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"Good morning," she said, not even bothering to fake a smile.
"Morning," he grumbled back, looking at her intently.
She looked exhausted. He was familiar with not sleeping and its effects, but this was different. She had the hollow expression of someone who hadn't had a full night of sleep in weeks. Her lovely gray eyes were sunken and deep purple smudges were underneath them, almost resembling bruises.
With her gorgeous hair pulled back from her face, he made out the sharp outline of her jawbone as she turned to pour him a cup of coffee. Her hands were still shaking.
"Are you feeling well?" he heard himself asking as she walked the cup back over to him and placed it down.
He reached for it before she let go of it and his fingers captured hers beneath his. Her eyes shot up to his then, wide and shocked. He felt the coolness of her fingers against his. She looked at him for a moment, looking confused and aroused all at once. Then she quickly dropped her eyes and pulled her hand away.
"Fine," she said, her lips quirking up at the edges in what could have been construed as a smile.
Quickly, she gathered her papers and scurried out of the room, closing her office door quietly behind her.
What the hell was going on at his office? Ninety-percent of his employees seemed out of character and angry. And his own assistant looked like she was a crumbling piece of delicate china. No one would ever accuse him of being unobservant, but somehow all of that had crawled under his radar.
Elliott raked a hand over his chin. He had been more distracted than usual. Dan had been a constant thorn in his side. Every day she was coming up with more and more ridiculous demands in the settlement. She wanted the entire stock of his library. He had never known the woman to pick up a book, and every last book in his study had been there years before he even laid eyes on her. Then she wanted not only a lump sum of cash, but alimony. Apparently, in a few months she had become accustomed to a certain lifestyle and expected him to provide her the ability to live lavishly for the rest of her life.
He sighed heavily. He wasn't even entirely sure how he had ended up married in the first place. Dan had been a particularly heated affair he had planned on ending. He just never got around to it. Which was probably due to a good sexual chemistry and Dan's voracious appetite for sex in increasingly new and different situations. She had been exciting and a challenge. And he had somehow allowed his dick to lead him into marriage. There was no other way to explain it. She was an awful, spoiled, selfish witch of a woman. And he had always known that. But he had signed over his freedom to her anyway.
Then he had spent every single day afterward regretting it.
She had spent money like water. She got shoes, jewelry and clothing until every closet in the house was overflowing. He had come home to find her entertaining men alone in the middle of the night. One after another after another. Until he finally told her to get the hell out of his house. He spent the next six weeks sleeping with every woman he found the least bit attractive.
He wasn't exactly proud of his behavior. While he had never really committed to exclusivity in his relations, he believed in fidelity. Dating was for screwing around. Marriage was for coming home to the same woman every night. But he justified his oats-sewing because of Dan's own revolving door of sexual partners.
Elliott shook his head. That damn woman was screwing around with his business and he wasn't going to be able to allow that to continue. Stabbing his finger onto the fourth button on his phone, he heard the phone ring and Tad's upbeat voice answered. "EM Corporation. Tad speaking. How may I help you?"
"Tad, can I see you in my office?" he said and hung up without an answer.
He heard the knock on his door less than twenty seconds later. It was unusual for him to call anyone into his office. Tad had probably never even been inside. He looked calm though. Curious but calm.
"What is going on in my office?" he asked, bluntly.
"You're going to have to be more specific," Tad responded, giving Elliott a lopsided smile.
"Something is up with everyone. You're the only person who I don't sense something up with."
Tad sighed, caught between his obligation to fill in his boss and his desire to not pit himself against the staff, or worse yet, Hannah.
"Is Hannah sick?" Elliot blurted out, cursing himself for it.
"What? No," Tad said quickly, looking shocked.
"Then what is going on?" Elliott demanded, losing his patience.
Tad closed his eyes for a minute. "Look. I really can't get into it, Mr. Michaels. It isn't my place to tell you. It is Hannah's business, not mine. But I can tell you that something is up with the staff here. And something needs to be done about it."
"Well, that isn't too cryptic," Elliott said, leaning back in his chair.
"I'm sorry," Tad said, looking worried. "I really am but I am between a rock and a hard place here."
Elliott nodded. "I understand. I'm glad to get confirmation that something is going on though. That this isn't just a weird feeling I am picking up on." Tad nodded, tapping his foot nervously. "Go on back to work." When Tad glanced at the door with anxiety, he smirked. "Just tell them I needed to discuss a raise with you. It's probably about time anyway," Elliott shrugged.
"Oh," Tad said, smiling brightly and standing. "Thanks. Really. Thanks."
Elliott waved a hand, brushing off the gratitude and dismissing him at the same time. Of course Tad wasn't going to share private details about Hannah. Had it been any other employee, he might have gotten something. But it hadn't escaped his notice that Tad had befriended Hannah almost instantly and the two were often seen working side-by-side. And he had heard Tad's voice inside of Hannah's office often, even more so as the time went by.
