A New Promotion
Hi everyone! I’m SUPER excited to be sharing this with fic with you all!
This is the companion to the office fic that I wrote in collaboration with Bre @fallinallincurls! Make sure to read her part here! You will absolutely adore her writing and fall in love with the story she started for the characters whose story I am continuing now! You will be able to understand a lot of the references I make better if you read her part first.
I met Bre a few months ago and she has become my very best friend. I’ve loved her writing long before knowing her, so creating these ideas and writing this out with her has genuinely been such a fun experience!
We came up with this idea in January and over the past few months have had so much coming up with ideas for this universe, way beyond these fics! So this definitely won’t be the last time you’ll be seeing office!shawn
The GIF I used is not mine! All credit goes to the owner!
Enjoy! Feedback is always appreciated xx
Word count: 7.3k
It was all the office was talking about. Candice had just retired from her position as regional manager of the West, and the position was now open for the taking. Nothing had been confirmed by the company yet, but it was highly rumored that the new regional manager was going to be chosen from one of the current branch managers. The new manager was going to be announced at the end of the week. Even still, the nervous energy radiated through the office as workers put the extra ounce of effort in securing clients or laughing a little too hard when the CEO, Steve, told a joke at the weekly staff meetings.
But while the world hustled and bustled in the Toronto Business and Management Company, you and Shawn acted as if completely oblivious to what was going on. Just like the day you two started, Shawn’s and your desks faced one another and were pushed together. Over the years, that space had become your own little sanctuary. It had also been the space for endless post-it love letters, silly faces when either of you were on a call, and loving glances while the other was completely caught up in their work. This week, the six feet of space you and Shawn shared created a bubble that protected the both of you from all the hectic activity that was spreading throughout the office.
You were shocked by Shawn's indifference when the news came about in regards that this position was open. You’ll never forget the way he lit up when he first told you that all he’s ever wanted was to manage his own region. He had done an excellent job managing the Toronto branch. That was no surprise. It was easy to love him, and the people who reported to him felt the same way towards him as you did. Well maybe not exactly not the same way. Either way, as much as he loved it, you saw that he yearned for more. This position was what he was looking for. The opportunity was literally sitting in front of him, and it was as if he didn’t have a care in the world for it. But since your discussion last week, he was able to clear the air.
*1 week prior*
That week, nights were spent at his place. For the past few months you two alternated whose place you went to after the work day was over. Each of you had drawers designated at the other’s place, had cosmetics that stayed in each other’s showers, and designated snacks in each other’s pantries. You guys were basically living together, and both of you knew it. You were both incredibly happy to spend twenty four seven together, there was no denying that. But finding a place and officially moving in together? Not so much. It was a topic you both danced around quite often, but it still remained unanswered. You couldn’t help but feel a little stuck, and a little nervous for your future together. You both loved each other, but what if that wasn’t enough? You tried to not let it bother you too much.
You two had just finished dinner and were just laying content in each other’s arms. It had been a particularly exhausting day, as evidenced by the savagely eaten plates of food that remained on the table and your heels sporadically kicked off by the front door. You both remained in your work clothes, Shawn with the sleeves of his white button up rolled up as you cuddled into his side as your legs were kicked onto his thighs. He stroked up on your arm as you two pretended to pay attention to the TV on in front of you.
You couldn’t handle it anymore. “You know they are most likely picking one of the branch managers to be the new regional manager right?” You blurted out but still in a gentle manner.
“Yeah, I know.” Shawn simply hummed in response as he was starting to doze off.
“That’s all you have to say?” You continued, growing confused.
“Is there more to be said?” Shawn said, matching your confusion.
“Unless someone has taken my boyfriend away from me and replaced him with an insanely good lookalike, hasn’t this been your dream since like ever? Look, I get it plans for the future can change on a dime, and it’s not like I would think any less of you if they did, but the way you’ve talked about this, I thought you would have at least some type of reaction to the news,” you rattled off.
“Woah, woah, woah. I didn’t mean for you to get the impression that I changed my whole life plan and decided not to tell you. I should’ve talked to you about it the day the news came out. That’s still the plan. That’s always going to be the plan. It’s just that I’ve only been there for two years. There’s no way it’s going to be me, and I don’t really want to get my hopes up just for the inevitable disappointment if that makes sense?” Shawn explained.
“Oh,” you started. “That makes sense. I totally overreacted and kinda freaked out on you right then. I’m sorry. I just want the best for you bub,” you apologized, slightly ashamed at yourself for making such an aggressive assumption. “And for what it’s worth, I think you are still definitely a worthy candidate for this position.”
“Baby trust me, I don’t see it like that at all. It means the world to me that you support me and my goals as much as you do.” Shawn quickly assured you. “But I’m perfectly content right now with spending every day sitting across from the love of my life and throwing paper clips at you while you send out emails. Our time will come.” He said, with a slightly mischievous grin on his face.
“Really?” You said, heart instantly melting at his words. You did not ignore the fact he said “our” either.
“Really.” He promised. “Besides, in the meantime I can focus on..other things” he said, cocking an eyebrow towards you.
“What other things you’ve got in mind, Mendes?” You responded, feeding into his playful energy.
“I think it’s easier if I just show you,” he explained, leaning in to kiss your neck.
And he spent the rest of the night doing just that.
*Present day*
“If I make this into the recycling bin, you are doing dishes tonight,” Shawn challenged while crumpling his paper into a ball.
“In your dreams, copier boy.” You said, eyes locked on your computer screen. You were rechecking your numbers on the expense report before printing it out to give to your supervisor. As per usual, your calculations were perfect.
“Heeeyy, I thought we were past that!” Shawn whined at the nickname you branded him with on the day you two first met. Despite the pouting, Shawn would be devastated if you ever stopped calling him that.
“You might be past that,” you started. “But I most certainly am not!”
“Get all your laughter out now,” he playfully threatened. “Let’s see who’s laughing when you’re doing dishes tonight. Don’t forget that my aim is pretty spot on at this point. I almost never miss your forehead whenever I throw paper clips at you!”
“Enough talking, hot shot. Let’s see if you can put your money where your mouth is.”
“Hot, huh?” Shawn said, earning an eye roll from you.
After his remark, Shawn looked you dead in the eye as he launched the ball into the air. You spun your chair around as Shawn peered over your shoulder in order to see the outcome. Shawn let out the world’s most exasperated sigh as the paper ball landed about two inches in front of the blue recycling bin.
“I call a redo!” Shawn exclaimed immediately. “Due to an obvious draft coming from the air conditioner.”
“Excuses, excuses.” You responded. “Aw, baby, don't look so sad. I just bought a new bottle of dish soap!” You continued, unable to hold back your giggles.
“You are really lucky you’re cute, numbers girl,” Shawn sighed as he went to go and pick up the paper ball that remained on the floor.
“I got it, I got it,” you stopped him before he got up completely. “I need to go make some copies of this expense report anyways. The least I can do is let you rest up for tonight!”
You felt a paperclip hit you on the shoulder as you walked away.
You were in the middle of refilling the copier with paper when you heard Steve’s voice.
“Shawn, can you come see me in my office?” He asked.
There was no response from Shawn, but by the time you turned back around to assess the situation, all you saw was Shawn from behind, following Steve back towards his office.
God, how does he make those slacks look that good?
Despite your confusion, that was the overwhelming thought in your mind. He may have lost the paper throwing bet, but he had won over your heart forever.
By the time you made it back to your seat, your mind started to race. Without Shawn across from to talk you down, your thoughts were all over the place.
What could he possibly want with Shawn?
Last Shawn mentioned to you, the branch was doing better than it had in years. So you were positive it had nothing to do with his performance. When it came to the rules, you were as straight of an arrow as they came. You wouldn’t let Shawn do anything unethical, even if he wanted to. There was no one who loved his job as much as Shawn did, there was no way he was getting in trouble.
Maybe he’s getting the promotion!
This could be it! You weren’t really thinking about the details of it, mostly just fantasizing about all the ways you two would celebrate. But, when you looked up at the clock and saw that twenty minutes passed that idea, unfortunately, became less likely to you. If he got the job, the conversation would be finished in five minutes. Shawn would immediately say yes, come out, pick you up, spin you around, and then there would be a separate meeting to discuss all his new duties. Shawn wouldn’t be able to contain himself in the room for this long if he got it.
What if Shawn was getting fired right now?
Despite your certainty that there had been no wrongdoing on his behalf, you don’t know what could be keeping him in that office for over what had now been thirty minutes at this point. You couldn’t bear to imagine the sight of him when he returned to the desk if this were the case. He wouldn’t be crying, he has too much respect for the job. But you would know. His honey eyes, usually full of excitement, would be drained of all life. The heartwarming smile that was almost always plastered onto his face would be pressed into a straight line. You prayed this wasn’t the case. He was the literal light of your life, and he didn’t deserve to be anything less than happy.
What would you do if Shawn got fired?
You hate this was your route of thinking, but you had to prepare for the worst. You would obviously comfort him in any way he needed you to. Endless cuddles, countless kisses, a never ending back massage. But what about after? Would you stay? The fact that the idea of Shawn leaving left you considering leaving your solid position at one of the most prestigious companies in the country sent endless butterflies through your stomach.
“You know I can hear you bouncing your heel on the ground all the way from Steve’s office,” the voice of the love of your life brought you out of your trance.
You looked up, and for the first time since you’ve met Shawn you weren’t able to decipher the emotions on his face. It wasn’t the “I got fired” look though, so you let out a huge sigh of relief.
However, the look on his face was unlike anything you had seen before. He looked exhausted, like he had just run an entire marathon in that office. But at the same time, he looked proud, like he had just found the missing piece to a puzzle.
“You want to tell me why you spent almost forty five minutes in Steve’s office?” You blurted out.
“You missed me that much, huh, numbers girl?”
“Shawn, I’m serious. You looked like someone just turned your whole world upside down.” You responded, urging him to get to the point.
Gently and thoughtfully, Shawn walked over to your desk. He put one hand on your desk and the other on the back of your chair. He was mere inches from your face. If you weren’t already a mess from the uncertainty of this whole situation, his beauty would’ve got you to the same place.
“He offered me the regional manager position.” He said simply as if he were describing the weather outside.
How it was possible to feel the highest intensity of opposite emotions you didn’t know. You were staring at each other in silence for not even ten seconds, yet it still felt like an eternity.
On one hand, you couldn’t be happier for him. Honestly. Shawn wanted nothing more than this and you knew it. Even if he never outwardly told you. He loved the people he worked with, his customers, and his position currently. But, you always knew he longed for more. Whether it would be the tab on his computer you accidentally saw titled “Toronto Business and Management Company: Business Projections 2030” or the times you saw him up in the middle of the night reading up on Business Insider’s “Top management strategies of the up and coming CEOs”, he would never be satisfied with where he was at the moment, always wanting to do more, not only for himself, but also for the company.
You had never seen someone so enamored in their work. To you, he was the definition of what it meant to be truly in love with your job. You never told him this, but it was one of the things you loved most about him. You knew he was destined for great things since the day you met him, so in one aspect you weren’t surprised he got the position. It was about time he got the recognition he deserved. This was genuinely the most excited you’ve been in your entire life, and it had nothing to do with you.
But you couldn’t escape the dread that was seeping into your whole being. The new position was based in Edmonton. Across the whole freaking country. You had lived your whole life in Toronto, and have such a strong sense of home here. To move away would be a big deal to say the least. You went to a college that was just under an hour away from home, and it took the whole first semester to get over the homesickness. Even though you would be willing, you really don’t think you could keep up with all the long distance. You two would constantly be on different schedules, making it nearly impossible to work on your relationship the way you wanted to. The strongest relationships with the most dedicated people have been taken down by long distance and that terrified you. Despite all the fear, just the thought of Shawn leaving made it feel like someone was going to take one of your limbs from you. There was no way you would be able to function without him. The last two years had been the best of your life, and although you might be too afraid to admit it, you didn’t think you would be able to go back to your life how it was before you laid eyes on the office Prince Charming who didn’t know how to work a copier.
“Congratulations baby, I’m so proud of you!” You said, mustering up as much enthusiasm as you could. He was still standing in front of you. You wanted to remember every detail of this moment. His wild curls. His cheek scar that drove you insane. The heat that practically radiated off of him almost always. You weren’t too sure how many moments like these you two had left.
“Thank you, Y/N. It means more coming from you than anyone else,” he started. “But we can talk more about it later tonight. I’m actually going to run to my apartment right now to get a few things together, and then I’ll head over to your place in time for dinner. I’m feeling Chinese tonight!”
Even though you felt like you were about to explode from your emotions, you had to make it seem like everything was fine. This was his moment, and you weren’t going to ruin it. “Don’t think I don’t see what you are doing, Mendes. You playing the whole ‘let’s do take out so I don’t have to do dishes’, isn’t as sly as you think. But I think I’ll let it slide. Just this once!” This banter you two had was always something you loved. Even on your worst days, just talking to him made any problem you had feel nonexistent.
That sent him into a fit of laughter which caused your heart to flutter at a million miles a minute.
“You’ve got me!” he said, holding his hands up in fake surrender. “I promise to make it up to you,” in a tone that made your face grow an intense shade of red. You would never be able to understand his effect on you.
Feeling accomplished with himself, Shawn gave you a quick peck on your cheek, stood up, gathered his things, delivered a simple “I love you”, and walked out the door.
Immediately you ached for his presence again. You saw the empty desk across from you as a sign for your and Shawn’s future. Any way you played it out in your head was not promising. At this point, you were just trying to figure out how much time you had left together. You really just couldn’t come to terms with the fact that you two weren’t going to make it.
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It was about 6:00 when you heard a knock on your door. Friday nights were staying in nights for you and Shawn, so all signs of your unexpectedly exhausting day were replaced with yoga pants and a large University of Toronto sweatshirt that you stole from Shawn during one of the nights you spent at his place.
Shawn had left around 3:00. You had lasted until about 4:00 until your supervisor had noticed that you looked sick and sent you home. She was right. You may not have had an illness, but the thoughts swarming in your head did make you want to throw up.
The time you spent alone in your apartment was somehow worse. You were so used to it being filled with Shawn. Everything about him. His melodic laugh, the way his curls would sprawl out of the pillow when he woke up first thing in the morning, how his scent forever lingered throughout the entire apartment. A wave of sadness came over you as you realized that he is what made this place your home. It was becoming more real by the second that your home was moving across the country while you were staying put. It was agonizing, and it hadn’t even happened yet.
Despite your sorrow, you refused to let this ruin the night. Shawn had wanted this for far too long and worked way too hard for you to make this night about anything other than him. You knew Shawn wasn’t naive to the fact that you two would need to have a serious conversation in regards as to what was going to happen to your relationship. However, that was going to wait.
This was the biggest day of Shawn’s life, and you were going to let him enjoy it. You didn’t mind this. Celebrating Shawn was one of your favorite things to do, so in some ways this wouldn’t be too hard at all. If anything, you were excited about this part of Shawn’s promotion. As far as you were concerned, this called for extra loving on Shawn, and you were more than willing to deliver.
You concentrated on those feelings when you answered the door.
“There’s the new regional manager!” You greeted with the biggest smile you could muster.
Immediately, his already rosy cheek got even redder. He smiled as he shook his head at you calling him by his new title. You took that response as disbelief at his new position, but deep down something was telling you that wasn’t the case. You didn’t give into that feeling though, ever since you found out Shawn got the position you hadn’t been to think straight. You were reading into something that wasn’t there in the first place.
“And I’ve got Chinese food!” He exclaimed, proudly lifting his bag, printed with the classic yellow smiley face and the words have a nice day!
You stepped aside to let him in. As he was setting food down on the counter, you noticed something different. Slung across his shoulder, was a gray duffel bag. You did a double-take to make sure you were seeing what you were.
Why on Earth did he have that bag with him?
You two had been living at each other’s places for so long that you had a set of clothes at each other’s places. Every now and then Shawn would bring over a new pair of shoes or a different tie, but never enough to warrant a duffel bag. Suddenly, it hit you.
That duffel bag is definitely big enough to fit all the clothes had left at his place.
You couldn’t stop your face from falling. In your eyes this was the beginning of the end for you two.
It was hard for you to keep focus during dinner. Shawn had always been the more talkative between the two of you, so it wasn’t uncommon for him to carry the conversation between you two. However, this time it was like everything was going in one ear and out the other. You were catching bits and pieces. Aaliyah had a hockey tournament coming up, he asked you to remind him to pick his dry cleaning tomorrow, he had to deliver his sales report on Monday to Steve. That was literally all you had retained in the past twenty minutes. You felt bad for ignoring him, you really did. But literally all of your energy went towards just keeping eye contact with him and a smile on our face. But, because he was Shawn, he was quickly seeing through it.
“What’s going on, numbers girl? Your eyebrows are all scrunched up like you made an adding mistake. But, you and I both know two things. One, the work day ended hours ago. Two, you never make an adding mistake.” He said, matter-of-factly.
“What are you talking about?” You question, trying to make your voice more perky. You had to convince him otherwise of your current state. But, Shawn knew something was wrong. Which meant he wasn’t going to stop until he got to the bottom of it.
“Y/N, please,” he started. “I literally got you your favorite food in the whole entire world. Orange chicken with extra sauce because without it, it’s ‘too bland’,” he said using air quotes for emphasis. “I swear sometimes I think you love that dish more than you love me.” This earned a blush of you, signaling to him that he wasn’t wrong. “And tonight, you won’t even touch it. Please tell me what’s going on, baby. I hate when I don’t know what’s going on with you. Especially when it makes you upset,” he said the last part quietly, as if he failed at his only job, making sure you were happy.
“Shawn, please don’t worry,” you quickly responded, angry at yourself for making the biggest night of his life about you. “Everything is okay, I promise!”
“But baby,” Shawn whined slightly. “I know that it isn’t. You can tell me anything, remember? I’m not going anywhere.”
Interesting choice of words.
You opened your mouth to calm his worries again before he cut you off.
“And don’t tell me something isn’t wrong,” he said firmly, yet still gentle. “I can feel it.”
“Feel it?” You asked, thoroughly confused.
“Yeah, you know. My sixth sense. I know everything that’s going on with you, even if I can’t see you,” he explained, as if it was common knowledge.
Despite the fact that his words literally warmed and crushed your heart, you still had to remain focused. “Okay Shawn. Something is going on. But it can wait. Truly. Can we please just table it until tomorrow?” You slightly begged, hoping to soothe his worries.
But that was a pretty impossible wish. “Y/N, why can’t we do it right now? There is literally nothing more important than how you are feeling-”
“Really?” you said, unable to hold back the floodgates. “What about the fact that today you were offered your dream job? I don’t know, that seems pretty freaking important to me! So excuse me for wanting to push my feelings aside so I can celebrate with you something that you’ve worked towards for basically your whole career!”
Shawn was confused by your outburst. “Your feelings should never be pushed aside, they come before everything. Even before this promotion, and whatever celebrations you had planned or wanted to have,” he explained simply.
“Shawn, can you please just trust me on this one?” You sighed. “There’s a time and place, and right now just isn’t it.”
“At least tell me why, and I’ll drop it.” He responded, giving you an out.
Easier said than done.
“Shawn, but the promotion is what’s making me upset.” You said, knowing there was no other way around it.
There was a look of surprise on Shawn’s face, but regardless, he immediately responded, “Okay, now you have to tell me.”
“Shawn,” you whined. “That wasn’t the deal.”
“Yeah, but that was before I realized this was about me,” he reasoned. “Y/N, I’m getting worried.”
You were making the problem worse. You were making him feel bad on his night.
“You’re really going to make me say, huh, copier boy?” You sighed, already knowing the answer.
“I’ve got all night,” Shawn responded. He meant it too.
“I know that this promotion means we have to break up,” you said while looking down and poking your orange chicken with your chopstick. You said it so quietly that you barely heard it yourself. But the truth was admitting it out loud meant that it was real, and you didn’t want to believe it. “And I’m sorry I couldn’t contain myself to celebrate you tonight.”
Shawn’s face fell. Guilt was written all over him. His golden eyes immediately filled with concern as he sighed. “Y/N,” he had started, but you were quick to cut him off.
“I know, I should’ve been expecting this. I had known this was where you were headed long before we were dating. I also knew, just by being around you, that there was no doubt that you were going to get this position sooner rather than later. Now we are both going to get hurt. This was bound to happen to us, I’m sorry I was so naïve!” You finished with an exasperated groan.
“Y/N,” Shawn interrupted softly. “But I love you. And-”
“And I love you so much too. But do you know how hard it’s going to be for us to make this work?” You cut him off again. “You have to relocate to Edmonton for the position. That’s a four hour plane ride Shawn, and a three hour time difference. By the time I wake up, you’ll already have started your workday. Then by the time you could call me on your lunch break, my work day will have just started and I’ll be deep in my numbers. We’ll just never be on the same schedule. Obviously we are going to try and make it work, but it’s going to take so much just to be able to talk to each other on a daily basis. I know we can put in their effort, but I’m afraid our relationship won’t be able to grow, and eventually we’ll lose each other.” You said, emotions starting to get the better of you in that moment.
“But we won’t, if you would just-” Shawn tried but you had beat him to it once again.
“Of course I’ve thought about moving to Edmonton with you,” you continued, answering what you assumed to be his question. “Honestly, I’m halfway there. I’ve made peace with my job. I would give it up for you, no questions asked. There are tons of accounting positions out there. I’d be fine,” you started confidently. “But I don’t know if I could leave Toronto. I mean college was a nightmare and that wasn’t even an hour away. I don’t know, it’s just that Toronto has been home for all my life, and my whole family is here. But then again, I consider you my own family and you, on your own have become my home. Maybe after a few years I could join you. I just can’t decide because I feel that whichever one I pick that I’ll literally die without the other.”
“Y/N,” Shawn said a little louder this time, but still maintaining his gentleness. “I love you so much, but please don’t cut me off again until I can get out everything I need to say,” he finished with a giggle.
“Deal, baby?” Shawn asked when he saw that he had your attention.
You gave him a slight nod in return.
“You don’t have to worry about anything. Your job, your home here, our relationship, nothing’s changing. I promise you that.” Taking in the confused look on your face to his statement, he continued. “Because I didn’t accept the job offer.”
“You WHAT?” You blurted abruptly before remembering the deal you made with Shawn approximately thirty seconds ago. “Sorry,” you added quickly, which earned a big laugh from Shawn.
“It’s alright, numbers girl. I’m done with what I needed to say,” he stated simply.
“So do you want to tell me exactly why you turned down your dream job?” you bluntly questioned.
“It wasn’t the right time for me, for us. It just isn’t in line with where we are headed right now. No job position is worth messing up what we have.” Shawn explained.
“Maybe this position!” you exclaimed, not able to believe what he was saying to you. “Shawn my supervisor told me what the full offer entailed. An apartment and a car for Edmonton. An insane salary, even compared to what you have now. Not to mention it’s the position you’ve wanted since you’ve started studying business! They are literally offering you everything-”
“They didn’t offer me you,” now it was Shawn’s turn to cut you off. “So, no. They didn’t offer me everything. They might as well have offered me nothing.”
It was in this moment that your heart froze. This wasn’t real. Your heart was so overcome with joy that you were rendered speechless.
Suddenly, Shawn got up from the dinner table.
“Wait!” you said, louder than expected. You thought you had lost him once today, and you never wanted to feel that again.
“It’s okay, baby.” He said, walking back towards you. You remained seated while he stood above you. Similar to earlier at the office, he got close to your face so that the two of you were sharing the same air. He brushed a stray piece of hair behind your ear, and then gave you a loving kiss on your forehead. “I’m not going anywhere. Not ever. At least not without you. I just have to go grab something real quick. Now go eat your orange chicken.”
You’ll never know what you did to be able to run into the office prince charming who now always remembered the extra sauce on your chicken.
Shawn returned with the duffel bag slung on his shoulder. He set it down on the chair he was sitting on earlier, and started to unzip it. Almost immediately all the feelings of doubt from earlier started to flood back.
“Hey,” you said, getting Shawn’s attention. Your voice was more in control than earlier, as many of fears had been erased. “Are you sure about this? I can’t be the reason you don’t get to where you want to be.”
“Let me show just how sure I am,” he said while placing a Men’s Warehouse shoebox on the table next to his dumplings.
When he took the lid off you saw it filled with brightly colored folded pieces of paper. You were confused for a second until you recognized your script handwriting all over it. Those were the post-it letters you wrote to him over the years. At random, Shawn picked one out of the box and read it aloud.
“I smile so much around you that my cheeks hurt,” he smiled himself, shaking his head in disbelief. “Your smile is one of my favorite things in the entire world. For some unknown, wonderful reason, I have the ability to make you smile. Whenever I do make you smile, it’s like I’ve won the lottery. I can’t get that if I’m in Edmonton.”
“Yes you could,” you said, playing devil’s advocate. “Trust me. You could easily make me laugh over the phone.”
“But then I couldn’t see your beautiful smile!” He countered.
“Facetime!”
“It’s not the same,” he whined, and you knew you had no further points to make.
Happy with himself, Shawn picked up another post-it from the box and unfolded it.
“I hope our story stays at these desks forever.” As he read your words, the biggest smile flashed across his face. “Now this one,” he started. “This one is it for me. I remember every single thing that led to me reading this note. It was the morning after we had spent the night at the office. That night we said we were falling in love with each other,” he said reliving that magical moment. “I remember getting home and seeing this neon yellow thing sticking out of my coat pocket. I was absolutely speechless when I had read it. But more importantly I realized something so earth shattering that in a way that still hasn’t allowed me to recover. Numbers girl, I realized my heart belonged to you all along. Even before I knew you. You were keeping it safe for me until that fateful day at the copier.”
“Shawn,” you said as you were being flooded with all the emotions from that night and right now.
“That was also the night I made a promise,” he continued. “You wanted our story to stay at our desks forever, and I’d be damned if I didn’t spend the rest of my life trying to make sure that happened. I thought I knew what I wanted from life, where I wanted to go with my career, but meeting you, loving you, changed everything and I couldn’t be more grateful. You were worried, that if I didn’t accept this job, that something would be missing from life? Well I’ve got everything I’d ever need right here with you. Positions come and go, but you honey are my once in a lifetime. To be completely honest I think I made that promise way before the morning after. Probably the moment I first laid eyes on you.”
You couldn’t contain yourself, this unbelievable confession of love ignited every fiber in your body. Without thinking or hesitation you hopped out of your chair, grabbed him by his rosy cheeks and kissed him with every ounce of love you could muster. He cradled you in his arms, and in that moment you felt safe and at home. It was gentle and passionate but at the same time desperate and needy. Today had to have been one of the scariest days for you. You thought you were going to lose Shawn. But in a single moment, with one, fantastic, gesture, all your fears disappeared in an instant. Although he made it clear that he wasn’t going anywhere, you kissed him like it would be your last time doing so.
“I love you so much,” you said once you two came up for air. It was a simple gesture, but those words carried an incredible amount of meaning in that moment.
“I love you too, Y/N. More than you could ever know.”
You weren’t sure how long you two stood there holding each other. To be honest, you didn’t really care. You wanted to soak up every single detail from this moment. The way Shawn’s curls felt between your fingers, the way his golden eyes reflected the light that hung over your kitchen table, the way your heart was at peace but was still racing. People say you don’t recognize the biggest moments of your life when you are living them, but you knew that you’d be telling your future kids about how this was the moment that their parents knew they’d be together forever.
After things calmed down for the night, there was just one more thing you had to ask.
“If you rejected the offer, why were in his office for almost forty five minutes today?”
Shawn laughed at you in an endearing way, “Always got to know all the details, huh love?”
After earning a blush from you Shawn continued. “Well I basically rejected the offer immediately after it had been offered. I know I said last week that this position was always the plan, but it took the offer to make me realize the plan had been changed for quite some time now. There was really no question of whether or not I was going to take it. Steve was shocked to say the least,” Shawn giggled at this part. “And when he asked why, I was honest. I told him it was because I was not willing to leave you, and that I was firm on that stance. Thinking about it now, I would probably be a pretty bad regional manager if I didn’t have my numbers girl by my side or across from me. After hearing my reasoning, Steve made a call out to Edmonton. Literally within ten minutes he told me that there was a job lined up for you. We’d be in the same office, across from each other, just like we are now.”
Suddenly you felt a pit in your stomach. You knew you were worried about moving away from Toronto, but the fact you would get to keep your exact position and do it with Shawn, made you think that after Shawn did all this for you, maybe you should at least try.
“Easy there, tiger,” Shawn halted you, as if he saw all the gears spinning rapidly after hearing what he had said. “I told him that we were going to talk about it, but that it probably wasn’t going to happen. Look there’s no pressure at all, you can think about it if you want, and then if you decide to take it, we will do it together. But seeing the look on your face, I know you don’t want it. I didn’t even have to ask to know this would be the outcome.”
You immediately broke eye contact with him. There he goes giving everything up for me again.
“We’re good honey, I promise. This position just doesn’t fit, and there is nothing wrong with that.” Shawn said, trying to soothe your worries. “I would never want to take you away from home, I know how grounded you feel here. Your family is here, and although you’ve never told me this before, I know you want your family to grow up here as well.”
“Our family,” you corrected, and Shawn’s eyes lit up.
“Yes, love. Our family,” Shawn agreed. You two had never talked about your future like that before, but after this conversation it was clear that neither of you had doubts that you were both in it for the long haul. “Speaking of,” Shawn continued, while grabbing something else out of his duffel bag.
He set a manila file folder onto the table. He flipped open the top and you saw a packet, slightly crumpled from the amount of times Shawn must’ve flipped through it. You were in disbelief when you saw the Zillow listing in the top left corner of the page. He had been house hunting.
You were flipping through the house listings, there had to be a list of at least twenty in the pile. On each page, Shawn had made notes of his own. Could convert the spare bedroom into an office for Y/N. Located in a good school district. Y/N will love the ivy on the side of this house, she always picks houses with ivy when we watch House Hunters. Big backyard so Y/N and I could start a garden.
“A garden?” you giggled. “What about us screams green thumb?
“Well, nothing actually,” Shawn admitted. “But I think it would be so fun! You, looking all beautiful wearing a sun hat standing next to all the pretty flowers. Me, spraying you with a hose.”
“Seems about right to me,” you agreed, imagining in your head Shawn ambushing you with a hose and then you chasing him down to give him a big and wet hug. “You think about these things a lot?”
“Our future?” Shawn questioned. “Literally nonstop. Every new day with you is somehow more amazing and magical than the last so I can’t help but imagine what’s to come! I’m sure it’ll be better than my imagination comes up with. I mean it’s you after all.”
“I’m so excited to do life with you, copier boy. Like so excited.” You said, and then leaned across the table and gave him a sweet and simple peck on the lips. You two had thousands of kisses ahead of you, but you were going to soak up every single one.
“But I must ask,” you asked after returning to your seat. “How did you do all this?”
“One of the many perks of sitting across from you numbers girl is that you can’t see my computer screen unless you walk over to my side.” Shawn explained, “So I always have the Zillow tab open while I’m working. Anndd, whenever you get the ‘I’m lost in my numbers' face I do a little searching. Then I took all the best ones and turned them into a packet using the copier.”
“You did? All on your own?” You responded, feigning shock. “We’ve sure come a long way since our first day, huh?”
“We sure did, and I couldn’t be happier. I’ll never know what I deserved to find you in life, but I’m going to spend the rest of forever trying to make up for it.”
So for the next few hours you two sat among the Chinese food, real estate listings, and post-it note love letters just talking, with a few kisses here and there. Reminiscing about the past, dreaming about the future, and literally everything in between. You never thought the office prince charming who blamed the paper tray for not being able to use the copier would be your soulmate, but you couldn’t be luckier.
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