out of the office and sat down on my chair in a huff. I was feeling so mad and upset that it was all I could do not to go back in there and let him have it. How dare he kiss me like that then apologize for it! I had never been more humiliated in my life.
Luckily, he stayed in his office for the rest of the morning. When I saw the clock said noon, I shut off my computer and grabbed my purse. As I set the phone to go straight to voice mail, Ethan strode in.
“Hey, Aly,” he said with a grin. I was so happy to see him that I ran to him and wrapped my arms around his waist. I felt him hesitate before wrapping his arms around me.
“Wow, what’s this about?” he asked me, surprised.
I realized I needed him now more than ever and continued hugging him, saying nothing.
He leaned back and looked into my eyes. “What’s wrong?”
”I’m just having a bad day. I hope you were coming here to take me to lunch,” I said, trying to lighten up.
He grinned. “Of course I was. I missed my girl.”
“Good, you should have. Wait right here while I tell Paul I’m off to lunch.”
I grudgingly walked to Paul’s office and softly knocked on it. Without waiting to be told to come in, I opened it. He was on his phone and I sighed in relief. I whispered to him that I was going to lunch and he just nodded. Shutting the door quietly, I thanked my lucky stars I didn’t have to say anything more to him.
Lunch went by way too fast and soon enough, we were back at work. Ethan at least got my mind off my idiot boss and we had a nice time. Walking back into the office, my heart dropped remembering Paul’s words from this morning.
Ethan came in with me and sat down across from my desk, like usual. He liked to hang around for a few minutes before he had to head back to his own office and today I welcomed it wholeheartedly. I noticed Paul’s door was open, but I couldn’t tell if he was in there because I didn’t want him seeing me look.
“So, I didn’t say anything at lunch, but I need to know what’s going on,” Ethan said.
My head jerked up. “What do you mean?”
“Don’t give me that, Al. Seriously, what’s going on?”
I looked behind me and seeing Paul’s door still open, I raised my index finger to my lips, showing Ethan to be quiet. He nodded his understanding and lowered his voice. “I know something is going on, Aly, but we’ll talk later.”
I sighed in relief. “Thank you.”
Ethan stood up and leaned over my desk, giving me a kiss on my cheek. “I have to get back to work now, but I hope you know I’m always here for you. You can tell me anything.”
Tears sprung to my eyes. “I know. Thank you.”
He rubbed his knuckles along my cheek then stood. I stared after him as he walked out of my office. Grabbing a Kleenex, I wiped my eyes and blew my nose. Determined to shove all non-work related thoughts of Paul aside, I went back to work.
I was so wrapped up in my work that I didn’t hear him approach.
“Aly,” he said sharply.
Turning around in my chair, I looked at him without responding. He was standing in the doorway of his office, his toned arms folded against his chest. He looked beautiful and I cursed him for it. He also looked conflicted.
“What Paul?” I finally ask.
“I need you to come in here and work with me on what we talked about this weekend for a while. The sooner the better,” he responded. Without waiting for my response, he turned on his heel and walked back into his office.
Feeling very annoyed at him, I got up and walked into his office. “Okay, I’m here. What specific project are you referring to?”
He glanced up at me with cold eyes and I took a step back.
“Any of them, Aly. You choose which one you want to focus on and let’s get to work.”
“Wait, what? You didn’t even have a specific one in mind when you asked me to come in here?”
He sighed and sat back in his chair with his hands behind his head. “Nope, I didn’t. Is that a problem?”
Feeling my anger start to boil, I gave him a look. “Well, yeah. If you’re going to