The Beast of Stornoway

Chapter 85: Amani

Amani stood in the foyer and sipped on a glass of water to calm her upset stomach. She'd been vomiting all morning and she felt like shit. She just wanted to go back to bed, but she needed to go into the office today. She had a very important meeting with Oberman that she refused to cancel. She'd been meeting with him regularly to work on his finance project and they'd become really good friends. If she kept it up, she knew she could get him to support Van.

A small smile tugged at her lips. She still couldn't believe Van told her he'd loved her! She couldn't believe she cried the way she did either.

What the hell is wrong with me? I've been so damn emotional lately.

She must be getting one of those periods. The ones where she was a blubbering damn mess or everything annoyed her. Like the way Van was staring at her right now. She knew she didn't look that great today, but she didn't need him assessing her attire.

"What?" she snapped and immediately regretted it. Her stomach went sour and she quickly put a hand over her mouth. She ran to the bathroom near the kitchen and puked up the water and bile in her stomach.

Van slid his fingers in her hair and gently pulled it away from her face. "You're not going into the office today."

"I'm fine," she grumbled and pushed away from the toilet. She held on to the sink as she washed her mouth out and willed the nausea away.

"No, you're not. You're sick and you need to lie down."

Tears pricked the corners of her eyes as she turned around to look at him.

Is he dismissing me? I can do my job. I don't need to lie down.

"No, I have to go to work. I've got to meet with Oberman. Don't dismiss me from my project." She glared but she couldn't stop the tears rolling down her cheeks.

For fuck's sake, Amani. Get it, the fuck, together.

Van chuckled and pulled her into his arms. "I'm not dismissing you. I know you can do this, but you've been working so hard and it's catching up to you. You need to rest, little witch," he cooed and kissed her head. "Just take today off. I'm sure you'll feel better tomorrow."

She shook her head. "B-but I won't get to meet with Oberman any other time this week."

"Don't worry about that. He'd reschedule anything for you."

"We don't have time for rescheduling," she mumbled and a sob escaped her lips before she could stop it.

Why am I so damn emotional?

She knew she could reschedule the meeting but it just felt like there was no time. She was finally going to ask Oberman how he felt about a change in ownership!

"We have plenty of time," Van said and lifted her weeping form in his arms. "I'm taking you back to bed."

"I don't need to sleep." She sniffed, but the calming sound of his soft heartbeat and the soothing scent of his cologne made her eyes droop.

She barely felt him take off her shoes and lie her in bed. He tucked her blankets around her and kissed her forehead. "I'll make sure Lydia looks after you," he whispered and kissed her ear. "I love you."

A smile tugged at her lips as she drifted off to sleep, "...love you too."