when all is said and done | e.d.

thirty-seven

harper

"ethan, i have a favor."

my assistant looks up from his computer, and sighs slightly. "what is it, harper?"

"i need you to dog-sit on friday. ruby's owner has to fill in a shift, and i have plans."

"done," he says quickly.

i narrows my eyes teasingly and lean against the doorframe into his office. "not so fast. how can i be so sure that i trust you alone in my house with a dog?"

he gives me a look of skepticism. "you're kidding, right? you're acting like this would be my first time in your house."

"correction," i wave a finger. "first time alone. what if you snoop?"

"have anything to hide, harper jane?"

"no."

he shrugs. "then don't be worried."

"so you are going to snoop?"

he rolls his eyes, swiveling back to his desk. "never said that."

"so you aren't?"

"never said that either!" he sing songs.

"i'm so confused," i shake my head. "are you going to poke around or not?"

he looks at me from the corner of his eye and laughs. "no. only creepy people do that. ruby and i will probably just sit around and talk shit."

"talk shit about who?"

"you ask so many questions," he groans out. "i've given you my answer, please leave me alone now."

"fine, thank you," i say, turning around to leave.

he catches my wrist suddenly, and i freeze at the touch. ethan hasn't touched me since that one day after the gym.

"didn't you just tell me to leave you alone?" i ask.

"wait, what are you doing on friday that makes me need to dog sit?"

"oh," i say. "thomas is taking me out somewhere. we'll probably walk around the city and stuff."

he drops my wrist and his eyes dim. "cool."

"yeah. it'll be fun, i hope."

ethan's mood dropped dramatically in the span of thirty seconds, and it makes me wonder why. we were like normal—joking around and pretending to be mad— and then he just got all... quiet.

i make my way back to my desk and try to focus on the tasks at hand. we have a meeting later today that we both have to go to, and i honestly hope he's back to normal.

i don't like when ethan's upset.

bentley calls my office in the early afternoon, and to save myself from talking to him any longer, i tell a little white lie that i'm late to the meeting ethan and i have to attend.

"i'll call you back later, mr. bentley," i rush out into the phone. "i'm um, seriously running late to the meeting."

"but harper—"

i slam the phone back into the receiver and tug my coat on. ethan gives me a strange look, but stays quiet through my bustling.

"ready to go?" i ask, hand on the doorknob.

he jumps up, collecting his bag and turning off his desktop. we walk briskly to the elevators, even though i'm definitely way early for this meeting.