As the warm water tenderly travelled down my body, I ran my hands through my hair casually. There was only one thing going on in my mind at that moment. Last night: the way I felt when I touched him; the way he let me in, even if it wasn't a lot but it was still something. I was happy that he trusted me enough to even tell me that fact. There was one thing that was still bothering me; the way he turned his back on me when I mentioned about getting them into jail. It's not like I said anything wrong.
I stepped out of the bathroom with one of the towels wrapped around my body and the other one wrapped around my hair. Stepping in front of the dressing table I applied moisturiser on my face and began to apply cream all over my body when I heard William yelling downstairs. I couldn't really make out what he was saying since my bedroom door was closed. I didn't really feel the need to know about it either, so I continued to finish off applying cream and changed into work clothes. I decided to apply a bit of make up today and put my hair up in a bun. I looked at my appearance one last time before heading downstairs.
As I walked down the stairs, I saw him going up while still in his clothes from last night. I wouldn't have got into trouble if he was with me, after all, he was the boss.
I continued to walk down the stairs and made my way to the kitchen, assuming that I had time to grab something to eat before going. There was a guy who walked past me, but I couldn't see their face and I assumed that he worked here so I didn't give it too much thought and went over to grab myself a glass of water. I didn't really feel like having that much so I just grabbed an apple from the fruit box that was placed on the grey tiled counter across the kitchen. As I took a bite from the apple, I made my way towards where the sofas were and made myself comfortable. I took out my phone from my pocket and decided to finally switch it on. I didn't have the energy to go on my phone before. My phone was the last thing on my mind after what had happened.
Shit.
I had forgotten to let Sof know that I wasn't going to go home. As soon as I switched my phone on, 20 missed calls and 35 messages popped up, all from her. I tensed up; I knew that he expected me to not tell anyone, but she was my best friend. I had to tell her.
I checked the time, it was 8:30am. She was most likely on her way to work and I didn't want to make her late so I ended up messaging her that I was fine, and I would see her at home in the evening. She read the message immediately and called me.
"Hey- "I was cut off by her yelling through the call. I could tell that she was walking to work by the sound of her heels and from the way that she was breathing.
"Where were you?! Why didn't you call me?! You could've messaged me. I was worried sick. I was planning on going to the police to look for you." I felt so guilty at that moment. I should've messaged her. Even if I couldn't use my phone, I should've asked William to arrange something so that she didn't get worried.
"I'm sorry. I know I should've messaged you and I know that sorry isn't enough, but I promise to try and make it up to you."
"It's fine, as long as you're ok." She sighed making me smile, even though I knew she couldn't see it. I was lucky to have her as my best friend and I wouldn't have known what to do without her. "But What happened? Do I need to beat anyone up?" She continued to interrogate with her demanding voice.
I laughed, "No, you don't have to beat anyone up. I'll explain tonight, I promise."
"Ok. Don't forget about your explanation afterwards."
"I won't. I'm going to have to go now. I'll see you tonight."
"Alright. See you". She ended the call there and I put my phone down and threw my remaining apple away.
It had been a while and he still wasn't coming down, so I went up the stairs and nervously knocked on his door. When I heard nothing from the other side, I knocked again but got nothing. I called him but I still wasn't getting anything, so I decided to check if he was in there. Dumb move? Probably. But there was no harm in checking.
I turned the door handle and popped my head inside and called out to him again, but I didn't hear him, so I ended up stepping for a quick glance inside.
If I thought the room that I was staying in was huge, then his room was just mind-blowing, and I'm not even exaggerating. His room had Italian set as well, but it was in white and by the looks of it they were cleaned daily. I stepped inside without knowing and allowed my eyes to wonder around the room and to capture every detail. The windows were open which made the curtains fly around because of the wind; there were several perfumes on the dressing table, and all were lined up according to their size which made it look even better.
I took a step further to check if he was in the bathroom when I heard a click coming from there.
Oops.
I was too scared to move so I was frozen on my spot. Believe me when I say that I wasn't moving a single muscle. Somehow I managed to turn on my heels to go back down and wait for him there before he realised that I had went in his room. But do you think anything goes according to what I want? Nope.
I turned the door handle when I heard his voice coming from right behind me. "What are you doing here?" His voice was really stern and demanding, making me almost shit my pants. What? If you were in the same position as me with a person like him, you would've had the same reaction, trust me.
Shit. Shit. Shit. I really shouldn't have come in.
I didn't want to turn around without knowing where he was standing. What if he was standing right behind me? Instead, I replied without turning around. "I was going to check how long you were going to be. I'll be waiting downstairs." I had said that in one go. I just wanted to get out of there, but he had other plans. He was right behind me. I could feel his breath on my neck.
OH MY GOD. OH MY GOD.
He used his right hand to push the door closed and he leaned against my ear whispering, "Look at me while talking." He knew.
He knew the sort of effect that he had on me. I can tell that he knew it.
The room was silent and the only thing that could've been heard was my irregular breathing and I'm sure that he even heard my irregular heartbeat. I attempted to control my breathing. I couldn't turn around. There was no space.
Is he blind?
He clearly could've moved away and gave me some space, but it was as if he was paralysed. I should've been the one paralysed, not him.
It was as if he had read my mind and moved back a bit, allowing me to turn and face him. But I regretted it almost instantly.
For fuck's sake! Why did I have to come here?
Thankfully, he was already changed. It was a huge relief, considering about how I was feeling that moment. His hair was still wet though and I had to restrain myself from running my fingers through them.
Blame him, not me.
He was too close to me and I didn't have space to move back. I was frozen to my spot as he bore his eyes into mine. I couldn't look away even if I wanted to, but I had to force my eyes to peel away from his.
"I-I'll wait downstairs."
God dammit.
Why am I stuttering? Ugh.
I was really frustrated at myself and rushed out of the room when he moved away after nodding his head. I could tell he had a little smirk playing around on his lips, but he was concealing it.
He thinks he's smart.
I was clearly annoyed at what had happened. I just hoped that things didn't get awkward. I just hated it when things got awkward with the people that you have to see almost every day.
I was in my thoughts when I saw him marching down the stairs while typing on his phone. I wondered who he texteed all the time.
It's not like he had a girlfriend, right?
I don't care either way.
I managed to convince myself for the time being and followed him outside the house and into the luxurious car. He asked the driver to drive as he still was typing away on his phone. It was really starting to bother me.
It's not bothering me. It shouldn't bother me. He's my boss, he can do whatever he wants to.
I decided not to give it much thought and got my own phone out. I checked my email to see if I had anything. I had received an email from Isa asking me where I was and If I was coming to work. But she had sent that email right after lunch, so I think William had informed her.
"No one should get to know that you were staying at my place over night." He was still typing away on his phone while demanding.
He must be bipolar.
It was as if I was with another William up in his room and another William in this car.
People say girls are complicated.
He looked up to me when he didn't hear anything from me. "Quit daydreaming. Do you understand what I asked you to do?"
"Yes, I get it." I looked at my phone again and pretended to look at emails. It shouldn't have bothered me, but it was, and I couldn't control it. I glanced at him with the corner of my moist eyes and looked back at my phone.
I knew why he said not to tell anyone, but it felt right; everything about us felt right and I didn't know what to do about it. Deciding to distract myself I ended up messaging Sof, hoping she was free to message.
Hey girl! Are you free?
I messaged and waited for 6 minutes and received a reply from her.
Heyy, Yeah I'm free. There are hardly any customers today.
She sent another messaged again right after that one.
Are you ok?
Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just on my way to work.
You should've taken the day off and came home.
Don't worry. I'm fine, I swear. I'll see you tonight and we are gonna binge lol
Yesss! Girl I can't wait!
I was happy that she was excited, and I was excited as well, but nervous at the same time. I was worried about her reaction when I tell her where I stayed the night. I knew that he had told me not to tell anyone, but she was my best friend, and I couldn't hide anything from her even if I wanted to.
I looked out of the window and stared at the several green trees that were passing by as we accelerated past them. I could feel a bit of adrenaline going through my veins and I loved it. I sighed as I went into daydreaming and thinking about what had happened last night and this morning. A lot had happened under 24 hours and it was a lot for me to digest.
I closed my eyes for a brief moment, but all I could see was flashback of me and him on the sofa, sitting together, hand in hand. And today morning in his room. I never wanted for those moments to end. Why? Why was I feeling that way? I didn't know the answer to those questions, and I didn't know how to find out. All I could do was avoid thinking about it by distracting myself.
"Are you ok?" He shocked me when he had asked me that. I mean, you don't expect William Stock to ask you if you were ok.
It was a huge shocker.
I managed to say, "Yeah, I'm fine." Even though I wasn't fine. I was nowhere near fine, but I didn't want to add to his problems and he probably didn't actually care.
He was asking for the sake of it.
"What about you?" I turned to look at him.
He turned to look at me as well. It seemed like he was a bit taken back, as if he didn't expect me to ask.
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about me." He shook his head as if he was avoiding thinking about something.
That was when something clicked inside me. He was probably not used to being asked if he was ok; he was probably not used to being asked how he was doing; he was probably used to staying on his own and minding his own business. He didn't have anyone close to him; he didn't have family that looked out for him. Care and affection were probably really foreign to him.
I looked at him again, but instead of seeing the usual cold-hearted businessman, I saw a lonely person that didn't know what was meant by caring.
I didn't realise how long I was looking at him, until he looked up at me and raised one of his brows in a questioning manner. I ended up shaking my head, turned my head and stared back out of the window.
*ONE GUNSHOT!*
I jump on my seat as a gunshot was heard coming from behind thousands of trees that were surrounding us. I frantically looked around my surrounding, but nothing could be seen in the immense darkness.
*TWO GUNSHOTS!*
I was panicking whereas, William was dangerously calm.
This is not the time to worry about your reputation, Mr Stock. I had the urge to say that out loud, but I clearly didn't. Instead, I said, "What's going on?" Seriously? That's all I had to say?
He continued to look around him. "Just, keep your head down."
You have got to be kidding me. Does this guy even have any brain cells?
I did as I was told and put my head down while covering my eyes, I felt William move so I opened my eyes. But I regretted it almost instantly when I saw him point his own gun outside. He started to pull the trigger.
I couldn't believe my eyes that moment. It was as if I was having a nightmare and I wasn't waking up.
He probably felt eyes on him, so he turned around and looked straight at me. I couldn't move. I didn't move an inch and looked at him through my blurry vision.
"I told you to put your head down." He was annoyed. But I didn't care. At that point I really didn't care.
How could he casually hold a gun?
By the looks of it, it seemed like he was familiar with gun for a long time. He handled it really calmly and swiftly. I was still looking at him as he fired away through the window. It felt like hours as I saw each bullet escape the gun and through the numerous trees; screams were heard echoing from the woods. Their screams were deafening and unbearable. I saw no pain, no remorse on his face or in his eyes. He had his cold expression on his face. It seemed like he had done that before, almost seemed like he was used to it. I wondered if I should stop him, but he was already in a mood that screamed dangerous. I didn't want to take any risks. He was really unpredictable when it came to his mood.
By the looks of it, it seemed like he managed to take down majority of them and some gave up and escaped. He sat back down and put his gun away somewhere around his back. He didn't even turn to look at me. He told the driver to carry on driving and continued to look ahead. Whereas I didn't dare to move my eyes away from him. You could say that I was a little traumatised.
Who expects to nearly be killed by a bunch of strangers? Who expects their boss to get his own gun out and start to fire away? No one.
"Are you ok?" He still didn't look at me.
He doesn't even have the courage to look me in the eye anymore.
I turned my head to look outside the window and murmured a quick, "Yeah." Even though I didn't mean it, but he didn't seem to say anything. He was surprised that I wasn't curious and that I wasn't asking a bunch of questions, like I usually did because there was a small pause before he nodded his head and began to type away on his phone.
Did I have the permission to grab his phone and throw it out of the window? Nope. Did I have the urge to do it? Yes.
Deciding to distract myself I put my earphones in to listen to music and closed my eyes to relax.
This is going to be a long day.
"WHAT THE FUCK!" I SCREAMED OUT LOAD as I sprang my eyes open in shock. I saw that William is missing from my right side, only to be ended up near me with the car door open.
"Watch your language, Miss Livingston. We have a lot of work to do so there's no time to be sleeping around". He replied in annoyance, but he managed to maintain the tone of his voice.
I got out of the car and tried to dry myself as much as I could, while he put the water bottle back in the car. He fixed his blazer, and he made his way inside the building. I followed him inside and we were greeted by none other than Miss Sasha Morgan. Her eyes lit up the moment she saw him enter through the door, but I didn't care. I had lost interest in everything that had got to do with him when he held that gun.
Nothing can change that. Nothing and no one. Was I trying to not care? Yes. Was it hard? Yes. To be honest, I knew that at one point I would've eventually given up with the act of not caring about anything that was connected to him. But I wasn't going to give up that quick.
"Good morning, sir". She stood up while pulling her top down. A bit too down than it should be. It made me mentally roll my eyes.
He aired her and took strides towards the lift. I looked back to see her glaring at me. I could've never known what she had against me. If it was because she thought that I was going to be going after William, then she was worrying for no reason.
He wasn't my type.
The guys that carry guns with them were not my type.
As we entered the lift, I pressed the floor and the door closed soon after.
Awkward.
There was this awkward silence until he broke it.
"No one should know what has happened for the past few days, especially whatever happened today. No one should know except for both of us. Understood?"
"Yes." I didn't turn to look his way and continued to stare ahead, even though he turned his head my way for a quick glance after my response. He's going to get a lot of surprises.
We exited the lift and made our way towards his office, while I was struggling to keep up with him in my heels.
What am I doing? I should be going to the police, but at the same time, I don't think they would take any action against him. He has the power to control anyone; it's evident.
He went around his table and swung his blazer at the back of his chair and sat down, and then proceeded to open his laptop. He relaxed in his chair as I impatiently stood there waiting to know what he expected me to do.
"Get me a coffee and grab a file from Isabelle".
Rude.
"Sure". I turned around and speed walked out of his office.
Who does he think he is?
I was furious. But I didn't know why I was still there. I didn't know why I was still with him. I was anxious; to know what happened, why it had happened.
Most importantly, I was anxious to know more about him.
As I reached near Isabelle and found her on a call, so I waited while leaning my elbow against the desk. While waiting I couldn't help myself but to wonder, why is he being so cold after yesterday? But the question that was bugging me the most was, who is he? Why does he carry a gun with him? There were many questions and there was no one that could have answered them. Well, he could've but not like he would have opened up about his life anyway.
I was deep in my thoughts that I didn't realise Isabelle was calling me, until she snapped her fingers in front of my eyes couple of times.
"Where were you lost?" She leaned forward a bit while she interrogated me.
"Nothing". I smiled and continued, "He asked for a file from you". I bit my lip, and hoped she wouldn't ask anymore questions otherwise I would've even just spilled the whole thing.
"Yep, give me a second". She looked through a pile of files on her desk while struggling to find it. I decided to give her some time, so I excused myself and went to get him his coffee first.
As I went inside the lift with couple of other people, I was thinking back to what had happened. I couldn't help myself but to feel helpless. There were so many unanswered questions that were swirling around in my head.
I shouldn't think about it. At least, not right now.
I made my way towards the canteen and made his coffee and turned around to go back up when I ended up spilling the warm coffee on someone's shirt, and when I looked up it was none other than Mr. Stock himself.
Damn it.
Are you blind? Couldn't you say you were behind me? In fact, why couldn't you just stay in your office like you always do? I wanted to say all those things to him, but I couldn't even open my mouth.
"Ah!" He gritted his teeth to prevent himself from screaming any louder. At this point everyone in the canteen were staring our way. If there was a party going on and I had everyone's attention then I would've been fine with it, but in that situation, I wanted to scream in annoyance.
He bought his eyes on me from his shirt, and I wanted the floor to just swallow me up. I was waiting for him to yell, scream or even fire me but instead he just turned around and walked out.
That's so weird. He didn't even utter a single a word.
There were people whispering to each other, but I couldn't manage to hear any of them as they were all overlapping each other.
Hurriedly, I made another cup of coffee and rushed back upstairs while taking deep breathes to calm my nerve cells down.
I didn't know what to expect when I would go to his office.
This day has been theworst.