Page 51 of The Executive Assistant

“Like what?”

“Like I’m just an employee. Forget about work for a second. I’m telling you — as someone who cares about you — that you need to get some rest.” He walked up to my desk. “I’m sorry about what happened, Alison. I’m sorry that I took you away from the office on a weekend. If I knew there was a possibility of this happening, I wouldn’t have taken you so far away.”

“I know,” I said. He’d never do anything stupid on purpose, but I shouldn’t have let myself get swept away. “I can’t think about any of this right now. I have to focus on work.”

His shoulders sank. “What do you mean?”

“I mean,” I said, “that until this project is finished, I need to forget about this.” I gestured between us. “It’s a distraction.”

“So what?” he asked. “I should just treat you like a boss and nothing more?”

“Yes,” I said. “And I will treat you like my employee.”

He frowned. “We can’t pretend we’re nothing to each other, just because it’s convenient.”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s unfair. And hurtful. Earlier today, when you snapped at me…” he trailed off. “I know I’m your subordinate. But I thought we respected each other. Outside of work, I thought we saw each other as equals.” Hetook a deep breath. “I can’t be with someone who’s my girlfriend one second, and ordering me around the next.”

I sucked in a breath at the wordgirlfriend. I tried to keep my voice neutral, but it came out sounding colder than I intended. “I don’t know what you were expecting when you got involved with your boss.”

He was silent for a long moment. “Right,” he said eventually, taking a step back.

“Sorry,” I said, pushing a hand through my hair. Suddenly, I felt exhausted. “I’m sorry, Cameron. But…I don’t think I can deal with this right now. Please go home.”

For a second, I thought he might argue, and then I really would lose my patience. But instead he just nodded, looking defeated, and left the office.

After the door closed behind him, I heard his footsteps as he headed towards the elevator. Once he was gone, I felt empty. My bottom lip trembled for a second, but I pressed my teeth into it to still the motion. I took a deep breath and returned all of my attention to my computer.

I just had to work. That would fix the emptiness I felt inside.

Hours passed, but when it was two in the morning, I was yawning so much that I couldn’t ignore it anymore. I shut off my computer and my main light, only leaving on my desk lamp. There was still a lot of work to do, so I wasn’t going home just yet.

A nap would do fine for now.

I walked over to the couch in my office and laid down, pulling a fuzzy blanket over me as I used my arm as my pillow. It wasn’t the most comfortable sleeping arrangement, but I was so tired from today that I passed out in a few minutes.

The three hours of sleep that I allowed myself to have passed by quickly, leaving me feeling heavy and achy when I woke up at around five o’clock in the morning. The sky was still dark outside, but once I switched on the main light in my office, my brain woke up a little faster.

I walked through the hallway in a daze, fixing myself a cup of coffee before returning to my office to get back to work. I wasn’t a fool. I knew how bad this was for me, but the only other option was to slack off and fail.

I just had to hold on.

An uneasy, jittery feeling hummed throughout my body as I stood at the front of the conference room.

“What do we think?” I asked as my eyes swept over my employees.

Hannah turned to me and nodded, looking as exhausted and worn down as everyone else in the room. “We went over all his notes and made all the changes that he told us to. This is our best.”

Austin, the marketing specialist, nodded in agreement from the other side of the table. “Yeah, this is all we havein the tank.”

I breathed in slowly, letting the air fill my lungs. I felt terrible today, but at least it was Friday. Finally.

This week had been absolute hell, but thanks to power naps in my office and numerous cups of coffee, I made it through in one piece. Mostly. At least we finished every piece needed for the campaign, and now all we had to do was send it to Henry.

“I like it,” I told them as I crossed my arms over my chest, which had been feeling tense all week.

My eyes shifted toward the door of the conference room, catching sight of Cameron. He looked in my direction, but it didn’t feel like he was trulylookingat me. His eyes seemed blank and empty like I was staring into pits of darkness.

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