crossed, his head tilted to one side in irritation, his mouth set in stony determination. And in a daze of tumultuous emotions she walked out of his office.
Chapter Thirteen
It was turning out to be the longest week of her life. Alex thought it would never end. She tried to bury herself in work and keep her thoughts occupied but it was useless. JP filled her mind and her heart and there was simply no way of shaking him loose.
Shortly after the run-in with Caroline in his office he’d disappeared into a meeting with his partners and didn’t reappear for the rest of that day, or Friday either for that matter. Early the following Monday morning he left for Queensland to deal with Mark Jackson’s injunction application and didn’t return until Wednesday night.
As for Thursday and Friday, they may as well have been ships in the night. He was either in court or in protracted meetings with clients or his partners. If he did reappear the lawyers would swoop to pick his brains about their own matters. He’d then slice his time up into as many portions as he could as they either queued at his door or pressured Alex to squeeze them into his diary. Even Caroline was reduced to making an appointment to see him.
Alex thanked her lucky stars for the distraction of the work he was piling upon her every day from his remote locations. Every morning she’d find a string of messages or emails from his phone. As he didn’t have time for dictation he’d give her the bare bones of what he needed and then leave the drafting to her. By the next morning it had rematerialised as a pile on her desk, marked-up or signed off and accompanied by a long string of instructions for that day.
If and how he was getting any sleep Alex just couldn’t imagine. The workload suggested he was up most of the night trying to make up for the hours during the day when he was pulled in three different directions at once. Whenever she had a fleeting glimpse of him she could tell he was exhausted.
Alex wished there were something more she could do to help but he kept a professional distance from her. The promise she’d made to do the same was fresh in her mind too. How could she reverse that now when they’d effectively evicted each other from their lives just ten days ago? How did such a fragile, tentative beginning as they’d shared ever recover from that?
At half past five on the Friday, having seen JP for a grand total of five minutes that day, Alex tidied up her desk and swinging her handbag onto her shoulder wandered over to Sophie.
“Hello you,” Sophie greeted her brightly. “Coming to Friday night drinks?”
“No thanks, I’m not in the mood. I thought I’d go to the gym instead. But if you feel like it, would you like to meet up later and see a movie?”
In truth, Alex was dreading the thought of trying to fill up yet another weekend with her own company as she battled the endless distraction of JP: where he was, what he was doing, who he was with.
“Sure, but there’s one condition. I want you to buck up. You’ve had the personality of a wet blanket lately and I’m sick of it. No excuses.”
Alex laughed at Sophie’s grim summation of her personality. “Has it been that bad?”
Sophie stuck out her bottom lip and shot up her eyebrows in mockery of Alex’s demeanour.
“You know how they say dogs resemble their owners? Well you’re beginning to resemble your boss when he’s having one of his ‘I want it done yesterday’ fits.”
Alex laughed again. “I get the picture.”
“Good, then belt up. I know you’ve had the fortnight from hell with all the Simon drama topped off with the most demanding yet invisible boss in the world but it could be worse,” Sophie finished before raising her hand to cover her mouth and hiss at her in a whisper, “You could be working for Caroline Cartwright!”
Alex changed into her gym gear in the ladies and was about to step into the lift when Michael Porter appeared in front of her from out of the stairwell.
“Alex Farrer!” he announced as a smile lit up his face. “Just the person I’m looking for. I hear you’re about to start as a paralegal.”
“It hasn’t been finalised yet. I’ve been pretty flat out with Jonathan’s PA work anyway.”
“I know, but I was