Ch 4 - Making Amends
1079 Words
Emily glared at the man who was once her best friend and now he sat in the office opposite to hers as her assistant. She sipped on her coffee and concentrated back on her work.
For the past week, he had been actively ignoring her calls and times she had to ask her secretary to give him a message or she had to walk on her own to his office. She knew he was doing it deliberately to rile her up but he wasn’t going to be satisfied.
Just then, her phone chimed up and she saw a reminder of her meeting with Mr. Artair. She let out an exasperated breath. Two assholes at one time. Her life was difficult. It would have been easier if Mr. Artair behaved like a client, but his actions screamed that he wanted to be more than her client.
She stood up, rather than picking up the phone and calling Oliver, and walked to Oliver’s office.
She knocked and entered, making him look up at her.
“We have a meeting with Raymond Artair today. Get everything ready for it,” Emily said, and he nodded with a frown.
“Okay,” he said and got up from his table.
“That’s it? You’re not going to fight?” Emily asked, confused and surprised.
He looked at her and shook his head. “No.”
“Okay, that’s progress.” Emily said and looked around, seeing if there was a prank going on. When she didn’t find anything suspicious, she turned around to leave.
“Anyway, I will see you at the meeting,” she finished and left, recalling how for the past week he had made her life difficult. And now, as if a miracle had happened, he was obeying her like a loyal employee.
Two hours later, Emily entered the conference room and found him sitting in the chair at the table. She stopped looking around, seeing all the preparations made.
“Thanks for doing all this,” Emily said before she could stop herself and she cursed herself internally.
“Just doing my duty, ma’am,” he said and leaned back in the chair, letting his eyes take her in.
Emily noticed his gaze at her and looked away, feeling her cheeks heat up. She tried to ignore the intensity of his eyes but she could feel it even on her back.
To her relief, the door to the room opened and Raymond Artair and his assistant came in. She quickly turned to greet him and saw Oliver standing up with a nod at Raymond Artair.
They discussed the project they were working on and Oliver took an active part, which Emily was surprised at. She couldn’t deny that she had underestimated him and his interest in her company, but with the way he communicated she felt he had been there from the start and even looked forward to a successful future.
Raymond Artair nodded in approval at Oliver’s suggestion and smiled at Emily.
“You have got a talented assistant, Emily,” Raymond Artair told Emily and she smiled back hesitantly. “I like your ideas, Oliver, and look forward to realizing them, but for right now, we will focus on what we started with, then we progress gradually.”
Emily glanced at Oliver, who nodded at Raymond Artair in understanding. “I agree and I will be right here when we move forward.”
With that the meeting was concluded and Raymond Artair stood up along with everyone else and shook hands with Oliver first and then with Emily. She quickly put out her hand and he took her hand in his but didn’t let go right away.
“Emily, I hope we can meet sometime other than these meetings,” Raymond suggested, and Emily’s eyes widened in surprise. She didn’t expect him to be this forward and that too, in front of everyone else.
Blinking in nervousness, her smile fell and she winced almost. “Yeah… sure.”
Raymond Artair saw the indecision in her eyes and nodded, then glanced at Oliver, his eyes narrowing a bit, then he looked away.
They said their goodbyes and left. Feeling uneasy, Emily turned to look at Oliver and found him standing rigid like a pole and glaring daggers at the file.
“What happened to you?” Emily couldn’t stop herself asking.
He closed his eyes and shook his head. “Nothing.”
“You can tell me,” Emily said with a worried tone. She actually wanted to comfort him and wondered what it was that had unsettled him.
Oliver turned to face her and she felt his intense rage at herself. Okay, why did she have to ask? She could just have minded her own business but she didn’t. Her feet itched to move backward and create some distance but she stood her ground.
His blue eyes were hard like ice, but yet she felt the hot rage inside him.
“Now, you wanna play best friend,” Oliver snapped, making Emily at last take a step back.
“What? I am just asking,” Emily said and felt embarrassed that he had brought up their friendship all of a sudden. Looking away, she glanced at her watch.
“You don’t need to,” Oliver said and pushed the chair back, ready to leave the room.
“Wait!” Emily called out to him when she saw him going out. “Have lunch with me today.”
Oliver turned his head to stare at her with a frown. “I am already having lunch with Gloria today, so no, thank you.”
“Gloria? As in Gloria from Marketing?” Emily asked with a disapproving stare. Oliver sighed in exasperation.
“Yes, now can I leave-ma’am?” He asked, and Emily nodded half-heartedly.
After that, Emily proceeded back to her office which faced Oliver’s and, seeing his office empty, she wondered if he was meeting with Gloria. She picked up her desk phone and dialed her secretary’s phone.
Sorry, Gloria. You will have to market yourself somewhere else. Emily thought to herself and gave instructions to her secretary.
One hour later…
Emily knocked on the glass door to Oliver’s office and saw him look up. She grinned at him and opened the door.
“So about lunch, are you free now?”
Seeing Oliver’s annoyed face, she grinned wider and left, knowing he would be following her.
- Writer
