To Color Your Life

Emily closed the book and put it back. She closed the closet.

The heart was pounding nervously in her chest.

Don't jump to conclusions, Em. You just need to ask and he will tell you everything.

She didn't notice how she walked back and forth, biting her thumbnail. The girl tried to get rid of this habit even at the university, but her reflexes were stronger.

After a couple of minutes of chaotic thoughts, she left the study room and headed towards the kitchen. The brain tried to pierce her defense with the most unpleasant assumptions, but Emily decided not to take any hasty action.

"What do you mean she's already taken off?"

Emily froze in front of the kitchen as she heard Evans' voice.

"She told me she would only be there in a week." The man was talking to someone on the phone. "I see, I get it. I'll be at the airport in three hours."

Justin fell silent, the girl decided that the conversation was over. She had no intention of eavesdropping, it just happened. And what she heard only added food for thoughts. Moreover, not the most joyful thoughts.

Stop it, Hayes. You are just screwing yourself up. If he had another woman, it would be noticeable. A man cannot pretend so skillfully.

Yeah, right. Reason inserted counter-arguments into her mental stream of complacency. Peter, too, did not look like someone who can play both sides at once. However, he did an excellent job with it.

She took a step forward and, hitting something, jerked to the side.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Justin grabbed the girl by the shoulders so to not let her fall.

"Oh-I'm sorry, I didn't notice you, I was lost in my thoughts."

"About your stunning boyfriend, I suppose?"

Stunning, daring, persistent, bright, passionate, gentle... She could have given this person a hundred epithets, but could there be one among them that would calm her anxiety?

Loyal.

"Fake boyfriend," Emily replied and scoffed at the boss's dismay.

"Fake?" Evans protested, "Oh, you little mean booger! And now I'll show you how fake I am!" He grabbed her by the hips and pulled her into the dining room.

"What are you doing?!" Emily jerked to break free, but the boss sat her down on the table, where their dinner was already set.

"Come on, open your wonderful mouth and see for yourself how real men cook."

"It's... It's just pizza! And it's not homemade obviously!"

Justin stood in front of her with a slice of pizza in his hand and smiled as if he had invented it himself, and Emily was the first taster in the world.

"So what, yeah, it is a takeaway. I warmed it up in the oven myself," the man declared with importance, "You see, what an attentive real boyfriend I am - I treat you to your favorite dish."

Yeah, this is my favorite dish for one reason only - it doesn't have to be cooked! Emily didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Apparently, her expectations of the boss's culinary skills were too high.

"Okay, give it here." She took a slice of pizza from Evans' hands and began to eat it actively. Before asking questions, you need to calm your overwrought nerves and an empty stomach.

"Can we sit down like normal people?" Emily suggested. Sitting on the table was generally comfortable. Except one perverted man was pushing his thighs between her legs.

"As you wish, dear."

The boss plopped down on the nearest chair and pulled the girl off the table, sitting her on his lap.

"Justin!"

"What? It's very convenient. You just... well, keep eating. Keep your mind on what you're doing."

How can you not be distracted when the hot breath of a man tickles your neck, and his shameless hands have long been under your T-shirt?!

"We need to talk."

"No problem. Finish eating and let's talk," he replied, pulling the girl's T-shirt up.

Emily wanted to grab the plate closest to her and bang Evans on the head with it. Or maybe do that to herself. How else to explain this madness that was happening inside her from the simple touch of the boss?

The brain began to fall into a lethargic sleep, the connection with reality was lost, and only desire remained - wild and all-consuming.

"I am leaving Pharaoh."

"What?" The man looked up from her breasts, which were already naked, and looked at Emily with incomprehension.

"When the deadline for substituting Kelly is over, I'll be gone," she put the remaining pizza aside and straightened her clothes.

"Why? You saw your new appointment. Is there something that doesn't suit you? I agree that acting as a model for a magazine is not something you are used to. And it makes me a little nervous too. But this is really a great opportunity for growth."

"Say what makes me nervous, Justin? This," Emily gestured to their unambiguous pose, "We've been away from work for two days. Both. And what do I know first thing in the morning? Congratulations! You are promoted! Do you know how it looks from the outside? Job through the bed!"

"Don't talk nonsense, Emily. You know it isn't. Or has the magazine's sharp rise in sales also spilled over into our bed?"

"You know this, and the others do not," she snapped.

"I thought you didn't care about other people's opinions." Justin's face became serious, and Emily felt as if the man had disappeared into himself for a moment.

She felt scared. She was afraid that he might shut out from her. She wasn't sure, but she sensed that Justin Evans was keeping some secret that he didn't want to share with her. Or not ready yet.

Emily wanted to hope for the latter.

"Justin, we live among people. You can ignore their opinion as much as you want, but this does not mean that you need to give reasons for gossip."

"You sound like my grandfather now," the boss frowned. He clearly did not like this conversation. But instead of pulling away, he buried his head in the girl's chest and pressed her closer to him even more. "If you don't like the position of a model, I'll talk to my father. He will find you a job in another department."

"That's what I mean," Emily sighed and hugged him back, "It's not that I'm afraid that people will think of me as your lover, Justin, and that I'm climbing the career ladder through bed. Although, to be honest, this is not pleasant."

"Somehow I didn't notice that you didn't like it," the man muttered.

Emily rolled her eyes, "Can you be serious and refrain from jokes?"

"I am as serious as an annual financial statement, which I seem to have forgotten to submit again."

Emily has already forgotten why she even started this conversation! All her attempts to collect thoughts in a heap were broken about the unpredictability of this man.

She felt like a boat caught in a storm. You seem to be able to control your frail little boat, but nature around is too unpredictable and stormy.

"I don't like being deceived," the girl said.

The boss's palms around her waist tightened. "Nobody deceives you."

"You didn't say you hired me on purpose, Justin. Plus all this activity with flowers, fruits and appointments happens so quickly that I have no time to sort thoughts out. I get the feeling that I am a dog being led on a leash. I don't want this kind of relationship."

Damn it seems to be wrong wording. Emily bit her lip as the boss looked at her with a shadow of resentment.

"What kind of relationship do you want?" he asked.

Emily hesitated for a moment. "Honest and open."

I want to know everything about you. Where are you, who are you with, what you do, what you like, what you think about. Who is the woman in the photo... It seems that it was no less difficult for her to be completely honest.

"Do you want me to officially declare our relationship?" Evans asked head-on.

Oh. Actually, I only meant the two of us, Emily thought. Coordinate actions and the like. Maintain a working image. Don't create unnecessary noise. Get to know each other.

"Are we in a relationship?"

The boss's startled face was the best proof of what kind of nonsense she'd just blasted off.

Foooool... Although, stop! He did not confess his love to her and did not say phrases, even hinting at "now we are together!". She herself decided that it was so.

Still a fool. Hayes, in the morning you mentally declared to yourself that you were waiting for the initiative from Evans, but in the end what? Scared that he would find you too demanding?

On the other hand, there were no declarations of love on her part either. Then what are the claims?

"Okay, I understand you. I need to think about something. I hope you don't mind?"

"No sir," Emily replied immediately, to which Evans chuckled.

She, too, had to think about what she herself wanted and what kind of relationship she wanted to be in. Think with a cool head and certainly without the presence of this hot distractor.

Before you put forward demands for a man, you need to decide what you are ready to give him.

And only then find out about all sorts of beautiful girls in the photographs.

From these thoughts it became noticeably easier. Emily climbed off her boss's lap, sat down in a nearby chair, and began to eat the leftover pizza.

"Justin, when is your birthday?"

The man raised an eyebrow at the unexpected question. "It was at the end of last month. Why?"

"No... nothing. Happy belated birthday," she smiled, and Evans gave her an even more satisfied smile.

At the end of last month. Everything matches, Emily thought as she pushed the pizza plate aside.. Eventually, she lost her appetite.