Freshly waxed and pampered, I swiped the card at salon, feeling giddy with excitement that a three-digit payment went through in the first fucking go. No matter how many times this happened, I was literally over the moon every time the screen showed 'Transaction successful'.

Basile had been an excellent esthetician and Ada was a walking marvel with my hair, making me feel like a fucking goddess at the end of my second appointment. I'd taken their consultation to figure out what make up would suit me best and made a note to visit a store for that soon. With promises to only ever come to them the next time I needed anything, I walked out of the mall they were based in, skipping happily to the subway station. I wanted figure out the routes from Aiden's building to Steele Park ahead of time. I knew the train that went from the mall to Aiden's apartment complex so I boarded it as it came, holding the pole with my free hand while the other was busy finding a playlist.

One reminded me too much of the ex I never fully got over, one reminded me of my dad and there was one filled with ridiculously sad songs that I listened for the explicit purpose of making me sad on any normal day. I wondered briefly why I would do that to myself, by the memes online had ensured me that I was not alone in this. It was comforting. I resorted to checking my social media, which had been ridiculously empty of late.

Well, I did have that one picture Ada took after my hair were styled...

Fuck it, I decided to post it, at least people would know I was alive. It wasn't my best picture ever, no, I'd peaked at age seven and life had been downhill ever since. But it would do. I obsessed over the caption the whole ride before just writing 'golden' and leaving it at that. I guessed that's what the cool kids were doing these days.

I knew I'd come back to about 20 something likes and one random comment from my nephews, but that was enough. I didn't need Insta Fame.

I got off at the stop nearest to Aiden's home, now my home too. Shit, this was too real. From the stop, I found my way to the apartment complex. The doorman recognized me and opened the barrier, but I shook my head. Instead, I stood by him to chat, and just so I could figure out some hints of where I could travel to if I wanted to make it to work on time. He was nice enough to tell me what my morning commute would be like, and quite fortunately, it didn't sound too chaotic. There was a train straight from here to Steele Park, and while coming back, I could do better than the subway by taking a cab.

I was considering taking the train to Steele Park as well when the guard, whose name I'd learnt was Lucas straightened up, stepping past me to check the car pulling into the complex. I recognized that car at the same time Lucas did, and he rushed to open the barrier for Aiden's car. Aiden didn't move forward though, lowering his windows with the touch of a button and staring at me, "What are you doing here?"

"Figuring out my travel plans."

He was confused but he didn't say anything, instead telling me to meet him upstairs. "You know the way."

"I should go, really. I have-"

"Thea," his voice was commanding, "I'll see you in the lobby in five."

I rolled my eyes. On one hand I really wanted to flip the finger and run away, but on the other hand, I was curious to see whatever Aiden had to say. What if it was more details about my business that we needed to discuss? I couldn't miss out on that. Seeing me lose my resolve, Aiden pushed the window up again and drove away to where I presumed the parking was. I waved to Lucas before heading into the lobby, waiting for the elevators and Aiden to arrive.

Jesus, how did Aiden command this level of respect by simply walking into the room? When he entered the lobby with his beautiful navy suit, I practically swooned. Jesus. Just my luck, the elevators dinged, distracting me and taking my eyes off him. Good, because I would have been incapable of stopping my gawking.

"What brings you here?" He asked as we got in, an elderly couple following us.

"I told you I wanted to figure out my travelling plans."

"That's it?" he asked, as if expecting to catch me in a lie.

I rolled my eyes, "Yeah, and well I needed to figure out how to rob your house and leave unnoticed."

The old man turned to look at me with death in his eyes. Jesus, people didn't take a joke well in this building. Aiden had the corner of his lips turned up, but he refused to utter a single word.

Fine, Mr. Old Man. I checked the floors that were being called in the lift. We had one stop to make on the 15th and one on the 23rd.

"But the thing is, your house is like a fortress. I did find openings on the 15th floor though, so they can kiss their valuables goodbye."

Aiden's face turned ten shades darker as he tried to hold his laughter in. I held my face in a mask of disdain, glowering back at the man. He did not waste a second in escaping out of the elevators as soon as it slid open, a string of curses muttered under his breath.

"You know he works for us at Steele?" Aiden told me, bursting into soft laughter.

My eyes widened. Shit. Had I antagonized someone important? "Shit."

Aiden stared at my face for a moment before bursting into laughter, leaving me blushing. Of course, that rackety man wasn't working for Steele. He had a foot in the grave, he should be on his knees in church every day, not in meeting rooms. With a swift turn, Aiden unlocked his house and allowed me in.

Aiden's house was nothing short of my expectations. It followed a dark blue, dark brown and white theme in the living room with not a spec out of place. The dark interiors made for a closed environment, which was combated by the large French windows leading to the balcony. From what I could make out, the balcony had a coffee table and a hot tub. Whoa.

"I'm home," he called, making me freeze in my exploration of the house. Aiden had someone at home. Aiden had someone waiting on him at home. Why was I stupid enough to think Aiden Steele, with that fucking face, did not have a girl at home? If anything, he was the picture-perfect bachelor, if you excluded the terrible things Steele Insurance did to ailing families and the thing that Steele Power did to Arizona a couple of years back...

Well, a lot of things that Steele does, I didn't agree with. Not all businesses were run ethically, and there was a reason why multimillionaires like Aiden were turning a blind eye to some things in the interest of their own pockets. But bringing a random person back to your house when you had someone at home was just... the level of disrespect. Shit.

I turned on my heel, a string of apologies in my mouth ready to spew, when an elderly woman emerged from the room, holding a shirt in her hands.

"You're home early," she noted before settling her eyes on me, "Ah, I see. I'll be out of your hair soon enough then."

Oh, she was the housekeeper, Josie. Aiden had offered her assistance to help in my kitchen as well, and I'd accepted it for a week, just until I had settled.

Aiden shook his head, taking his blazer off and loosening his tie, "Not like that Josie. Could you make something for Thea to eat?"

Josie nodded, giving me a once over look, "Some cheese and eggs will do you good. Let me put this away and come."

I wanted to say I wasn't hungry, but really, when was I not hungry? I continued my observation of Aiden's home, stopping at an abstract painting on the wall behind his dining area. I never understood much of art, but considering this was Aiden's house, I didn't doubt even for a second that this painting cost him upwards of a hundred thousand dollars.

"Does art interest you?" he asked, walking over to me and handing me a glass of water. The sleeves of his shirt were now rolled up to his elbows and I could swear my stomach was doing cartwheels.

Rein it in Theodora.

"Not really, I never understood why people would spend so much money on it." I shrugged.

"Music, then?" he pointed to the collection of vinyl he had displayed on a shelf. I scanned the collection, positive that I would never find anything common between the two of us.

I shook my head, "I have a good relationship with Spotify ads."

Aiden made a disgusted face, making me laugh. Josie served a cheese omelet and toast for me, a glass of wine for Aiden.

"Should I juice something for you?" She asked, handing me cutlery. I took a seat at the table, shaking my head, "This looks good. Thank you."

"Are you sure? I have oranges and sweet lime in the fridge."

Oh, that was tempting. But I couldn't. If I ate anything more, I would burst. Even the cheese omelet felt like too much. Aiden took a seat in front of me, looking through his phone.

"What does interest you, then?" he asked finally when I had cleared my plate. Josie seemed to appear out of thin air, picking it up and proceeding to the kitchen. That was fast.

"Books? Movies? I'm a big MCU fan. A little bit of Indie music."

He didn't seem to share any of my interests, going back to his phone. Whatever it was, he seemed to be in quite a pickle. So naturally, before thinking, I asked, "What's your deal?"

He looked up, tilting his head. Of course, I had to ask better questions.

"I'm just curious why you're handing a waitress all that money. And we're adding a house, a car, clothes, even my fucking food. Just, it doesn't make sense for a business plan that is on paper. You haven't even done your fucking research in the market. For all you know this could be some elaborate scheme to steal money from you."

"I've not done my market research, but I've done my research on you. And I know you're smart, nice-"

"Debatable," I interrupted him, but the fire on his face made me believe he wasn't in the mood to be interrupted. I pursed my lips.

"You have your feet on the ground and you have a fire in you that doesn't quit. I've simply invested in someone like myself."

I narrowed my eyes, not sure if I wanted to be compared to him.

"Not sure if I'm a fucking moron, though." I noted. A ghost of a smile danced on his lips, the long length of his fingers twirling over the rim of his glass.

"I'll give you that," he conceded after a moment of deep thought, making me laugh.

We shared a comfortable silence after that, and I explored more of his living room while he sat back and watched me. Probably making sure I wasn't stealing anything. Yeah, that would be it.

"Have you finished with my house?" I asked after a while of aimless walking.

"Not really, but you can take a look if you want right now." He walked up to the cabinet next to the door and pulled out a set of keys. "You can keep these. Lydia has a copy so she can check in with the workers. They should be gone by now, so you can see what it looks like and let Lydia know if anything needs to be changed."

Like a kid on Christmas, I took the keys from him, hopping across the passage to what would soon be my new apartment. Lydia did not disappoint. The apartment was an exact flipped version of Aiden's home, just decorated differently. The kitchen was covered in plastic and paper, and I understood it would be under construction. The living room looked pretty done, though. There was a grey couch in the living room, with a cream rug on the floor underneath. The coffee table was a light cream and the glass was sparkling under the plastic it was wrapped in.

Near the balcony was a single seat swing, sitting on the floor. I could easily imagine this becoming my reading spot. The walls had panels of cream and grey, interwoven with darker shades of black to add accents. The room felt significantly larger than Aiden's, even though they might have been the same size.

We explored my bedroom next, seeing a fully finished bed frame, with the soft back illuminated by a string of LED lights. There was a walk-in closet and a full vanity, with enough storage space to fill out the contents of my entire house. The bathroom had a freaking bathtub that was big enough to host at least 4 people, although I wondered why at any point would four people be in my bathtub. The most surprising part, was having a separate space for a shower, divided by a glass wall. Holy fuck, being rich is awesome. The mirrors looked strategically placed to ensure the best pictures and I reminded myself to thank Lydia as much as one possibly could for this amazing arrangement.

I also kept noting down the things I could buy and add to make this place more homely. I decided it was time to pull out a few of my old photos and frame them, and maybe add a couple of plants to just bring some color. I could purchase some more string lights to make some difference.

The other bedrooms were all neutral themed too, having two spare bathrooms and three extra rooms seemed a little excessive.

"This would be so much fun with roommates," I mumbled. Maybe not all fun, but maybe.

"No way," Aiden responded immediately. "You don't own it, so you can't lease it to someone, nor can you sub-let. Once you buy this off me, I'll let you do whatever you want to it."

As if I could ever afford it.

"How much is this place anyway?"

Aiden raised a brow, as if the absurdity of the price should have made me reconsider my question. Did I truly want to know?

"Never mind," I answered myself, seeing a smile on Aiden's face.

Aiden dropped me home, for the last time and I fell asleep in the old bed one last time, thinking of all the possibilities the future will hold. There was a lot of anxiety and anticipation, but the excitement quietened all my fears and I fell asleep dreaming of my business. 

We're so close to 1k reads I am SHAKING thank you so much for treating this story so well! It took me two months to get to this milestone with Bittersweet, and to be here in 15 days is literally so overwhelming I CANT.

p.s. I think there should be a new update in the next 24 hours again. 👀