Bring Your Own Lunch

 "Azuuuulll, can you come….check….for more burns….?" Her voice was quiet and she seemed shy as she hid from behind her bathroom door.

 His eyes widened at the sudden request, and he stood from the couch without hesitation.

 "Why? What's wrong? Are you hurting?" He entered the bathroom where she held a towel against her front.

 "When I changed…..it stung….and my skirt and…..underwear were wet….."

 "Where does it hurt?" His eyes frantically darted around her body trying to see if there was any notable signs of injury.

 Sira bit her lip and turned around, pointing to her butt cheek.

 "Down….here….."

 Azul inhaled sharply through his nose and raised an eyebrow.

 "Okay, let me see."

 He knelt down and inspected her skin. It was bright red, just like her thighs.

 "Does this hurt?" As gently as he could, he brushed his finger along her skin.

 Sira hissed, "It stings…."

 "Alright. Do you want me to dab it with some cold water?"

 "…..yeah….."

 "Where are your towels?"

 "There are some in the closet right there. You can use one of the small ones."

 Inside the closet in her entry hall was a pile of neatly stacked towels. He appreciated how neat and organized she kept it, and quickly grabbed one off the top before returning to the bathroom.

 "Bend over a little." He instructed as he ran the towel under cold water.

 Sira did as he said and bent over a little, flinching at the coolness of the towel as he gently began to pat her.

 "It's not bad, you're just really red. We should probably go to the pharmacy and get you some medicine for it to relieve some of the stinging. Do you mind if I move your underwear over a bit?"

 "Um….." She wasn't quite sure. It still hurt and the cold towel WAS helping, but she wasn't all that comfortable with him touching her like that yet.

 "Are you able to reach it yourself? I can leave the room if you want to do it."

 "Let….me move it…." She took a deep breath and reached around, gently sliding her finger underneath her underwear.

 Very carefully, she lifted the fabric from her skin and pulled it over a little.

 Azul gently patted her with the towel.

 "You don't need to be shy, or embarrassed. You're about to be my wife, this is a normal thing. Besides, I've seen you all already."

 His tone was calm and matter of fact, but that still didn't change the fact she wasn't entirely comfortable around him just yet.

 "I know…."

 After a few more minutes of Azul dabbing her skin, she got dressed in her new coffee free clothes and left her apartment.

 When they arrived back to the office, after picking up some soothing cream, they were both surprised to feel a shift in the atmosphere.

 Everyone seemed to quiet down as soon as they entered, exchanging glasses and whispering amongst themselves.

 They returned to their desks. Azul took his blazer off and placed it on her chair, concerned that the rough fabric of the upholstery may cause additional irritation to her skin.

 Just as he was helping lower her into the seat, their manager approached.

 "Sierra, I need to see you in my office."

 As Sira stood up and headed towards the manager's office, everyone's gaze followed her.

 "Oh my god….she's such a slut…."

 "I know….I can't believe she would do that…."

 Azul raised an eyebrow as he overheard the whispers nearby.

 He turned his head to see a few of the employees standing around the printer, chatting away and referencing Sira's desk with their hands.

 "What are you talking about over here?" Azul asked, an inquiring look on his face as he stood and approached them.

 Their faces dropped as he approached them, seemingly embarrassed that he'd heard.

 "What? Surely, it's something you can say to my face," he slid one of his hands in his pocket and motioned to the rest of the office with his other, "I assume it's what everyone else is whispering about. Can the entire office know but me?"

 One of the guys in the group spoke up, "We just didn't know how you'd feel about the image."

 "What. Image." Azul asked, his tone threatening.

 At the same time, the group pulled out their phones and showed him an image.

 He grabbed one of them, his eyes widening in shock as he looked it over.

 It was a photo of him and Sira in the bathroom earlier.

 Sira had her head thrown back, her hands clutching on Azul's shoulders as she sat on the sink counter with Azul's head right in between her legs.

 The angle made it look like they were doing something far more…. inappropriate than they were.

 "This….isn't what it looks like."

 "Oh, no! No one really cares. When you want your girl, you want your girl…" the guy said, nudging him with a smile.

 "Well, I think it's disgusting that she would do that during work. I have to use those bathrooms and now…..she did that on the counters….yuck!" One of the girls complained, a look of complete disgust coming over her face.

 "I agree. That's so unprofessional! This is the WORK place! Plus, she's doing that with someone she just met? Have some class…." The other girl said.

 She then became flustered, as if the realization that Azul was standing there had just hit her, "I mean, I'm not judging YOU or anything!"

 Azul furrowed his eyebrows as he took a deep breath. Anger and rage was boiling inside of him.

 "Why not? Why are you not judging me too? Besides, that's not what happened, Elora spilled her coffee on Sira so Sira went to the bathroom to clean up. I followed to make sure she was okay, and she had some minor burns and irritation. That photo of yours was her crying from pain and me soothing her injuries."

 He suddenly felt a hand land on his shoulder, "That's not how I remember it~"