Page 50 of Don't Leave Me

13

Chapter 13

I felt like all eyes were on me as I walked into the office, feeling like I was walking in slow motion as my co-workers peered over their cubicles, glaring at me like I was screwing the boss or something.Oh wait.I figured I was being paranoid, but ever since Evan seemed suspicious of me and Michael, I just imagined the gossip going around the office. It wasn’t like it was against company policy or anything…was it?Maybe it’s frowned upon. Whatever, no one will find out.I smiled politely at my cubicle mate, Cassie, and set down my bag as I unpacked my Macbook.

“How was your Thanksgiving?” Cassie asked, her tone always friendly and welcoming.

“It was great,” I smiled at her, sitting down. “How was yours?”

She sighed. “It was fine. Lots of family. Too much family,” she chuckled.

I gave her a laugh and raised my eyebrows. “Yeah, same here,” I agreed with her.

I could see that she was still eyeing me as I started up my Macbook.

“Did you see Michael today? It looks like he’s growing out his beard. He looksreallygood,” she said playfully.

I glanced over at her and her eyes were eager and curious, her smile wide.

I shook my head and looked back down at my Macbook. “No, I haven’t seen him yet,” I said flatly, trying to sound uninterested.

She never commented on how attractive Michael was. I mean, it was common knowledge, a fact that he was gorgeous and it seemed awfully suspicious that she all of a sudden was bringing it up.

“You’ll see at the meeting,” she chirped. “I mean, he lookssohot,” she went on.

I felt my face burning; I was getting jealous.Shut the hell up about it already, Cassie. I ignored her last statement and started to read my e-mails and I guess she took the hint because she kept quiet until we all gathered inside the conference room for the 10:30 Monday meeting.

Evan was already sitting next to Suzie in our usual spot when I noticed that Cassie sat down next to him, taking my usual spot.What the hell?I shrugged and sat next to Suzie, smiling at her as I put my notes out in front of me.

“Hey,” I said cheerfully, turning to look at her and Evan.

“Hey,” she raised her eyebrows, smiling stiffly at me.

Evan leaned forward and smiled at me with his usual, adorable dimples. “Hey, Han,” he said, his tone friendlier than Suzie.

Do they all know? What’s going on?Michael suddenly walked in, wearing a grey sweater, dark jeans, and his usual brown suede oxfords. Hewasgrowing out his facial hair and it made him look edgier somehow. I felt my heart racing as I smiled a little;he reallyisfucking gorgeous. He glanced around at everyone quickly, his intimidating presence filling the room, but his eyes softened when they stopped at me and he grinned a little bit. If anyone were paying attention, they would notice, and I had a feeling that people were definitely paying attention.

“Good morning, everyone,” he mumbled with his Irish accent, looking down at his pad of paper and sitting down. “How was everyone’s Thanksgiving?” he asked, looking up and around at the rectangular conference table, eyeing everyone but me.

In unison, everyone answered with a “good” or “fine.” He smiled and put his elbow on the table, putting his fingers up to his mouth and glancing back down at his papers. I couldn’t help but stare at him, thinking of all the good things he did to me with his mouth and fingers, inadvertently biting my lip as I did so.

“So, who has something good for me this week?” he asked, looking around at everyone.

An eager co-worker offered to go first, giving details about a political piece he had been doing research on. Evan started talking about a piece he had been working on about health care. I could tell Michael feigned interest and he moved on, glancing over at me, his expression changing from bored to slightly amused.

He raised his eyebrows at me. “Anything for me this week, Hana?”

“Oh, um. I’m interviewing a Broadway performer this week; she’s playing Roxie Hart in Chicago,” I answered nervously, trying to maintain eye contact with him; the dynamic between us was vastly different when we were together in a room full of co-workers.

He smiled sweetly at me and nodded. I don’t think anyone had ever seen him smile like that…it was that special smile reserved just for me.

“Good,” he said with approval, his smile still lingering.

I felt myself blushing and looked down at my notes, my smile crooked and my stomach doing its usual crazy-butterflies thing. I didn’t have the guts to look up at anyone; I was positive that they saw my goofy, blushing smile.

Everyone else gave their weekly report and I sat there glancing between Michael and whoever was talking, wanting the meeting to be over so I could follow Michael into his office and beg him to kiss me. Several minutes later, the meeting was concluded and everyone got up and began to leave, including Michael. I quickly walked to my cubicle and opened up my Macbook, almost expecting Michael to tap on my shoulder or say my name sternly from behind me, but I was surprised when I saw Evan’s reflection on my laptop screen.

“Hey,” I said as I turned my head towards him, raising my eyebrows curiously.

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