, Editor."

I beamed up at him. "We still have work tomorrow, though. And why aren't you drinking?"

"I'm the one who'll have to drive your ass back to your flat, aren't I?" He rolled his eyes and I copied him. "And we'll have to worry about that later. I'll get you a gallon of coffee tomorrow morning and, there, problem solved."

•••

It wasn't problem solved.

I felt like a vampire having some killer hearing senses that I heard everything a hundred times louder and even more irritating. I hate the aftermath of having fun with a little alcohol. Well, little can mean a lot of things...

"Hey, Barbie," Jared, one of the new interns this year, calls me the second he sees me. I never know why he calls me that, and weirdly I don't remember questioning it. "Are you alright?"

"My name's Fiorella," I snap at him unintentionally, my head hurting like hell. "Why do you call me Barbie all the damn time?"

"Whoops, someone partied too hard last night," Kade barely looks up from his computer screen as I slump down on my own chair.

Belle gave Kade a look that he completely ignored before she comforted me with a smile. "Harry's skipping today, isn't he?"

"No," I sigh, throwing the empty plastic coffee cup in the trash bin and logging into my laptop. "He went to get me some more coffee."

"Gosh, you guys are goals." Jess gushed and I rolled my eyes. Before I could open my mouth and snap at her, she says, "I know you aren't a couple, but you're a thing and you're goals."

Belle laughs when she sees my facepalm expression, because God only knows how many times I heard that word. Goals. Pfft.

"Jess, I know you're new and you don't know how it works around here," Kade chortles, "but you better not say that G word again." He leans forward on his desk a bit and whisper-yells as if I won't hear, "She hates it."

"Can you guys shut up? I'm about ready to kill someone," I warn them with a groan, having them laugh and Jared pretend to seal his lips.

Just as everyone returns back to their work, Harry enters the little workspace we're all huddled in with a steamy cup of coffee in his hand and a pill of what I assume is Advil.

"Oh, thank God," I breathe out and take them from him, sliding the Advil with some water first.

"You feeling any better, love?" Harry asks as he takes a seat on the extra chair we have around for visitors, which happen to always be him.

"No," I grumpily say, rubbing my head. Harry reaches over and starts rubbing the top of my skull like he always does when I have a headache.

"Do you have heavy work today? I was thinking we should sign out early," he suggests. "Watch some Teen Wolf?"

I smiled knowingly at him. "I would love that, but I have a ton of shit to get done with before I'm moved to the new office and all that."

"Oh, right. When is that happening?"

I scroll through my emails and nod at the screen when I find the one. "Tomorrow or after. Yendor is still figuring out which floor they're settling me in."

Harry hummed and watched me work and reply to emails for a few minutes before he got bored and left, telling me to make sure I hit him up if I need anything. Just as he's leaving, I catch Jess staring at his back for longer than normal and I glare at her, which she notices and chooses to ignore.

By the end of the day, I've had far too many coffee to ever count as healthy and I'm beyond tired. After I'm done packing my stuff and logging off, Connor catches up with me as I'm waiting for the lift.

"Fiorella. Hey," he greets awkwardly, sweating a little.

I smile a little. "Hi, Connor. How are you?"

"I'm fine, thanks for asking. I've heard the news, congrats!"

I flinched. He was speaking awfully loud -looking flustered- and I was this close from yelling at someone. "Thank you," I tell him just as the lift dings it arrival. We both get in and I let him press on the ground floor button.

"So how do you feel about it?" Connor asks as we were lifted downwards. "The promotion."

"Thrilled, really," I smile at him, nodding. My head is about to explode. I wish Harry hadn't left without me. He'd texted me twenty minutes earlier, telling me he was about to head out, and I told him to wait up for me before he heads home.

"And how's the new office working for you?"

"Erm, I still haven't seen it yet."

"Oh, how come? I heard they were emptying multiple offices, they surely have a place for you."

"Yeah, I know," I rubbed my head, clenching down on my teeth. "But I still haven't moved yet."

"Ah, right." Connor paused as the lift dings our arrival and I let out a sigh, walking out and slipping my phone out of my pocket to find Harry.

That guy was hot on my heels, though.

"Hey, I was meaning to ask you..." Connor started as I stopped outside the Yendor building, glad to see the sun still up. More sleep for me. I turned to Bentley as he continued, "Would you maybe like to have coffee with me tomorrow?"

I looked around me and tried to put on a kind smile. "Erm... I don't know, Connor."

"I can drop by your office during lunch time and-" His sentence was cut off by Harry's motorbike shrieking when it stops beside us. I let out a sigh of relief and turned to Connor.

"Sorry, I need to go. We can continue this later?"

He smiles politely and keeps glancing at Harry, who was handing me a helmet. "Sure," he says.

"I'll see you," I say, strapping my helmet on and hopping on the bike behind Harry. I wrapped my arms around him before we sped off through the New York streets like a bat out of hell. One thing that makes me frown is what Harry smelled of.

When he finally stops at our apartment building, I have a chance to take the heavy helmet off and hop off the damned bike, looking at Harry accusingly. He looked like he couldn't catch up as he was still straddling the bike and looking at me curiously.

"What did you do when you got off work?" I tried to ask calmly.

"What?" Harry furrowed his eyebrows. "I waited for you-"

"No, I meant what did you smoke?"

•••
note:
hey! i hope you're loving perpetual so far. i don't know where i'm taking this story tbh but i love writing it and i enjoy going with the flow with stories like this.
vote and comment!
tell me what you think, always truly appreciated.
love, ness. xx