Under My Skin

“Do you want me to do it for you?”

“What? No, of course not. I don’t… I wouldn’t want to let Mr Storm down.”

Niall chuckles. The sound doesn’t sound as good when it’s through a phone call. She didn’t see him at all this weekend and she’s ashamed to admit that she misses him.

“He won’t mind,” he says. “Besides, it’s his fault for informing you ‘bout it in the last minute. What time did he email you?”

“2 am.”

“That’s a bit unprofessional, don’t you think?”

Brooklyn lets out a sigh. She desperately wants to agree with Niall, but Mr Storm is her superior and unprofessional or not, she can’t bring herself to say no to him. Even when he sent her an email at two in the morning to tell her that she needs to show the guy he recently hired around the office – he also included an attachment, which is the new guy’s CV. Apparently his previous work place is the company Mr Storm used to work at ten years ago and Brooklyn has a feeling that’s why he hired him; they share something in common.

“Or do you want Harry to take over?” Niall suggests. She hears him shutting the door so she has to ask if he’s locked it. When he told her that sometimes he forgot to lock it, she’s so alarmed that she makes sure to remind him of it every morning. “I’ve locked it, don’t worry. On a second thought, please do. It’s cute that you’re worried about me.”

Brooklyn feels her cheeks warming up. She’s already at work so she bows her head, afraid someone could see her flushed cheeks. “Shut up.”

Niall laughs. “So, do you want me to ask Harry a favour? He’s good at showing new people around.”

“He is good,” she agrees – only because the said person isn’t around. Brooklyn experienced first hand how good he is because Harry’s the one who showed her around on her first day of work. She remembers how not for one second did he make her feel awkward and unwelcomed, the two things everyone fears on the first day.

“I’ll ring him then.”

“No,” Brooklyn splutters. “I mean, Mr Storm asked me to do it so I’ll do it.”

She has never been asked to show anyone around yet so she takes this very seriously. Maybe the drinks they had the other day brought them closer – bless that awkward Friday evening.

“I can join you,” Niall suggests. “I think we’d make a great pair. You show the boring parts of the office and I’ll show the fun parts.”

“You’re not even here yet,” Brooklyn replies. It would make her feel less nervous if Niall’s with her but seeing that the new guy has just stepped out of the lift, she’s left with no choice but to show him around all by herself. “Hey I think the new guy’s here. I gotta go.”

“Alright, I’ll see you in ten.”

Brooklyn ends the call, takes one last look at the picture in his CV and gets up from her seat once she’s sure that he’s the same guy. She approaches her new colleague, an easy smile on her lips. She doesn’t want to frighten him, though he looks like he doesn’t get scared easily. In fact, he has an air of confidence around him, but not in a bad way. Like he’s been here a few times and he already knows his way around. That would make her job easier.

“Hi, I’m Brooklyn Cooper,” Brooklyn introduces herself, sticking her hand out. “Mr Storm asked me to show you around.”

“Dominic Temple,” he replies as he shakes her hand. He has a firm handshake, she notices. “Please call me Dom.”

“Okay,” Brooklyn nods. If Niall’s here, she bets he’d snort. Good thing, he’s not. “So, do you want to look around first or would you like me to show you to your desk?”

“Whichever suits you best,” he smiles. Brooklyn decides to go with the tour first since his desk is close to hers so she could end the tour and return to her seat afterwards.

Brooklyn begins by introducing Dominic to everyone in the design team since they’re the ones residing the upper floor. It doesn’t take long before he warms up to everyone in each team and as he makes small talks to some people, Brooklyn realises that he doesn’t even need her for this. He clearly can carry himself on his own. She has a feeling he’ll befriend everyone by the end of the day.

“Here’s the break room,” Brooklyn says as they walk into her favourite place in the office – apart from her desk, of course. Whilst Dominic looks around, she makes her way to the coffee pot and pours coffee into her cup. “Do you want some?”

He shakes her head. So he’s not a coffee drinker – bummer. “Already had two cups earlier today,” he admits. Brooklyn’s wrong. “I won’t be able to sit still if I have another cup.”

Brooklyn chuckles because she gets that. “Then you should probably wait until lunch time before you have the third cup.”

The new guy beams. “You get it.” Brooklyn nods. “So is there anything I need to know about this room?”

“It’s everyone’s favourite room,” Brooklyn tells him, to which he nods his head. “I brew the coffee every morning, some people keep their lunch in the fridge and you can find tea in one of these cabinets.”

“I don’t drink tea,” he informs.

“Me too.”

“It tastes like leaves.”

Brooklyn’s eyes widen. “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell everyone.”

Dominic’s eyes wander around the break room like he’s trying to look for something. “You don’t have a vending machine?”

“Sadly, no.”

Dominic looks shocked. “Why?”

“Dunno,” she shrugs. “Mr Storm didn’t see the point of it, I guess.”

“Has anyone brought it up to him?” Brooklyn tells him yes. “Maybe they should make a powerpoint. That’ll show Mr Storm that we really want a vending machine. Oh and he’ll probably get bored by the second slide and he’d say yes immediately.”

“I’ve thought about that,” Brooklyn admits with a laugh. Does this guy live in her mind? If yes, he needs to leave soon. “You should do it. Maybe he’ll listen to the new guy.”

“I’ll give it a shot,” Dominic says as he taps the counter once, twice.

Brooklyn takes a sip of her coffee before asking, “Do you wanna see your desk now?”

“You can finish your coffee first. I can wait.”

“S’fine, I was going to bring this to my desk.”

The two of them make their way out of the break room and Brooklyn leads him to his desk. It’s still empty, reminding her of her first day.

“So here’s your desk,” Brooklyn announces as she stops at his desk. “Judy will be your desk mate. It’s either she hasn’t arrived or she’s somewhere around here.”

“Cool,” he says as he pulls the chair out and shrugs off his jacket. He hangs it on the back of his chair. “So, where’s your desk?”

Brooklyn turns to point at hers and that’s when she catches sight of Niall who’s just arrived. He smiles at her and waves. She momentarily forgets what she’s about to say. That is until she hears the clearing of someone’s throat. “That’s my desk mate, Niall.”

“Ah, so he’s one of the best writers,” Dominic says. Looks like he’s caught up on that. Mr Storm must have informed him about that whilst he was interviewing him. Dropping his voice a little, he adds, “For the record, I like your writing style better.”

His compliment puts colour on her cheeks and a sheepish smile on her lips. “Thank you.”

Dominic smiles as he takes a seat on his chair, probably to test its comfort and it is then that Brooklyn notices how unfortunately cute he is. A few minutes ago she was busy worrying about the little tour but now that it’s over, she finally looks at him. Really looks at him.

“Hi,” Niall greets as he stands next to Brooklyn, snapping her out from her trance. He comes at the right time. “I’m Niall. You must be the new guy.”

“Dominic.” Dominic gets up from his seat and grabs Niall’s hand for a handshake. The way his brow shoots up a little suggests that he must have thought the same thing: he’s got a firm handshake. “Mr Storm told me that if I needed any help I could turn to you two.”

“Absolutely,” Brooklyn replies with a nod. Dominic shoots her an appreciative smile. “Do you need any more help right now?”

He shakes his head. “I’m good for now.”

“Okay.”

“I’ll call out your name if I need help.”

“Got it,” Brooklyn nods. “Well I should get to work now.”

“S’nice meeting you, Dominic.” Niall smiles before he follows Brooklyn back to their desk. “He has a firm handshake,” is the first thing Niall says once he’s taken a seat.

Brooklyn agrees with a nod. “He does, doesn’t he?”

“Stop swooning, Cooper.” Niall says. “You’ll make me jealous.”

She squints her eyes at him to figure out if he’s telling the truth or if he’s just joking. But before she can get her answer, Harry comes up to them, brows furrowing in confusion.

“Who is this Dominic guy that everyone’s talking about?” Everyone in this office works fast.

“The new guy,” Niall answers before he points to Dominic. Brooklyn’s about to tell him that he needs to put his hand down before the new guy sees him pointing a finger and then he’d know they’re talking about him, but she soon realises that Dominic’s back is on them. “He has a firm handshake.”

“Uh oh.” Harry looks alarmed like he’s just realised or remembered something. “Isn’t that like Brooklyn’s turn on?”

“What?” Brooklyn’s glad she’s not drinking her coffee because she would’ve spit it out and ruin her shirt, though that’d give her an excuse to borrow another one of Niall’s shirts. “That’s not- I don’t know- That’s nonsense.”

“The fact that you stuttered tells me I’m right,” Harry taunts. There’s a smug grin on his lips but it’s wiped away immediately, replaced by worry as he presses his lips together. “Okay, that’s not good. I can’t let Dominic get in the way of you two.”

The distaste in his voice when he says Dominic’s voice doesn’t go unnoticed by Brooklyn and Niall.

“He’s not getting in the way of anyone,” Brooklyn tells Harry. He doesn’t look convinced as he casts a nervous glance at Niall. “Don’t you have work to do?”

“Yeah, but work can wait.” Harry says half-heartedly before he moves closer to Niall’s desk. “Can I have a word with you, Ni?” Niall nods. “In private.”

Niall opens his mouth, probably to tell him that they can talk here, but he snaps it shut and follows Harry to the break room. She has a feeling Harry is going to tell Niall that he’s worried about Dominic. She doesn’t know why he’s so invested in someone else’s relationship.

When Niall returns three minutes later, Brooklyn asks, “What’d you two talk about?”

He simply shrugs. “Nothing important.”

“O…kay.” Brooklyn picks up a pen and fiddles with it. Niall’s demeanour has changed and she needs to know what Harry said. “Why’s he so invested in our relationship?”

“Beats me,” Niall says, his eyes fixed on the screen of his computer.

“Hey,” Brooklyn calls out. He looks up. “It’s not my turn on.”

“Huh?”

Brooklyn feels her cheeks warming up. She can’t believe she’s about to say the next sentence: “A firm handshake isn’t my turn on.”

Niall chuckles. “Am I hearing things right? Did you really just say that?” She narrows her eyes at him and he stops chuckling. Instead, he leans forward and places his chin on his laced fingers. His eyes twinkle with mischief – Brooklyn doesn’t like that look. “What is your turn on, Bee?”

Brooklyn’s eyes widen and she looks around to make sure that no one is standing near enough to eavesdrop on their conversation. When her eyes return to Niall, she sees that he’s still waiting for her answer. “We’re not talking about this.” He pouts, disappointment written all over his face. She shakes her head. As hard as it is to say no, she finds herself saying, “Get to work, Horan.”

“Okay, but can we talk about this later? I’m really curious.”

“Nope.”

“Maybe I should ask Beck about it. I bet he knows,” he grins.

Brooklyn throws a pen at him and he catches it. He rolls it back to her desk. “Go ahead and ask. I bet he’d tell you he doesn’t know.”

Niall frowns. “Don’t twins have that telepathy thing?”

“I don’t know about other twins but nope.” Brooklyn signs into her email account and opens the first one that’s in her inbox. It’s from Mr Storm. Apparently he won’t come in today so he wants to know if Dominic is already here. She types down her reply, telling him that everything has been taken care of.

“I’ll figure it out someday.”

Brooklyn looks at Niall and offers him a smile. “Good luck with that.” She doubts he’d find out about it because she’s never told anyone about it.



On Thursday morning, Brooklyn receives a weird request from Niall via a text message. He asks her to put away her coffee and pretend as though she hasn’t had one since she woke up this morning. A short explanation follows that odd request. Turns out whilst he’s waiting for the lift down at the lobby, he made a bet with Dominic.

Dominic is convinced that Brooklyn has had coffee – he’s right, of course – but since Niall has the upper hand considering that he’s her boyfriend and all that, he made a risky bet. He confidently told Dominic that Brooklyn hasn’t had coffee.

When Niall steps out of the lift with Dominic trailing behind him, he shoots her a knowing look and she gives him a brief nod. She could’ve let him lose but for reasons beyond her knowledge, she finishes her coffee as soon as she reads his text and hides the empty cup under her desk.

“See, told you she hasn’t had coffee yet,” Niall grins. He holds out his palm, waiting for the unlucky lad to put money on it.

Dominic’s eyes dart from Brooklyn to Niall and back to Brooklyn. The way he’s squinting at them tells her that he’s trying to figure something out but when Niall continues to annoy him with his smug grin and she pretends as if she has no idea about the bet, he sighs and pulls out his wallet. “Out of all days, Brooklyn, you choose today to not drink your coffee.”

At that, Brooklyn lifts her shoulder nonchalantly. She can’t believe she’s lying to Dominic just so Niall could win a bet.

“Word of advice: don’t make bets with Niall,” Brooklyn tells Dominic who grumbles as he hands Niall some money. Losing a bet is definitely not the best way to start the day. Brooklyn glares at Niall, hoping that he gets her message: you’re an arse.

The stretch of his lips suggests that he does get it. Sliding onto his seat, he says, “Yeah, she’d know that because she’s lost several times.”

“He’s exaggerating,” Brooklyn says to Dominic, feeling the need to defend herself.

“Looks like you and I need to team up so he won’t win any more bets,” Dominic suggests to Brooklyn who mulls over it. That sounds like a good idea. On one hand, she’d love to see the look on Niall’s face when he loses a bet, but on the other, she feels like she’d betray Niall if she were to team up with the new guy.

“Huh, I’ve never thought of that.”

“Hey, that won’t be fair,” Niall chimes in, brows furrowing. “Besides, Bee’s obviously on my team.”

Dominic’s left eyebrow shoots up and Brooklyn immediately knows what’s going on in his mind. He might have only been working here for four days but she has a feeling he’s all caught up with the office gossips. Especially since his desk partner is Judy and everyone knows she loves gossips.

“Have you had coffee?” Brooklyn asks Dominic. She hopes that by bringing up caffeine he would push whatever thought he’s thinking of to the back of his mind.

“Not yet,” he answers, a smile easing its way to his lips. “I planned on trying the one in the break room. You brewed it, yeah?” Brooklyn nods. “Great. I bet it tastes better than the expensive coffee I’ve been buying.”

Red leaks into her cheeks as she nervously smiles at him. “If that’s true, I might as well quit and open my own coffee shop.”

“I’ll definitely be your first and loyal customer.”

Niall clears his throat and when both Brooklyn and Dominic look at him, he pretends to be engrossed in whatever it is he’s doing on his computer. Brooklyn knows he’s just pretending because she could feel his eyes on hers a couple of seconds ago.

“Well, I should get to my desk,” Dominic announces. “I’ll let you know what I think of your coffee, though I’m positive it’s great.” He taps Brooklyn’s desk with his knuckle once, twice and after throwing one last smile at her, he walks away.

Brooklyn looks at Niall. “You know, technically you should split the money you got for the bet.”

Niall blinks his eyes. “Huh?”

“I helped you win the bet,” Brooklyn reminds him.

“Oh, yeah.” He says. He looks distracted. “We can have lunch together?”

“Mmm bribing me with food?” She leans forward and rests her elbow on the desk. “You know the way to my heart, Horan.”

“God I hope so,” Niall mumbles to himself.

Brooklyn ignores that little comment as she decides to ask: “How’d you end up making a bet with Dom, anyway?”

“Dom?” Niall kinks an eyebrow at her. She shrugs. “Well, we’re waiting for the lift and he’s like ‘hey mate heard you like to make bets so I wanna bet 20 pounds that Brooklyn’s already had her coffee’ so I said yes. You know I never back down from a bet.”

Brooklyn can’t help but to laugh at his impersonation of Dominic. It’s spot on, if she has to admit. “Of course.” She’d worry if he doesn’t want to make a bet because it would either mean something has possessed him or the world is ending.

“And he’s acting like he knows you better than I do,” Niall admits as he rubs the back of his neck, avoiding her gaze. “So I have to prove him wrong.”

“What? That’s ridiculous.” Brooklyn counters. “You do realise that we’ve worked together for almost four years and I’ve only known him for four days, right?”

“Well, yeah,” he replies. “But it’s just a matter of time before he knows everything about you. You two already share lots in common.”

He tries to appear nonchalant but Brooklyn can see that that is troubling him. Dominic bothers him. She wants to reach out for his hand and gives it a reassuring squeeze, but she remembers that they’re in a workplace.

“That doesn’t mean anything,” Brooklyn tells him.

Niall shakes his head, disagreeing. “He likes you, Bee.”

“No, he doesn’t.”

“It’s so obvious he does,” Niall counters. Brooklyn’s positive he’s wrong because Dominic has only known her for four days and besides, he feels comfortable around her because she’s the first person – apart from Mr Storm – that he knows in this office. He’s still new so he hasn’t made many friends yet so it makes sense that he’s friendly with her.

“What makes you think so?” Brooklyn doesn’t know why she asks that. Maybe it’s curiosity or maybe she’s just trying to prove Niall wrong.

“The way he looks at you,” he replies. Brooklyn cocks an eyebrow at him because that’s not enough proof to back up his claim. “I recognise that look because that’s how I look at you.”

Brooklyn frowns. Okay so maybe Niall has a valid reason, but that doesn’t mean nor does it change anything. Sure, Dominic is cute but he’s not him. “Well, who cares about that-“

“I do,” Niall interjects and she gives him a sharp look.

“You shouldn’t because in case you’ve forgotten… I like you,” Brooklyn says. As soon as those words leave her mouth she looks around to make sure that no one is eavesdropping. Everyone seems to be working on something so that’s good. “You have nothing to worry about, okay?”

Niall scans her face before he nods slowly. “Okay.”

“Good.”