AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Whatever was bothering Bennett, I needed to figure it out because he meant too much to me to lose. If he was regretting our weekend together, hopefully I could convince him to still be my friend. No matter how much I wished we could be more.
* * *
By the time lunch rolled around, I was a mess. I kept myself busy with work as much as I could, but any time my mind wandered, it went straight to Bennett and what I could’ve done to upset him.
Mr Andrews stepped out of his office, fixing his jacket as he spoke to me. “I’m going to be heading down for lunch. Would you like to join me?”
I fought back a grimace. “I brought lunch from home today. Thank you for offering, though.”
He nodded. “Alright. I’ll be back up in a little while. I’ve got a meeting with finance after lunch, so don’t feel the need to rush to eat.”
“Thank you, Mr Andrews. I appreciate it.”
He walked away, leaving me alone with my chaotic thoughts. I was a little worried I wouldn’t be able to get any work done if I didn’t figure things out, so I sent Bennett a message before going to the breakroom to get my lunch from the fridge.
I decided to eat at my desk to make sure I didn’t miss any phone calls. I picked at my salad, frowning at it while I waited for Bennett to reply. When fifteen minutes passed and he still didn’t message me, I felt my heart sink. It hurt, him avoiding me like this. Granted, we hadn’t explicitly said this was going to be a long-term thing, but he said one day wasn’t enough and I took him at his word. Maybe he meant one time and Saturday got it out of his system. Or maybe he only wanted to talk to me outside of work. He clammed up when people started coming into the office. It was possible he wanted to pretend nothing happened while we were here.
“Julie?”
Jerking my head up, I sucked in a breath. I had been too busy wallowing into my salad to notice that Mr Andrews had returned. He tipped his head and frowned at me.
“Did you just start your lunch now?”
I looked down at my food, confused. “No, I–”
My gaze shifted to the clock on my computer, and I almost choked on my own words. I’d been sitting here staring at my food for over an hour now. It felt like no time at all. I forced a smile, though it probably looked more like a grimace.
“Sorry, Mr Andrews. I guess I’m just not that hungry. I wasn’t really paying attention. Did you meet with finance already?”
He nodded. “Luka met me in the cafeteria and we covered most of it before the meeting.”
On a normal day, I’d probably say something about the fact that he was supposed to be eating, not working, during his lunch break. I didn’t have it in me, though. I just smiled politely.
“Okay, that’s good. I’m just going to clean this up really quick, and–”
“See me when you’re through.”
His tone left no room for argument and my chest tightened. Mr Andrews had been nothing but kind since I arrived. What were the chances that he was going to be angry with me for taking too long at lunch, even while just sitting at my desk? Did I miss a phone call while I was sulking? I didn’t hear anything, but then again, I didn’t notice the time going by either.
I hurried to clean up my mess, putting it all back in the fridge for later. I wasn’t going to waste food, and salad wasn’t going to go bad after sitting out for a little while anyway. Grabbing my notebook from my desk just in case, I joined Mr Andrews in his office. My heart was racing, and the blood rushed in my ears. Mr Andrews pointed to the chair across from his desk, ignoring the papers in front of him to focus on me instead. That can’t be a good sign.
“Julie. I understand you’re going through a lot right now. I don't mean to pry, but if something happened while you were at lunch, you can tell me. I’ll help you report it and–”
I waved my hands wildly. “No! Nothing happened, I swear. I was just thinking and wasn’t paying attention.”
He regarded me, his eyes searching mine, before he acknowledged me with a dip of his chin. “Alright. Your lunch is your time to spend as you wish, but I think we’re on a familiar enough basis for me to implore you to use that time to nourish yourself. You’re constantly reminding me how important it is not to skip meals.”
Grimacing, I dropped my gaze. He wasn’t wrong. I hovered very close to nagging with how often I bugged him about eating. In my defense, though, before I showed up, he was barely managing one meal a day. That was probably one of the reasons he had so many headaches. He’d gotten a lot better since he started eating regularly.
“I apologize, Mr Andrews. It won’t happen again.”
He sighed. “You’re not in trouble, Julie. I’m just worried about you. You’ve had an understandably difficult time in the last few weeks.”
My face flushed. It was still a huge embarrassment that not only did my boss know about my relationship with Alan falling apart; he was present during its humiliating end. Thankfully, he was one of very few people who didn’t start whispering about it or bring it up whenever I came into the room.
“It’s not about that, Mr Andrews.”
“Is it me? Have I been overworking you? If you need a break–”
