Chapter 43
Chapter Forty-Three
Eli
One Week Later
Time tends to drag when waiting for something or someone.
Waiting for her to answer the damn phone, waiting for her to ring us, yet that hasn’t happened either.
Waiting for the bond to force her back to us.
Time’s become excruciating. We can feel her distress, but we are having trouble figuring out what is causing it.
Though every time we try to contact her, she never answers the phone.
We have been working out of the office most of the day, so as I walk in, the first thing I want to do is check on her.
Checking the security camera at work, she looks fine and is always busy.
However, we notice she never takes a break, always ensuring she is busy.
Whether it is working or cleaning, I am pretty sure I have watched her refile the same filing cabinet nearly every day, like she is trying to avoid doing nothing and needs the distraction.
“What is she doing?” Cyrus asks, coming over and looking over my shoulder at my phone screen.
“What she always does, just working,” I tell him.
We manage to find a temporary office to work from while our building is being rebuilt.
Sam has managed to push his trial back another six weeks, so we still have no end to that headache of a drama.
We will need to convince Addie to have her say; it will not only make sure he is dealt with but might let her put it behind her and move on with her life.
I lean back on my chair, phone in hand, watching the screen, watching her scour over papers on her desk.
Looking at the clock, it is already past her lunch break; another day that she doesn’t eat or leave the office floor.
Cyrus picks up the office landline and dials his number before looking at the screen in my hand. I hear the phone start ringing, and she pulls it out of her pocket, staring at the unknown number before rejecting the call.
“Try the office number,” I tell him, and I watch as she stares at the phone on her desk. It is the first time we call off this phone, so maybe she’ll pick it up.
She does, placing the phone to her ear.
“Colten Enterprises, how may I help you?” I hear her voice. It is like music to my ears.
“Why are you ignoring our calls?” Cyrus asks her.
Silence on the other end. I watch as she looks at the handset before writing the number on a piece of paper.
“I am busy,” she says.
I continue watching her on the screen and see she has become quite nervous. She starts fanning herself with a piece of paper, and I notice she’s become quite flustered.
“You haven’t been eating. Your lunch break was half an hour ago.”
“Like I said, I am busy. I need to go.”
“Wait—”
She hangs up the phone, and I look up at a pissed-off Cyrus.
“She hung up on me,” he says with a sigh, running his fingers through his hair, annoyed.
She always hangs up. Even when Debbie gave her the phone.
She usually hangs up instead of speaking to us.
She is trying to avoid us at all costs, and it is really aggravating.
How hard is it to stay on the phone for five minutes?
Isn’t the distance affecting her like it is us?
We just want to hear her voice and know she is okay.
We can feel her emotions, but it isn’t the same; her emotions are getting harder and harder to read the more she closes herself off from us.
“I heard,” I tell him, and I watched as she rushed into the bathroom and out of view.
“What do you want to do?” I ask him.
“Give her more time, maybe. Ring Debbie tonight and see what she says.” I nod; at least her mother answers our calls.
I watch as she comes back into view, but she appears to have wet her face and hair.
My Lycan side has been unusually anxious the longer the days have gone without seeing her, but she looks fine.
I can tell she is working too much and has dropped more weight even with the make-up covering her face. She looks lethargic and withdrawn.
“Maybe we should just go get her?” I say, now looking at her.
She looks different; maybe she isn’t as okay as she looks. Anyone could make themselves appear normal, but something is off about her; she looks flustered as she clutches her drink bottle in shaky hands.
She drinks half the bottle down before rummaging in her bag. She pulls out a sheet of pills, and I wish the camera were a little closer to her desk. I might have been able to read what it is she is taking.
“We do that, and she may run. It’s only been a week, Eli. She will calm down soon enough and contact us,” Cyrus tries to reassure me.
I watch as he opens his laptop before typing in the password.
I text her, wanting… no, needing to know why she is taking medication. Is she sick?
“She just took some pills,” I tell him, looking at my screen as my fingers glide over the keys while I type.
“Probably vitamins or some crap them humans fill their bodies with,” he says, looking at me over the top of his laptop.
“Are you messaging her?” he asks, and I nod, sending the text.
“Eli, she is fine. You’re just stressing. You can see her on your phone,” he says, looking back at his laptop screen.
“It’s not the same thing, and she won’t talk to us.”
“Did she reply?” he asks, and I shake my head before hearing my phone ding.
Addie: I’m fine, just a headache.
“She says she has a headache,” I tell Cyrus.
“See? Told you. Nothing to worry about,” Cyrus says, and I press my lips in a line.
Something is wrong. I can feel it.