Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 95311 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 477(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95311 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 477(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
Um. Hey. Someone saw us tonight and carved a message into my desk. Just thought you should know.
That just wasn't even an option. He would be furious. He would come barreling back into work to see for himself and then they would be alone together in her office. Again. And she would be feeling vulnerable and stressed. Again.
What good could it even possibly do? What would he do? Question all the employees? Like that wouldn't cause a stir and rumors to circulate like wildfire. Were there cameras? The thought had never even entered her mind before, but now that it had, it planted itself deep. Oh, geez...were there cameras? Could someone actually be watching her every move in and out of EM Corporation every day? Could someone have actually watched her making out with EM?
Hannah felt dizzy with stress. All she could think about was finding some way to cover this accusatory message up. She searched around the office supply closet until she found one of those huge desk calendars, the ones that take up three-fourths of the surface of any given desk. She placed it carefully and put a few items around it on the edges so it wouldn't accidentally budge. Then she sat down, a picture of paranoia, to fill in some dates on said calendar. It would look weird if, all of a sudden, she had decided to put an empty calendar on her desk. She scheduled in EM's business trips, his meetings, when she was supposed to make his doctor's appointments, or get his car inspected.
By the time she was done, nearly every day had multiple events, important ones written in bold red permanent marker and everything else in black. It would actually prove to be a rather useful thing to have.
Hannah exited the building, feeling uneasy and constantly looking over her shoulder. As if she expected to see the author of the note hiding behind desks or office plants. The only people she passed were the cleaning personnel who waved and told her to have a great night.
Hannah called her mother on the drive home as she had promised. She knew she sounded even more unconvincing as she had when answering during her make out session. And, for once, her mother was having nothing of it. She got lectured about not staying at a job that was making you miserable. About how life was too short and work was only supposed to be a small aspect of it. About how her friends and family almost never heard from her anymore and, even when they did, she sounded tired and defeated.
Hannah felt tears welling up and forced them away. She could absolutely see where her mother was coming from. But she honestly just couldn't take any more stress on top of everything in her life that she couldn't confess to anyone. She felt utterly alone. And on edge. And she wasn't sure how long she could go on feeling that way.
CHAPTER EIGHT
It felt almost wrong that nothing was amiss the next day. She got into work at her normal time and no one glanced at her with suspicion or accusation in her eyes. No one even commented on the fact that she was carrying with her a brand new coffee machine. She had gotten to the store just as they opened and ran in and grabbed one before work. If she didn't constantly have to fill his coffee cup, she would cut down on actual face to face interaction by at least two-thirds. And she had made sure she got the kind of pot that brewed into a carafe so it would stay hot without getting burnt for hours. She could sneak in to brew fresh pots whenever he left the office. It was a good plan, if perhaps a bit childish of her.
Hannah rushed into EM's office and set it up on a sidebar above a small mini fridge he kept cold drinks in. Next to it she placed three pristine white mugs and a canister of coffee inside the cabinet. She brewed a pot and ran into her own office just as she heard Sally greet EM.
He smelled the coffee as soon as he opened his office door. He had figured Hannah must have just brought him his morning cup until he heard the five shrill beeps announcing the completion of the brewing process. He looked over and saw the pot and laughed a big, appreciative laugh. It wasn't often that someone got to him, but Hannah was a real card. He guessed she had chosen the "ignore it and let it blow up in our faces" option. And she was trying to distance herself from him as much as possible. He had to hand it to her, it was pretty damn clever. But it wasn't going to work. He wasn't going to let it work. She wasn't going to win that easily.