Chapter Text
There is very little that is more stressful than moving house, especially when moving in when it is becoming the height of summer. It was only early morning but sweat was already dripping down Daniels back as he hefted another box up the two flights of stairs to his new apartment. Typical that the lift was broken today.
Turning the corner Daniel bumped his arm and felt one of the books stacked on the box fall making him grumble lowly under his breath to himself. Reaching the open door to his new place he dumped the box unceremoniously and turned to go grab the fallen book when an unexpected figure filled the doorway.
She stood with a soft smile on a friendly open face. Dark hair was pinned up in a messy bun, long strands loose about her face. Daniel stood momentarily stunned by her beauty. She raised an eyebrow elegantly and he glanced down to see she was holding the book he had dropped, he gave a slow smirk and ran a hand through his hair trying to cover his uncharacteristic moment of surprise. Walking up to her the woman who seemed older by a couple of years, maybe late 30’s, regarded him with an unflinching gaze. Daniel leaned on the door frame and smiled at her, this close up she reached his shoulders in height but she was wearing heels and Daniel could only guess her real height. Dressed in a light, long sleeved top tucked into a high waisted tight skirt that hugged her curves Daniel tried to not make it too obvious that he was checking her out. She had dark eyes and when she smiled again at him there were fine lines around them that told him how easy she was to smile. Wearing light makeup the most striking thing was her dark brown eyes, with daring eyeliner and red lipstick. She struck Daniel as looking like one of the lead femme fatals in an old noir film his Grandmother would make him watch with her when he was child.
The woman offered the book, as Daniel thanked her and took it off her he saw the manicured nails and felt where her slim fingers caused sparks of electricity as they touched his own. She nodded and backed off giving him a slight wave before turning and heading down the stairs leaving Daniel with the scent of her perfume and a perfect angle to watch her figure. Daniel watched with naked attraction as those heels clicked as she walked down the stairs, her hair bouncing in the morning sun along with the way her hips and bum swayed in that skirt.
“God damn.” He breathed out. As the sound of her heels disappeared he shook his head and gave a laugh, maybe moving wasn’t going to be so bad.
****
Julia was running late for work, again. She had stopped to pick up the book that the blond man had dropped on his way along the corridor which in itself wasn’t the problem. Nor was the moment she had stood at the door taking in how attractive the blond man was or how stimulating it had been noticing the way the white tshirt had clung to his broad frame as he had smirked down at her leaning in that door frame. No, that was not the issue, even though it had certainly sped up her heart rate in a way that she’d not felt in years. It was her car, again, that was the nightmare.
“Come on .” She hissed as the engine spluttered before dying in silence. She leaned back and glared at the car roof and grabbed her phone. Another day another taxi ride to work because of her shit heap of a car.
“Morning Julia.” Called a young blond woman as Julia strode into the office. Julia raised a hand as she kept a brisk pace as the younger woman fell into step by her side.
“I'm sorry I’m late Melanie.” Julia sighed, glancing at the younger woman.
“Well you’re the boss, no one would dare say anything about it,” Melanie replied in a teasing tone making Julia snort a laugh. “Car again?”
Julia sighed heavily and nodded, stopping as a younger man came bustling up to her with several folders.
“Yes, I need to get the mechanic to look at it again.” The dark haired woman muttered, grabbing the folders off him, thanking him.
“You should just get rid of it and get a new one.” Melanie said, shaking her head and helping her boss juggle her bag and the folders.
“That was the one thing that was worth anything from the divorce Melanie,” Sighed Julia with irritation. “I’m going to ride that god damn thing till it falls apart under me,” She paused and threw a pointed look at Melanie. “Much like the marriage,”
Melanie gave a laugh and both women looked up as a mousy haired man jogged up looking frazzled.
“Morning Martin.” Julia said but paused when looking at his expression.
“Mrs Milton - I mean Julia,” He caught himself and blushed at the use of her first name. “Mr Nelson is in your office - barged right past me!”
Martin was at least 6 ft tall and though boasted a broad chest was a little soft around the middle to be termed as a “beefcake” but despite the size he was the most shy unassuming person Julia had ever met. But his organisation skills were second to none and despite only being her personal assistant for a relatively short time Julia couldn’t imagine the office without him now. They just needed to work on him blushing every time he said her first name.
“It’s ok Martin.” Julia told him as they walked a few steps before pausing and looking at the tiled floor, Martin pointed to a dark liquid spilled everywhere.
“He spilled boiling coffee everywhere too!” Martin sputtered in rage. Julia looked Martin over.
“Are you ok? It didn’t scald you did it?” Julia asked with concern. Martin shook his head and fixed his glasses in a nervous gesture. Melanie looked at Julia with a concerned look.
“You want me to come in too?”
Julia shook her head and patted Martin on the arm trying to console him.
“No, that's why I’m the boss, dealing with wired up lunatics first thing in the morning is part of my job,” She said wistfully and glanced at Melanie. “If you hear screaming and objects being thrown, call the police.” Julia smirked and strode off towards her office.
“For him or for you?” Melanie called after her, Julia flicked her hair and glanced over her shoulder to smirk.
“Who do you think?” Julia quipped before walking into her office and slamming the door behind her to the sound of Melanie laughing.
****
It was well into the afternoon before Daniel managed to finally move all the boxes and furniture into the apartment. He slumped on the couch catching his breath and drinking a glass of water. It had taken him half an hour to try and find and fish a glass from one of the moving boxes, typical he would mislabel the kitchen boxes as bedroom stuff. He ran a hand over his face and opened his phone, clicking on an app one of the boys at the garage had told him to download. He smirked at the logo, MeChat huh? Clicking on the profile setup he ran a hand through his hair, how good could this app be?