Page 50 of Alpha's Embrace
“Fine.” I banged my briefcase onto the countertop and opened it. I took out two thick stacks of cash and placed them on the counter before him.
Swiftly, he grabbed up the stacks and stuffed them somewhere under the counter. I closed my briefcase and turned to leave.
A little bell on the front door jingled as I opened it.
We did not say goodbye to each other. Alden was right. We weren’t friends.
*
I’d taken two days of sick leave which I didn’t deserve since I was so new. There were so many changes I wanted to make to the colony, but it still ran itself as efficiently as any institution of its kind. No one had known during that time that I took a quick flight to Tarn and made inquiries into a small house there, ending up leasing it and stocking it all in one day. No one, not family or friends, knew what was going on with me, or how mortified I really was over this whole bond thing.
I’d been avoiding messages and phone calls, so when I got back to my office my inbox was bursting.
Slowly, I tried to go through them one by one, but my mind still wouldn’t focus. Not only were thoughts of Misha continually haunting me, but all my secret plans for leaving had my stomach in knots. I couldn’t eat. I couldn’t sleep.
I wrestled with work for over an hour, downing three cups of coffee.
I only looked up when I heard the scuff of soft footsteps at my door.
Doctor Prim stood at the entrance to my office looking at me with a stare I couldn’t read.
“Yes?” I put one elbow on my desk.
“Geo. Didn’t you get my messages?”
“I’ve been out. I’m going through my inbox now.”
“I see.”
Prim came in and sat without being asked. He barely took a breath before making a simple, damning statement.
“We have some problems.”
My hot skin went suddenly cold. “Is it Misha?”
I shut my mouth too late, realizing my fears had overridden my usual, rational self. With everything going on, I couldn’t afford to lose it like this. I should have taken another sick day. I should have already put in my notice.
“Now why would you say that?”
I shrugged, tapping a few letters on my keyboard, pretending I was busy. Pretending I hadn’t given away all my secrets with one thoughtless question about Misha to a man who already looked suspicious of me.
“Simply worried for a man who didn’t deserve to be hurt,” I said. “It’s my job.”
I knew I sounded overly defensive, but wouldn’t any chief of staff in any institution feel the same?
“Iamhere about Misha,” Prim replied. “But I am also here about you.”
“Me?”
“May I ask why you took sick days for the past two days?” Prim asked.
“I wasn’t feeling well.”
“That’s all?” he asked.
“That’s all.” I took my hands away from my keyboard and leaned back in my chair. “Why are you making what I do on my own time your business?”
“Because I’m filing my final report on Misha’s condition and there are details in it thatareyour business. I’ve been putting it off for two days. Messaging and calling. You didn’t answer.”
