Painting Daisies pt II
(not my gif)
Word Count: 1483
Iām back from my writing hiatus with a long-awaited and somewhat highly requested part two to a blurb that I wrote. As always, please let me know what you think and if youād like me to continue this into a series/fic
Part I
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The makeshift studio that you had grown very fond and familiar of seemed to spin right before you. Those words that pushed their way through his lips made your heart stop and speed to an unholy pace all at the same time. You found your breath hitching in your throat. Time was a foreign concept to you as you could do nothing but stare at the man who let you put your work on hold to finish this painting. He laid blankets on you when you fell asleep and created space in his closet for your clothes. He was an acting boyfriend for you, without any official title or conversation to confirm where the two of you stood.
It took you a few minutes to manage a nod in response to his suggestion. Or maybe it had only been a mere fifteen seconds. How could you count the time between question and answer when youād been waiting for what seemed to be an entire lifetime for this very moment.
Your nod granted a small smile peering through his beard-covered muzzle. It was an involuntary act by him, unable to hold back what could only be a mixture of excitement and relief. His further-developed feelings, after having you sleep under his roof, were being reciprocated and confirmed with your approval of sharing the same bed.
The night was quiet between the two of you, and not from any awkward air. You sat in comfortable silence, braiding your hair back on the edge of his bed as he shut off the lights, leaving you two showered in the pale glow of the moon through his sheer curtains. He waited for you to lay your head back against the pillow before positioning himself back and pulling the soft white sheets over the two of you. He wasnāt making any moves that were too forward, being careful to keep you around. He showed a level of compassion towards you that nobody else could even imagine. Alfie Solomons was the man who was always yelling and swearing at the top of his lungs. He was the man who instilled fear in his workers and had the power to kill just about any man, which he had done before. But things were different with you.
Here he was, laying beside you and being careful not to make any rushed moves. You could only smile at this and take the initiative to nuzzle into his bare chest, hands finding their way against his warm skin and your head laid just below his beard-covered chin. His hands found their way to your back, resting there delicately and making sure to not travel too far down south. You took in a deep breath and closed your eyes as he kissed the top of your head sweetly. Sweetly. You never thought youād think of your boss as someone to act soft, but you werenāt complaining as you felt a smile spread on his face.
āMaybe youāll get a decent nightās sleep, yeah,ā he said, his voice full of rumbles that were plagued by his exhaustion from work.
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That next morning, the blue light of the moon was replaced by the soft golden rays of the sun. Alfie was missing from his side of the bed, but when you extended your arm out to the blank sheets, you could still feel the warmth of where he had been laying. He couldnāt have gotten up too early this morning as you could hear him lightly stomping around downstairs.
With much reluctance, you rose from your comfortable position and dressed yourself in one of the dresses you had hanging in Alfieās closet. You buttoned yourself up in the professional attire and smoothed down the fabric. You wore it the last time youād gone into the office, and you figured now that youād finally finished your project, it was time to return to your desk. You unbraided your hair and pinned up a few pieces, so it wasnāt finding its way into your face. After quickly slipping on your heels and taking one last glance at yourself, you headed down to what sounded like Alfie grabbing some things in the kitchen.
āay, wasnāt expectin to see ya up so early there, Miss y/n,ā you heard Alfieās deep morning voice reverberate as you came up beside him.
He immediately recognized the dress you were wearing and smirked to himself as he went back to calling you by your full name with the āMissā in front. Cheeky bugger.
āWell, Mr. Solomons, I figured that since I finally finished your critical project you assigned, it was probably due time for me to clean the dust off my desk and return to some real work,ā you teased as you reached around him for a piece of toast heād made.
You looked up at him and took a bite, knowing full well that heād made it for himself, but eating a bit of it spitefully anyways. You smiled at him as you leaned against the kitchen counter, knowing he wouldnāt do a thing about it.
āYouād better be fuckin glad Iāve takin a liking to you, yeah. Youāve got some guts messin with a manās toast innit.ā
You rolled your eyes playfully and took another bite. Heād made himself a few other pieces, so both of you knew he was only giving you a hard time just for the hell of it. He made sure you had a fill of toast before offering to take you to work along with himself.
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You didnāt think about what it may look like walking in at the same time, side by side with your boss. You didnāt think about the fact that you used to always arrive earlier than him and you used to receive a grunt and an occasional āmorning Miss y/n.ā
Now, after walking in and seeing the smirks and snickers on a few workersā faces, you kept your head down and made sure space was abundant between you and Alfie. You didnāt want the men thinking the two of you slept together. Well, you had in a sense, in the more literal form of the phrase. But you knew they were thinking about an entirely different side to the relationship that you and Alfie had. A side that the two of you hadnāt explored yet. You didnāt want the workers thinking you were getting any kind of special treatment just because you walked in at the same time.
You sat at your desk quickly, and Alfie nodded with a grunt as he continued into his own. You sighed, exhaling for the first time since youād walked into the building. Youād held your breath the whole way to your seat, nervous about the multiple pairs of eyes youād felt bearing into your skin.
You missed being at your desk. You had yearned for the little notepad and pen and small stack of papers that always seemed to be present in front of you. You picked up your notebook and flipped through the pages to look back on what youād left for the period of time you were painting all day. Your thumb pressed against the edges of the pages as you let them fall gently, eyes scanning the beautifully written conversations between you and Alfie. And then you saw the page you doodled all over, and Alfie had discovered. That one page changed everything for you.
Youād slept in his bed last night. Your head nuzzled into his chest. His large hands sprawled across your back.
Alfieās booming voice broke the thoughts of how relevant that one page was to you. He must have dropped off his coat and things before walking past your desk to greet the workers. The man picked up on your blushing cheeks caused by the combing eyes of a few workers.
āMiss y/n has returned to work, yeah, as some of ya has noticed,ā his voice rang through the whole building, and although you didnāt want to eavesdrop, you couldnāt help it. You heard your name, and it wasnāt exactly easy to avoid listening to what he was shouting about this time. āI donāt want none of ya to be lookin at her, glancing at her, starin at her. She works fuckin hard for this company, and thatās all youāll need to be knowing about her, innit.ā You could see what he was doing. He was trying to whip them into shape, keep them from assuming anything about the two of you and force them into giving you the respect you deserve.
He finished his mini-rampage about how to respect a woman around here and dismissed them to their work, walking up to your desk.
āWonāt need to keep your head down around here anymore yeah.ā
