hotel room 108

chapter 2

nathan

"He what?" Levi squeals over the phone.

"He bought. Me coffee." I grit out for the hundredth time. He begins to squeal again and I groan,

"L-Look Levi? Levi yeah I gotta go I'm taking Tiff out for dinner."

"Fine, have fun with your special dinner."

"It's not special, it's just a date."

"Well it's with the Queen of The Devil, can't mess up in front of indecent royalty!"

I roll my eyes and hang up the phone as Tiffany grabs my arm,

"Would you come on?!"

I don't know what's wrong with Tiffany and it's worrying me. She has been acting off since that night she spent away from home. I want to ask her badly what's going on, have her talk to me, but she doesn't look to be in a talking mood.

We both sit down in the booth, me moving to wrap my arm around her waist, hoping that later in the night we can actually talk about what's on her mind.

•

"Hey babe, you seem tense," I mutter after the waiter takes our empty plates, "Are you sure you want to be here? We can go out for ice cream or something, get out of here--"

"Please Nathan, like you need more food to fill up that gut you're sporting."

Her comment hits me hard. My weight has been a primary problem for me, considering how skinny I was in high school. Suddenly I was eating more than someone my average weight and height and bam; I was overweight.

I worked hard to lose my excess weight, to be in perfect shape for Tiffany.

Hearing her insult something that is in the past does it for me.

"Why don't you call me when you're ready to stop being a b***h?" I snap, slamming my keys on the table,

"What the hell Nathan--"

"Drive yourself home."

I take my coat off my chair and text Levi to tell him I'm staying at his house. He replies without any type of 'I told you so', and I'm relieved. I don't know what's wrong with Tiffany but I don't want to be around for her to continue her rude behavior. I begin to walk to Levi' house, knowing it's only a twenty-minute walk from the restaurant.

hayden

"Hey, are you on your way home?" my sister asks me.

"Yeah, I'm coming, you miss me being your housewife?"

"God Hayden I can cook on my own sometimes!"

"If you call burnt lasagna food," I chuckle, turning a block. As I drive down the road, I take note of a figure walking rather quickly. When I realize it's Nathan, I can't help but thank the Lord himself for this ironic moment.

"Gem, remember that cute blonde guy that works for me?"

"Nathan, that brilliant guy? What about him?"

"I'll see you when I get home."

"What Hayden--"

I drive up to him and roll my window down,

"Well well well, what are you doing around these parts this late?"

Nathan turns to me, his mouth agape,

"Hayden...I--"

"Do you need a ride? It's like forty degrees out here."

"Could I please?"

"Sure, no worries."

Nathan steps in the car and sits in the passenger seat, rubbing his pale hands together.

"Hey thanks again, I'm sorry by the way, my girlfriend just...god you don't even wanna know."

"Where are you going?"

"Headed to the Laphen Estate."

"You know Levi Laphen?"

"Since we were in diapers," he laughs, "Levi and I go way back, and no, he hasn't changed since Laphen launched."

"Good for you," I congratulate him, "but, the estate is like fifteen minutes away from here, so you're gonna have to tell me what your girlfriend did."

"I dunno," he smirks, "I'm quite an emotional in-depth guy."

"I could tell since I caught you reading The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight in a bakery. Cliché much?"

He rolls his eyes and I smirk,

"Plus, my middle name is Emotional."

Nathan breaks out in laughter and I can't help but smile. His laugh is the contagious type, and I can't help but hate his girlfriend.

"Your middle name is not Emotional."

"No s**t Sherlock, it's Edward. Now let's get going, shall we?"

•

Nathan explains to me that his girlfriend was insulting his weight at dinner. He told me about how in high school he didn't eat in order to be skinny and ended up making himself sick. His metabolism and digestive system have been screwed up since then and he's been working so so hard to fix what he had done back then. I just hated the girl even more.

"You shouldn't worry about that you know," I say, being a good Samaritan and not leading him away from this girl, "she's probably just stressed. The love may still be afloat..."

We pull up in front of the Laphen Estate and Nathan sighs, unbuckling his seatbelt,

"Thank you, for the ride here and listening to my rubbish, it means a lot."

"S'no big deal," I say, "here, let me walk you up."

Nathan and I both get out of my car and walk up the path to Levi' front door. I never thought I would even be beyond the gates of this...palace.

He knocks on the door six times with an extra bang with his fist.

"Coming Nathan!" I hear someone scream, probably Levi. The door opens seconds later and he comes out, dressed in a Bad Suns t-shirt and sweatpants.

"Hey," Nathan sighs.

"Hi Ni, I've got Frozen set on the main menu in the living room, The Fault In Our Stars on standby, of course, pizza is on the way, and I may or may not have extra cake from the launch party last week in Milan we can have later. Either way, I can grab some ice cream from downstairs or something..."

Levi takes notice of me and I wave.

"Nathan," he whispers, "Who's your tall friend?"

"Oh!" Nathan turns to me and back to Levi, "that's Hayden. He gave me a ride from my disaster date and walked me up."

"Hi," I greet him, "I love your clothes, big fan of your lines, uh..."

I show him the tag from the inside of my jacket sleeve and he chuckles,

"Thanks, glad you like them. So when did you meet Nathan and why hasn't he introduced me?"

"Well, he almost locked me out of the studios," I laugh.

"Wait," he says, "you're the assistant CEO?"

"So I have been introduced," I answer cheekily.

"He just didn't tell me you were this...hot. Trust me you've been mentioned."

"Levi what the hell?!" Nathan grits out in front of me. I smile and pat his shoulder.

"It's fine Nathan, I've gotta run away, my sister might burn the house if I don't get there and cook us some food."

He gives me an uneasy smile and I shake my head, grinning,

"I'll see you at work on Monday."

nathan

"You bastard!"

Levi puts down the pizza boxes on the coffee table, smacking my head again,

"You did not tell me your assistant CEO was the reincarnation of Jesus Christ himself!"

"Levi please, control your gayness for five minutes, and don't go lurking after my boss."

He smirks and suddenly he's crawling on my lap,

"But you would love it if he f****d you straight of his desk, making you call him Mr. Scott--"

"LOUIS SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP!" I scream, jumping away from him, completely horrified. Levi falls back in his place on the couch, holding his sides as he laughs at my horrified reaction.

"Christ Nathan, re-relax..." he giggles.

"I'm straight. Straighter than a pole!"

"Once upon a time I said that," he sing-songs. I throw the Frozen DVD case at his chest and he laughs again.

•

"Hans you better stop with your damn lies!" I scream at the TV, throwing popcorn at his big annoying ass head.

"Stop singing! He's EVIL!" Levi screams along with me. My phone rings and he glares at me.

"What?" I whine.

"The rules of the movie theater apply in this house."

"Why because the screen is as big as a theater screen?"

Levi flips me off and I go into the kitchen to answer my phone.

"Nathan Holloway speaking," I answer.

"Nathan, babe I'm so sorry..."

"Tiff?" I switch the phone to my right hand, "why are you calling me?"

"That comment about your weight, I didn't mean it in that way. Really, I was just stressed and it came out and--Nathan babe I still love you."

"Hey hey," I whisper, "did you make it home safe?"

"Yeah, I did." She says.

"I'm gonna stay at Levi' for the weekend. Maybe we just need some time apart?"

"If...If you want."

"Thanks, see ya."

"Bye."

I hang up the phone and cut myself another piece of cake while I'm at it. Forgiving Tiffany is always easy for me because I love her. It shouldn't be that way, but it works for us.

"Was that the Devil?"

Levi comes in with an empty plate and motions for me to cut a piece for him.

"Yeah," I say, "she...apologized."

"For calling you a fat ass or for even agreeing to ruin your life with this relationship?"

"For insulting my weight problems yes," I explain, "can I just crash with you for the weekend? I need space to be....alone? With you of course."

"Course, you're always welcome in La Casa de Laphen." Levi hugs me from behind and sways our bodies back and forth.

"Good, because I need to eat all your food in payback for the night before."

"Haha," he sneers, "Are you joining me at work tomorrow then?"

"Depends, is it going to be a boring day with meetings and looking at drawings?"

"No, I've actually got a show coming up," Levi takes in a forkful of cake, "Help me choose combinations maybe? Oh! And I'm welcoming my new intern."

"Oh, internship season," I smile, "I remember my first internship..."

"At Marvel?"

"Yeah, it was great..."

"You should marry the company instead of considering Tiffany."

"What's the intern's name, Levi?" I say, changing the subject.

"Zach Pitt or something like that," he says,"met him at the Milan launch. He said he was a huge fan, so I offered him an internship. He's adorable really, you'll love him."

I roll my eyes and eat some of my cake. Typical Levi, throwing internships around willy nilly.

"Can you give him the tour tomorrow?" He asks, "I have so much work to do with the models and I may not have time."

"Of course my queen," I sarcastically.

"Really Nathan, it'll be a huge help for me. Please?"

"Yeah, I will Levi."

•

Levi dragging me through his fashion studio isn't the best thing in the world.

It will never be.

"Nathan, stop knocking stuff over!" Levi huffs, pulling me down another hallway.

"Levi, you're the one steering me right now so don't blame me for s**t!"

He tugs me into his office and shuts the door. My favorite place in Levi' enormous studio is his office. He really outdid himself when he had it designed, and part of me wishes I had his job.

"Make yourself at home, like you always do," he says, lifting his feet up on his desk. I do the same and he slides my vanilla mocha across the conference table. I secretly thank the Lord for blessing us with Starbucks before taking a sip.

"How do you drink coffee? It's disgusting..." Levi takes a sip of his green tea and I roll my eyes.

"You're drinking a girl's drink."

"Your drinking a typical white girl drink."

"Shut up."

I throw my straw at him and he chuckles.

"Intern should be up soon, hopefully, he'll pass my first test."

I almost snort my coffee out my nose as Levi says that,

"You already have him slaving for you?!"

"He's just getting us breakfast, god Nathan." Levi groans,

"It should be worth it anyway."

The door opens and a boy with black hair and thick-framed glasses comes in. In his hands, he has three big bags with the Panera Bread logo printed on them.

"You sent him all the way downtown to Panera? Oh my god, the poor boy..." I express my sympathy for Zach.

"Oh, i-it's okay, it was no big deal."

He puts our breakfast down and Levi looks fairly impressed.

"Well done Zach," he murmurs, "I hope my eggs aren't well done on my sandwich--"

"Nope, slightly burnt, like you always eat it. And I held the bacon."

Levi' eyebrows raise and I see a smile from behind his hand that's placed in front of his mouth.

"I got you a bagel and butter," he says quietly, "I don't know what you eat and Levi didn't tell me anything..."

"No, mate it's alright...really..." I say, astonished at what's occurring in front of me.

Levi stands up and claps his hands together,

"Intern, you've shocked me. I was pretty sure you'd forget everything and I'd have to hit you with my Prada bag before firing you. But you've proven me wrong. I am proud of."

Zach's smile is brighter than the sun outside as Levi praises him.

"Young grasshopper," he sighs, "this is Nathan. Wave, slave."

I shake his hand and give him a cheery smile.

"I'm far too busy to give you the tour today, so Nathan here will be taking my place."

Levi spins around in his chair and points at me,

"Why don't you...take him around, and then meet me back on floor eight? It'd be nice for him to learn how things work on a busy day."

I nod and get up from the comfy office chair, patting Zach's back.

"You're going to have a hell of a lot of fun with Levi. Trust me."