Stop! Mr. CEO

12| Worried parents.

When Elizabeth got home, she stood in front of the door, hesitating to go inside. She wasn’t ready for the question her parents were going to throw at her; she was too exhausted for that.

After a while, she finally pushed the door open. Her parents were anxiously sitting on the shabby couches in the living room, waiting for her to come back.

The second she stepped inside the house, they both jerked up from their seats and rushed to where she was standing by the door.

Their features were clouded with worries. But before they could utter a word, she spoke first.

"Mom, dad, I understand that you are worried about me, and I appreciate that. But as you can see, I am extremely tired. In fact, I am exhausted. So, please spare me the questions. I have to go and rest."

"But—" Her mom started, but she cut her off.

"No mom, please! Thank you."

Mrs. Felix sighed. "Okay, your dinner is in the kitchen."

She flashed her teeth at them. "I would need that, thank you."

She quickly took to her heels before they could utter another word. She really wasn’t ready to answer the streams of questions they had to ask her.

She walked inside the kitchen and ate dinner—Mac and cheese—after she was done, she trudged out of the kitchen and made her way to her room.

Her parents were in the hallway, and she could feel their gazes on her. They desperately wanted an explanation, but she couldn’t give that to them.

"Goodnight, Mummy. Goodnight, Daddy." She muttered before pushing her bedroom door open.

As she stepped inside her room and closed the door, she heaved a sigh of relief. Finally, she was going to get a well-deserved rest after the longest 48 hours of her life.

She was exhausted, and all she wanted was to sleep, but she couldn’t go to bed with her smelly body. She had sweated a lot, and it was uncomfortable.

She tugged the stained shirt she had put inside her bag out and flung it across the room into her laundry basket.

‘Ughhh… i have to return this." She groaned as she pulled Alexander’s shirt from her body. She proceeded to pull off her skirt and free her legs from her shoes afterwards.

With the t-shirt in her hand, she walked over to the armed chair in front of her dresser, where she had hung her towel, and picked it up.

Wrapping the towel around her body, she sauntered to the bathroom.

She washed the shirt and spread it on the bathroom door. She proceeded to take a quick bath afterwards.

By the time she came out of the bathroom, her eyes were heavy, and she could feel them closing already.

That was the last thing she remembered.

Everything went blurry, and she doesn’t know how she reached the bed and lay down on it.

The following morning, she woke up to the sound of her alarm ringing.

She could swear that she had only slept for thirty minutes, when in reality, she had actually slept for seven hours!

The sleep she had wasn’t enough, and she wanted to go back to sleep.

But she couldn’t. Unless she wanted to lose her job anyway.

Adulthood is exhausting! She thought as she dragged herself out of bed.

…

When she got to the office, Alexander was already inside.

Placing her bag on her desk, she trudged to his office, holding a nylon bag, and knocked on the door.

"Come in," he said almost immediately.

She carefully opened the door and sauntered inside the office before closing the door behind her.

“Good morning, sir." She greeted him as she approached his desk.

He nodded his head in response.

Alexander had been looking at the time at regular intervals, waiting for her to come, hoping she wouldn’t give up on the job.

He obviously wanted her gone, but he didn’t know why he also wanted her to stay; he didn’t know why he craved her presence.

And when she arrived, he couldn’t believe that he had responded to her greeting with just a nod—Someone he had been desperately waiting for.

“I brought your shirt, sir.” She said, lifting her hands up to show him the nylon bag.

He knitted his brows together. "You don’t expect me to wear something you have worn, do you?"

Does he think of her as a lowlife? Or what does he mean by that statement? She thought, her face twisting into a scowl as she stared at him.

Blowing out a sharp breath, he leapt to his feet and inched closer to her.

"I’ll assume you don’t need it; that’s why you returned it to me." He snatched the nylon bag from her hand and tossed it inside the waste bin.

"Have you fixed a date and time for my meeting with Mr. McCarthy?" He asked as he strolled back to his seat.

"Oh, Mr. McCarthy." She sighed and slammed her palm on her forehead. She had totally forgotten about their appointment, thanks to her boss, who overworked her the day before.

He raised a brow. "What is it?"

"I totally forgot I was supposed to meet up with him yesterday. He wanted me to taste his recipe first, so that I would tell him where he is lacking before the official tasting session with you." She explained.

He shrugged. "Well, you should have kept that to yourself; I don’t care."

That was a lie!

He had been thinking about it since yesterday, wondering why they wanted to meet up.

"But you asked." Elizabeth muttered. "And I had to clear the air, because I know you still believe I was flirting with him yesterday, and that was not it."

"Good for you, but I didn’t ask." He stated.

"You still haven’t answered my question, Ms. Felix." He eased back in his seat. "Have you fixed a date?"

"No sir." She shook her head. "I haven’t had time to go through your schedule."

"Well, I have. And I realized I am free today from 4 p.m. So, communicate with him and tell him to be here before that time." He scratched his temple. "Or rather, let him know that we would meet him at his place."

She nodded her head. "Okay sir."

He gave a dismissive wave of his hand. "You can go."

"Thank you, sir." She said, as she turned on her heels.

Alexander’s gaze was fixed on her retreating figure, trying to convince himself that he wanted to meet Andrew early enough because of work. He couldn't bring himself to admit that he was doing that because of her; he didn’t want her to meet with him alone.

Why? He also didn’t know. The reason was a fucken mystery to him.