"WOW, YOU TWO are just unbelievable."

"Unbelievable?" I looked at Belle as she stared at me with feigned boredom as she sipped on her frappuccino. "What do you mean, unbelievable? He is unbelievable."

"Oh, sure," Belle says. "And you're the sane one here, with all those weird feelings and shit."

I grumbled. "Bee, don't make me regret venting to you. I just...it's been happening for a while."

"What is, realizing you have feeling for your best friend?" Belle deadpanned and I glared at her. I knew she would have enough and say those bloody words. I shook my head at her in annoyance as I looked away, taking a sip of my latte.

I was the one at fault here for trusting Belle not to assume that. Harry and I aren't anything more than friends. We have been since we made that vow.

"What are you doing now?" Belle rolled her eyes. "Feeding your subconscious about your friends-for-life pact with Harry?"

"Shut up, Belle," I sighed. "That's out of the picture, okay? I've been with Harry for years, don't you think I would have figured that out a while ago?"

Belle shrugged, her icy eyes looking at me curiously. "What was it that enticed those feelings again? Right, the jealousy you never had to experience when Harry's relationships were all one-night-stands. And when you thought he actually liked s-"

"Are you done?" I snapped. "This conversation is over now. Thanks for helping me, Bee."

"Hey," Belle sighed and shook her head. "I'm... Okay, I'm sorry. You're right."

"I don't want you to feel sorry," I frowned. "If it were that easy, to figure out I had feelings for Harry of some sort, I wouldn't have come to you. This is all just very confusing."

Feelings for Harry? I bet not. Harry is... Ugh, it has turned into a fucking mantra.

It's been a week, and all Harry's ever done is the same thing he's been doing for years. He'd drive me from and to work, when he's not sleeping it through. And he'd get me coffee and he stayed in with me on Friday.

All while, he never uttered about that girl. My mind was swimming with questions. Did he actually go to her parents'? Is he still seeing her? A week-streak for Harry with a girl? And why wasn't he talking about it? We had agreed we'd keep our love lives to ourselves, but he's not saying a single word and it's driving me crazy.

"Just ask him," Belle had said. "He is your best friend after all. Why the tension?"

And she was right. I was probably the one creating all that stress for myself. I would talk to him that day, after work. Casually. Because it is casual. Knowing Harry, he'd probably play it off as me being jealous or some silly crap like that.

"Good morning, Gatti," Mason Waskott says as soon as he steps into my office later that day, closing it behind him.

"Good morning," I stood up and smiled as I took his hand to shake. "And you can just call me Fiorella."

Mason smiled lopsidedly. "Okay, Fiorella."

"So," I cleared my throat as we both took our seats. "There are a couple of chapters in the book that weren't...realistic, I guess."

"Unrealistic, how?" Mason frowned in curiosity.

"Well, the protagonist loves bad boys, I get that. But then, the guy quite literally offended her father and she's okay with that? More to it, she actually likes it?" I scoff involuntarily and he raises an amused eyebrow at me. "Sorry, I just...I just don't see it."

"She doesn't like her father,"

"She's twenty-one. It's her father, I'm pretty sure she's over the teenage rage years, right?"

"Okay...but her father is kind of an asshole. He didn't give the guy a chance and judged him based on his looks, you know, tattoos and all."

"Don't you think he has the right to be worried about who his daughter is seeing? He's her father, for crying out loud. And he has the right to be on edge when that guy actually had a fucking criminal record!"

Mason raised his hand in surrender, eyes wide. I coughed and covered my eyes, shaking my head apologetically.

"Sorry, um... Sorry, I didn't mean to..."

Surprisingly, Waskott laughed. It was my turn to raise my eyebrows at him. "It's alright, Fiorella. You're not into bad boys stories."

"No, I am," I argued. "Really, I just like those when the bad boy is full of fluff and he turns out to be soft inside. That's a character to fall for, I believe. Not when he is treating her like shit and disrespecting her family and unapologetically getting her into loads of trouble."

Mason seems to be listening intently to what I was saying, soaking in what I had to say. I honestly wasn't sure if I was supposed to correct him so roughly, but if I was going to work on this book, it had to be a good book. And the one he's written was almost like a thirteen-year-old's fanfiction story.

"All I'm saying is," I was being overly gestural so I clasped my hands together and pursed my lips. "He can be a bad boy, a criminal, all that juicy stuff. But the protagonist seriously doesn't have to drool at everything he does, considering how menacingly wrong it is. Maybe she could be feisty, she could be hesitant at least, she could be cross with him a little bit. Otherwise, she's not really a character, she's just an easily-turned-on sex toy."

He laughed, tipping his head back and cackling was more like it. I smiled nervously until he looked back at me again, gray eyes twinkling with amusement. "I would like her."

The way he was looking at me gave me goosebumps and my cheeks flushed. "Excuse me?"

"The protagonist. I think I would like her better if she had some character." Mason shook his head and I nodded slowly. "I agree with you. But that will take me a whole lot of time to go through the chapters again. You think you can tolerate me a while more?"

I laughed in surprise. "Mr. Waskott-"

"Mason. Please."

"Mason," I tried not to look too much into his eyes or I might explode. "I hope you do realize I didn't mean to offend you in any way, I was just- I was doing my job, and I had to be honest about it."

"Of course, I understand," He nodded in agreement. "I appreciate it, really."

I smiled, more than happy it wasn't more than a close call. If Yendor was in this room when I used that language, I would surely be fired. I hoped he wouldn't tell her about it. God, this was my first job as an Editor and I was too close to messing it up.

"Ella-" Mason's cheeks turned red but he played it off with a smirk. "Is it alright if I call you Ella?"

I tried to muster up my best smile as I nodded. I wasn't such a fan of the name, but I couldn't exactly say no after he just saved me the embarrassment. "Sure."

"I was thinking, maybe we could take next week's session somewhere else?" He suggested. I frowned in confusion but he was quick to add, "You know, other than the office. We could meet at my place."

I had to use all the muscles in me not to drop my jaw. Is this guy mental? Was he suggesting more than what it seemed?

"I'm sorry," I cleared my throat. "I can't. I don't think that would be very professional."

"How about a coffee shop, then?" Mason raised an eyebrow. "That's a public place, isn't it?"

I refrained my eyes from widening. The way he was looking at me didn't give off any weird vibes as much as they showed interest. I smiled warily, about to refuse when my subconscious flailed her arms at me.

A good-looking man, who is a writer and a complete charmer seems to be very interested in you, but you're turning him down? In what sense was this you when you were almost crying about your failing love life a week ago?

She was right. I was being irrational. Mason Waskott was hot and cute in his own way, and I was aware of the attraction I had for him. Why I wasn't accepting his attempts at asking me out or flirting, I had no idea.

Or is this about Harry?

I shut down my subconscious, she was being a snaky ass. I smiled at Mason and nodded. "Okay, sure."

note:
that part when fiorella criticized mason's protagonist was ME.
that shit was real. 100%.
you feel me?