(The TBBG Valentine's Day One Shot Contest+ Giveaway in now up on my profile! Enter for a chance to win a personalised ebook!)

Chapter Seven: My Confidence Shrivelled Up Like A Prune

I make it to the hotel with minutes to spare, nearly jumping out the car and definitely teaching a young, impressionable child all the wrong things about road safety. I'd heard Laney ask Cole if, 'the weird lady is okay' and I'm not sure what he said. I'd been too busy clutching on to my heels for dear life and running around the lobby like a crazy person.

Of course Leila gave me the wrong time.

Of course I actually had more than enough time to get there.

I stew over this during our dinner with representatives from the makeup brand we're covering. Amy takes the lead and Leila and I only occasionally get to offer our input so I find myself tuning out more so than ever. It's been such a strange day and were it not for the post dinner coffee holding me up, I'm afraid I would have collapsed and slobbered on the Chanel clad shoulder of my newest work acquaintance. Then where would we be with this particular work trip?
I try not to dwell on it too much as we say our goodbyes until the big event.

First official adult task of the day? Completed and I only sweated a teeny tiny bit through it. Thank God for breathable fabric.

"So, you two, " Amy turns to us once once our guests have dropped us back off at the hotel and we've waved to their car. "I don't know what's going on or why you seem so chipper but, " she comes close and it' as if she's peering right into our very souls, "mess this up for me and you'll be out on your asses on the concrete before you can pencil in any of your personal massages. Got it?"

I gulp, "Yes ma'am."

Beside me, Leila is nodding her head vigorously. Amy's menacing glare turns into a smile, "Good job today. I expect more of the same the next couple of days."

With that she waltzes away as if she hasn't just scared the living daylights out of me.

"What do you think gave us away?" I ask Leila, without moving an inch, as if Amy would turn around any second, fists flying and firing me from my first every big girl job.

"Oh I don't know, maybe it was the fact that you nearly glared a hole in my face during dinner." She hisses.

"Jeez really? I thought it was when you 'accidentally' switched Amy's gluten free pizza with mine and made her think I wanted her to have a particularly horrible time in the toilet."

She shrugs, "It made things interesting."

"Well, you could at least thank me for the dress." I stare at the navy knee length dress that has an extremely deep v-neckline that had one of our the representatives staring at her cleavage all through dinner.

Yup, the scrappy piece of silk cost me nearly a grand.

I wonder if I could gets some waitressing gigs because I know my dad's going to make me pay dearly for this expenditure.

"Oh yes," She attempts, "It did just the trick. You know, the blonde guy? He cornered me when I went to freshen up and said he'd love to take me out for lunch tomorrow and agreed to give me an exclusive behind the scenes tour of their factory, which wasn't on the card before. I think Amy just might have a workgasm when I tell her. Isn't that nice?"

Well played, Leila, well played.

I just don't think I have it in me to be as cut throat as she is, to go after things the same way that she does. Maybe I lack the passion and drive or maybe I'm just in the wrong industry but the idea that I need to have my boobs hanging out to get ahead doesn't sit well with me. I'm not judging Leila, more power to her for taking control of the game and for letting men know who's the boss. But the more I stick with her, the more I realise that this just isn't my thing.

I think my reaction disappoints her. "Congrats! I'm sure Amy will love that, now if you'll excuse me I have someone I need to get to."

I leave her behind and giddily make my way to the elevator. Cole should be here any moment now and if the list that I was busy making during my work dinner has anything to say about it, we're going to have one heck of a night.

Who says I can't do sexy?

***

He isn't here.

I look at the clock, then look at the door and repeat the cycle. I've been waiting for him for over and hour and it's past midnight now. I'm not sure just how long I'll be able to fight my drooping eyelids so I try calling him again, it goes straight to voicemail and my texts remain unanswered. Worry starts to gnaw at me.

What if something happened to him? I decide to wait a little while longer but I'm already pulling up the Uber app and my fingers are seconds away from booking one. It's then that my phone finally buzzes with an incoming call from him.

"Are you okay?" Worry has me in knots, making it difficult to breathe.

Cole exhales, "Shortcake, I'm so sorry. I was on my way to the hotel but..."

I realise that there's a lot of background noise on his end and I start wondering where he could possibly be.

"But what? Are you hurt?" I'm already up, ready to put a jacket over my pyjamas and be out the door in case he needs me.

"It's Laney, I'm with her and Mel at the hospital."

It takes me a second to realise that Mel is Melissa from earlier and then I'm just confused.

"Is everything okay?"

"Melissa's car is at the mechanics," he tells me and it's difficult to make out his words considering he's probably calling from a busy emergency room. "Laney's been throwing up and fainted from dehydration. She came to me just as I was about to leave asking for a ride to the hospital."

"Oh."

It's apparent that I'm unaware of this part of his life, the part where he's almost family to a single mother and her daughter and that he goes out of his way to take care of them. I'm not sure how such a dynamic came to be but now's obviously not the time to ask questions.

"I'm sure they'll need you there."

He sighs, "I guess, Mel's a mess. She gets really panicked when Laney gets ill so I just...I need to make sure they're okay."

I don't ask him why he feels that he needs to be there for two people he didn't even know until a little over a month ago.

"Sure, I understand. Do what you have to do, I'll be here waiting."

He groans, "Tessie I feel horrible. You know I'd be with you in a heartbeat if I could."

"I do." It's the truth. Do I feel a little hurt? Sure. Do I blame Cole for trying to be a good person? Not really. Besides seeing how good he is with that little girl does a lot of things to my insides, lots of wonderful things.

"I've told the reception to let you up in case you can make it." Stifling a yawn, I get into bed and curl up into a ball, missing Cole's warmth.

"I'll be there as soon as I can."

"I'll hold you to that."

***

For the second day in a row, I wake up in Cole's arms and it's probably better than waking up on Christmas day. He's still fast asleep when I open my eyes but sure enough, he's lying beneath me, his chest rising and falling at a steady pace as his arms tighten around me. I don't try to move, taking a few minutes that morning to relish being this close to him. Once these few days are gone, I won't be seeing him for a while and the thought makes me immeasurably sad. I trace his features with the tips of my fingers, my touch gentle so that I don't wake him up. He looks exhausted, the poor thing and I'm not sure when he came in last night. I really do need to find out how he ended up as a manny, male nanny get it?

I shower and get dressed but Cole doesn't move an inch. If it weren't for his breathing, I'd be concerned. Still, I order breakfast hoping that the smell of coffee and promise of waffles will wake him up but even as I'm drowning my waffles in chocolate syrup he doesn't budge. Oh God, he may like playing house with the neighbour but I'm not a huge fan of my comatose boyfriend. In a few hours I'll have to start getting my princess makeover for tonight's event and that's another day wasted. I guess we won't be sightseeing much then.

I'm drowning in self pity when there's a knock on the door which couldn't possibly be room service unless I've ordered some chocolate chip pancakes to further add to my pity party. But of course the day can only get better because it's Leila standing there, all ready and dressed for the day in her slinky sweater dress while I mope around in sweats.

"Hey," she says smugly, "had a fun night?"

She peers around me to where Cole's still fast asleep, "So your boyfriend's kinda hot. Too bad you still can't get any action."

"You know another person, who doesn't have to work with you for several upcoming months would just say it straight to your face that you don't really have any concept of personal space."

"Sadly for you, you do have to work with me so I would suggest that you don't form any strong opinions just yet. I can get better or worse depending on how I feel. Anyway, I'm not here to chit chat. Just wanted to tell you that your boyfriend accidentally stumbled into my room last night. I must have left it open for room service. You should thank your lucky stars that I didn't scream the house down."

Okay then.

"Just wanted to let you know that he seems like one of those bad boys who don't really settle for nice girls like you. How'd you even end up together?"

I grit my teeth, "Don't you have a lunch to get to."

"Geez, you're so sensitive. I wonder how you deal with the whole long distance thing when your boyfriend looks like that."

"I managed. Now did you want something else or I can shut the door in your face?"

"Nope, I'm good..."

She doesn't even get to finish her sentence before I do that, slam the door in her face.

When you come all this way for your man and he's too tired to even kiss you goodnight? Yeah, today's not the day Leila.

***

When Cole wakes up, I'm just coming back from a walk around the nearby area. The concierge had told that there were good stores around so I went out and shopped my little heart out. I'm lugging around bags of designer things that I probably don't need when a pair of strong arms come to my rescue.

"What did you do? Empty the store shortcake?" Cole jokes and helps me carry my things.

"I had some time to kill. Besides, Leila the witch has the exact same dress as the one I brought to wear. I don't know what voodoo magic she's got a hold of but she scares me honestly."

"Yeah," Cole rubs the back of his neck looking uncomfortable, "I kind of ran into her yesterday."

"She obviously brought it up." I roll my eyes, "How'd you get the rooms mixed up?"

I notice that he's showered and changed back into his old clothes. Unlike yesterday there aren't any signs of exhaustion on his face and he looks happy and relaxed.

My Cole.

"I think by the time I got to your hotel I was sleep walking."

"Cole!" I chide, "You shouldn't even have been driving in that condition."

"I know, I'm sorry that was stupid. But I hated that you were waiting for, that it was your first time visiting me and I stood you up."

He pulls me close to his chest and I fall easily into his arms, letting him comfort me and telling him that it's okay, that I understand.

I'm confused but I understand.

"At least you're up now. I was starting to wonder if I needed to steal a pair of someone's stinky socks to get you up."

He frowns, "Wow, can't believe I was out for that long. You should've just woken me up, I hate that this is becoming a pattern with us."

I shrug, "I like that you can relax around me. You never did mention that when you're not studying, you're busy taking really good care of your neighbours."

I don't really have the patience to sit on this and use the jibe at a strategic time. Good timing isn't one of my skills, if you haven't noticed that already.

"Yeah about that...you want to talk about it?"

"Not unless you do."

"It's not that I'm hiding something Tessie, there's nothing for me to hide. It's just that, I'm the idiot who keeps falling asleep on his gorgeous girlfriend."

I roll my eyes but don't deny that butterflies that flood my stomach. Yes I may have changed out of my sweats and yes I might be wearing a top that shows off a sliver of the flat stomach I worked so hard to get. Somehow the small amount of skin showing is hypnotic to Cole whose gaze refuses to budge.

"I'm an idiot." He repeats

"I won't disagree."

Because it doesn't really do wonders for a girl's self esteem when she plans out so much for her boyfriend's visit and he can't keep his eyes open to see that she's just spent an entire pay check on lingeries. So now, Stone you're about to be introduced to delayed gratification. I duck away from his wandering hands as he attempts to take way too many liberties with my skirt.

"Oh no you don't. I've got a meeting with Amy I need to get to and you should," I pretend to look at my watch, "go check on your neighbours because I think she was blowing up your phone while you were asleep."

His face drops and I feel a little bad for rejecting him like that but I'm not lying. I do need to go see Amy and Melissa was calling him repeatedly. Of course my concern for little Laney won over and I texted her to ask if everything was okay.

And her answer?

She wanted to know if Cole could swing by her mother's place and get Laney's stuffed rabbit that she left there.

I don't know about you but I hardly consider that an emergency and worth calling someone so many times, especially if that person's stayed with you the entire night at the hospital, caring for your child. I told her I'd let him know when he woke and maybe it's my imagination and inability to infer someone's mood from their texts but I could tell that she was annoyed.

Tough luck, Mel.

"Tessie, it's not what you think."

"I'm not thinking anything. Right now, I've got to get to work. You can stay here, make yourself home, check up and make sure Laney's okay. I have the event tonight so I'm not sure when I'll be free. I can try and leave early and maybe we can..."

"I have a study group this evening." He curses and I feel this weird sort of tension begin to surround us.

We have completely different schedules, lives and I think that for the very first time they're clashing and we don't know what to do about it. It irks me though that he's been keeping things from me, obviously carving out some time for two other people in his life whereas he can't find space in his busy calendar for me

I don't want to be that girl, I really don't. I get that he has a life and I get that he has plans. My showing up is unexpected and he doesn't know how to fit me in along with all his other responsibilities.

"Well, okay I guess I'll see you tomorrow then. You can order room service if you're hungry, the company's footing the bill." I push past him to start getting ready for the evening.

***

"You seem a little distracted, is everything okay?"

Coming from my boss it seems like a warning of sorts, better snap out of it Tessa.

"I'm fine, sorry but I've got everything you said."

"I know you did, I can see you typing but that's not what I meant. Your heart's not in it, I'm not getting those wildly spun ideas that you try to come up with and that I have to gently reject."

I blush, "Right, I thought I'd sit back on this one."

She looks at me with shrewd, understanding eyes and I don't know how but she knows, she just knows.

"I usually try and stay out of my employees' personal lives, especially if they've just joined my team. I don't think it's my place to give unsolicited advice but in your case, I think you might need it."

I'm wondering what the quickest escape route is through my boss's hotel room. I could jump out the window but given that she's on the fifteenth floor, it wouldn't be my best idea. I consider asking her if I can use her bathroom and then hide in their forever.Hey, last night's prawns could have dodgy. But I sit still and prepare myself for her unsolicited advice that she put it.

"That boy that was around last night..."

How does she even know, "Oh Leila brought it up the first chance she got," Amy waves it away, "I don't have a problem with you inviting your boyfriend up to your room. I'm your boss not your nanny but I have problem when it starts interfering with your work. I assume you know where Leila is?"

"Getting an exclusive behind the scenes look." I mutter ungraciously.

"Exactly and you're doing what? Sitting her pouting like a petulant child with your mind miles away. I know you can do your job Tessa but I can hire any halfwit graduate and they'd be able to take knots. That's not why I hired you out of thousands of applicants."

"Oh."

We've never had this talk, the one where I found out what it is that made this company, this magazine that works with an industry that I know next to nothing about hire me.

So I'm all ears.

"I liked that you weren't cut throat competitive like the rest of those girls. I liked that you focused on the story, on the human aspect, that you liked forming connections. I liked you because I thought you'd bring an entirely new reader base to our magazine, ones who don't exactly want to know what foundation works best for their skin but who'd like to tell us why getting out that tube of lipstick and putting it on makes them feel invincible even on bad days. I wanted you to dig deep and bring readers stories that they'll relate to, stories that'll make it look like we don't just cater to size zero white women. I wanted you to be the first to make the magazine into something that every woman would be proud to own a copy of."

I'm not sure whether I want to cry or stand up and applaud the woman and her vision. That's as passionate a speech as I've ever witnessed my boss make and the fact that most of it is implying that I failed her doesn't go past me. I hang my head in shame, feeling all of two feet tall.

"I...I had no idea."

"Of course you didn't. You were too busy playing games with Leila and feeling sorry for yourself that you missed the whole purpose of our trip. Yesterday when Leanne was talking about why she founded the brand, why she's working so hard on making sure that beauty is never exclusionary and that the makeup world becomes more diverse, what were you doing?"

Feeling sorry for myself.

"I'm so sorry Amy, I...I promise I'll do better."

It's miraculous that I don't start stuttering. I've never done well with disappointing people, that's because I try my very best not to do it. I was a good student, I like to think I'm a good daughter, sister, friend, girlfriend but sometimes balancing it becomes difficult, for example right now.

I'm the Squidward of this magazine, not exactly employee of the month material.

"You should because I know you can. So, I'm just going to say this once. While we're here, I'd like for your entire focus to be on work. What you do outside of working hours is none of business but if I see that it's interfering with your job?"

"My butt will be out on the concrete?"

"And you'll have a very, very devastating letter waiting for you on your desk when we get back. Understood?"

Absolutely.

***

After my wonderful talk with Amy, I'm prepare for the evening with military precision. There's no way I'm going to disappoint her. Nothing's going to distract me today, absolutely nothing.

I put on a stunning floor length gold dress which has a rather risqué slit running up on one side. Examining my image in the mirror, I realise that asking Beth to help me shop seemed like a good idea at the time but when it comes to actually finding the guts to wear the kind of outfits she makes me buy? My confidence shrivels up like a prune.

But I hold my head up high and zip up the back, not that there's very much fabric there as well. The off shoulder straps and low back expose the whole expanse of my upper back, revealing the tops of my breasts. I've pinned my hair up so as to have me newly tanned skin on display and make sure to keep my makeup minimal, glossy and fresh to let the dress stand out.

Moments like these I don't recognise myself, don't know how I ended up here in the first place but I think something about Amy's speech stuck with me.

She sees something in me, believes in me, expects me to do a good job and how do I repay her? I don't allow myself to obsess over Cole or the faux family he's formed here. I haven't heard from him since I walked away earlier in the day and maybe he's at his study group.

Maybe he's at home

But he knows where I am if he'd like to seek me out.

After taking one last look at myself in the mirror, I slip on my heels and off we go.

***

"Don't look now but there's a really sexy guy in a suit coming your way."

I almost snap my neck with how fast I turn around.

No way.

How?

What on earth is he doing here?

"I'm guessing he's the boyfriend?" Amy comes up to me and one of the girls from the brand that I'd been chatting to. The press event has been a success and I've had the best luck in the past couple of hours talking to people, listening, really getting to know them and their stories.

Stories, I can do, people I can relate to and now I know what Amy wants from me.

"I...I have no idea what he's doing here."

"Oh, I may have asked the organisers to save a seat from him." She winks, "Good job today, I'm glad our talk worked. Now go have some fun." She literally pushes me towards Cole, who's walking right towards me.

I walk towards him as elegantly as I can, having not yet tripped or flashed anyone tonight.

I say yet because it's very much a possibility.

And I nearly do fall flat on my face because Cole in a suit is something else. Cole, looking a little unsure of himself and eyeing me like I'm the only drop of water in the Sahara? He's lucky if I don't pounce on him right away.

"Hey," I smile as he comes closer.

"Hey shortcake." His eyes drink me in, "I actually don't think I have words to tell you how incredible you look."

My cheeks turn pink and I shift my shoulders, pretending to be cool about it but there's nothing but hot flames bursting inside of me given the way he's looking at me.

"How did you even end up here?"

He looks over my shoulder to where Amy stands and I think he smiles at her.

"I pulled my head out of my ass for once and realised where I needed to be so here I am and there's no where else I'd rather be."

"Not even when there's a toddler emergency?"

His lips press into a thin line, "No."

"Cole!" I shove his shoulder a little, "You're not supposed to say that."

He rolls his eyes, "Laney's grandparents have her for the weekend. As long as she isn't with Mel she'll be fine."

I'm sensing there's more to the story there but I don't ask for it right now, because right now it's about me and the love of my life and dancing the night away.So, we may or may not get interrupted by Leila a couple of times, but I think it's forgivable especially since she comes around to say, 'hi' for the fifth time.

"Isn't it funny how we met last night?" She laughs in that flirty tone of hers, her hands animated as she inches closer and closer to Cole, who to his credit looks incredibly uncomfortable.

"Actually, no that was pretty embarrassing and I don't think I apologised enough for barging into your room like that."

Leila grins, Cole's face turns a little red and I begin to wonder what went down between the two of them last night. For all I know Leila may have a thing for sleeping naked and my poor boyfriend stumbled upon the wicked witch in all her unclothed glory.

The thought makes me want to gouge her eyes out.

"So I heard you're a law student?" She appraises him from head to toe, licking her lips once she's finished. Okay, now I know she's just doing this to mess with me. Why on earth would she be flirting so blatantly with Cole if that weren't the case.

She's not that evil, is she?

"Uh, yes?" Cole looks at me as if he I'd tell him to tell her that in reality he's an escape convict with ten counts of cold blooded murder.

I'm tempted but I just give him a subtle nod and grab his bicep, "Leila if you're done investigating, would you mind if we leave?"

She smirks, as if relishing the idea that I'm insecure of her and maybe in another world she would have been correct. She's any man's wet dream right now, her lace dress so sheer that it's almost see through. I've seen the tongues wagging at her, men whose eyes nearly popped out when she walked by them and have realised that she like having this power over people, where she can control their strings like a Machiavellian puppeteer. I'm not scared of her though, I've seen enough of her kind in my life to know the kind of insecurity and fear of rejection that lies beneath their strong veneer.

"I can't believe you work with her." Cole appears concerned as we walk away from Leila. I get why he's worried and it's mostly because of my history with bully. No matter what I do, I somehow always end up someone determined to bring me down. But I'm far from the poor little me Tessa who cowered before Nicole.

"I got this, playground bullies can't hurt me." I assure him as we sway to the music. All around us people are walking about, dancing, laughing, having fun and for a moment I feel the need to be just like them, to just be Cole and Tessa with no worries in the world whatsoever.

I wonder how long that will last.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hey guys!

I hope you're enjoying this miraculous occasion of me regularly updating haha!

Don't forget TBBG releases in ebook form on the 21st, SO EXCITED <3 It'll have new, exclusive content and I'll have links for the paperback version soon too. No, the Wattpad version will not be removed :)

The link for pre-ordering the ebook is in the external link!

You can also find me on Twitter: BlairHoldenx

Facebook and Instagram @JessGirl93

Please remember to vote, comment, follow if you enjoy my work. I would really appreciate the support <3

P.S Don't forget to check out the TBBG Giveaway that's now Live on my profile! It ends on the 21st so hurry!

Love,

Blair