6.
Everything seemed to happen in a blur. After he guided me out of the conference room, he brought me to his office.
He led me to his chair and gently pushed me to sit down before walking out. What seemed like seconds later, he returned with a police officer behind him.
Mr. Morrentti stood at the side of the desk in between the officer and I. His palms were spread, gripping the edges of the wood. His jaw was locked, tense with constrained anger.
I felt lost, stuck in a whirlwind trance.
I didn't know if I had answered the officer's questions fully, but I knew Mr. Morrentti spoke for me when I couldn't. When the cop left, I didn't notice.
My eyes were fixed as I stared at my hands lying in my lap.
I lifted my hands to see if the shaking had stopped and my eyes blurred when I saw the shaking was getting worse.
I closed my eyes as I looked up to the ceiling, releasing a shaky breath through pursed lips. The usual tightness in my chest worsened and a light pounding in the back of my head appeared.
Something brushed my left cheek before repeating the motion on my right.
Something warm and sturdy wrapped around the side of my neck, gently pulling my head down.
I opened my eyes and through my blurred vision I could see Mr. Morrentti on his knees looking at me.
Concern lined his eyes and for once, he wasn't frowning in annoyance or anger.
I must have been a sight for him to be concerned over me. Both his hands came up and he gently wiped my cheeks with his thumbs as the tears started to tumble. I felt my bottom lift tremble as I stared back into his eyes. His eyebrows pulled tighter together.
"I'm sorry, Ophelia.", he said. A light sob racked throughout my body and the blurriness started to clear as tears tumbled faster. One hand wrapped around the back of my head gripping my hair softly as he directed my forehead to his.
I closed my eyes, willing myself to stop crying but the hot salty liquid kept rolling down my cheeks.
I wrapped my arms around his shoulders as I slid off his chair onto my knees.
He paused for a minute, probably not knowing what to do with his bawling PA, before he sat down and leaned on his desk.
His arms encircled my waist, slightly brushing the skin at my waist as my top moved up.
He tightened his hold around me and sat me across his lap, his legs sprawled in front of him.
He kept muttering how sorry he was in a light whisper as he ran his hand gently over my curls, which only made me sob more. I don't know how much time passed, but eventually the tears dried and the only thing reminding my body of what happened was the memories.
I lifted my head from the crook of his shoulder, the tip of my nose brushed his skin softly as I looked up at him. His eyes were clouded and his jaw was clenched.
"Can you take me home?", I whispered. The only response was a small nod.
As we pulled up to my apartment, I found myself not wanting to be alone.
I didn't have many friends in New York. Most of them were back home in Montreal.
Ophelia was in Bali and Kyle, well he was my boss.
I didn't know if he was technically a friend or not, and he definitely wasn't mine to call.
Besides, I didn't want to explain what happened to someone. I'd rather forget this ever happened.
Which is why I found myself inviting Mr. Morrentti inside. It didn't resonate that this was my sister's boss and most likely extremely inappropriate for me to do. It was probably a mix between my obvious desperation to not be alone and pity that made him agree.
We, both, stepped out and I led him inside.
I started contemplating whether I had made the best decision of inviting him in when we stepped into the elevator.
The ride was silent and brief. I looked at him through the reflection of the doors.
He was starring straight, statuesque like a saluting soldier.
The doors opened and we made our way to my door. As we walked in, I was immediately regretting inviting him in. I had books sprawled everywhere. My shoes were lazily scattered all over the entrance. A couple dishes I hadn't had time to do filled the sink.
He stood behind me, his body heat tingling my senses even from the few inches away from me. I looked up at him over my shoulder to find him looking at me. He gently pushed me forward by placing his hand on my lower back.
"You should go shower.", he said.
"Make yourself at home.", I said, quietly as I rushed off to my room. I needed to shower. I needed to get the memories of him touching me off me.
I stood under the hot water, letting the heat engulf my body, until it went cold. After the shower, I took tylenol and got dressed comfortable, planning on staying home for the next two weeks.
When I walked out, I was slightly surprised at the neatness of the apartment. He had folded the covers, washed the dishes, and arranged my shoes.
As I approached him, his wide back was facing me as he stacked my school books. A girl could definitely get used to this treatment and sight. Whoever that was, she was one lucky person. I, however, was not lucky and what happened next was evidence alone.
He must have heard my footsteps growing louder as I approached him since he turned around.
In his hands, he had a black binder. Now, the binder could be two things.
It was either the binder containing all the information Ophelia gave me or it was my criminal law class notes and case-law summaries.
Judging by the clench of his jaw, I assume it was the former.
"Is there anything you would like to tell me, Ophelia?", he asked as he took a step closer to me.
Assuming the jig was up, I replied. "Don't call me that."
"Is there something you would like to disclose with me Miss. Merile?", he asked once more with a clipped tone.
I didn't know what to say. I mean it was all there in the binder. He had obviously seen it all.
"How about the fact that it clearly states within your contract that you are, under no circumstances, to partake in any activity that will jeopardize or affect the quality of the work demanded from you?"
"What are you talking about?", I asked.
"You're in school.", he said as he opened the binder, pointing to my written notes. A wave of relief crashed over me. "One of the requirements of the position I demanded was to not have any students. Did you lie to get the position?", he demanded as he took another step.
"No", I squeaked. "Those are my sisters. Her name is Charlotte. She's studying to be a lawyer."
"You never mentioned a sister." His eyes analyzed my face, trying to find a tell to catch me on a lie.
"Would it have mattered if I had?"
He hummed in contemplation as he turned to put the binder on top of the stack of books.
"How old is she?", he asked turning back to face me.
"25", I replied quickly.
"Same age? Odd", he drawled.
"It's not when you're twins.", I quipped. For the first time since I've met him, he looked surprised. "What? Didn't know twins existed? Well, let me tell you something that will blow your mind. Triplets." I made an explosion sound and demonstrated my mind being blown.
"Ha ha.", he said sarcastically. I could see the tiny corners of his mouth pulling up, before he stopped himself. He turned and walked to the couch, where he sat and started scrolling through Netflix. "I ordered some pizza. It should be here soon."
"Oh, thank you. You really didn't have to." I made my way to sit next to him, pulling a cover over me as I did. I quickly threw it over him to as I fixed my gaze on the TV.
"I know."
"Thank you for cleaning. You didn't have to either."
"I know."
"And-um. Thank you for staying. You-"
"I know.", he cut me off as he pressed play on a movie.
Written: 10/26