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In a way, I regretted sitting where I was because it was all too easy for me to imagine that he was glaring so hard that there was a hole boring through my head. Regardless, I took a deep breath and considered Sophie's solutions for resolving things with him.
He didn't go to lunch like he usually did, which meant he was truly totally pissed. So the moment we arrived back at the office, I arranged to take his lunch from Michael and knocked on his door. I didn't wait for him to invite me in this time around, and when I went in, I found him once again without his jacket. This time, though, he wasn't seated at his desk. Instead, he was standing before the tall glass-to-ceiling windows, overlooking Manhattan, and he had both of his hands in his pockets.
I stopped then as I took in his impossibly tall and built physique. He looked like he dominated both himself and theentire world, and my heart couldn't help but race a little faster. This was a man who was totally in control, and I was ready then to accept whatever scoldings coming my way for essentially messing up his morning.
"Sir?" I called, but he didn't respond.
I expected as much, so as Sophie had instructed, I placed the meal on his table, got him a beverage from his refrigerator, and then started to take my leave. However, just before I exited the office, he addressed me.
"What is going on with you?" he asked.
I stopped in my tracks. I remained silent for a little while and then I apologized. "I'm really sorry, sir."
"Where's the gift that was supposed to be given to Matthew?" I shut my eyes and lowered my head. It was truly unfair that I was being chastised like this for someone else's error, but she was my blood, so I had no choice but to take this.
I couldn't reasonably apologize again, so I proffered the solution I had agreed on with Sophie.
"Sir, the gift got stuck in transit and I wasn't aware of it. I take full responsibility for it. I want to assure you, though, that I am monitoring every movement of it, and the second it arrives, I will deliver it personally to Matthew."
He remained still then, but despite his lack of response, I knew that I couldn't leave until he addressed me.
"What's the use in giving it to him then?" he asked. "Are you not aware that he usually doesn't accept gifts? Doing this at the conference was a great excuse and has been a great excuse for the past several years. So why did you make such a grave error this time around?"
I truly didn't know what to say, and then he turned around and faced me. Not much affected or intimidated me, but his gaze at this moment was not easy to pretend to be unfazed by. Hecontinued to match me, and then I decided, like all sisters do ultimately, to throw Sophie under the bus.
"I didn't mean to give any excuses, but—"
"You better have one," he said. "And it better be a good one, or else you'll have to go looking for another job."
I stared at him, somewhat in shock, but I didn't blame him either. I sighed.
"My relationship ended yesterday," I told him.
He stared at me, his brows furrowing, just as I had expected because he obviously couldn't understand why I was telling him this information.
"My fiance ended our upcoming marriage yesterday, so I have to admit that I have been thrown off lately. Before yesterday, there were a lot of problems to deal with, but now that it is over and concluded, I'm going to go back to being prompt and focused. Mistakes like what has happened recently will not happen again. I assure you of this."
He continued to watch me, and never had I come as close to squirming as I felt like in that moment.
"Is that why you suddenly cut your hair?" he asked, and I was a bit surprised to hear this. So in the end, he was paying attention?
"Yes, sir," I replied.
He continued staring at me, and he made it no secret that he was perusing my body and taking in my frame and any further changes he could find.
He was sure to find something for sure because even though I had a similar form to Sophie, I had a bit more meat on my bones than she did. For one, she was a casual vegetarian, and even though she allowed herself to indulge in meat from time to time, she was more often than not usually feeding on vegetables.
I, on the other hand, ate everything and worked out, so I was more on the curvier side and less petite than she was. Plus, therewas the fact that our styles were completely different. She stuck to lighter colors and pastels, while mine were dark, bright, and bold.
The breakup, however, should be an acceptable explanation worldwide for the change, so I wasn't too worried.
He continued to watch me, and then eventually he returned to his desk. There were no further words to say, so I released a deep sigh of relief and turned around to leave.
"Remember the presentation we have tonight with Charles Nioly."
"Definitely, sir," I replied.
"There were additional corrections added in the voice note I sent to you. You won't miss those again, will you?"
