Total pages in book: 155
Estimated words: 147128 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 736(@200wpm)___ 589(@250wpm)___ 490(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 147128 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 736(@200wpm)___ 589(@250wpm)___ 490(@300wpm)
‘I’m sure you can, but…’ I started shouting, but then stopped, sighed and rubbed my face. Now I was starting to raise my voice to be heard over the racket. ‘Can we talk about this in here, please? Or your office if you’d prefer that.’
Her face fell. ‘I’m going to leave soon.’
Jesus. She made me feel like a school principal.
‘That’s okay, this won’t take long.’
She slowly pushed her chair back and rose, then rifled through the papers on the desk, picked up her phone and looked around as if she was hoping to find something to distract herself so she could get far away from me.
It took her some time to make it to my room. After she grabbed her laptop and everything else, she started looking over her shoulder. I assumed she was looking for an easy out.
She might have sent longing looks towards her own office and the elevators, but she still walked through my open door. I called it a win. I closed it behind her and she just stood in the middle, hugging some papers, her laptop and her phone to her chest, ready to bolt at any moment.
Unsure how I was going to keep a straight face in front of her misery, I sat down in one of the chairs in front of my desk and gestured for her to do the same. ‘Please.’
‘I’m okay,’ she responded, but leaned down to drop the papers and the laptop to the seat instead. ‘I’ll call Laurel so we can deal with that. I already explained that there are some changes going on in the company. If you could just explain to her that I won’t be available for…’
Eyes on her phone, her fingers moved over the screen.
‘I’ll call her in a second,’ I interrupted her. ‘First I’d like to talk about something else.’
Her fingers stopped moving and she slowly lifted her head up to meet my gaze.
‘Something else? Like?’
‘Is there a reason you’re trying to avoid me? Did I perhaps do something to you?’
‘Ah… I… I wasn’t trying to avoid you. I just have a lot of things I need to get through and I have to get back home and…’
‘If you don’t want to work with me, we can talk to Douglas and maybe find a different solution. I don’t work well when there is animosity inside my team.’
‘Animosity? I…’ She opened her mouth and then closed it. Started to say something, but gave up on that as well. Since she didn’t know how to respond I thought I’d end her suffering.
‘You look good, Charlie,’ I said, unable to hold back my smile any longer. ‘Great actually. You haven’t changed at all.’
Which was almost true. She looked the same as she did six years ago, but also not quite, if that made sense. All those years had been kind to her. More than kind actually.
She had gained a few pounds and it had obviously worked in her favour. The black skirt did a great job at hugging her new-to-me curves, the tee-shirt she had on was a far cry from professional, yet she still looked great in it, which was why I tried to avoid looking at that specific area for too long. She shifted in place, so I quit studying her from head to toe and forced my eyes up and away from the length of her body. When I reached her eyes, I found her looking at me with a funny and slightly hopeful expression.
‘I look… You remember me?’ she breathed out quietly.
I laughed. ‘Of course. I still haven’t met any other girl named Charlie since you.’
A big smile lit up her face and she sat down on the chair she’d refused just moments ago. Right on the papers and the laptop. Her smile dimmed, her cheeks colouring a little. She lifted one side of her hip and pulled on the items, placing them in her lap instead. ‘Sorry.’
I shook my head, still smiling. ‘It’s been what? Six years, Hazel?’
The smile came back in full force and she leaned forward in her seat. ‘You called me Hazel? I called you the diner guy!’
She laughed and I couldn’t help it, I laughed back, my eyes on her smiling hazel ones.
‘You didn’t say anything,’ she continued. ‘I was almost having a nervous breakdown this morning trying to stay away from you.’
‘I noticed,’ I admitted. ‘I didn’t recognize you when you were crawling around with the balloons or when you crashed into me in the lobby or the elevator for that matter…’
She scrunched up her nose. ‘Don’t remind me, please.’
‘I only recognized you when you came into my office for the meeting. Though I have to give it to you, you did try your best to hide behind Stan.’
Groaning, she buried her face in her hands.
‘It was that obvious, huh?’