The Assistant(76)

I choked on my own saliva – and so did Amy - as soon as the words left Adrian’s mouth. Boyfriend?!

“Boyfriend?” Blake asked, narrowing his eyes at Adrian suspiciously, mirroring my thoughts.

Adrian gave a swift nod before answering. “You must be Blake. The fun, older brother. Emily talks a lot about you and how you’re always calling her smelly.” Adrian chuckled before I felt his arm tighten around my waist. He stepped forward, completely ignoring Blake’s possessive glare, and turned over to my father. “Mr. Johnson. It’s an honour to finally meet you. I’ve heard what you have done for our country, and you’ve also brought the most beautiful woman to this planet – I can’t even begin with how much respect I have for you, Sir. I’ve also heard you’re quite a Mario Kart fan. I hope to verse you one day.” My head spun at his statement so fast that I thought I had whiplash.

How the hell does he know all of these things about my family?!

“Mom, Dad, Blake… Why don’t you all get yourselves seated at the dinner table?” I suggested through grit teeth. My phony smile was wobbling dangerously. “I need to have a few words with Adrian.”

“Of course, sweetie!” my mom gushed. “You take all the time you need with Adrian Kingston!” She looked up at him with a flustered expression. I gave her a look of disbelief and turned to my father for help. He began dragging her and a pissed-off looking Blake into the kitchen, leaving a still-in-shock Amy and an all-too-arrogant Adrian behind in the living room.

“Are you crazy?!” I whisper-shouted once I knew they were out of earshot.

“I believe I’ve already responded to that question before,” Adrian said good-naturedly, “but I’ll tell you my answer again just to refresh your memory. When it comes to you, yes, completely and utterly bonkers.”

My eyes widened with disbelief as I looked up at his amused expression. “Did you not get a single thing I said in the office on Monday?! Now what will I tell them once they find out you lied? And how the hell did you find out about all that stuff about my dad?!” I demanded.

“I looked him up.” He shrugged, before continuing. “Plus, I had to meet the parents soon enough, didn’t I? I mean, you’ve already met mine. It’s only fair-”

“It’s only fair that you leave and let me clean up after your mess with my family!” I hissed, glaring up at him.

“Mess? I don’t think I’ve made a mess. Your mother and father seem very fond of me already. Blake still needs a little more time, but he’ll get there as well, eventually. The only person I wasn’t aware of is the creepy girl that’s been staring at me with her mouth open in shock the entire time we’ve been speaking. Who is she?” He asked, casting an uneasy look in Amy’s direction.


I looked over at her and realised she was still in the same slack-jawed dropped, making me giggle.

“Amy, snap out of it! You’re finally going to meet the guy you fan-girl over. Adrian, this is my best friend Amy. Amy, you already know who Adrian is.” Amy instantly snapped out of her shocked state and looked up at Adrian with stars in her eyes, making me laugh. “You’re a loser, Ames,” I teased, making her turn to me with wide eyes.

“Is that real or am I dreaming? Because there is no way he could get hotter than he is in photos. No, no way…” She trailed off, staring at him again. I laughed before clicking my fingers in her field of vision, making her snap out of her hazy state once again. Her eyes widened at the realisation of her actions and she cleared her throat. “S- Sorry. Hello, Amy am I. I mean, I Amy. Uh- Hi,” she finished lamely, going tomato red again.

Adrian chuckled at her caveman talk and I tried to stifle my own laughter, afraid of the death glare I’d receive if I let out my amusement. “Ames, I need you to go and distract my family while I try and get rid of-” I didn’t even get to finish my sentence because Adrian was already strolling into the kitchen, where the food was set.

“Sorry for making you all wait.” Adrian smiled – actually smiled this time, no smirk – before taking a seat near my father. Amy instantly took the seat in between my mother and Blake, and I glared at her once I realised she was trying to make me sit next to Adrian.

“That’s fine, honey. We put you all a plate of food anyway. So let’s dig in!” My mom exclaimed in excitement, still keeping an eye on Adrian. I threw a glare in her direction, and her gaze instantly met the food on her plate once she saw my expression.

“So, Adrian, how is the infamous Kingston Company going?” my father asked once everyone began to eat. I shoved a large piece of steak into my mouth, trying to eat away the fact that I was pissed off that Adrian had a friendly charisma that won over my usually over-protective dad way too quickly for my comfort.

Adrian swallowed his salad before nodding briefly. “I’m not going to lie. The short period that I didn’t have Emily working for me was quite a large failure. I wasn’t able to concentrate without her by my side. But now that she’s back, I can happily say things are booming again, Sir.” Adrian smiled slightly, before placing his hand on top of my thigh.

I looked up to meet his amused expression and glared slightly, letting him know that I was still angry with him.

“Call me Liam, son.” My dad patted Adrian’s back briefly and gave him a smile. My eyes widened and I looked across the table to meet Blake’s eyes. He got the pat on the back! I mouthed in shock.