Chapter Two

The next morning, you woke up in your bed. The comforter was wrapped uncomfortable around your legs, meaning you'd tossed and turned all night. Drinking made you restless, and drinking as much as you did was not good for it being your first day at your new job.

You groaned as you searched for your phone in your bed, knowing well that you didn't plug it in last night. You untangled yourself from your sheets, seeing you had managed to get yourself changed into a t-shirt and some shorts before you went to sleep. You squint your eyes when you sat up, starting to feel the pounding headache surrounding your skull.

You found your phone underneath you once you stood up, grabbing it. You pressed the power button, surprised it even turned on. It was at 20%, and it was 5:27AM. You sighed, plugging it in.

You hopped into the shower, scrubbing off the smell of alcohol and the rest of your makeup off from the previous night. You lathered your skin in your milk and honey body wash as you let your hair sit with your cranberry conditioner in it. Feeling the hot water in your tense muscles helped you relax. The loofa trailed over the scars over your stomach and your shoulders as you washed yourself.

You took a deep breath as you tried to push back those memories of how you got them. The hot water trailed down your body as the body wash floated off you and down the drain. You turned off the shower after rinsing out your hair, and wrapped a robe around your body and a towel in your hair. You could hear movement coming from inside the rest of the apartment as you brushed your teeth.

When you finished brushing your teeth, you walked back into your bedroom and walked over to your closet. You picked out a pair of green pants, a white flowy top, a white blazer and a brown belt. You paired the outfit with some gold jewelry accessories and brown close-toed shoes.

You let down your hair after you changed, running some product through it to keep it from getting frizzy as you walked to work. You haven't had the money to get a car, and the main reason you even decided to apply for the position at Barnes Law Firm was so you could start to afford things on your own, and earn enough to get your own place and truly reestablish yourself.

You walked out of your room after blow drying your hair and running a brush through it. You walked out of your room, seeing the blankets folded neatly on the sofa and the pillow placed on top.

"Wanda already left. She didn't bring a change of clothes." Nat explained as she walked past you and back into her room to also get ready for work.

"Oh, okay. Did you make the coffee?" You called out as she walked into her room.

"Yeah!" She called back before closing the door.

You poured yourself a cup of coffee, putting in your desired extras. You took a long sip, feeling the hot liquid flow down your throat. You searched for ibuprofen, needing something to take the edge off this headache. You smiled when you found it, popping open the bottle and taking three of the little tablets.

You swallowed them with your next gulp of coffee. You were careful not to spill any of it on your shirt as you finished the cup. You washed out the cup and left it on the counter to air dry. You walked back into your bedroom, checking your phone. It was 6:14AM, and your phone was at 55%. You grabbed your phone and charger, making a mental note that you could always let it finish charging in your office when you got to work.

You walked back into the living room, seeing Nat also enjoy a cup of coffee. She wore a black and white jumpsuit with black heels. She had the black belt wrapped around her waist and her red hair was in braids flowing off her shoulders. She smiled when she saw you.

"You look professional!" She smiled. "Much better than your t-shirt and jeans from when you worked at the coffee shop." Nat smiled.

"I'm gonna miss it." You replied, grabbing your bag and shoving your phone and charger into it.

"What? The coffee shop?" Nat asked, her eyebrows furrowed in questioning.

"No. T-shirts and jeans." You joked as you slung your bag over your shoulder. You grabbed your keys and your wallet, tossing them into your bag. "You about ready?" you asked.

She nodded, pouring out the rest of her coffee and grabbing her bag from the dining table. She grabbed her keys, ready to lock the door once you walked out. She grabbed her coat off the coat rack after you did.

The both of you walked out into the cold air, feeling the wind pick up since you were on the third floor of the apartment building. You tugged your coat closer to you, trying to retain as much warmth as you could.

"Are you sure we shouldn't get a cab?" Nat asked, tugging her coat closer to her body as well.

"We'll be fine. It's not like it's far, and the fresh air can wake us up." You replied, smiling at her.

Nat groaned. "But I'm in heels, Y/N." She pointed down to her shoes once you got down the stairs.

"You can take a cab, but I'm walking." You replied, continuing down the sidewalk toward the Law Firm.

Nat nodded, waving down a cab. "I'll see you there!" She called out before she closed the door. The cab sped off after a minute, passing you on the road.

You sighed, starting to warm up as you looked inside the little shops along the strip as you walked. You checked your watch, seeing you still had some time to get something for breakfast. You didn't need to be there till 7:15. It was 6:30.

You pried open the door to a small coffee shop that sat along the strip. The smell of the grinded espresso beans flooded your senses as the door closed behind you. You sighed, shivering slightly in your coat.

You ordered a small cup of coffee, and a buttered croissant. You held tight to your coffee to keep your hands warm as you waited for your flaky pastry.

You saw someone walk up next to you out of the corner of your eye. You glanced over, seeing a tall, dark haired man. He looked over at you with a smile.

His blue eyes striked yours as he spoke. "Good morning." His British accent fell from his lips.

A grey suit covered his body and black dress shoes covered his feet. His hair was long, just above his shoulders. A black coat covered his torso over his suit.

"Morning." You replied, turning back to the counter, still waiting for your pastry.

"What's a beautiful lady like you doing out this early on a Tuesday?" He asked, a small smile still on his lips.

"New job." You paused as the barista called your name for your croissant. You took it from the counter. "Starting today." You replied.

"That's awesome!" He beamed. "Where at?"

"Loki!" The barista called out. She placed his drink on the counter. He leaned over and grabbed it.

The two of you turned, still locked in conversation.

"Barnes Law Firm." You replied, smiling softly.

"Really?" He chuckled. "I work there as well, I'm an accountant." He smiled at you, taking a sip of his drink.

You nodded. "Well, I guess it's good that I'll know somebody else other than my roommate." You giggled, taking a sip of your coffee.

"Who's your roommate?" He asked, holding the door open for you as you walked back outside.

"Natasha Romanoff." You replied. "My other friend, Wanda, works there as well." You finished, taking a bit of your breakfast.

"I know of them. Wanda is Mr. Barnes' receptionist, and Natasha is an attorney? Correct?" He asked, walking to the right of you so you'd be on the inside of the sidewalk.

"Yep." You replied, taking another bite of the pastry in your hand. You gestured it to him, offering him some.

He grinned, tearing off a piece that you hadn't bitten from and popped it in his mouth. After you both finished chewing, he spoke up again.

"Who are you working under?" He asked.

"Steve Rogers." You replied, throwing away the bag the croissant came in as you rounded the corner of the street, almost at the building.

"Oooh. You're working with the big boys, huh?" He chuckled. He shoved his hands in his jacket pockets, trying to keep warm.

You nodded, humming a yes as you chewed on the last bit of your croissant. He reached out, holding open the door for you.

You walked in, seeing the bright whites and dark greys scattered across the walls and the floor. There wasn't much color inside the building, and it was rather clean. He walked with you to the elevator, pressing the up button.

"Do you know which floor?" Loki asked, looking over at you once you entered the elevator. Loki hadn't been here very long either, and he wasn't really sure what floor Rogers was on.

You nodded. "23." He leaned over, hitting the button. He also hit 18.

He stood back, shoving his hands back into his pockets to retain some warmth. His blue eyes glistened underneath the fluorescents as he looked back over at you with a smile.

"Do you have any plans for lunch?" He asked as the elevators starting moving, a beep sound flooding the space as each floor passed.

You shook your head. "I was planning on working through lunch, setting up my office the way I want."

He grinned. "Alright, well..." He paused, licking his lips "Would you mind if I came by? I'll bring you something, make sure you eat." He smiled.

You nodded, giving him a smile back. "Sure." You bit the inside of your cheek as the elevator doors opened, you were at floor 18.

"This is my stop." He frowned slightly. "It was good to meet you, Y/N." He walked out of the elevator, giving you a small wave with two of his fingers before the doors closed, leaving you alone in the space.

You sighed, feeling your nerves begin to grow as you approached the top floor.

The elevator dinged, coming to a stop before the doors opened. You stepped through, seeing a large receptionist desk sitting in the center. Wanda looked up, smiling at you.

"You look so good!" Wanda gawked, standing up and rounding around the desk. "Let me show you to your office." She smiled, looping her arm through yours.

She led you down a hallway that was next to the elevators. The hallway wasn't very long, there were 4 doors, two of them being bathrooms. One had "Steve Rogers, Co-Founder" written on it.

The other was a blank door that sat across from Steve's. Wanda took the key that she'd grabbed from her desk and shoved it into the door knob. She unlocked it, pushing the door open.

"Steve isn't here yet, but he should be here soon to give you your first assignments. He's really nice, you'll like him." She smiled, as you looked around the space. She handed you the key once your eyes landed back on her.

The walls were white, and a dark oak desk with a Mac desktop sat in the middle of it. There were some shelves that sat on the opposite wall of the door for storage. A grey couch sat on the wall opposite your desk. The space wasn't very large, but you weren't expecting anything huge since you were just an assistant. You knew you had a lot of responsibilities, but you knew you wouldn't be seeing clients or anything.

"Yeah, I interviewed with him." You replied, walking over to your desk. A nice office chair sat behind it. You placed your purse on the end of the desk, running your hands over the white keyboard. The mouse sat next to it.

"You didn't interview with Mr. Barnes?" She asked, furrowing her eyebrows.

"No?" You looked over at her, shrugging off your blazer and slewing over your office chair. "I'm working under Steve, why should I have to interview with him?"

Wanda shrugged. "Mr. Barnes is usually pretty good about handling all of the employees." She replied, tapping her hand on her thigh. "I'll let you get to it. If you need anything, I'll be at my desk." She smiled, leaving you alone in your office.

You sat down, pulling out the drawers in the desk to see what was in them. There were some pens and pencils in one, and some notebooks in another. The others were empty. You pulled out a notebook and a pen, starting to jot down some things you know you wanted to get for your office.

A soft knock on your door pulled you out of your focus. You looked up to see Steve, smiling at you. "Y/N! It's good to see you." He walked through the door, standing across from you on the other side of the desk.

A blue suit with a white button up shirt covered his body. His hair was pushed back off his forehead and his blue eyes shined as his smile reached his eyes. His briefcase was thrown across his shoulder and over his chest.

"Hi, Mr. Rogers." You grinned, standing up. You smoothed out your shirt. "What do you have for me?" You were ready to get to work.

"Nothing yet." He admitted. "I wanted to show you around the building first, and then if you want you can go out and grab some things for your office down in storage? Whatever somebody leaves in an office, the company puts it down there kind of like a recycling thing." He grinned. "You're going to be spending a lot of time here. Just let Wanda know whenever you're ready and I'll meet you out there."

You nodded, watching him as he walked out of your office and unlocked his own. You sighed, feeling awkward when you recalled the encounter. You're sure he could tell you were nervous, and he was just trying to make you feel more comfortable.

After about 10 minutes of jotting down some more items you wanted for your office, you stepped out of your office, closing the door behind you. You remembered to grab your office key, tucking it into your pocket.

You walked over to Wanda, and she mumbled something into the phone before setting it back down.

"How you holding up?" She asked, taking a sip of her coffee that was sat behind her desk.

"Okay." You took a deep breath, hearing the elevator beep behind you.

Once the elevator doors opened, out stepped a man with roughed-up brown hair and red lipstick smudged on his neck. A completely black suit covered his body as he rushed out, leaving whoever was in the elevator with him completely flustered. His jaw was tight as he rushed past you and Wanda, not even giving you a hello.

"Good morning, Mr. Barnes." Wanda spoke, following him with her eyes as he speed walked past her desk.

"Yeah." He replied, swiftly opening one of the double doors that led to his office and stepping inside. The door closed with a loud thump.

"That was Mr. Barnes?" You asked, eyes wide as the elevator door closed. You could hear whoever was in the elevator clear her throat, and shuffle slightly as she pounded a button.

Wanda nodded. "It's normal for him."

You rolled your eyes. "Wow." You muttered, turning around to see Steve walking out of his office and towards you.

"You ready, Ms. Y/L/N?" He asked, giving you a small smile.

You nodded, following him to the elevator.

You returned to your office a few hours later with a box of things from storage. The tour was nice, and Steve told you that the office was usually really relaxed unless there weren't any meetings or important people around. He explained that you didn't have to call him Mr. Rogers, in private, if you didn't want to, but that you'd have to be around other people in the company.

You nodded in understanding before he helped you look for some items you wanted for your office.

You sighed after putting the box of stuff on your desk, starting to rummage through it. You were putting some little fake succulents on one of the shelves when you heard a knock at your door. You hadn't even noticed how much time had gone by when you saw it was Loki.

"Hey." He said, pushing into your office. "It looks nice." He smiled, looking over what you'd already put up. You found some cute pillows to add to your couch that were blue with some designs on them. You set up your desk organizer and a cute mouse pad as well.

"Thank you." You smiled, gesturing over to the couch. "Care to sit?" You asked.

He nodded. You hadn't noticed the bag and the drink carrier with two drinks he was holding until he sat down, starting to take out the contents. You noticed the Starbucks Logo on the outside of the bag. He handed you a Grilled Chicken and Hummus Protein Box and (your favorite Starbucks drink). He pulls out a black coffee and a Ham and Swiss Panini for himself.

"I know you said you were probably going to skip lunch, but I figured you'd get hungry setting up your office." He gave you a grin before he took a sip of his coffee.

The two of you sat and ate quickly. He spent most of his lunch break trying to find a Starbucks to get something for you. On your walk this morning, you'd mentioned your favorite coffee drink to him and he wanted to surprise you. You two made small conversation, mainly about how your first day was going.

"When did you start working here?" You asked, throwing your box into the trash bin by your desk.

"Uhhh, about three months ago? Not long." He replied, standing up and throwing his own trash into the bin. He looked down at you, licking his bottom lip. "I should get going." He checked his watch for the time.

"Right." You kept your gaze on him. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Sure." He smiled, turning away and stepping out of your office.

He tried to quickly make his way to the elevator, but James' assistant, Sylvie, stopped him. "Hey, Loki." She grinned up at him.

"Hi." He replied, barely giving her a glance as he continued walking to the elevator.

"Did you already have your lunch break? I was wondering—" she started, before he interrupted her.

"I have. Thank you." He said, pushing the button on the side of the elevator. He shoved his hands in his pockets as he stared at the doors.

"Damn." She muttered, bringing her hand to her chin as she thought. "What were you doing up here?" She asked.

"Giving Y/N lunch." He replied dryly, trying to contain his excitement once the elevator opened. He pushed quickly past the doors, hoping she wouldn't follow him.

"Oh." She looked down, sounding slightly offended.

Unfortunately, she did as he was pushing the close door button on the inside. He sighed, pressing the button for his floor.

"What do you want?" He asked, looking over at her.

"Just wanted to spend some time with you. What about drinks after work?" She asked.

"No thanks." He replied, feeling like the elevator was going slower just to torture him.

Sylvie's been obsessed with him since he started here. He didn't mind her at first, but then she started trying to see him all the time, and truly, she was trying to use her boss as an excuse to be around him. He knew James never really wanted anything to do with him, and sending his assistant for something everyday was infuriating.

She always ended up in Loki's office to pick up something for Barnes around 10AM, and it wasn't until today had he already seen her twice in the span of his workday. He was itching to get away from her, and spend his afternoon in his office.

Soon, the elevator doors opened on floor 18 and Loki stepped out. "See you tomorrow, Sylvie." He slipped quickly into his office down the hall and to his desk.

He sat down quickly, taking a deep sigh as he recalled the events of his lunch break and shifted his focus to the spreadsheets in front of him.

Sylvie returned to the top floor, quickly scouting out your office. You had closed your door, and she didn't want to intrude. She rolled her eyes and quickly walked back to her office that was next to James' before you noticed she was there. She was about to pass Wanda's desk before James walked out of his office.

"I was looking for you." James spoke with a small grin. "Do you have those reports I asked for?" He leaned against the side of Wanda's desk, putting his arm on the face of the desk.

"Yes, Mr. Barnes." She replied quickly, starting to dart toward her office.

"Who were you looking for out here?" He asked, turning to look at her.

Wanda acted like she was doing something on the computer, but she was trying her best to be able to stay focused on their conversation.

"Loki was up here is all." Sylvie replied, chewing on the inside of her lip. She'd hoped James hadn't noticed she wasn't in her office for that long.

"What for?" He asked, cocking his head to the side. His jaw tightened at the mention of the man.

"He was with Y/N." Sylvie replied.

"Oh. Okay." He looked down, thinking. "The new assistant?" He looked over at Wanda.

Wanda nodded. "Yes, sir. You walked past her this morning." She looked back to her computer.

"She's hot." He commented, chucking to himself. "Those files, Sylvie." He looked at her, pointing weakly to her office.

She scurried off quickly, grabbing the files and handing them to him. She retreated back to her office in a hurry.

"You're friends with her, right?" James asked, turning to Wanda and placing the files next to himself.

"Who?" Wanda asked, looking up at him.

"Y/N."

She nodded. "Why?"

"Just curious." He picked at his nails for a second, before taking a deep breath and grabbing the files. "Put in a good word for me?"

Wanda rolled her eyes. "Why don't you just go talk to her?" She turned in her chair to look at him as he walked back to his office. "Worried she'll fall for your dumbass?" She joked, smiling a little.

"She will." He replied, going back into his office. He'd barely seen you for 3 seconds, and he was already confident he would win you over.

"I wouldn't count on it." Wanda mumbled, rolling her eyes again.