Chapter 10
Chapter
Ten
LUKE
I stand for a moment, my mouth hanging open in shock as Louisa runs down the hallway away from me after rudely refusing to take her father’s call, and then almost knocking me over as she pushed past me to leave her office.
“What the fuck was that?” Mel says from behind me, and I turn around to face her. She’s standing in the doorway of her own office opposite the entry to Louisa’s.
“You saw that too then?” I say. “Honestly, I was starting to think I imagined it.”
“No, I saw it,” Mel says. “She ran out of there like the building was on fire and you’d told her she couldn’t leave.”
I remember I have Enrique still on the line and I turn to go back to my office.
“When she comes back, tell her I want to see her,” I tell Mel who nods her head and retreats back to her desk, where she can still see the entrance to Louisa’s office.
I thought Louisa and I had made a bit of a break through when she confessed that she knew her father had asked me to be hard on her, but maybe not. Maybe now her true colors are showing. That doesn’t feel right though. I feel like the hard working Louisa is the real one, and this rude side of her is some sort of an act. But now I know that she knows about what her father said, why would she put on an act that she’s rude?
I shake my head. I don’t think I’ll ever figure this one out. I go back to my office and lift my receiver again.
“Enrique? Louisa isn’t at her desk. I’ve left her a note to call you,” I say.
“Damned girl, no doubt she’s skiving off somewhere,” Enrique says, and he hangs up the call before I can tell him that actually she doesn’t seem like the type to do that at all. Maybe that’s what that was all about. She hadn’t had a chance to mentally prepare herself for the bashing her father was about to give her.
I don’t know why I suddenly feel the need to defend her after her little outburst back there, but I do. I really don’t like this affect she has on me. It feels like trouble waiting to happen.
I put Louisa out of my mind and focus on my own work until a timid knock sounds and I figure it’s her. And if she’s here in the flesh it’s ok for her to be on my mind, because it would be weird for her not to be, so for the time she’s here, I can at least stop trying to force myself not to think about her. I call for her to come in and the office door opens, and a very sheepish looking Louisa comes in.
“Close the door and sit down,” I say.
Louisa does as I say and once she’s seated, I raise an eyebrow.
“Well?” I say.
“Umm Mel said you wanted to see me,” Louisa says.
“Playing dumb isn’t helping your case here,” I say. “Do you have any idea how embarrassing it was having to come back to Enrique and tell him you weren’t where I thought you were?”
“I … I’m sorry,” Louisa says. “I just don’t want to mix my personal life with my professional life.”
“I get that,” I say. “And I respect it, but when I personally tell you to take a call, you do as I say. Ok?”
She nods her head.
“And an explanation for why you practically mowed me down to get out of the office instead of us having this conversation at the time would be nice,” I add.
She doesn’t say anything for a moment and then she blushes – she’s so fucking sexy when she does that; it makes me think of how she would look if I made her come – and rubs her hands across her stomach.
“I had to use the bathroom,” she says.
I almost ask her why it couldn’t have waited a moment, but she’s clearly embarrassed to be discussing this with me and I have no interest in discussing her toilet habits.
“Next time, a simple ‘excuse me’ would be nice,” I say instead of pressing the issue.
“Of course, I’m sorry,” Louisa says.
“Ok. Go back to work. And don’t ever embarrass me like that again, do you understand?” I say.
She nods her head and practically runs from my office. I look at the closed door for a moment, imagining her scurrying away. It’s almost like she was afraid to speak to Enrique on the phone. I can’t help but wonder what the hell is going on there, but their family drama isn’t my family drama. It’s not like Louisa lives with Enrique so even if she is afraid of him, it’s not like she’s being abused at home or anything where I would feel the need to get involved.
No, she’s a bit of a strange one, but I don’t think it’s any sort of abuse that’s causing it, and I definitely don’t think I should poke my nose in here. It’s probably just what she said – that she didn’t want to seem unprofessional by taking a personal call at work. And maybe she felt nervous because I was blocking her path or something and she panicked and shoved out to stop herself from having a panic attack. Or maybe she really did have a stomach issue, and it was just awful timing.
That woman leaves a trail of questions whenever I speak to her, but there are two things I know for certain. One, Enrique is wrong about her work ethic, and two, I need to put some distance between us before I cross a line and tell her how I feel about her. It wouldn’t be so bad if it was a one way street. I would just move on with my life. But I know Louisa likes me too. She tries very hard not to flirt with me, but I can’t help but notice the subtle hair pulling, or the nibbling on her lower lip when she listens to me. I don’t even think she knows she’s doing it, but it tells me she wants me as much as I want her.
Why on earth does her father have to be my most influential board member. That’s just my fucking luck.