AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Ovi closed the laptop and added, “Now that you know the truth, I’m sure you feel the same way about me as you do my father.”
She stood up and I asked, “Where are you going?”
“Home.”
“Why? You just got here,” I reminded her.
“You can’t be serious! I’m not fired?” she asked, looking stunned.
“Do you want me to fire you? Because if you do, then I will,” I said, hating the fact that she might take me up on that offer.
She didn’t reply immediately. Instead, she sat back down and sighed. “I want things back the way they used to be.”
“You’re talking about your father,” I said.
She nodded, and a tear rolled down her cheek, then another until she was sobbing.
Oh, God. Don’t cry.
It was too late. The waterworks had started. I was no good at dealing with emotional women. Actually, I was very good at it. I had always managed to avoid them. I could get up and leave her office. That would prove she was right, and I was a cold-hearted man. Or I could get up and console her. That was opening another door.
As though I had no control over my feet, they took me around the desk, and I rubbed her back gently as she cried. Her reaction was a bit extreme, which made me wonder if it in fact was all about her father being fired. If Trye was that bothered by it, he’d have shown up and talked to me, but he hadn’t. To me, that spoke volumes. He didn’t want the job back. So why was she advocating so hard for him?
Why are you crying?
“Ovi, don’t cry. You have done everything you can. This is between me and your father,” I said, hoping it would help. She only cried harder.Damn, I suck at this.“If I could give you what you want, I would, but I can’t.”
She turned her head to look up at me and choked out, “I know. No one can.”
I continued to gently stroke her back. “I’m sorry,” I said softly.
Ovi shook her head. “It’s not your fault.”
That was a first. She had been blaming me from the moment we had met. I’d like to think that it was something I’d said or done, but I doubted it.
I should have been happy that she was no longer crying, and slowly made my exit before it started again. But I was missing something. I just felt it.
“So, you’re okay with my terminating your father?” I asked.
“No!” she snapped. “But he is. It just shows me what a good man he is. When I told him, he said that he agreed with your decision. That if he was in your position, he’d have done the same. All he did was tell me what a good man you are. How I shouldn’t judge you. I should give you a chance. Do you know what?” I shook my head and she added, “He wants me to go to dinner with you tonight so you and I can have a fresh start. Do you know what I think?”
I was afraid to ask. It didn’t sound like it was going to be good. “I won’t even try to guess.”
“Let me tell you. I think we are going to have dinner and spend the time arguing. By the end of the night, I will go home knowing that I was right, and you will know that hiring me was a mistake and we can both go our own way.”
“All that from one dinner?” I joked, trying to lighten the mood.
“I’m sure we could do it over a cup of tea and have the same results if you want to skip dinner,” she offered.
“No. I’m looking forward to it.”To prove to you just how wrong you are.
“That makes one of us,” I heard her mutter under her breath.
I knew if I stayed any longer, she was going to come up with more reasons why we shouldn’t go. Instead, I said, “Since you’re here, would it be too much for me to ask if you could run a few reports for me?”
Ovi flipped open the laptop and said, “That’s what you’re paying me for.”
“I’ll send you an email with the list of things I need.”Give me a chance to show you I’m not the asshole you think I am.
