AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Can this day get any worse? As if on cue, a baby starts crying at the top of its voice. A man reading the Financial Times snaps at the mother to keep her baby quiet. An argument ensues.
Through it all, I regret accepting Kendra’s invitation to come over to her place last night to watch movies.
“It’s a Sunday. And you’ve been working so hard. Why don’t you let your hair down? I’ll order some pizza, and I think I have a bottle of wine somewhere,” she had told me when I opened the door to her after selecting what I would wear to work the following day.
I had agreed because, truly, I’d been working hard. I was always grateful whenever I made it home before 9:00 p.m. And so, we spent the entire evening watching movies, talking, and drinking wine.
And of course, I overslept! I couldn’t get a taxi because they kept getting stolen from me. When I saw I would be late if I continued trying to flag down a cab, I decided to take the train. But as fate would have it, the L train arrived late, was overcrowded, and got stuck for a few minutes under the East River. It will be a miracle if I make it to the office on time. And Gareth will surely chew me out.
I was two weeks into the job with Gareth and the rest of the team, and it feels as if I’d spent my whole life working there because of how tired I was.
I can’t deny that I admire Gareth’s dedication. With the looming November deadline, we have to keep pressing on. But the dude doesn’t know when to stop. He expects the same dedication from his employees and pushes until he gets it. Working for a workaholic means I always have to be on my toes. At least I stopped making a mockery of myself around him. Well, sometimes, anyway. His green eyes still stop me dead in my tracks whenever he looks my way. But I’ve been able to control my reaction to him, although it hasn’t stopped the dreams I have of us together.
It’s futile denying that I’m attracted to him. He makes me feel things that I have no business feeling, especially as he’s always short with me. I know he expects the best from his team all the time, but sometimes I feel as if he singles me out on purpose. Is it because he knows I’m attracted to him, and he doesn’t like it? Then why hasn’t he fired me?
My thoughts are interrupted when the train pulls up at Union Square. I jerk to my feet and hurry towards the door. Fortunately, my heels aren’t as high as the ones I wore on my second day, but even with that, I arrive at the office out of breath. Summer has given way to fall, and I’m not drenched in sweat as I take the elevator to my office.
“Someone is in trouble,” Jackie says with a warning finger and a bright smile as I step out of the elevator.
“Thanks, Jackie,” I reply with a grimace.
I ignore the people going and coming around the place. Usually, I’d stop to exchange pleasantries, but not today.
“Where have you been?” Susan questions with raised brows as soon as I arrive at her office. Alex throws a mocking smile my way, and I itch to kick him in the shin. “Be warned. He’s not in a good mood.”
“Is he ever?” I mutter as I take off my jacket, draw in a deep breath, and exhale as I push open the handle of the wooden door after a brief knock. Usually, I worry about my appearance before approaching him, but not today. I am already fifteen minutes late. On a Monday morning.
He’s on the phone as I stride into his office, withholding the urge to squirm under his frowning gaze. Even though I know I’m in trouble, I can’t stop scrutinizing him. I like how some strands of his hair fall across his forehead on the side. Sometimes I imagine how he’ll look without his beard, but it suits him so much that I crave rubbing my fingers across his chin.
“You’re late,” he snaps after ending the call.
“I apologize.”
He cocks a brow. “You apologize?”
“Yes, because there’s nothing else to say. Sometimes, we’re faced with circumstances beyond our control.”
“Which is?”
Having a night of relaxation with a friend.
That will surely get me fired. Instead, I lower my head and say, “That’s private.”
Silence greets my answer.
My head goes up, and I notice his burning gaze is fixed on my blouse.
“Your button is undone.”
With red-hot embarrassment, I look down and see that the second button on my blouse isn’t in its hole, revealing my black lace bra. It must have come undone when I hurriedly removed my jacket earlier. He must think I did it intentionally to get him not to sack me. I speedily fasten it with unsteady hands.
“The next time you come late to work and then come to my office half-dressed, you won’t like the consequences.”
Half dressed? It was only an unfastened button! Tears smudge my eyes at the unfairness of the situation. In the two weeks I’d worked for him, I’d never come late to the office other than my first day. For him to tear into me like this is entirely unfair.
“Have I made myself clear, Hailey?”
“Yes, Mr. Payne,” I say to intentionally spite him.
