Chapter 6 The Rules We Pretended Not To Break

• **Lily’s POV**
• There was something dangerous about getting used to someone.
• I had always thought the dangerous part of relationships was the beginning. The uncertainty. The nervousness. The endless questions running through your mind.
• Do they like me?
• Am I making a fool of myself?
• Am I imagining things?
• But after spending more time with Adrian Cole, I realized the real danger was not the beginning.
• It was familiarity.
• It was the moment when someone who used to feel like a stranger started becoming part of your routine.
• And Adrian was slowly becoming part of mine.
• That was a problem.
• A very confusing problem. Because I still remembered the first day I met him.
• The expensive suit.
• The serious expression.
• The way he looked at me after I spilled coffee on him like I had personally committed a crime against fashion.
• I remembered thinking he was arrogant, cold and impossible. I remember the brief agreement we had on my first day, and how it ended with a warm smile and funny comment.
• And yet, somehow, a few weeks later, I was sitting at my desk wondering why he had not come out of his office yet.
• Which was ridiculous.
• Completely ridiculous.
• I was not supposed to care where Adrian Cole was.
• He was my boss.
• Not my friend.
• Definitely not anything else.
• I repeated that to myself several times.
• Unfortunately, my brain did not seem interested in cooperating.
• “Lily.”
• I looked up.
• Emma was standing beside my desk with a suspicious expression.
• “What?”
• She crossed her arms.
• “You are staring at your computer screen.”
• I frowned.
• “I am working.”
• “No, you are not.”
• “I am.” I replied firmly.
• “You have been looking at the same document for five minutes.”
• I looked down.
• She was right.
• I immediately moved my mouse.
• “There.” She raised an eyebrow. “Did the document suddenly become interesting?”
• “Very interesting.”
• “Interesting enough to explain why you are thinking about Adrian Cole?”
• I nearly dropped my pen.
• “I was not thinking about Adrian.”
• Emma smiled. “You answered too quickly.”
• “No, I didn’t.”
• “You did.”
• I sighed.
• “Emma.”
• “Lily.”
• I hated when she copied my tone. It made it impossible to win arguments.
• “There is nothing happening.”
• “Sure?”
• “I am not thinking about him. I have no reason to think about him.”
• “If you say so.”
• “Why do you sound like you do not believe me?”
• “Because I know you.”
• I looked away.
• That was the problem with having a best friend. They knew when you were lying before you even finished the sentence.
• Emma sat on the edge of my desk.
• “So tell me something.”
• “Tell you what?”
• “Do you still think he is annoying?”
• I opened my mouth.
• Then stopped.
• Because the honest answer was complicated.
• Yes.
• Adrian was annoying. He was too confident and too Calm well. He had this habit of looking at people like he already knew what they were going to say before they said it.
• It was frustrating.
• But…
• He was also thoughtful.
• He noticed small details. He helped without making people feel like they owed him something. And when he laughed, which was rare, he looked like a completely different person.
• I hated that I knew that.
• “Yes.”
• Emma smiled. “That pause said everything.”
• “I paused because I was thinking.”
• “Exactly.”
• I gave her a look.
• “You are enjoying this.”
• “Very much.”
• “Why?”
• “Because you spent the first week telling me how much you disliked him.”
• “I still do.”
• “Then why do you know what his smile looks like?”
• I froze.
• That was a dangerous question.
• “Because I have eyes.” I shoot back. “ it’s not like I’m blind, Emma.”
• Emma laughed.
• “That is the weakest answer you have ever given.”
• I ignored her and returned to my work.
• But unfortunately, she had planted the thought. And once a thought entered my mind, it became impossible to remove.
• The worst part was that Adrian had become different around me too.
• At least, I thought he had.
• He was still serious during meetings.
• Still demanding.
• Still the CEO everyone respected.
• But with me?
• He joked.
• He teased.
• He actually listened.
• Sometimes I wondered if the Adrian everyone else saw was only one version of him. And maybe I had accidentally discovered another.
• That thought made my chest feel strange.
• I quickly pushed it away.
• No.
• Absolutely not.
• I was not going to fall for my boss.
• That was something people did in movies before everything became complicated.
• Real life did not work like that.
• Real life involved awkward conversations, workplace problems, and probably someone from human resources asking uncomfortable questions.
• So no.
• I was being reasonable.
• At least, I tried to convince myself.
• ______
• That afternoon, I had to present the progress of the project to Adrian.
• I entered his office with my laptop and notes.
• He looked up.
• “You are five minutes early.”
• I looked at him. “Is this becoming your new hobby?”
• “What?”
• “Pointing out when I am on time.”
• A small smile appeared on his face.
• “I am impressed.”
• “Careful.”
• “Why?”
• “You are starting to sound nice.”
• He looked offended. “I am always nice.”
• I laughed.
• “That might be the funniest thing you have ever said.”
• He shook his head.
• “Sit.”
• I sat across from him and started explaining my progress. This time, I noticed something different.
• I was not nervous.
• Not like before.
• I was comfortable.
• And that realization surprised me.
• Because Adrian had somehow gone from being the person who made me anxious to the person I felt most confident speaking with.
• After I finished, he looked through the documents.
• “This is good.”
• I smiled. “Thank you.”
• “You improved the original concept.”
• I looked at him.
• “Was that difficult for you to admit?”
• “Very.”
• I laughed.
• “I appreciate your honesty.”
• He closed the file.
• “You should.”
• A comfortable silence followed.
• Then he looked at me.
• “You always do that.”
• I frowned. “Do what?”
• “Make jokes whenever something becomes serious.”
• I became quiet.
• That was the second time he had noticed something about me that most people ignored.
• “Maybe I like making people laugh.”
• “Maybe.” He looked at me. “Or maybe you do not like people seeing when you are uncomfortable.”
• The words hit harder than I expected.
• Because they were true.
• I looked away.
• “You analyze people too much.”
• “It is part of my job.”
• “Your job is running a company.”
• “Understanding people helps me run a company.”
• I smiled slightly.
• “That is a very CEO answer.”
• He smiled back.
• “And you avoided answering.”
• I looked at him.
• “You are annoying.”
• “You say that often.”
• “I often said that because it is true.”
• “Yet you keep coming back.”
• I opened my mouth to say something but nothing came out. Because again, he was right.
• I quickly changed the subject.
• “So, about the project…”
• He smiled like he knew exactly what I was doing.
• But thankfully, he let it go.
• ________
• Later that evening, we had a team dinner to celebrate the progress of the project.
• I almost did not go.
• Social events were not exactly my favorite thing. But Emma convinced me.
• “You need a life outside work.”
• “I have a life.”
• “You have a laptop.”
• “Same thing.”
• “It is absolutely not the same thing.”
• So I went.
• And immediately regretted it.
• Not because the dinner was bad.
• Because Adrian was there.
• And somehow, he was even more distracting outside the office. Without the serious CEO atmosphere around him, he seemed more relaxed.
• More approachable.
• More human.
• I caught myself staring.
• And unfortunately, he noticed.
• “You are staring.”
• I immediately looked away.
• “I am not.”
• “You are.”
• “I was just thinking about Something.”
• “About what?”
• I thought for a while and then replied:
• “Nothing.”
• He smiled. “That answer sounds familiar.”
• I laughed despite myself.
• “You are impossible.”
• “And you are predictable.”
• “Excuse me?”
• “You always deny things you are obviously doing.”
• I pointed at him.
• “That is not true.”
• He looked at me.
• I lowered my hand.
• “Okay. Maybe a little.”
• He laughed.
• And for some reason, that sound stayed with me.
• That night, while lying in bed, I thought about how strange everything had become. A few weeks ago, Adrian Cole was just a man who ruined my morning.
• Now he was the person who made my workdays more interesting. The person who challenged me and made me laugh when I did not expect to.
• I still refused to admit what was happening.
• Because admitting it meant accepting that something had changed.
• And I was not ready for that.
• But deep down, I knew one thing.
• The rules I created for myself were starting to disappear. And the most dangerous rule of all was the one I had always believed.
• Never fall for someone you never planned to love.
• Because somehow…
• I was starting to think I had already broken it.