Book 2 Chapter 18
The sky was already dimming by the time Yalda stepped out of the office building. She hadn't expected the task to take so much of her time, she'd been so busy that she hadn't even realized it had been past lunch time until Ioannis called her, she'd had lunch quickly and she'd returned to the office to resume her work. And even now, Ioannis had come to get her but she'd told him to wait ten more minutes in the car so she could quickly finish up.
Her legs felt strangely heavy, the weight of the day pooled in her ankles as she stood beside the car door. She inhaled deeply, letting the cool evening air fill her lungs before slowly releasing it through her mouth. It didn’t help much, but at least she could pretend it did.
Her first official day back at work had been… exhausting, it had been draining, it had most definitely been a test of patience she wasn’t sure she had signed up for.
She was sure Helen had piled so much work to get frustrated her but it was fine, it was normal that she'd feel threatened by her presence. After all, she'd been Ioannis's secretary for years and she wouldn't want someone take her job.
She pulled the car door open and slipped inside. Ioannis looked at her immediately, his eyes flickered over her in that quiet, observant way of his, that ability he had to see beneath the surface.
“Long day?” he asked as the driver started the engine, his voice was warm as always.
Yalda nodded lightly. “A bit.”
She considered telling him that Helen had made the whole thing unnecessarily difficult for her but that would be unfair, just because she knew the boss didn't give her the excuse to complain about work on the very first day.
His eyebrow shifted almost imperceptibly, like he didn’t quite believe her but was allowing her to speak first.
“Just tired,” she added quickly, giving him a small smile. "I've been away for too long, I guess."
He held her gaze for a beat longer than comfortable, then reached out and brushed his thumb just below her eye where her makeup had begun to settle in faint creases.
“You didn’t rest well last night," he murmured. She'd been too excited to sleep properly. "And you’ve been on your feet all day. That’s… a lot.”
“I managed.” She shrugged. "I feel good."
He offered her a faint smile but she could tell from the look in his eyes that he was beginning to reconsider this whole work thing.
"Alright. We'll have dinner and go straight to bed when we get back." He said. "I need you we'll rested, okay?"
She nodded.
They drove in comfortable silence most of the way home. Ioannis didn’t push for details about her day, he only inquired how she was feeling, her health, the baby. She could tell he wasn't particularly thrilled about the fact that she lookd so exhausted from having worked so much on her first day.
He was concerned, but he didn’t say a word about it. He probably wanted to give her some time to adjust, he wanted to wait a bit and see how she managed things before he interfered, and Yalda was grateful for that.
~~
The moment they entered the house, Loki rushed forward, whimpering dramatically, as if he had been counting the seconds since her departure. Yalda crouched immediately, opening her arms to hug him.
“There’s my baby,” she whispered, pressing her face into his fur.
Ioannis shook his head as he passed, muttering under his breath with a teasing sigh, “That guy thinks he owns you.”
Yalda chuckled, shaking her head.
“He does,” She replied.
And Ioannis scoffed.
She scooped Loki into her arms and followed Ioannis upstairs while telling Loki how much she'd missed him and how glad she was that she was back. He'd stopped whimpering now and had began wagging his tail happily. Perhaps he'd forgotten about the times she used to be away at work and all, she almost felt bad for leaving him behind.
On getting upstairs, Ioannis planted a quick kiss on her head and headed to the bathroom to freshen up. She set Loki down, took of her heels, and lay down for a moment to rest her cramping spine. The exhaustion of the day settled heavily on her she would have fallen asleep if Ioannis had not returned.
"Hey." His voice had her eyes snapping open, and she realized she'd fallen asleep briefly because he looked like he'd showered already, he had even changed into a comfortable outfit. "You must be so exhausted."
She jerked upright quickly.
"No, not at all. I was just bored waiting for you." She replied quickly. She knew Ioannis well enough to know that he didn't want her overworking herself and he'd ask her to stay back and rest properly tomorrow. "I'll shower now."
He looked like he was about to say something but thought against it.
"Alright. Dinner should be served soon." He said.
She nodded. She was more sleepy than hungry but she didn't argue.
"I'll be out shortly." She told him before hurrying to the bathroom.
And soon enough, she had showered, changed into her pajamas, and was seated at the dinning table with Ioannis. Dinner was quiet, warm and comforting. They ate slowly, Yalda found herself leaning slightly to her left to ease the pressure on her back, Ioannis watched her subtly every now and then.
He spoke when they were through with their food.
"I'll have Helen get you a more comfortable seat at the office." He said to her surprise. "Is the desk okay or do you want it change as well?"
She was speechless for a moment, his thoughtfulness continued to stun her till now. She began shaking her head quickly.
"No, no, it's fine. You don't have to change anything." She replied. "I was just seated for too long, I guess."
But he wasn't having it.
"You'll be seated more often and you'll need a comfortable chair for that." He said. "You're pregnant."
She couldn't argue with that so she simply nodded. The desk and chair honestly didn't need changing but who was she to tell him otherwise if he wanted her to be more comfortable?
"Thank you." She replied quietly, it was all she could say.
They finished up their drinks and headed back upstairs to get some rest, Yalda couldn't wait to get into bed and get back to sleep. But Ioannis seemed to have other plans, his palms slid up her back as she lay down, starting slow and gentle massage which she hadn't known she needed till now. His thumbs brushed just beneath her shoulder blades, kneading the tense muscles there.
Yalda exhaled shakily; she hadn’t realized how knotted her body had become.
“You pushed yourself today,” he murmured, his voice was low against her ear.
"Well, I didn’t want to disappoint anyone.” she replied.
“You could never disappoint me, Yalda. And you don't have to prove anything, okay? Just do what you can and leave the rest, I told you."
Her chest tightened, emotion nudging the back of her throat. His hands moved lower, pressing into the spaces that ached, his touch was firm but careful, it was sensual but soothing, it felt like he was trying to erase every ounce of heaviness in her bones.
She closed her eyes and let her body melt.
“You’re exhausted,” he whispered. “And your body is working twice as hard right now.”
She nodded faintly. Pregnancy made everything feel magnified; her fatigue and her emotions.
Ioannis leaned forward and brushed his lips along the curve of her neck softly, the gesture was reassuring. He continued massaging her shoulders, then down her arms, then back up again. It felt so good Yalda could help but sigh blissfully. Her eyelids were so heavy now, it wouldn't be long before she drifted off.
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