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“That’s fine for now, but let’s look into getting you some help. Someone to handle the more menial tasks while you continue the important work for me.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “You want to get me an assistant?”
I thought about it before nodding. “Yes, I think that’s best. I feel your presence at meetings is vital, but I don’t believe it’s in our best interest to let phone calls run to voicemail if we can avoid it. And Priya has her own work to do. We can’t constantly be adding more to her plate. It would be unfair of me. I’ll discuss it first with HR, make sure they’re on board, but once they clear it, I’d like you to be in charge of hiring. I trust your judgment and they need to fit well with you. Just let me know when you choose.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
JULIE
Of all the things I expected Mr Andrews to say, asking me to hire myself an assistant was never one of them. My last job never cared about my workload or conflicting obligations. I would get in trouble for not being where I was supposed to be, but also for not getting the work done that they’d demanded. There were countless times where they’d demand I be present to hand out refreshments for a meeting, only for my boss to scream at me for not being at my desk to bring him his coffee when he wanted it. Sometimes I felt like they did it on purpose just to mess with me.
Not here, though. No, when the problem became apparent with Mr Andrews wanting me at meetings that my desk would be left unattended, he decided to hire someone to help me. It was difficult to fully come to terms with how I felt about it. After finishing our morning meeting, I sat at my desk staring off into space for long enough that I didn’t hear Bennett approach until he was standing next to me.
“You okay?”
I jumped, smacking my knee on my desk in the process. The yelp that left my mouth was a little embarrassing, and I saw a few of the legal team who were just showing up turn to look at me curiously. I ducked my head to hide my blush, rubbing my knee under my desk.
Bennett looked concerned, hovering over me without touching me. I shook my head quickly.
“I’m fine. You just startled me. How in the world are you so quiet?”
Something crossed his face before he shrugged. “Just am. Is your knee okay?”
I wanted to ask about the look, but I was aware of the people filing into the office, the noises picking up considerably with murmured conversations and phones ringing. I didn’t want to bring anything up potentially difficult while we were surrounded by people.
“It’s okay. I think it was more shock than pain. How are you? How was your Sunday?”
He still looked concerned until I smiled at him reassuringly. Bobbing his head, he pursed his lips. “Went fine. I hung out with Grayson mostly. What about you?”
It made me feel a little better that they didn’t ditch Mr Andrews all weekend. Even if Luka was with me, someone was still hanging out with him and he wasn’t lonely.
“Uh, Sunday was fine. I got some grocery shopping done. I’m thinking about bringing lunch from home for a little while longer. It's… difficult for me to go to the cafeteria right now.”
His face tightened a little. “Yeah, I get that. You deserve to be happy, Julie. Even if it means I have to keep buying sandwiches on the way to work. It's better than eating without you.”
His sweet comment made me melt on the inside, and I smiled shyly. “I can make extra so we can share, if you want.”
His eyes lit up until I added, “I’m betting Luka would like some too. He raided my fridge yesterday without asking me.”
I thought he’d find it funny, but his expression shuttered a little. “You don’t have to do that. I’m sure you’ve got other stuff you could be doing.”
He almost seemed like he was referring to something other than lunch, but I didn’t have a clue as to what. And I only grew more confused when Luka came to join us.
“Hello, gorgeous! How are you doing on this fine morning?”
I watched as Bennett seemed to cave in on himself a little, his eyes dropping to the ground. I tipped my head, studying him. It was a little worrying. He wasn’t this stand-offish on Saturday. Did he regret what we did? Was he second guessing his commitment to keep this thing going?
The countless possibilities of what might be wrong with Bennett swirled through my head. I nodded absently to Luka as he told me about his drive in. I was only half listening, my eyes locked on Bennett as he slowly took a few steps back until he was far enough away that Luka didn’t notice him leave. He glanced over his shoulder and I swear the look on his face almost looked… hurt.
“Sweetheart? Is something wrong?”
Blinking rapidly, I swung my gaze back to Luka. “No, I’m sorry. I just thought–”
My phone buzzed on my desk, and I hurried to answer it. “Yes, Mr Andrews?”
“I need your help. I think I misplaced a file. Can you join me for a second?”
Pushing out of my seat, I waved to Luka before going to help Mr Andrews. The entire time, my mind was stuck on Bennett and what would make him look like that. An uneasiness settled over my shoulders like a blanket. I was so distracted that I looked over the file we were looking for twice before finally realizing it was right in front of me.
