Chapter 34
The first thing I had to do was to check who had been knocking from the surveillance cameras outside the office. So, as I rounded my desk, I lowered to work on my desktop and soon found that whoever had been there had now left. Relieved, I looked up and turned to watch as she was putting on her jacket. I was mesmerized. Her movements, though panicked and a little shaky, were still so endearing that even when she turned around to shyly look at me, I couldn’t stop staring at her.
”I’m, uh... I’m going to go outside now?” she said, and I nodded.
I couldn’t think of anything else to say, and since there was, in effect, nothing to say beyond the very known and established fact that what just happened between us was amazing, then it was best to just remain silent.
“There’s no one there right now so you can just return.”
“Okay,” she said, nodding shyly. “Thank you.”
She walked away, still slightly wobbly, and I couldn’t help the smile on my face. I loved how nervous she was despite the fact that we had just been intimate. She didn’t take it as a free pass to throw her weight around. Instead, while we were in the office, she was just as gentle and humble as ever. I knew now, though, or at least I had gotten a glimpse of how far she could go outside of it, and truly couldn’t wait to see even more. It made me a little sad to see her go, but I had severe matters to handle that had been pushed aside for this mid-morning rendezvous, so I instantly tried to get myself together and to return my focus to work. It was difficult as it was impossible to not have flashbacks and memories from being with her... from being inside her. I couldn’t remember the last time I felt so good.
I couldn’t remember the last time that anything at all had felt so good, and so as the day wore on, I couldn’t help but look at the ticking clock. I didn’t even know why. We weren’t dating. There was nothing else scheduled between us after what had just happened. Still, I just couldn’t wait for us to be out of the confines of the office and for perhaps more options to open up to the both of us.
Once again, there was a knock on the door, and I was startled. Knocks on the door never startled me. Instead, they annoyed me at the interruption, whether or not I was expecting an appointment or not. This time around, however, I imagined it would be her coming in for one reason or the other. And so, I didn’t respond. I waited, and soon enough, the door was pushed open, and it was George with his damn glasses.
Unable to stop myself, I gave him a sharp look of disapproval, and he stopped in his tracks, worried.
He had come in purposeful and confident, and with that one look, he became timid again, just as he had been when he had started working for me years earlier.
”Uh... sir,” he said as he arrived at my desk. I looked up and gave him my attention.
”Have you found anything?”
”Not exactly, but that’s not why I’m here.”
”Why are you here?” I asked, and then my eyes went to the door. Perhaps I could ask her to get me some coffee? Or an early lunch of some sort. However, it would be weird because I rarely ate lunch, and I didn’t have a meeting scheduled for the time.
But then, I really needed to see her.
The CCTV, perhaps? Scowling even deeper, I lowered my gaze and attention from George, feeling absolutely insane. And this... this was why I didn’t need the distraction.
Whether I had truly expected things to pan out the way they had so far between us, I didn’t know. But what I did know was that I could identify an addiction when I saw one, and from the moment I set eyes on her, I was hooked.
”Sir?” he called, and I returned my attention to him.
”Any news on his past projects?” I asked.
”No, sir,” he replied. ”We’re working on that right now, but I’ll let you know as soon as we find what we need. Right now...” he paused for a bit, and for a few seconds, I almost completely forgot about his presence until I realized that he had gone silent for a reason.
”What is it?” I asked, lifting my head from my desktop.
”I just got word from McLaye that he’s in town and he wants to see you?”
I raised a brow at this.
”Why is he in town and why isn’t he coming here if he wants to see me?”
”Well, Lloyd works here at the firm as well, so he’s worried he might see him.”
”Oh,” I said. ”Is there something wrong?”
”Wrong enough for him to come all the way to New York. He sounded quite nervous on the phone.”
”He’s always nervous,” I said. ”Why didn’t he just call me?”
”Maybe it’s not an over-the-phone conversation,” George replied. ”I think he brought some files with him that he most definitely didn’t want to mail over.”
”Alright,” I rose to my feet. ”Let’s go. Where is he?”
”Hotel Carlisle.”
”Alright,” I replied, and we were on our way.
As soon as we walked out of the office, she immediately rose to her feet, and I truly couldn’t take my eyes off her.
”We’ll be back in about two hours.”
”The partner”s meeting is in two hours or...” she replied.
I stopped then because she was right. In my haste, I had almost completely forgotten.
”Keep an eye on the time for me. Something urgent just came up. If I can’t make it back on time, I’ll let you know so you can give John the option to either reschedule or push it back for later.”
”Alright, sir,” she replied, and my gaze couldn’t help but go down to her lips. Shaking my head, I continued on my way and once again tried to push my thoughts of what we just did out of my mind.