𝐕𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐭 |𝟏𝟖+|

Chapter thirty-nine

Pollie Ashford's POV

Three days had passed since my sister called. And three days had passed since Romeo came rushing into my office, frightened that he'd lost me.

Funny how life moves in mysterious ways.

Today was the first of December and I couldn't be more excited about it.

I welled up a little when I woke up this morning but overall, I felt so giddy because I received a chocolate advent calendar in the post from mom. It was a family tradition but it made it even more special that Rome surprised me with the package alongside a bouquet of red and white poinsettia flowers he brought himself.

Ever since finding out I was apparently being followed, Romeo has made sure to be there for me day in day out. He drives us both to and from work, but he's also been being even more sweet than he usually is.

Wednesday, I asked him if it was alright to invite Jonah over but he said it was for the best if he didn't, which to be fair I can see why. I hadn't told Jonah about my current living situation, nor the fact that I was dating the boss.

But Rome could tell I was a little upset that I couldn't be there for a friend, so he took it upon himself to cheer me up.

He set up a table with candles and roses before cooking me a home cooked meal whilst dressed in a suit. After that, we just spent the evening cuddling a talking about random subjects ranging from our favourite days of the week to which seasons were preceded the most.

On Thursday Romeo cooked for me again, only this time it was a favourite meal that my mom used to cook me all the time. Turns out they'd been secretly messaging and he even got the recipe from her.

Today was Friday and so far, my day has been hectic. Carly needed help in her office, something about her accounting books being incorrect so me and Jonah helped her out.

After that, I took Jonah out for lunch. And when I say out for lunch, I knew it wasn't safe to leave the building so I took him to one of the upper level empty staff rooms and we had a picnic together. So that's what I'm doing now. Sat on the floor in front of a set of couches, munching on a bagel whilst chatting with a friend.

"Im sorry I couldn't meet with you the other day, I felt terrible but I couldn't get out of it." It was true, ditching him had been in the back of my mind since I blew him off. I understand that it's for my safety but it just sucks that I couldn't be there for a friend in need.

"It's all good Poll. Don't worry about it. I was just being dramatic anyway, blowing the situation out of proportion." He tried waving whatever was up off, but I wasn't having it.

"I'm sure you weren't Jonah, why don't you talk about it now? It might help getting it off your chest?"

He sighed, contemplating his answer before smiling at me. "It's just work, you know?"

"It can be a lot can't it?"

"Yeah. Things just get on top of me sometimes, it's like I have so much to do and it can feel like I'm getting nowhere." Jonah stared at the wall, shoulders looking tense and body language just plain stressed.

"Why don't you speak to Ro-, I mean boss? I'm are you could both conjure up something to help?"

He shook his head. "No, he doesn't care about his employees Pollie. All he cares about is getting paid once everyone's done the hard work for him." My skin felt all itchy as I forced myself to take deep breaths. Where did that come from?