Assisting His Assistant

Chapter 36

[TRIGGER WARNINGS – Please be advised there might be emotional triggers within this chapter. Please read with caution.]

CHAPTER 36

Eric

"Morning." I greeted and entered through the glass doors to the office room. I had meetings most of the morning and stepped into the office late.

"Good Morning," Harper greeted somberly. Her mouth set in a miserable frown.

I observed her for a moment. She wasn't her cheery self, like she usually was. I wasn't used to it and felt extremely odd and out of place.

"Is my brunch ready?" I asked.

She nodded without eye contact. Her eyes glued to the computer screen. Her face unsmiling. It was probably the first time she wasn't wearing one. I wasn't used to her like this. 

"So is your black coffee and the contract from Regent Corp like you needed me to FETCH last night." She emphasized on the 'fetch' pretty hard.

My left eye twitched. "Good." I strode past her desk and entered through my office doors.

I walked to my seat and sat down. The fresh croissant filled up my nostrils, the steaming black coffee beside it.

Immediately I took a bite of the warm pastry. The buttery flakes melted in my mouth. It tasted fucking excellent!

My doors flung open and in stepped Harper, looking forlorn. Her face glum and bitter. Her sparkle and cheer vanished before me, and my brows creased in confusion.

She plopped the reports on my desk with a thud and turned towards the doors without eye contact yet again.

"Harper!?" I called.

She stopped and turned around slackly. "Anything else you need master Eric?" She sassed evenly, her face expressionless.

Master? My brow raised, liking the sound of that.

I gave her a pointed stare. "What's with you today?"

She shrugged and sighed holding onto the door for support. Her eyes glazed over, like she was about to cry or something.

I flinched at the sight. "Did something happen?" I asked desperately, urgency laced into my voice unwillingly. "Did Jake do something to you?"

Her glassy eyes snapped to me as she folded her arms tight against her breasts. "Jake and I broke up." She bit her bottom lip. "Well, he broke up with me."

I blinked, taken aback. I did not expect to hear that news.

I wasn't sad, only that she was disappointed. Harper looked like she wanted to fucking cry! I wasn't used to consoling woman and was bad at it. Hopeless even. But I felt the urge to hug her.

I slowly moved towards Harper, her right hand covered her face. I stood in front of her and cleared my throat. She looked up at me, her eyes brimming with tears threatening to leak out.

"It's okay Harper, don't worry about it." I said awkwardly and extended my arm around her delicate shoulders. I felt her pulling stiff next to me. But I pulled her in, wrapping both arms around her, gently rubbing her back. Her body melted into my chest. And I could feel her chest heaving, up and down. Her chocolate loosed brown hair smelling like vanilla again. The exposed skin of her arms soft and supple. Suddenly I pulled stiff, and it wasn't just my body stiffening.

We stood in silence, while I'd embraced her, not knowing if this was professional or not. Hell, I was never professional when it came to my previous assistants, but this was different, wasn't it? I held on tight to her, surprising my damn self. The unfamiliar and odd feeling growing familiar each time.