Love On Board <LGBTQ+ Story>

Chapter 22: "All thanks to my pro-level eavesdropping skills, of course."

HARPER

Blinking rapidly to clear my vision after rubbing at my eyes quite harshly, I tried focusing on the document pulled up on my laptop screen. It was almost six o'clock, and I promised Ronnie that I would clock out early. At that point, the whole idea was out the window, but I was still rushing through the remaining contracts I had to proofread and sign when the double mahogany entrance to my office was busted open FBI-style.

What in the world...?

Both Ronnie, who was lounging on the couch in the corner of my office, scrolling on her phone, and I looked up to see dear old Dad at the doorway, his usual chilled, blank expression intact as if he hadn't entered the room like a man crazed. Beside him stood my slightly sweaty, profusely apologetic-looking secretary with her fist in the air, no doubt just about to rattle my door off its hinges with the standard four loud knocks to warn me of the big bad boss.

"Madison. What is this I hear you won't be able to accommodate Kirk for an evening meeting today?"

Straight to the point, I see. And I swear, he says my less preferred name like it was some sort of acceptable greeting everytime just to irk me. I suppressed a sigh.

My father, ladies and gents, always with the bad timing. I kept my gaze straight and on him, making a conscious effort to not let it stray in the direction of my girlfriend, even though I was wildly aware for her presense and stare.

"I specifically told him that he could come to you whenever he needed something. Because you're the bloody COO, aren't you? And I thought you were responsible enough to at least stay at work for eight hours like everybody else. And now, the one time Kirk Young is actually in town and wants to talk business, you say you're too busy with plans to slack off? You think this is acceptable?"

Always with the accusations. It made my lips curl into a small smile. It was an inadvertent, bitter one for your information, but it didn't matter. Nobody ever thought my smiles could be anything but sweet.

But because I was somehow keen on self-sabotaging, my eyes instinctively slid over to Ronnie. Was it because my brain was slowly wiring itself to seek her out whenever it felt anxiety creeping up? I hoped not. Depending on people prematurely rarely ends well.

She was watching us with a curious yet wary gaze, inconspicuously trying to lower her curled legs down from their comfy position on the couch, her phone abandoned beside her lap. My father didn't initially notice her when he first came in, but he sure as hell did now as he followed my line of sight.

His sharp, ever perspective gaze landed on the company pilot lounging in my office. I gulped.

"Dad I—"