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She stumbled over her own feet and fell on her ass. “Did you see that?” she screamed, “She pushed me!”

I didn’t have the energy or time to stand and explain to her the difference between a push and moving someone out of your way so I ignored her cries of attention and walked over to my car.

“Give me the keys.”

I narrowed my eyes at Nathan, “It’s my car.”

“Now is not the time to argue.”

I realized he was right so I huffed, dug through my pocket for the keys and tossed it to him.

He caught it with one hand and got into the driver’s side.

I cringed at the thought of having to sit in my car with raw eggs all over my body but did it anyways.

Getting away from here in one piece is worth the rigorous cleaning this car will have to go through.

The car ride back to the office was the same as the one out of it. We were both quiet. As soon as he pulled into the parking lot, I tried to get out only for Nathan to lock it back.

“I want to get out Nathan. Having eggs on you is not a comfortable thing.”

“Do you have anything to change into?”

“Of course not,” I snapped, “How am I to know that something would happen to make me need a new pair of clothes. Do I look like I plan for these things to happen?”

“Is there a bathroom where you can change? ”

“Yes, on the top floor.” I was growing impatient, “Now can I get out?”

“Wait for me there.” I didn’t respond because he opened the door after that and I hightailed out of the car.

I heard the gasps from the employees as I walked into the office. The office went deathly quiet and within a minute it was ablaze with whispers. I ignored them and made my way to Marissa’s office.

She lifted her head from her laptop as I pushed open the door to her office and her eyes widened when she took in my appearance.

“Can you go to any store around and get me a plain shirt?” I asked and she nodded.

“Are you sure you don’t want to go home?”

“I have shit to do,” I responded hotly, “I’d be damned if I let something as insignificant as a few eggs derail that.”

“Of course,” she closed her laptop, “I’ll do that right now.”

“No need,” Nathan’s voice came from the hallway.

He had a duffel bag slung over his shoulder. He gave Marissa an acknowledging nod then clasped my shoulder and led me out of her office.

“Where’s the bathroom?” I opened my mouth to complain but he cut me off, “Now isn’t the time; take me there.”

For once, I didn’t argue with him. I let him put his hand on my shoulder as I walked him to the bathroom.

We walked into the small room. Just like every other thing in this office, I made the final decisions on it. It had light blue tiles with a white ceramic sink and a toilet .

There was enough space for both of us to stand on opposite sides of the room without having to touch limbs or anything.

I decided to ignore him and glance at the mirror. Thankfully, egg didn’t get into my braids but my shirt and jacket was completely ruined.

I took off the black jacket and made a mental note to wash it today or else I wouldn’t be able to salvage it. There was dried egg all over the sleeves, lapels and the back.

I took in my white shirt- or once white shirt- and let out a deep exhale. The entire front was covered in ugly yellowish stains from where the eggs hit me. The rest of the shirt was clean but I would need a new one.

“Why the hell did you tell her not to get me a shirt?” I looked up at Nathan through the mirror and saw him pull off his button up.

He extended it to me and I stared at him as if he had grown two heads.

“Take the shirt, Adira.”

“What are you going to wear?”

“I have my gym shirt in here.” He answered with a shrug, “I would have given it to you but it’s sweaty.”

I finally turned away from the mirror to look at him.

I tried not to stare at his body too much because it felt like an invasion of his privacy but from what I did see, he was very well built and toned.

He had a toned stomach and his features may as well have been carved from stone.

If someone had told me that Nathan looked like this under his formal clothes then I would have laughed in their face.

“Thank you,” I took the shirt from his hands .

He turned his back to me while I pulled off my shirt and quickly put his own my head. I was buttoning it up when he spoke.

“If you don’t want to do the session today then we can skip it.”

“I’ll be fine,” I said simply, “You did say I should be more vulnerable. What is more vulnerable than getting egged in the street after getting coffee?”

I finished the last button and looked at it in the mirror. It was too big and I’ll fitting on me. I decided to roll up the sleeves and tuck the front into my pants. It still looked weird but it looked better than it did at first.

I turned back to face Nathan and he had put on his gym shirt. It was a plain grey shirt and it didn’t look as bad as I thought it would. There were barely any stains on it and In all honesty, I would have thought it was clean if he didn’t tell me otherwise.

“Are you good?” he asked and I nodded.

“You can set up for the session,” I told him, “My office is open.”

“What about you?”

“I’ll be there in a second; I just need to be alone first.” Understanding and sympathy filled his eyes and I turned away from him. “I’m not dying Nathan; you don’t have to look at me with pity.”

He opened his mouth to speak but thought better of it and walked out of the bathroom. I waited until I heard his footsteps fade out before I allowed myself to feel.