Four Evelyn #2
“Staying ahead?” She narrowed her eyes skeptically, as if she’d caught me in a lie. “You turned everything in early this afternoon. That’s not a sufficient answer.”
She wasn’t going to let this go, but I could still try to redirect.
“Couldn’t I ask you the same thing?” I wasn’t talking back—just looking at her innocently. It was strange that she was only a few years older. She held so much more influence over me than I did over her.
She rolled her eyes, a small smile tugging at her otherwise composed lips. She was so different when we were alone.
“I’m the CMO. I make well over an octuple your salary. Our obligations are different.”She seemed amused. Why did she love putting me in my place so much? Just as I enjoyed listening to her talk—even when she was being supercilious.
“I’m still equally dedicated to working hard. Should I not be?” I was good at going back and forth, thinking on my toes.
“Why, no. But overworked employees burn out. I wouldn’t want that, now would I?” The glint in her eyes said she wasn’t going to let me win.
“Are you accusing me of not being able to handle my work?”
“As the CMO, shouldn’t I make sure our company is fair to our employees?”
I couldn’t help but smile. She was good. I’d met my match.
“No response? Looks like you have to answer my question.”
I sighed playfully, tucking a loose curl behind my ear. For a moment, I nearly forgot she was my boss—coming way too close to flirting with her like an idiot.
“I agreed to help someone with something, but it took far longer than I anticipated.”
She raised her eyebrows, seeing straight through my attempt to not throw someone under the bus.
“Sweetheart, you know whatever you tell me is confidential. You can trust me. Now please, elaborate.”
The quiet volume of her voice sent chills through my body. She could be so reassuring when she wanted to be. I looked away, hoping to hide my body’s reactions. I couldn’t tame them, no matter how hard I tried around her.
“I’m going to handle it. I won’t let her pull this again. Trust me, I don’t succumb to others.”
“Oh? I’m sure you don’t.”
So now she was back to mocking me? I couldn’t keep up. She was too unpredictable. What I said wasn’t even funny.
"I don't."
Once again, my stubbornness overpowered my common sense, making me sound like a child trying to convince their mother of an obvious lie.
“Sweetheart, there’s no need to get defensive. I’m only trying to help.”
“Oh please, you’re obviously just mocking me.” I rolled my eyes.
“One doesn’t have to take away from the other. And don’t roll your eyes at me, Evelyn.” My name sounded lovely coming out of her mouth.
I didn’t know how to respond. I wasn’t going to apologize; if we were teasing each other, I got to tease her back—and that included rolling my eyes. Had I finally gotten under her skin, or was that just her trying to hold power over the interaction?
“I am obligated to monitor what goes on in the Marketing division, and that includes whatever you’re clearly trying to hide from me. Would you prefer to talk in my office?” Her tone shifted into something more formal, her cold demeanor returning. Even for her, she was taking this seriously.
I nodded, trying to dim the inappropriate spark of enthusiasm in my chest, reminding myself the request was normal. We’d been standing the whole time, and her heels couldn’t be comfortable.
I followed her down the hallway in an unexpectedly comfortable silence. Even in heels, her long strides were far quicker than mine. Once we reached her office, I sat across from her, hyperaware of how naturally I’d closed the door behind me.
“Well?” she asked, tilting her head impatiently.
I gulped, a wave of anxiety crashing over me.
I opened my mouth, trying to relax. “Jane messed up an outline. She centered it around left wing political activism and tried to blame me, but I made it clear it was her error and she had no one to blame but herself. Then she claimed to be under a lot of stress and… sort of apologized. I didn’t want to get my boss involved, so I offered to create a new one since she claimed to have all the pieces together already.
I don’t know why I believed her, but I did.
By the time I actually looked over her stuff, and realized she’d done nothing, she’d already left. ”
I paused, realizing how quickly I was talking—and how easily she’d got me to open up.
“Relax, sweetheart. Take a deep breath for me.”
I did as told before continuing.
“Since I couldn’t even confront her, and it was due soon, I just worked on it for the last few hours. I promise it won’t happen again. Seriously, I can handle the responsibility on my own.”My distress was too obvious. I didn’t want her to be disappointed in me.
She didn’t respond at first. My open-mouthed expression likely made it unclear whether I was finished. Before I could think through my next words, the silence got the better of me.
“Please don’t be mad at me.”
For the first time, she looked genuinely taken aback. Her neat brows furrowed as she studied me.I wanted to hide—to cover my crimson face, to never see this woman’s gorgeous expression again. But I stayed frozen, humiliated and horrified by my own vulnerability.
“Oh, Evelyn… are you seriously this concerned about my reactions?”
She sounded almost offended. Did she not want to be feared?
“No— I just— I don’t know why I said that.”
But she wasn’t convinced. The damage was done.
“I would never be upset with you for something like this, honey. It was your eighth day. Jane clearly took advantage of that. You did nothing wrong.”
I nodded, trying not to cry. Why was I getting emotional over kindness? Or was it relief?
"I am always here if you need someone to talk to, okay? I mean it, Evelyn."
A short silence followed as I stared down at my hands, desperately trying to keep my emotions from spilling over. It was ridiculous that her doing the bare minimum after I'd had a hard day felt like the most heartwarming thing I'd ever experienced.
"Thank you. I appreciate it. Today was just... a long day."
My attempt at sounding okay wasn't fooling either of us, but she let it go—pretending to believe me, which I was exceptionally grateful for.
Without missing a beat, she played along. “I can imagine. Now, why don’t you go home and get some well-deserved rest? I’m sorry I kept you so late.”
“Yes, that’ll be amazing. Thanks again, Ms. Walton.”
And just like that, we were back to being an employee and her boss’s boss, making small talk—mutually ignoring everything left unsaid.