Chapter 35
WOWAM
The weight of his eyes on me again makes me sigh.
only been three hours since I got here this morning, and Ethan has been watching me since I arrived. At first, I thought it bad something to do with him thinking I’ve lost weight, but when I lifted my lunchbox and shook it at him to signal that I had food, he didn’t stop watching me
the abrachy came out of his office twice to check on things‘ and once he came out to just stand by my desk, which was incredibly irritating. Having someone stand over your shoulder while you’re putting data into a report is a bit nerve wracking as well.
A strange how he acting. I thought he was worried or stressed about something, but the more he watches me and the more he hovers, I wonder if he doesn’t trust me. So, I decide to watch him to see if I can figure this out. I don’t want to jump to conclusions, but if I’m doing something wrong, or if he thinks I’m doing something wrong, I need to know.
Antering the last numbers into my current report, I print if off and walk it to Ethan. He thanks me, takes the report, and begins flipping through it. After a page of heavy staring, I realize he is checking my work.
Have I been doing the reports wrong to where he has to check each one? I didn’t notice it before today, but maybe he didn’t say anything because of our arguments.
No, that doesn’t seem right. Ethan isn’t afraid to bring up a problem when he finds it.
The small irritation in my chest grows, creating a chasm from the small crack.
As I watch Ethan, I find him picking up two more reports that I submit and checking over them. What the hell? If there’s something wrong, why hasn’t he said anything?
Is he bipolar or something?
I debate with myself on checking my own work again, but I remember the concentration and careful checking I did while I entered the data. I didn’t make a mistake.
When he picks up a fourth report, I sigh and shake my head. He could be looking for something or he could just be thorough in making sure everything is submitted correctly. So, with a guilt free mind, I try to focus on my work again.
His eyes still find me every now and then, and my body always alerts me with a little zing of anticipation when they do.
My work moves slower than usual with my injured wrist, but with my determined focus and hard work at ignoring Ethan, I finally finish the resubmission of a report from yesterday. Ryan checked this one yesterday, giving me notes on how to fix it, because we had to change the second and forth page due to the factory requirements.
Just as I submit the report online, I reach for my ringing office phone.
“Mr. Montgomery’s office. This is Fiona, how can I help you?”
“Fiona,” a woman’s voice croons. “Hello, I am calling to speak with my son since he does not seem to think answering his cell phone is important.”
So it’s not just me he doesn’t answer calls from.
“Your son? May I ask who this is?”
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“Pardon me. My name is Regina Montgomery the mother of your little boss,” she answers sounding haughty as she lets out a little hum at the end of her sentence.
His mother?
Lättle boss?
I don’t know anyone who could get away with calling Ethan Montgomery a little anything. Especially in the demeaning way she’d just done. He’s the biggest, most important person around here, and she just used two words that gave me the impression she doesn’t think very much of him.
Glancing through the windows of Ethan’s office, I observe him sifting through paper after paper. The furrow of his brows and the frown on his lips tell me he’s stressed and doesn’t want to be bothered, but it’s his mother.
“I’ll transfer you to him now, Ma’am,” I tell her, hoping it’s not a mistake. I press the transfer button, and when Ethan’s phone rings, he looks up, his eyes landing on me immediately. I point at the phone urgently, and he glances at it.
His body heaves like he’s sighing, and I watch as he answers the phone.
The stony, furious expression from yesterday falls over his face as he listens to whatever his mother says. The longer she talks the redder his face gets.
Maybe it wasn’t a great idea to let his mother talk to him. I thought he was probably just too busy to answer his cell, but could he have been ignoring her on purpose?
Little boss.
The words and the patronizing way she’d said the phrase echo through my mind again, and I shake my head. He said his parents were pushing him and pressuring him about something, so she could be calling to hound him about that stressful
situation.
1 peek at him again. Now, he’s standing, his face a mask of fury, and his hand waving through the air. I can’t hear what he’s saying, but it doesn’t look good.
A bit of sadness filters through me at the sight. My mother was amazing, but I forget that not everyone has a loving relationship with their parents like I did with my mother.
It makes me want to go in there and hug him.
Ethan slams the phone down on the receiver, making me jump and spin around. I can’t let him catch me spying.
“Fiona.” My name crackles through the intercom on my desk, and I peek at him again. “Eat lunch with me.”
The demand is much softer than the vehement anger I’d seen him talking to his mother with, so after checking it is indeed lunch time, I grab my lunchbox and shuffle into his office.
We haven’t talked about what happened yesterday, and as I sit in one of his chairs, I feel the awkward tension fall over us. Í sit across from him at his desk, and when I pull out my little sandwich and a small orange, Ethan sucks in a breath of air.
I glance at him, and not surprisingly, he’s looking at my meager lunch.
“I…”
I don’t really know what to say, so I just unwrap my sandwich.
Before I’m even two bites into the sandwich, Ethan has pulled out another lunchbox like yesterday and unloads three different meals. The first is a chicken sandwich with mashed potatoes and green beans. The second is a loaded baked potato with pulled pork on top. The third is a steak with asparagus and some purple fruit on the side.
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Once they’re on the desk, he pushes the three meals toward me, saying, “Didn’t know which one you would like, so you can choose.”
“Wh–what?” I ask, surprise filling me. He’s feeding me again?
“I told you yesterday you need to eat more, so I brought you lunch,” he clarifies, nodding to the three containers. The fancy meals are much better than anything I could ever make myself for lunch.
“I didn’t expect you to-”
“I told you I’d make up for hurting you.”
Lifting my eyes to Ethan’s, I study him. He’s back to being caring again. I try not to let it affect me, but my heart squeezes with the warmth of his words and the kind gesture.
So, I say the only thing I can.
“Thank you, Ethan.”
He nods and waits until I pick my meal before pulling the chicken sandwich and steak meals back to himself.
Quietly, I dig into the delicious meal and mentally thank him again. This is so much better than two pieces of bread with a single slice of meat and cheese between them.
Just as we’re finishing and cleaning up our lunch mess when Ryan bursts into the office, waving a paper in the air.
“There’s a problem,” he announces, making both Ethan and I go rigid.
“What happened?” I ask, moving out of his way as he rushes forward and gives the papers to Ethan.
“The manufacturer just called saying they could not accept these terms and that our contract will be delayed,” he answers, glancing at me before turning fully to Ethan who takes the papers and immediately begins reading through them.
A growl sounds from his chest as he flips through the last page.
“Who submitted this? The data is completely wrong, and these terms are not what I outlined in my instructions,” Ethan demands, slamming the papers on the desk. I jump at the sudden loud sound.
Ryan glances at me with furrowed brows and the most blank expression I’ve seen on him since we met, which confuses me.
“Who?!”
“F–Fiona did,” Ryan answers, and both mine and Ethan’s eyes widen.
“What? Let me see!” I grab the papers from Ethan and as soon as I lay my eyes on the numbers, I recognize the report, but it’s not what I submitted.
“This isn’t my report,” I announce confidently.
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