The only thing worse than not being at a concert? Spending said evening on the floor of my apartment with Aiden Steele and reading through some legal mumbo jumbo. I tried really hard not to let this get to me, but... I was supposed to be at a concert.

"Thea, this is the third time you've gone over the same sentence, where is your attention?" Aiden sighed, rubbing his face.

In Cleveland, Ohio.

I took a deep breath before trying to focus again, but it was so damn hard. My mind kept wandering off to the feeling of standing in the crowds, screaming at the top of my lungs and coming home with a sore throat. It would all be so worth it.

"I think I need more coffee." I rubbed my temples, getting up and going to the kitchen to brew a new cup. With the exhaustion of the week, no-month catching up on me, getting myself to focus on simple tasks was terribly hard, and on more than one occasion, the idea of hurling myself down some stairs had started holding some merit.

Our meeting at Tomatina had prompted some trips necessary to Europe, and some new contracts that Aiden wanted to negotiate with our existing partners in Germany, France and Ireland. It was going to be a ten-day endeavour, and the travelling party included Aiden, Jason, Jade, Monica and myself. Jason and Jade were only a part of the trip to Germany, after which France and Ireland were all for Aiden to handle.

Worst of all, Aiden had insisted we fly on Sunday morning, so we could get there and sleep off all the tiredness we had. Look fresh and presentable and ready to negotiate with these people on Monday morning. I was going to spend my fucking birthday on a plane over the Atlantic Ocean.

The one fucking year I could actually have a birthday cake...

I wanted to strangle Aiden, but all I did was send messages to everyone informing them that the birthday party might have to be rescheduled after all. Lydia guessed it was Aiden from the very first second, and I grimaced. Kylie was just as bummed out as I was, but she was quick to inform me that she was making plans with her new work buddy anyway on the same date.

When my parents called me at midnight, I received the call in my room, celebrating briefly before faking a headache and getting away. Back in my living room, Aiden was packing his work notes away, sorting through files and ensuring everything was in place. I helped him pack up, glad that the night was coming to an end and I'd be well-rested before the flight.

"I don't want to end up sleeping with you again." His tone was sharp as if I was the one at fault. I fell asleep first, always. He was supposed to go home.

"Good call." I smiled widely, making sure the sarcasm in my voice was noticeable.

"See you at the airport tomorrow. Don't be late."

My car privileges had been taken away. What an inconvenience.

I woke up the next morning still frazzled, still feeling the strange undercurrent of nerves I felt in my dream starring Aiden. I didn't have to remember the entirety of the dream to remember how skilled his mouth was and I needed an altogether new reason to pack my entire drawer of underwear. Making sure all the lights were off and I was leaving the house safely, I made it to the airport in time, just barely. The last-minute packing had surely done a spell on me.

Aiden was the only one present at the arrivals gate when I reached, and he glanced at his watch before saying, "You're late."

"Quicker than anyone else." I deadpanned. What the fuck was his problem?

He didn't have anything else to add because I was practically attacked from behind when Jade hopped onto my back, screaming in my ear, "Oh my god, happy birthday Thea!"

A small laugh bubbled in me, despite the sour mood, and I hugged her for the wishes. She reached into her purse and pulled out a small box for me, "I know it's not a lot, but I hope you like it."

The orange wrapper and bow on top made the whole thing adorable, and curiosity was brimming as I tore open the packaging carefully, finding a perfume from a French brand I could not pronounce. The bottle was shaped like a crystal, and it had a small puffy thing attached to it for the spraying part. Even the mechanism looked so expensive, I was afraid to find out the price for the gift. I hugged and thanked Jade for the gift, carefully putting it in my bag to avoid any damages.

Monica arrived next, promising me a gift from Marseilles, "I just didn't have enough time between the job and packing."

"Aw, it's alright! You don't have to buy me anything." I hugged her anyway. While Monica was busy ensuring our tickets and passports were absolutely ready, Aiden pulled me aside before I could protest.

"You didn't tell me it was your birthday."

"I tried to. You kicked me out of your office." Shaking his grip off me, I turned back to the group, finding safety next to Jason, who was excitedly rambling about the differences in advertisements he saw in Berlin and Tokyo. How that conversation came up, I have no idea, but it was interesting, and he had a grasp on my attention till we checked into our flight. We were then led to a separated security checking area, apparently for the first-class passengers and important people like Aiden.

"We sometimes take the company jet, but it was in use today," Jason explained, and the extent of Steele wealth just became a lot scarier than before. "It doesn't usually matter if we take the regular security checking route, but people who do recognize us tend to give a lot of unsolicited business advice."

"It's all crap, anyway." Aiden looked back at his friend, sharing a joke in their eyes that we women were not privy to. Jason grinned, enjoying the memory. We were ushered to the flight before anyone else, and I found myself admiring the first-class seats for far longer than necessary, making Jade impatient. "Woman, if I lose my window seat because of your slow ass, I'll take my gift back."

I took a look at my ticket and quickly located my seat, which was unfortunately not at the window. The legroom was the first thing I noticed. Even if my legs weren't long, there was space. That was nice.

"Thea." Aiden's voice was breaking my exploration, and I figured he'd be seated next to me for the duration of the flight. This was nothing short of my personal hell, but in the opulence of this place, I wasn't going to cause a scene. I raised my legs to my knees, letting him pass and taking his seat.

"You should have told me it was your birthday, Thea." Aiden brought up the conversation again when the flight was taking off and I just shook my head, holding on to the armrests with the tightest grip I could muster.

"You're scared of flying?"

"Only take-off and landing." I managed to speak, keeping my eyes fixed on the blank screen in front of me. Take-off and landing were statistically the worst parts of flying for most people and it probably had a lot to do with the fact that once the plane was in the air, it was mostly controlled by computers and technology. People made errors, computers, less so.

"Do you want me to hold your hand?" He asked and I shot him a dirty look.

"Don't act nice. It doesn't suit you."

The flight stabilized after a few minutes and the seatbelt sign turned off. Taking this as an opportunity to pull out the book I'd carried with me for the journey, I picked up where I had left off, trying to drown myself in the regency era. Of course, I'd be better at doing it if someone wasn't constantly trying to talk to me and irk me.

"It's an eight-hour-long flight, Thea. Might as well talk."

"You can continue talking," I replied calmly, "I don't think I can add any value to the conversation."

Aiden groaned, calling for the air hostess with the touch of a button, "Get me a bourbon, please."

The woman nodded and walked away, bringing a glass with the amber liquid in it promptly. "Anything for you, ma'am?"

"No, thank you." I turned back to my book, hoping it would be my salvation for the rest of the journey. It was... for the next three hours. I had immersed myself so deeply in the world of the characters, that I had not paid attention to my speed and had ended up finishing the book within half the usual time. Whoa. I still had five hours to go. I looked sidewards at Aiden, who had his earphones plugged in and appeared to be in deep thought. As if sensing my eyes on him, he pulled one out and offered it to me. "You don't have to talk. Just listen."

I took up the offer, adjusting the bud in my ear and waiting for the audio to begin. The voice was oddly familiar, but it was the words that grabbed my attention.

"That's-"

"My father, yes." Aiden's eyes were distant, and anyone could see his adoration for his old man. "I'm sorry you missed your concert."

I heard the whole speech even though I had it memorized then gave him the earphone back, looking at my phone to find something to do. I had hours to kill, and getting into an argument with Aiden, especially in front of other people was going to do me no good. Using the Wi-Fi on the plane, I tuned in to a YouTube channel, watching shaky phone recordings of the concert filled with screaming and wished I could have been there. The entire aesthetic of the tour was absolutely stunning and the more I thought about it, the more it made me want to cry. Shutting my phone down, I closed my eyes, hoping that sleep would fill up my time.

***

"Thea, we're at Zurich. Wake up!" Aiden's voice was breaking through my sleep, and I woke up with a start, realizing the weird position I'd fallen asleep in. My seatbelt was tucked in, which I didn't remember doing before falling asleep. The plane had descended on the tarmac, and I could hear a commotion behind me as people were getting ready to de-plane.

What was worse, is that I had fallen asleep on Aiden's shoulder, and wrapped my arms around his like I would be hugging a pillow. Good thing I hadn't been drooling. I straightened myself up, "Sorry, I didn't realize."

"I think you're one nap away from evening the score." Aiden fixed his appearance too, just in time for Jason to peer over our seats, "Ready to explore the airport?"

How he maintained all this energy was beyond me, but I wasn't complaining. It was a delight being around him, and when he extended his hand for me to take, I showed no hesitation. The Zurich airport was fun enough to hang around for an hour and a half, especially when Jason decided my birthday gift would be all the Swiss chocolate that we could find at the stores. The treats just melted in my mouth as I went through the smaller ones, vowing to wait before eating all of them in one go.

"My dentist isn't going to be happy about this." Jade laughed as she picked her third chocolate from my new stash.

Jason glared at her, "Neither would I be if you steal away all of Thea's birthday gifts." There was a certain playfulness between the two that I admired and loved, they seemed friends before co-workers and I really liked their dynamic. I'd once asked Jade if she wished for something more with Jason, but she'd made it clear that their relationship was purely platonic, and it was a line neither of them wanted to cross. How wonderful it would be to be on the same page as your boss? I guess I'd never know. Aiden had grumpily seated himself in the lounge, aloof from all of us, reading through the English newspaper. Despite Jason's attempts to bring Aiden into the fun, he stayed put, so I didn't bother to try.

Our layover was short-lived and we boarded our second flight soon enough. This time I didn't hesitate to have a tight grip on Aiden's hand during take-off, nerves calming down only after we had stabilized in the air. Aiden lent me one earphone again and we listened to a podcast on staying productive for an hour, settling into comfortable silence after the episode ended.

"What gift would you like for your birthday?" He asked me for the third time, and I didn't have an answer.

"I already owe you a lot, Aiden. I can't take more from you." I finally sighed. I knew Aiden's gift wouldn't come from the dollar store, and when the time came to pay him back, I would be drowning in debt, even the debt that won't be visible on paper.

"It's a gift, Thea. You don't have to pay me back." Aiden rolled his eyes.

"I'll still feel bad if it's expensive."

"You don't seem to have trouble taking a whole store worth of chocolates from Jason."

"Jason's different."

"How so?"

"He's a friend."

"And I'm not?"

I didn't know what to say. Friends don't dream about kissing each other. Friends, in fact, do not crave the other person as I did. "You- I-" I struggled to find the appropriate words, " I have no idea what to call it anymore."

Aiden's gaze was piercing, "Call it whatever allows me to give you a gift. An apology for not listening to you, and a gift to make up missing the concert."

"That's not well-defined. But I'll accept a gift on one condition."

"What is it? I can get you anything-"

"Whatever my gift is, I don't want you to spend any money on it." I stopped him midway. There were a thousand ways one could give gifts without spending money. If Aiden thought spending money would buy forgiveness, he was dead wrong. His scrunched eyebrows were a sure indication that he had no idea what to do, but he seemed up for the challenge, so I was actually excited to see what he would come up with.

We landed on German soil in the dead of the night, finding cars already expecting us at the airport gates. The hotel was brilliantly lit and I would have taken in more details but the exhaustion was catching up on me and all I truly wanted was a bed. Hell, even a sofa would do. Aiden had taken the penthouse suite for himself and Jason, with Jade and Monica sharing a room on the floor below and me in the room down the hall from theirs. We had four hours to catch up on sleep before we had to meet in the lobby at 8 am. Aiden had generously given us twenty minutes to grab a coffee, after which we had to get going. Who thought of keeping a meeting at 9 in the fucking morning after a long flight was beyond me, but it had been proven quite a while ago that Aiden Steele was in fact, not human at all.

Not bothering to unpack, I allowed sleep to drown me as soon as I entered my room, unaffected and unbothered about the plushy pillows and the soft comforter. Sleep was always more important than those details.

Hey!

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and if you did please drop in a vote/comment anything to let me know :)

A quick but very important announcement: My birthday is coming up, and if there's something you should know about me it's that I love doing THE MOST on my birthdays and the days leading up to it. For example, it's a Monday night and I'm baking a cake with my brother today with lots of chocolate and lots of frosting and it's going to be so much fun!

I thought I would share this countdown with you too, so for the next few days, there will be more than two updates a week coming your way!  Currently, I have updates lined up like this:

Monday - Birthday Girl

Wednesday - Unravelling Secrets

Friday - Aiden Freaking Steele

Happy August, you guys :)