It Has Always Been So Easy to Love You

"What's your plans for tonight then, Eleanor?" Brandon asked as he looked up at me from his desk. My first day had gone as great as it could. Everyone was really sweet and welcomed me back with open arms. Especially Matt, who repeatedly told me how boring work had been without me and how happy he was to have his 'partner in crime' back. Brandon was the new guy, who was overseeing multimillion dollar projects. He was technically on the same level as me, though way more experienced than me. The first thing you'd notice about Brandon was how strikingly attractive he was. With a dark brown hair that was slicked back into a quiff combover, hazel eyes and a charming smile. He was the definition of an American prince. And a talking point amongst the women in our office.

"My boyfriend is picking me up, though I'm not convinced he should be driving." I replied.

"How come?"

"He recently had an accident and broke his shoulder. He's a lot better than he was and he's swore he's fine to drive. I'd prefer him to rest but he won't listen to me. We're going to IKEA tonight." I started packing my things into my bag.

"Pedro right?" He asked, I nodded. "Sorry, I'm still trying to learn all the names." He smiled bashfully.

"That's OK, you're doing great."

"Sounds like a horrible accident! But IKEA dates are fun. What are you gonna get? Anything in particular?"

"Not really. I've temporarily moved in with him so just the usual stuff you forget you need when you move into somewhere. I think Pedro's only coming along for the hot dog I promised I'd buy him at the end."

"A man after my own heart. IKEA hotdogs are something special."

"See, I'm not a fan. Of hotdogs in general. The sausage tastes weird." What a great thing to say to your new colleague, Eleanor. I sensed Brandon saw the embarrassment on my face and helped me out by changing the topic of conversation.

"Well I'm on bed time duties tonight. Which, for my 6 month old, doesn't really work out well. He's great for his mom. Me, not so much."

"That's sweet. He's just keeping you on your toes. I'm sure he just stays awake to spend time with his Dad."

"Or punish me for being away all day." Brandon sniggered as he started to pack up his things. "He's so great, though. I love him so much." I always found it endearing to hear men talk about their wives and children with such love and affection. I knew Pedro did the same for me to others he spoke to. It didn't go unrecognised that I was a very lucky girl.

"I'm sure he'll be a little angel tonight." I was going to continue the conversation but my phone buzzed in my hand.

Pedro: I'm outside x

"I've gotta go. It's so great to have you on the team! You're gonna be great! I'll see you tomorrow?" I grabbed my coat and put it over my arm.

"Thanks so much, Eleanor. That's really kind of you. I'll see you tomorrow. Have a great IKEA trip. Good night."

"Goodnight." I left as I quickly typed out 'Coming x' to Pedro and made my way out the front. I'd just got to the car when my phone buzzed again.

Pedro: you will be tonight 💦 x

"I just got your text, you fool." I sniggered as I climbed into his passenger seat. I threw my bag onto the back seat. "Hey babe."

"Hey babe." Pedro leaned over and kissed me. "You look pretty."

"You saw me this morning!" I giggled like a little girl at his compliment.

"I know, but you're prettier than I remembered. How was work?" He asked as he pulled off into the traffic.

"It was good. It's nice to be back. I feel like there's gonna be a lot of work for me to do now so I need to get my head down."

"How do you feel about that?"

"Good I guess. It's a great promotion and a lot more money so I can't really complain. Not sure how I feel about overseeing a group of people though."

"You'll be great. As you always are, at everything you do."

"Thanks babe. Before I forget, what are you doing Friday? Are you around?"

"I think so, why?" He momentarily took his eyes off the road to look at me. I finally got to look at him. Dressed in a navy jumper, blue jeans and his New Balance. He looked delicious. His floppy curls danced around his head whilst his black framed glasses emphasised his beautiful brown eyes. He was perfect.

"There's a new guy at work and they're going for drinks for his second week."

"They're celebrating a second week?"

"He couldn't make it last week. So they're doing it this week. And apparently it's a joint celebration because I'm back."

"Sounds like they really missed you."

"Do you wanna come with me?"

"Is anyone else talking their partners?"

"Does it matter?" I couldn't work out if he was digging for more information, or whether he was a bit anxious to be the only person there as a plus one.

"No, no of course not. I just, you know, if no-one else is taking their partners, I don't want you to feel like you have to take me. I know I was an asshole last time with you know, the guys you work with. I don't want you to feel like you have to take me to keep me sweet."

"I'm asking you because I want you there. If you don't want to go, that's absolutely fine. If you wanna come, I'd love it. I'm guessing the others are bringing their other halves, I'll find out."

"If you want me there, I'll be there." He squeezed my thigh. "What's the new guy like? Is he hot?" Pedro teased, knowing he always asked if any new guy I'd met in my life was hot.

"Actually yeah." My response made Pedro's head snap in my direction. I had to fight the giggles that threatened to escape from my throat. Luckily, the light turned green and he had to peel his stare away from me and onto the road ahead.

"What? What do you mean he's hot?" His big hand leant over and playfully squeezed my thigh, making me giddy and giggly like a child.

"He's a really attractive guy. All the girls are swooning."

"You serious?"

"Yep."

"Should I be worried?"

"Absolutely not. I've got everything I could dream of in you my love." I touched the back of his head tenderly, wanting him to feel reassured.

"You just said this new guy is hot?"

"Yeah. Because when you meet him, you'll be like "Babe, he's a good looking guy?" And I'd be like "No he's not!" to make you not worry and you'll be like "don't lie, he's so obviously attractive so you're lying because you don't want me to know you think he's hot!" then you'd get suspicious of me and why I'm denying that he's good looking. Whereas, if I'm honest and say he is, then proceed to prove that even though he is good looking, I don't want him, hopefully that might make you feel better."

"Is he single?"

"Nope. Married with a new-born."

"That's a shame." He squeezed my thigh. I stared out the car window. Watching L.A pass me by. I felt like I was in a film. 18 year old Eleanor would never believe that this was her life now. Here I was, in the car with Pedro, getting to do life in a healthy, perfect-for-me relationship. We were going to go house shopping together after I just finished work. We were going to go home and have dinner together and settle down for the night. Then we'd go to bed together. Growing up, I always knew there was more to life than a 9-5 job and finding someone to settle down with. I always wanted more than that. I wanted the big city life. The bright lights and the cities that didn't sleep. Yet here, having what I had with Pedro; was perfect. "Penny for your thoughts?" Pedro asked as he pulled up to a red light.

"Just thinking about life. How happy I am I get to be the person you do these kinda errands with."

"You're the only person I'd let drag me around IKEA." He leant forward and kissed me. My sweet Pedro.

A short while later, we pulled up to IKEA. I found myself staring at Pedro and biting my lip when I watched him turn back and hold onto the head rest of my seat as he reversed into the parking space. Pedro noticed me staring and grinned at me. He cupped my face and smiled again before he got out the car. I grabbed a trolley and started to push it.

"I'll push that."

"No it's fine I've got it. Rest your shoulder."

"It's fine. I can push it. We won't be getting anything heavy." He took it off me.

"Let me know if it gets too much for you." I stood next to him and rubbed my hand across his back and shoulders.

"Now, I know I said you could get whatever you wanted, but let's not go too crazy. The apartment isn't that big."

"I promise I won't. It's your space, I'm not trying to change anything."

"Our space, for now. By the way, are you sure you don't want to go view that other apartment? Its the only one you've really liked. I told you I'd help you out with the additional money if you see it and like it."

"No, I'm good. It just doesn't feel right to me. But thank you though."

"I honestly just don't know why you don't live with me. We practically lived together at your place before you went home. It saves you having to keep moving around and I know I'd love-"

"OK."

"OK?"

"OK. If you want me to, well if you're happy to, I'll move in with you. Permanently."

"You serious?" He stopped in his tracks, leaving me 3 steps ahead of him.

"Yeah. I guess if it gets too much I can start looking again. But I love being with you all the time. And I love cooking for you and sharing the space with you and-" I was cut off mid sentence by Pedro slamming his lips against mine. It wouldn't be bad after all. The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to do it. He practically lived with me in my old apartment. I loved waking up and going to sleep with him. I loved him always being around. Financially, it would help me out because I'd save costs on hiring movers to help out, knowing Pedro couldn't assist with his broken shoulder. I sold a lot of my furniture when I left so knowing I could cut costs on buying new household items would help out too.

"Eleanor! Of course. My god. Yes!" He grabbed me and hugged me. "You will? You'll move in with me?"

"Yeah please. If it gets too much, I can always find another place then-"

"No I promise this is going to be the best. Fuck! I can't believe you'll actually live with me. I've wanted this for so long!" He grabbed my chin in his hand and kissed me hard. "You've been back a few days and you're already making my dreams come true."

"Are you serious?" Seeing the way his eyes glossed as he spoke made me want to violently sob. This man really loved me.

"Yeah. You chose to come back here, for me. I've wanted you to live with me pretty much from the beginning, which I know is weird and creepy and full-on but I just wanted to spend all my time with you. And now you wanna live with me. I just, I will never know what I did right in life to be rewarded with you. I love you." He kissed me again. Long and sweetly. "Let's go shop for our apartment." He kissed me once more and smiled. Our apartment.

"Oh my god, I love this mirror." I wandered over to an abnormally circular shaped mirror.

"Get it."

"Where would we even put it?"

"Wherever you want."

"Oh, no. I don't want to be moving your things around."

"It's our space now. Do whatever you want. Actually, you know what?"

"What?" I asked as he stepped from behind the trolley and came over to me.

"Your task, this week, is to make our space more homely. You know I always loved being at yours because it felt like a home and my place never has. Can you please make it feel like home, with you?"

"You serious?"

"Yeah! Please! Get some weird shaped mirrors and some fucking candles and cushions and whatever the fuck you want. Just help me turn our little space into our home. Let's start this together. A new year. A new start. With new jobs and the next step in our relationship and His and Hers fucking matching mugs. Let's start setting up our little life together, please." His tongue darted out of his mouth and licked his top lip. "I'm so ready to share my whole life with you."

"Me too, Pedro. Thank you for giving me this life. I love you."

***************************************************************************

"We should pop to Target and get some groceries in. We have nothing. And I need to pick up some stuff." I wheeled the shopping trolley back to Pedro's car. I could see his internal battle over wanting to take the trolley from me so I didn't have to push the desk and items we'd got, but it was too heavy for him and I was putting my foot down.

"It's almost 7. Should we just get a takeaway instead? We can grocery shop tomorrow." He popped open his boot and started to pick up some of the bags.

"We keep having takeaways, I'd much rather cook something. Besides, my stomach is killing me and I think I'm gonna get my period soon so I need to get some things for that."

"You ok, babe?" His big brown eyes drooped as he empathised.

"Yeah, I'm alright. I forgot how bad this shit hurts." I'd been feeling it all day as a little niggle. But it had proceeded to get worst throughout the day.

"I'm sorry." He leant over and placed a kiss on my temple.

"Why are you sorry? Silly."

"I dunno, I'm just sorry you have to go through all this pain all the time. I can't ever imagine what that feels like."

"Constant back pain, stomach pain, uterus pain, headaches, flushes, feeling sick but wanting to eat everything and nothing, spots, every muscle aches, constantly tired, wanting to cry and be angry at everything. I could go on."

"Shit. I mean, I kinda know periods are crappy but having to go through that all the time, I can't even imagine."

"Good job you don't get them then isn't it, Pascal?"

"Very true, Miss Parker. I'm not as strong as you." Aptly, he said those words as I lifted the desk into the back of the car. "In every sense of the word, apparently."

"Let me drive, rest your shoulder for a bit." I offered out my hand for Pedro to hand me his car keys.

"Nice try babe," He curved his lips, "You're not driving my car."

"I'm not gonna crash it."

"I know you won't. Because you're not driving it."

"You asked me to move in with you but you won't let me drive your car?"

"Correct."

"Too much commitment for one night?"

"Nope. I am fully committed to you. But only I drive this old gal." He childishly smacked the top of his car and grinned at me. "Get in, Parker."

**********************************************************************

"I think I've got my period." I panicked as we stepped into Target.

"You wanna go check? Do you need anything?" I could see the slight panic in Pedro's eyes, as he fumbled to try and help.

"I need tampons but I can't wait. I'll just go to the toilet and sort myself out. I'll be two minutes." I left to find the bathrooms. I walked gingerly with my legs almost together with each step, worried about over-striding and blood gushing everywhere. I forgot how inconvenient and painful this time of the month business had been. Once I finally reached the toilets, I had confirmation that I had in fact, started my period. I rolled up toilet paper into a makeshift pad and placed it in my underwear.

"You good?" Pedro was waiting for me where I'd left him.

"Yeah I've started." I huffed as I grabbed the shopping trolley handle.

"I've got this." Pedro tried to take the cart from my hands but I pulled it away.

"It's fine I've got it."

"No babe, I don't mind-"

"I said I've got it!" I snapped as I yanked the trolley away from him and stomped forward. I felt Pedro pick up the pace to mirror my pace.

"Didn't take long for the hormones to kick in, did it?" I knew he was trying to joke but he wasn't wrong and I was moody.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to snap." I felt awful.

"It's fine, babe. I grew up with women. I understand." Do you really understand? Cos my stomach and back are killing and I just wanna get into bed and cry?

"You're cute." I gave him my best smile. "Can we just get what we need to and go home?"

"Of course." Pedro gingerly walked behind me as I stomped towards the toiletries aisle. The bottom of my back started to ache, so I arched my back to try and relieve the pain. I stopped in front of the tampons, searching for the brand I preferred.

"How do you even know which ones you need?" Pedro's eyes scanned over the products. "There's so many."

"I just need these." I picked up the packets I needed and threw them into the cart. "Do you need any toiletries whilst we're in this aisle?" I asked, secretly swooning at the realisation that I was the woman who got to go shopping for toiletries and house things for an apartment I shared with Pedro fucking Pascal.

"Actually, I could do with some shampoo..." Pedro spoke softly to himself as he wandered down the aisle. I hopelessly followed. Like I always would.

*************************************************************************************

"Need a hand with anything?" Pedro asked as he joined me in the kitchen.

"Nope, all good thank you." I turned down the heat of the pasta slightly and turned to face him. I wrapped my arms around his torso and hugged him closer to me. His big hand rubbed my back and his other squeezed my shoulder. He placed a firm kiss on the top of my head, which made me melt into him.

"You alright?"

"Yeah just tired. First day back. And my stomach hurts." I looked up at him and saw him looking down at me. His face was so beautiful. Those big eyes that had everyone hooked stared directly into mine. "God you're so attractive." My comment made him giggle.

"Funny cos I was just thinking the same thing about you." He grabbed my face in his hands and kissed my lips. "Can I get you anything? For your stomach?"

"No I'm good thank you. I've already taken something." I closed my eyes and bathed in the feeling of Pedro's thumb rubbing my cheek. "What are you working this week?"

"I've got an interview tomorrow. Should only be a morning thing. Then I'm out literally all day Wednesday in the studio. The rest of the week looks pretty clear for me."

"I'll work from home on Thursday and Friday then so I can be with you."

"I promise I will try my best to not distract you."

"You can distract me whenever you like. Still coming with me to the drinks?"

"Of course. And I'll be on my best behaviour."

"I don't mind if you wanna be a little mischievous." I smirked at him.

"Oh really? How so?"

"You know, that touchy feely you get when you've had a drink? I like that. More of that."

"Oh you mean how I can't keep my hands off you? And I do this?" He moved his hands down my body to my waist, where he squeezed gently before he moved to my ass. A devilish smirked plastered his face as he continued to move over the curves on my body, before his lips moved to nip my neck.

"Hmmmm yes exactly like that." I moved my neck to the side to allow him to get a better angle of my neck. Silently encouraging more kisses. I felt his hands travel from my ass over my stomach and up to my breasts as he moved to kiss my lips. His tongue and the rhythm of his gentle squeezes on my boobs harmonised perfectly; allowing me to feel waves of pleasure throughout every inch of my body. "We gotta stop!"

"Why?" Pedro mumbled into the crook of my neck as his hands wrapped around my waist.

"Cos I'm off limits and you're driving me crazy. And I'm gonna burn your dinner."

"Sorry!" Pedro's eyes glistened as he pulled away from me and kissed my forehead. "Thank you for dinner." He smiled at me before he moved over to the living room. I smiled to myself, watching Pedro move around the living room unaware of me watching him and thinking about how this man would thank me for the littlest things like make his dinner and help take care of him like it wasn't engrained in me. It is all I wanna do, sweet Pedro!

*************************************************************************************

"Thank you for the lift." I said to Brandon as he pulled up outside the apartment.

"You're welcome. This place is nice." Brandon looked over my shoulder to Pedro's apartment block.

"It's not really my place, I mean, I live here. But it's my boyfriend's apartment. I moved in with him."

"It looks expensive. He must have a great job." This man worked in property, he could tell when apartments were costly.

"He's an actor." It felt awkward to say out loud. Like I was boasting about being the girlfriend to a famous actor.

"Oh really, he must be doing well for himself." Brandon replied, but his attention quickly turned to his phone. "Sorry, my wife is asking what time I'll be back so she can have my dinner made for me." He smiled at his phone as typed out his reply. You could see how much he loved her.

"Well, on that note, I won't keep you. Thank you again for the lift!"

"Sorry Eleanor, I wasn't trying to get rid of you!"

"Don't be, it's fine! You go home to your baby and your wife. I'll see you Monday!"

"You're not in for the rest of the week?"

"I'm gonna work from home." I grabbed onto the car door handle.

"Oh, right! Got you! Well, have a great weekend!"

"I'm sure I'll speak to you before then; but thank you. You too! See you later."

"Bye Eleanor!" Brandon shot me a toothy smile that lit up his whole face. He was very attractive and that was a killer smile.

"Babe, I'm home." I shouted as I entered the apartment. The TV was on, indicating Pedro was home. But he wasn't in the kitchen or living area. I could smell cooking throughout the apartment, which made me smirk to myself. Had he made dinner? Then, his head popped round the wall into the hallway.

"Hey babe. Come here." Pedro grinned as he beckoned me over to him and held out his hand.

"What are you up to?" I smirked as I skipped over to him and grabbed onto his hand.

"I've got a surprise for you." Before I could say anything, Pedro was behind me with his hands over my eyes.

"What are you doing?" I giggled childishly as I put my hands over his and tried to peel them off.

"It's a surprise. I've got you." His voice was deep as he mumbled into my ear. We shuffled in unison along the floor. My lack of vision heightened my other senses and all I could concentrate on was the feel of Pedro's front pressed against my back and the smell of Pedro filling my nostrils. Being overpowered by Pedro was always a heavenly experience. "You ready? 3..2..1! Ta-da!" He lifted his hands from my eyes. It took a moment for my eyes to readjust to the light before I was greeted by the spare room. Except now, it was an office. With a brand new desk occupying the corner by the window. Above the desk, there was my Harry Styles print from my old apartment. There was a cork board next to it with pieces of paper and photos I couldn't see from here. There was some other photo on the wall which I could just make out to be Pedro and I. The desk had a monitor and a plant on it. "I built it all by myself." I turned to see Pedro grinning with pride at his own DIY skills.

"You did! I'm so proud of you!" I hugged him close to me. "I love it! You are so sweet. Thank you so much!" I kissed his sweet lips once before I hugged him again. "You are so thoughtful." I grabbed his hand as I walked over to the desk. The other framed picture next to my Harry print was of me and Pedro together at Lake Tahoe. Smiling, tanned and very happy. It was one of my favourites. It used to be framed on the wall of his bedroom, now it was in my office. On the cork board, the was a hand written note on lined paper that said, 'I'm always so proud of you. Love you. P' with a little hand drawn heart.

"Just a reminder for when you're working. You can look up and be reminded." The way he smiled down at me warmed my bones.

"You are just full of love, aren't you?" I grinned back, unable to resist his magnetic gaze.

"For you, yes I am!"

"Ewwwwww sopping, Pascal!" I mocked, batting him in the chest. "I am impressed that you managed to build this all by yourself!" I ran my fingers over the oak desk.

"And I only cut myself twice." He proceeded to show me the two small cuts on his left hand. I grabbed his hand and kissed his wounds.

"Ouch! How many times did you swear?!"

"Enough to fill 4 swear jars." He responded almost too quickly.

"Well I appreciate it, and I appreciate you. And I'm working from home tomorrow and Friday, so I can test it out!"

"I've got another surprise!" He grabbed my hand again and led me out of the room.

"What have I done, no, what have you done? Why are you doing this?" I giggled as he led us to the kitchen.

"You're always doing nice things for me, so wanted to do something nice for you. Ta-da!" The kitchen table was set, with a bunch of red roses in the middle of the table. Two candles were either side of the table, neither of them were lit. "I haven't lit them yet, I didn't know what time you'd be home and I was in your office. I've just asked you to move in with me, I didn't wanna go and burn the place down."

"You are so funny, Pedro. I love you."

"I made chilli, cos it's your favourite. It's a family recipe, not that it changes anything cos I've never made it. But I've tried my best."

"And I'll love it because you made it."

"Oh Eleanor, don't make comments like that till you try my cooking. It's shocking!"

********************************************************************

"I'm sorry, I'll be two minutes Eleanor!" Brandon stood up from his chair and left the room. We were on videocall, talking about a project we needed to work on together. A $8million mansion in Beverly Hills. This was a big deal, to me at least. Brandon was used to these kind of projects. Which I was thankful for, as his guidance and collected manner made me not stress about seeing this over the finish line. "Sorry, I'm back, with a visitor!" He smiled down at his baby boy in his arms.

"Oh hey Henry, look at you!" I smiled at the cute chubby baby that babbled in his arms.

"Say hello!" Brandon moved his little chunky hand for him. "This may be the first and last time I do this. I told my wife to go out for the day with her friends so she could have time away from the baby to enjoy herself. But juggling a baby and working, well, it's not been the most productive day!"

"I can imagine! Though I'm sure your wife will really appreciate what you're doing for her. And your little colleague is way better than anyone in our office!" I smiled at Henry again through the camera. He had his dads eyes.

"Babe, what are doing for dinner tonight?" Pedro burst through the door, then panicked when he saw my screen. "I am sorry, I didn't know you were on a call!" He went to leave the room before I stopped him.

"That's OK, you're fine! What do you want? We need to go food shopping still."

"Shall we go after you've finished work? We could get a takeaway. Or do you wanna go out? We could go out?"

"I'll let you decided, I'm happy with anything."

"We'll go out for dinner. I'll sort."

"Okay babe. Thank you." My choice of pet name for him in front of my colleague made him softly smile at me. He nodded his head and shut the door behind himself.

"Sorry about that." I turned back to Brandon who was wiping dribble from Henry's mouth.

"Don't be! I'm guessing your colleague for the day is your boyfriend?"

"Yeah, that's Pedro. Not as cute as Henry, but they probably are equally as distracting!" My remark made Brandon laugh. I wasn't attracted to Brandon, but I was charmed by him. He was ridiculously good looking in the most obvious way. He had a great smile that lit up his face.

"Have you been together long?"

"Almost a year. We've been pretty inseparable since the day we met. Well, when he's not working away. I think he doesn't know what to do with himself when I'm working and he isn't."

"I can understand that."

"You'll meet him tomorrow, if you're still coming to the drinks after work?"

"I am indeed!"

"Is your wife coming?"

"No, she's looking after this one. We don't have a babysitter. We usually use her friend, but she's out of town. We don't have any family here, so it's a bit hard. And she doesn't want to use a babysitter."

"I figured you weren't from L.A, you don't have the accent. It sounds more southern?"

"Yeah, we 're originally from Las Vegas but we moved to Utah. Now we're in L.A."

"Can't settle on which South West state to reside in?" I teased.

"I'd have happily stayed in Utah, but she didn't like it. And I got work here and it was great money so we moved. It's not far, so going back isn't an issue. It's just, a lot, since we had the baby."

"I can imagine."

"I'm going to have to go soon. I need to finish this paper, and I need to put this one down for a nap!"

"That's fine, I'll let you go! Let me know if you need me to help out with anything."

"Will do, thanks so much Eleanor. I'll see you tomorrow evening."

"You will, bye Brandon." The call ended. I went to go find my boyfriend. I needed to hug him.

**************************************************************************

"You still working?" Pedro leant against the doorframe of my office. A grey T-shirt clung heavenly to his body.

"No, just working on this. Can I have your help please?" I half mumbled to myself as I clicked enter on the spreadsheet.

"Working on what?" Pedro seemed legitimately interested as he started walking towards me. "There's too many numbers on there for me.  What is it?"

"Basically," I turned in my chair to face him, "because you're letting me live here with you, I've made a spreadsheet of costs. Because I'm not going to live here for free. So I'm trying to work out how much I can pay to you without running out of money." I saw Pedro go to open his mouth, so I quickly interrupted. "Wait, let me finish. The rent you pay here is way more than I paid for at my other apartment so I've created two options and I'd like you to tell me which one you agree with. Option one: we split the rent, but that's all I'd be able to afford on a monthly basis. I like this because at least I'm paying for my half of the apartment. But it makes me feel bad that I can't help with the other bills. So maybe we could have an agreement where I'll give you my half of the other bills every time I get a bonus? Or the other option is you pay for the rent, and I'll cover the other bills and grocery shopping? That works out better for me because it's slightly less than the rent but I'll be able to contribute to the running of the apartment. What do you think?" I bit my lip as I watched his own lips form a straight line.

"Can I just?" He pointed to the spreadsheet, asking if he could amend. I knew Pedro didn't know his way around a spreadsheet and had no idea what he was doing but I figured he wanted to see the costs I had calculated on screen. "Is this why you were asking me how much everything cost the other day?" He looked over his shoulder at me.

"Yeah."

"Eleanor, this is such a lovely idea and I appreciate you wanting to help." He stood back and uncrossed his arms. He knelt down till he was face to face with me. "But I don't want this. I didn't ask you to move in with me so you could split the cost of living here with me. I wanted you to move in because I want you here. And I love you. And want my life to revolve around you." His words and his gentle tone as he held onto my arm made my heart flutter. "I'm sorry if it makes you feel uncomfortable to live here for free, but I can't let you do this. I'm sorry."

"Pedro, please don't. I knew you'd be like this. Please let me contribute something."

"You do. You contribute to me.  You make me happy and you make me laugh and I couldn't do my life without you anymore. And that's more than I could ever ask for. I'm gonna look after you. In every way. So thank you. But it's a no from me."

"Pedro-"

"No Eleanor, please. There's some things in our relationship that aren't up for discussion. Whilst I think this is a ridiculously sweet thing for you to do, and it's made me love you a little bit more, I won't accept these terms. So yes, I expect you to live here for free and spend your money on whatever you want. I can see you racking your brain to think of something to protest," He was right. "But please just listen to me now." He grabbed my hands. "Being able to put a roof over your head, and have a happy home and life together with you means more to me than you know. More than any price. And for me to be the one who gives you that, that's all I want in life. Is to give you that. In return, you give me you. And that's priceless. So thank you, really, for this," He pointed to the screen, "But it's not happening. This isn't a contract or an agreement. This is a relationship. And a very happy one. So, with that being said, please close your laptop and go get ready so we can go out for dinner." He kissed my forehead and stood up.

"Thank you, Pedro. For everything." Pedro smiled at me.

"Oh and Eleanor?"

"Yeah?"

"Seeing as you're gonna be richer now, dinners on you tonight, baby!" He winked as he left the room. I grinned; knowing he didn't really want me to pay because I was 'richer' now. He did it because he knew it would make me feel better to pay for something in our relationship. And it made me love him a little bit more.

*************************************************************************************

"Best behaviour, remember?" I teased as we left the bar with our drinks and moved over to the area my work colleagues occupied. It was Friday event, and Brandon's introductory drinks. Pedro looked delicious; wrapped in a navy shirt and jeans.

"Eleanor, so glad you could make it." Brandon's arm looped my shoulders and pulled me into a hug. "This must be Pedro? Good to meet you man." Brandon extended his hand for Pedro to shake.

"Good to meet you, too." Pedro replied, shaking Brandon's hand with a genuine smile.

"Can I get either of you a drink?"

"We're good thank you. Just got one." I tipped my drink in his direction.

"What happened to your shoulder, Pedro?" Brandon signalled towards Pedro's injury.

"I fell down the stairs."

"A break?"

"Yeah. Pretty bad one too."

"Ah shit, man. I hope it heals quickly for you. And I hope you're looking after him, Eleanor." Brandon smiled at Pedro, then at me. I tried my best to read Pedro, but he was keeping his cards close to his chest.

"She always looks after me. I'm very lucky."

"The love of a good woman heals everything, right?" Brandon smiled at Pedro. I knew that statement was genuine from Brandon. You could tell by the way he spoke about his wife that she was his whole world. It added to his charm. "I'm sorry, I just need to go introduce myself. Would you excuse me? Sorry." Brandon pulled away from us and slid over to a group of guys who entered the space.

"So?" I asked as I sipped my drink.

"So what?" He sipped his drink and smiled at me. I stared at the residue on his moustache a little longer than I needed to.

"What do you think?"

"He's a very good looking guy, yeah. He's fucking handsome."

"And you realise that I'm not interested? And he's very much in love with his wife?"

"Well, I know you love me. I'm just hoping he's an asshole. Because if he's a nice guy, you'll fall in love with him too. Cos that man is the whole package."

"No I won't. It will always be you."

"What if he's nice to you when I'm away filming?"

"Then he'll be nice to me whilst you're away filming? I don't get what you're getting at?"

"I mean," He sipped his beer and stared into my eyes, "what if I'm away filming and you're lonely and he's nice to you. And you know, he's a ridiculously handsome man and you already know that and the fact he's nice to you AND he's here all the time and won't leave you for months at a time and you enjoy being around him more than you enjoy being with me?"

"Won't ever happen."

"How can you be sure?"

"What if you join a new cast for a new project and you meet a new woman and she's beautiful. I mean, like, Hollywood beautiful. And you have to spend a year filming with her somewhere? How do I know you won't wanna be with her?"

"Because I have you back home and you're all I want."

"There you go then. It's the same for me."

"Hmmm." Pedro mumbled as he looked at me then at the floor.

"Pedro?" I called to get his attention. "Listen to me. If I bumped into Harry Styles and we got talking and he asked me out, do you know what I'd say?"

"You'd say, 'Harry, I love you so much. I'm gonna dump my boyfriend and I wanna be with you forever and get married and have the perfect life with you.'"

"Probably." I teased, earning me a playful squeeze on my waist from Pedro. "I'd say no. Because as much as you know I fancy him, he's not you. I love you. I really love you. So much so that there's not another man, not even Harry Styles that could make me want to leave you."

"I hope you're being serious."

"So serious. I am so lucky, that I have you and you chose me. I'll never take that for granted. And I'd never do anything to jeopardise that."

"Love you." Pedro's magnetic grin lit up the room.

A few hours into the night, I'd lost Pedro. I'd been talking to some other colleagues and had left him to mingle. Which he did so effortlessly. I never had to worry about sticking by his side at events. He would always go off and make conversation with others, so easily. And everyone always found it easy to gravitate towards him. He was really a dream man. My eyes scanned the room, looking for him. He wasn't anywhere in sight. I decided to check outside before I would call him. I was walking down the ramp towards the outdoor smoking area, which surprisingly wasn't busy. I saw him standing talking to Brandon, he had his back to me. I could make out those shoulders anywhere.

"It really is just, ugh, everything to me." I heard Pedro's voice echo off the empty walls. Brandon was smiling and nodding at Pedro, obviously agreeing with whatever Pedro had said. My footsteps gave me away and they both turned to me in unison. "There she is!" Pedro's grin to me was so wide and wholesome, it made me want to drop to my knees. He held out his arm for me to tuck myself into his side, so obviously I did. He smelt of Pedro. His body heat radiated through his top and soaked my bones.

"Been talking about me?" I asked as I looked up at him and returned the smile.

"Pedro was just telling me the story of you two." Brandon looked at me, then at Pedro, with a genuine smile. In that moment, I knew I'd get along amazingly with Brandon.

"Oh he didn't-" Before I could finish my sentence, Pedro interjected with,

"How you literally fell at my feet in Starbucks? Yeah I did!" His laughter came from the pit of his stomach, and was infectious to me and Brandon.

"I will never live that down." I huffed.

*********************************************************************************************

Our weekend plans were to spend time together. We wandered the streets of L.A and found new places to explore that we'd not been to yet. We stopped by a coffee stop, where Pedro took a candid photo of me and uploaded it to his story.

He beamed with pride when I told him that his photography skills of me were improving and he replied with, "It's cos I like taking pictures of you so I try my best." which made me smile. The whole day had been wholesome.

Sunday, we had gone out for breakfast, followed by a walk to the nearest park then back home to unbox some of my things into the office. I went to grab us a drink, as unpacking boxes and non-stop chatting was very thirsty work. I returned to the office with two glasses of water.

"I've had to refill the ice tray so you'll have to wait for that to freeze again if you want- what's wrong?" Pedro was sat on the floor with his head bowed. He hadn't looked up when I entered and continued to look at his hands where a folded piece of paper was pinched between his fingertips. "Pedro? You alright?" When he finally looked up at me, he had tears running down his cheeks. Fuck! "Pedro!" I placed the glasses on the desk and dropped to the floor to mirror his height. "What's wrong?" I grabbed at his cheeks and thumbed away the tears.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to, I just, it was sticking out and I saw-" He choked out his words.

"Saw what?"

"This." He handed me the piece of paper. I unfolded it to find an entry from an old scrapbook I wrote in my early 20's.

The love was there but it didn't change anything. I hope loving me isn't the hardest thing anyone has to do.

"I'm sorry for reading it." He used the back of his hand to wipe his tears.

"Don't be sorry. It's ok. Never be sorry for anything. Are you ok?"

"Yeah, shit. I'm fine. It's just. I felt that too, you know. I still feel like that sometimes. And it breaks my fucking heart to know you felt that way. Like it physically hurts."

"Aw Pedro-"

"You are so easy to love, Eleanor. By everyone who knows you, who knows of you. I don't think you understand. It's so easy. I think I loved you from the moment I saw you. Which is shitty and cliche but I did. It winded me. All my life I felt what you wrote on that paper," he grabbed it from my hands and reread the words. "The love was there but it didn't change anything. Fuck. That's exactly it. That's how I feel. About my mom. And when she left me and I swore I'd never get into a relationship, the love was still there. I had all this love and nowhere for it to go. Then one day, there you were. Like a dream. I know I've watched a lot of fucking movies so I'm a little deluded. But whenever I think about the moment I met you, it's always straight out of a movie. I even picture you with the golden light shining around you and you beaming up at me and the rest of the world in slow motion. I know in reality you were pink cheeked and embarrassed for falling into me and wanted to crawl away and hide. But I saw you keep looking at me. I knew I could love you. And I wanted you to love me." My vision of Pedro was hazy as tears pooled in my eyes. Pedro leant forward and pulled me into his chest and held my head against his heartbeat as he rocked us. "It has always been so easy to love you. I mean, we've been pretty inseparable since we met, right? I was so scared I'd scare you away because I kept texting you and I called you that first night, do you remember?"

"Of course I do."

"Then I took you out the day after."

"I remember that too."

"I instantly fell in love. I instantly fell for you. I was so in awe of you. I still am. Your capacity to love and be a kind human blows me away."

"It's not easy to love you sometimes. When you say shit like this. Because how do I cope, how do I process or comprehend that you say such beautiful, kind things about me. It hurts. But in a good way. I love you so much."

"I am so excited to start this next chapter of my life with you. It feels good. And I am so happy. Thank you, Eleanor." He grabbed me and pulled me into him. "My Eleanor." He kissed my head.

********************************************************************************************

"Morning!" I chirped as I got to my desk. After the most wholesome weekend, Monday morning rolled round way too quickly. I waved at Matt, who now sat two blocks of desks away from me. With the job changes at work, we no longer sat together and I missed it. I sat opposite Brandon on our own bank of desks. Well, Derek should sit with us, but he was never in.

"Good mornin' Eleanor." Brandon drawled as he looked up from his desk and smiled at me. "How was your weekend?"

"It was really lovely, thank you. Didn't do much, spent my time with Pedro and trying to slowly move into his apartment. So you know, adult things. How was your weekend?" I fired up my laptop but gave my attention to the new guy.

"We took Henry for a hike up the Hollywood sign. He slept the whole time. Then kept us awake all night."

"I bet that was a lot of fun for you?" I smiled as I logged in.

"I could have done with at least a couple hours of decent sleep, but I can't complain!" Brandon smiled back, then returned to frown at his screen.

Lunch time rolled around and the movement of Brandon standing up from his desk broke my concentration.

"What are you doing for lunch?" I asked as I stretched my arms behind my head.

"I am going for a run. What are you doing?"

"You run?"

"Yeah, I love it!" I watched him grab his gym bag from the floor and hook it over his shoulder.

"Oh my god, me too! Me and Matt sometimes go for lunch runs, well we did before I went home. You should join us!"

"That would be great! I guess you're not going today?"

"Not today, but we could do tomorrow? Matt!?"

"Yeah!?" He rolled his chair out and walked over to us.

"Wanna go for a run tomorrow at lunch?"

"Yeah sure!" Matt smiled between me and Brandon.

"Aw yay, lunch running club, I love it! I'll pop it in the diary!" I typed out the invite and sent it over to them.

"Everything goes in the calendar with Eleanor!" Matt teased to Brandon who quietly giggled.

"That's why I am the organised one and you never know what you're doing!" I locked my computer and stood up. "Lunch, Matt?"

****************************************************************************************

The rest of the afternoon had gone by fairly quickly. I had two back-to-back meetings with Brandon and the team and a tonne of emails to catch-up on post meetings. It had been a very busy, and fairly stressful day. One that warranted the team to go for a drink after work.

"Eleanor, you coming?" Brandon asked as he grabbed his bag. Recalling the events of today, I decided a glass of wine would be great.

"Yeah, give me two minutes." I continued to re-read my last email before I logged off.

"We'll meet you downstairs." Brandon spoke quickly before he followed the others out the door. I appreciated that they left me to it, as I really needed to get the email out. And I really wanted that glass of wine.

As I closed down my laptop, I quickly text Pedro to let him know I was gonna be later coming home.

Me: going for a quick drink after work. Won't be late. Eat without me x

Pedro: it's cool I'm not home yet myself. Got a couple more scenes to go through. So maybe we can eat together later? Have fun x

Me: Sounds lovely! Can't wait to see you. Love you x

Now, time for that glass of wine.

"Cheers everyone." Matt lead the unified cheer around the table as our glasses clinked together. Brandon was doing the rounds with the bottle of wine he'd brought when he got back to me.

"Eleanor, no one else wants the wine so I guess the bottle is yours." Brandon put the rose down in front of me on the table.

"Oh no, really I should only have one. I need to get back."

"Well if you drink quick, the bottle will feel like one glass." He smiled as he sipped his beer. I watched as it left a foam coating on his moustache stubble. It brought to mind all the times I'd watched Pedro drink a beer and get a frothy beer moustache and how it would make me want to lick it off his lips every time. I didn't want to lick Brandon's lips.

"Maybe I'll stay for two. But I really can't be drinking the whole bottle." I took a sip of the white wine he'd got. It was delicious.

"No pressure, I'm only kidding. Have what you want!" He gave me a toothy smile and slid into conversation with the group.

"One more?" Matt stood next to me as he collected orders for the next round. Going against everything I had previously said, I had finished the bottle of wine. I was having a nice night catching up with my colleagues and enjoying their company that getting through the bottle was a lot quicker and easier than I wanted it to be.

"I really should go!" I told Matt, but secretly wanted one more. One more wouldn't hurt. Have that one and then definitely go home. "Fine, just this one and I really need to go." I grabbed my phone to text Pedro.

Me: I'm just having one more drink and I'll be home. Have you eaten?

Pedro: I haven't, I was waiting for you

Shit!

Pedro: I'll order myself something now, too late for cooking. Do you want me to order you anything?

Me: I'm sorry, I can come home if you'd like?

Pedro: Don't be silly, come home when you're ready! Think I'm gonna get pizza. Want some? x

Me: Yes please! Pepperoni, please? Put it on my card. I'll be home soon. X

Pedro: I'll get that ordered for you babe. Enjoy your drinks. Let me know if you want me to pick you up. X

*******************************************************************************************

I let the cool L.A blow through the crack of the window and directly onto my face, trying to cool my heated cheeks. I needed to eat. My stomach growled as if it retaliated to my thoughts. The dizziness I was experiencing made me regret having so much wine on a Monday night. And on an empty stomach.

"Hey!" I tried my best to act sober than I really was as I entered the apartment. I could see Pedro in the kitchen and instantly went over to him.

"Hey. You OK?" He smiled as he snaked his arms around my shoulders and kissed my forehead. "That was a rather large glass of wine, wasn't it? Took you a couple of hours to finish it."

"I know, I'm so sorry. They ended up getting the bottle and no one else was drinking it and I-"

"Hey hey, I'm only joking. You don't have a curfew. You can stay out as long as you want. You kept me updated, I knew you were safe. It's all good."

"Thank you for understanding. And thank you for letting me stay out."

"Stay out? You're thanking me for letting you live your life? I dread to think the relationship you had before me for you to even think you need to thank me for that." His moustache grazed my mouth as he kissed me again. "Pretty girl."

As Pedro let me go and turned to clean up the kitchen, I felt the need to tell him why I behaved like that. "The guy before you," I spoke, seeing his shoulders tense, "He wasn't really my boyfriend, remember I told you? He would always get angry with me if I went out with my friends. He was allowed to go out and do what he wanted, with whoever he wanted and for as long as he wanted. But if I went out, he would call and message me the whole time. He would make comments to ruin my night so I'd wanna go home early. He would offer me a lift then cancel last minute. I remember once, at Christmas, I was out with the girls and I lived in the opposite direction to the others so would always get a taxi back by myself. They always made sure I was the first to get in a taxi though so they knew I was safe. But this one Christmas, it had snowed pretty bad and we were finding it hard to get taxis. I told them he, Sam, was gonna pick me up. So they got their Uber whilst they could and I text him, called him, he didn't pick up. After about 10 minutes of trying to get a taxi, he text saying he couldn't make it to come and get me because it was too cold and to order an Uber. I had to wait 45 minutes for a taxi in the cold. He never checked to see if I got home. The next day, he text me and told me it was what I got for going out in the winter. So, I'm not really sure why I'm spilling my guts. I think I've drank a little too much. But I'm not that drunk. I just, I guess I wanted to tell you why it means a lot that you let me have my freedom."

"Thank you for telling me. I'm sorry you had to endure someone treating you like that." His hand on my shoulder squeezed a little tighter than I expected. I figured it wasn't any of my own doings, but more so the thought of how Sam treated me that made Pedro angry. "For the record, you never have to behave like that with me. Do whatever makes you happy. As long as you keep me updated, I mean, so I know you're OK not to check up on you. And for the record, I would never do that to you. If I'm home, you'll always have a personal cab driver."

"I know, and same for you. I love you and I love our relationship."

"Me too. How was your night? Did you have a good time?" Watching Pedro move around the kitchen with a dish cloth over his shoulder, wiping down the surfaces scratched a part of my brain I couldn't explain. Seeing him do household chores in a space we shared made me feel happy.

"Yeah it was so fun." I bit into my cold pizza, which was delicious. "We have a great team. You should come out with us one night."

"I'm too old for all those late nights now. But maybe I'll catch one with you." He grinned at me over his shoulder. He turned and leant against the counter, which for some unknown reason, was incredibly sexy.

"Such an old man." Pedro's eyes darkened as he watched me. The sight of him looking like a domesticated man with a kitchen hand towel over his shoulder, in his loungewear, curls wild and eyes full of lust for me mixed with the alcohol in my system majorly turned me on.

"I'll give you old man." Pedro smirked, knowing exactly what he was doing. I purposely kept eye contact as I sucked the pizza residue off my thumb.

"Eleanor?"

"Yeah?"

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Looking at you like what?" I knew what I was doing, but decided to act angelic and innocent when he asked.

"Like you want me." His voice was dark and deep. I watched his jaw clench as he spoke.

"Because I do."

"Is that right?"

"Yep. Desperately." I stood up and slithered over to him. I stood closer than I needed to as I grabbed the towel from his shoulder and allowed it to slowly run down his body, allowing my fingertips to copy it's pattern down his stomach. "I wish I wasn't on my period."

"Why's that?" Although he crossed his arms over his chest, I knew he wanted to touch me. He was just playing me back at my own game and teasing me.

"Because if I wasn't," I took a step closer to him so I was almost pressed against him. His arms were the only barrier between us. So I grabbed them and put them over my shoulders and pushed myself against him. "I would be taking you to the bedroom and fucking you." His grip on me tightened at my words.

"I like drunk Eleanor." He moved his face closer to mine. "It does things to me when you talk slutty to me." I could feel his breath on my lips.

"I like doing slutty things to you." I moved so our lips were milometers apart. "I like being a little slut for you."

"So do I." He crashed his lips onto mine with pure desire. His fingers knotted in my hair as he kissed every drop of air from my lungs. "You can owe me, baby." His lips were reddened as he pulled away but kept my head in his hands.

"I will. But Pedro?"

"Yeah."

"Please can I take you to bed and give you the best head you'll ever receive?"

"Fuck!" He hissed as he kissed me again; hot and fast. "There she is." Without warning, he slapped my ass so hard it rang through the apartment. The tingly sensation it left behind made me giddy and a bit sore, in a good way. "No more pizza for you, now. I want your mouth to be full of me. Follow me, baby." I took his hand giddily and followed him to the bedroom.

***********************************************************************************************

"Babe, I really have to get up." My hands found Pedro's shoulders as he continued to pepper my face and neck with kisses.

"Don't. Want. You. To." He mumbled in between kisses on my face. "Just call in sick and let me have you all to myself all day."

"I really can't. I've got two very important meetings today." I momentarily gave into temptation, and allowed myself to start kissing Pedro again. Knowing it was a dangerous game to play. It was hard to resist that man at the best of times. Nevermind when I had to be somewhere. "Could just kiss you all day."

"So stay at home and do just that." He pulled back and held my face in between his hands. His eyes scanned every inch of my face as his breath was hot against my face. "I'm so happy you're back with me."

"Me too honey." I smiled as I leant up and kissed him sweetly. "Now please can I get ready for work?"

"Fine!" He huffed like a child and got off me. He helped me to my feet and spanked my ass as I squealed and ran into the en-suite.

"You look hot!" Pedro complimented as I entered the living area. I was dressed in a black long sleeve and black jeans with my heeled pointed boots. The weather was awful; cold, grey and the rain was torrential. My trench coat hung limp over my arm along with my black bag.

"Making an effort for once."

"For Brandon?" His comment caught me off guard. I didn't think he would make a comment on Brandon, especially after meeting him. His tone gave nothing away, I couldn't tell if he was joking or not.

"Because I'm a manager now. I feel like I've got to dress the part."

"I was joking babe. I think you look beautiful. Are you ready to go?" He stood up, turned the TV off and walked towards me.

"Yeah I'm ready."

"I'll drop you in. I'm going to see Sarah today whilst she's in town so I can drop you in."

"You sure? I don't mind driving in." I filled my Stanley cup with water and moved over to him.

"Of course I don't mind. Get to spend more time with you." He hooked his arm around my shoulders and kissed me. "Ew sticky!" He moaned as he wiped my lipgloss of his mouth with the back of his hand. "Let's go!"

We strolled hand in hand to the car, where Pedro opened the door for me. I thanked him and clicked myself into the passenger seat.

"Your turn to choose the music. You'll have to connect though, I dunno what I'm doing." He laughed as he set off out the underground parking lot. "You wanna grab a coffee?"

"Yeah please." I skimmed through my music, trying to find something to set the tone of the journey. I settled on Billie Eilish's 'Hit Me Hard and Soft' album, which was new to Pedro.

"Who's this?" He asked as he's thumbs drummed the steering wheel to the beat.

"Billie Eilish. I'm obsessed with this album."

"Ah it's great. I think she's gonna be at the SAG awards I'm going to in a couple of weeks."

"Wait what?"

"What?" Pedro looked at me momentarily before he turned his attention back to the rainy road.

"What awards? Are you nominated?"

"Shit, didn't I tell you?!" He genuinely seemed to have forgot, which surprised me. How did he forget to tell me something that was such a big deal? "I'm so sorry, I was sure I told you. I've been nominated."

"I can't believe you didn't tell me. That's such a huge deal!"

"I'm so sorry, babe." He squeezed my thigh as he continued to focus on the road. "I've been nominated for Male Actor in a Drama Series. I really thought I'd mentioned it when you were in England."

"No you didn't! Pedro, I'm so proud of you!"

"I feel so bad. I thought I did. I promise it was a genuine mistake. Do you want to come with me?"

"Do you want me there?"

"Of course I do! I know how you feel about those things though, so I wouldn't make you go if you didn't want to go."

"This is such a huge deal for you. If you want me there, I'll be there for you. I'm so happy for you, Pedro. I just know you're gonna win this!" I grabbed his hand and kissed his knuckles. He moved our hands so he could kiss mine too.

"Thanks baby. I'm not so sure. There's some big names in the same category. I'm just happy to be there." He let go of my hand so he could turned into Starbucks drive through. "What do you want?"

The rest of the short journey to work was filled with Pedro apologising for forgetting to tell me about the SAG awards and me telling him it's fine. There was idle chat between us in between, but he kept coming back to apologising.

"It's really fine, babe." I said, though I couldn't quite understand why he didn't remember to tell me. And how it didn't come back up in conversation since then. Especially if he wanted me there. Maybe he didn't really want me there? I tried not to think about that thought. "Thank you for my lift!" I said as he pulled up on the car park. I went to grab my umbrella as Pedro spoke.

"I'll drop you right to the door." He said as he got as close as he could to the building. He parked up the car and turned to face me. "I'm really sorry I forgot to tell you. I was so sure I did. I always wanna share everything with you. I hope you're not mad."

"I'm not mad!" I don't think. Was I mad?

"Good. I'm glad. Have a great day. I love you."

"I love you." I grinned as we kissed. I ran out the car and into the doors of work. I turned to wave off Pedro, and grinned like a fool when I watched him blow me a kiss and wave back to me.

My first meeting of the day went well, but it was long. I hadn't even had chance to check my emails before the meeting and dreaded what I would log into. I got back to my desk and took a sip of my water as I checked my phone. I had a text from Pedro,

Pedro: I managed to connect my phone back to my car and I continued to listen to that Billie album. I think I really love this song because it reminds me of you. This is our song. ♥️ I don't think I could love you more... XXXXX love you!!!

Along with a screenshot of Birds of a Feather. One of my favourites from that album. I knew he still felt bad about not remembering to tell me about the awards. But having messages from him like that made me love him so much I could sob.

Me: one of my fave songs! It reminds me of you, too. "I don't know what I'm crying for; I don't think I could love you more".... Me on a daily basis cos you make me cry every day with how much I love you (yes I have tears in my eyes now!) I need to get on with my work so slow replies. But love you!!! Xxxxxx ♥️♥️

I grabbed my AirPods and loaded up Birds of a Feather and allowed the song to warm my bones as I got my head stuck into my emails.

I was scribbling down some of tomorrows to-do list in my notepad between going through my emails when my phone buzzed. It was only then did I realise the time. 5:01pm. The afternoon had come and gone in a blur.

Pedro: do you want a lift home? X

Me: I'm not sure what time I'll be finishing yet. I've gotta couple more emails to do and I've gotta try and get this first draft report out before 10am tomorrow. So I might be another hour or so. I can get a cab home. X

Pedro: cab? You're turning American!? 😉 okay babe let me know when you're on your way home. Happy to fetch you if you need me to. X

I giggled at his American remark, unaware I said cab instead of taxi. I was spending too much time in America that it was slowly seeping into me. I decided not to reply, so I could finish quicker.

"Eleanor, do you wanna work on this draft together?" Brandon said across the desk.

"Yeah sure. Two heads are better than one!" I hit send on my email and opened up the draft report.

"I'll come round." I watched him stand and stretch as he made his way over to me. He sat next to me and I was hit with his fragrance. He smelt as good as he looked and I fought the urge to ask him what scent he was wearing in fears I'd sound weird. "The quicker we do this, the quicker we can go home." He smiled at me with a big toothy grin and opened up the file on his own laptop. "Let's do it, Parker!" His choice of nickname for me reminded me of Pedro. Let's hurry up and do this so I can go home to Pedro!

The rain outside meant the sky had been dark all day. So it was no surprise that we lost track of time and found ourselves still in the office at 7:23pm. The only reason I noticed the time was when Brandon's phone started ringing.

"Sorry, Eleanor I just need to get this!" Brandon answered his phone. I tried my best not to eavesdrop, but it was hard not to listen when we were the only two in the office. So I tried to make myself busy and continue to type so Brandon didn't think I was listening. "Hey babe. Yeah, I'm still at the office. I need to get this report out. No, sorry, I should have said. We've ordered food to come to the office. I don't know, another hour at most. Yeah, I know. I don't like missing putting Henry to bed either. I'll make it up to you both. I know. I won't be long I promise. Okay. I love you. See you soon honey. Bye." I continued to type as he ended the call, hoping he didn't realise I'd heard every word.

"Everything OK?"

"Yeah, I missed bed time."

"Ah I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It's Ok. My wife, she understands but she doesn't like it when I'm not home in time. I do it so she gets to be at home with our son." He huffed as he rubbed his face. It was the first time I'd seen him slightly annoyed. I tried not to continue the conversation, hoping to make him feel better about being stuck at work.

"Well let's crack on with the report and you can go home to your family!" I gave him my best smile and asked him what to type next in paragraph 14a.

"Thanks so much for the lift!" I thanked Brandon as he pulled up outside the apartment. The rain was still beating down in L.A. I found it charming. I couldn't wait to get inside and snuggle with Pedro over a film.

"You're welcome. Thanks for your help today. So glad we were able to get that report sent out today. Means I won't stay up late worrying about it."

"Well now you can go home and just enjoy being with your wife!" I smiled at him, trying to wrap up the conversation so I could get back to Pedro. "Thanks again! I'll see you tomorrow!"

"Good night Eleanor." I left the car and ran as fast as I could to the door of the apartment block, trying to dodge the raindrops. Which obviously didn't work. I was lightly coated in rain as I reached the apartment door.

"Hey babe." I called out when I got into the apartment. I put my keys on the side and noticed the TV was on but Pedro wasn't in the living room. He wasn't in the kitchen. But then I heard his feet slap against the hard floor and saw him walk through into the living room to me.

"Hey babe." He smiled to me. He wore a Fleetwood Mac T-shirt and jogger shorts. His hair was wild and he wore his black rimmed glasses I loved. I loved coming home and seeing him so fluffy and light in the apartment we shared. It made me feel so lucky.

"I missed you. Sorry I'm so late." I started to walk towards him with my arms outstretched, letting him know I needed a hug. He scooped me up and snuggled me into him as he kissed my head.

"I didn't think you were gonna be this late and you told me you were ordering food to work so I've already eaten."

"I know, I'm sorry. We just needed to get a report sent to the client today so we just finished it tonight. I've been in some big meetings today. I've literally not stopped."

"It's OK. I understand Elle. It's your job, you've gotta do what you've gotta do." He leant down and placed a kiss on my lips. "You taste like wine." He sharply pulled back and looked at me with a slight eyebrow raise.

"I just had one glass after we'd finished. It's been stressful. But it was only one!" Shit. Was he going to go mad?

"It's Ok, don't worry. Who's been working on this report?" Here we go. He was fishing to find out whether Brandon was there. Was he going to kick off?

"Just me and Brandon."

"Right."

"And?"

"And what?" He let go of me and started to move back to the sofa. I saw him pick up what looked like a script.

"Are you in a mood with me?"

"Why would I be in a mood with you?" A trick question. He would say this so I would confess to what he thought I should be sorry for, to highlight it as an issue. I wasn't going to win.

"Well, you're just being a bit weird so I wanted to check to see if I've done something." I hung up my coat in the hallway and walked back over to the kitchen island. I kept my distance from him, sensing this might be an argument.

"I'm not in a mood." He didn't look at me. He flicked his attention between the screen and the script.

"Good. I'm glad." I pushed myself off the kitchen counter and went to grab a bottle of water from the fridge when I heard Pedro say,

"I just think it's weird that you didn't tell me you were going for a drink. I mean, you stayed late and I get you've got work to do. But you didn't tell me you'd gone for a drink."

"It didn't cross my mind. It was literally just one. It was Brandon's idea. Then we came straight back."

"Did he drop you home?"

"Yeah."

"Right." He still hadn't looked at me during the whole conversation. I knew he was pissed. "I hope you enjoyed your secret drink together."

"It wasn't a secret. Hence why you knew."

"Not till now. You didn't tell me at the time."

"Because I didn't think it would be a big deal. Not like you know, being nominated for an award. That would be pretty hard to forget." I bit back. Finally, Pedro looked at me. He was straight faced and angry.

"That was a genuine mistake. Not some secret."

"The drink was a mistake on my part. I should have told you. I forgot you needed to check up on me whenever I'm with any male. Because you don't like me being around any other guys. You wouldn't do that, would you? No you wouldn't go sneaking off and meet up with other girls behind my back. And certainly not any of your exes. You wouldn't, would you? Oh wait, you did. You did go sneaking off for dinner with Robin. That's right." I sipped my water arrogantly, knowing he wouldn't be able to win this argument.

"That's a low blow, Eleanor."

"You're right I'm sorry. It must feel pretty shitty to hear me say that. I can assure you it felt even worse to be on the receiving end of that, Pedro!" His behaviour had hit a nerve with me and I found myself taking this argument to the next level. "You need to stop questioning my time with other men. He is my work colleague. He is happily married. I'm in a relationship. We were working and got a drink to unwind before we both came home to our other halves. Sneaking around with other guys isn't in my nature. It's not something I would ever do. I always tell you the truth about who I'm with and where I am. And if you can't trust me, well that says it all. How you're behaving is a reflection of you and your behaviour. Not mine." I slammed the bottle of water on the counter and grabbed my bag. "I'm going in the shower." I stomped off into the bedroom before he had chance to reply. I was angry. Arguing with Pedro was never fun. Yet, I was a little smug knowing I did nothing wrong and I'd won that argument. I knew that this wouldn't be the last time we argued over Brandon.