Page 7 of The Boss’s Obsession
“Excuse me?” I stopped on the threshold of his office.
His eyes swept over me, studying me like I was something unknown and dangerous. “You’ll be outside, for now, right?”
I let out a breath, feeling his inspection like a touch. God, I needed my two weeks to pass quickly, or my crush on this guy would be totally out of control.
“Right. See you later, Mr. Turner.”
CHAPTER6
Ronan
For the first time in longer than I could remember, I didn’t get any work done that day. The weekend had been no better. I was distracted as hell and it couldn’t go on. I hated the uncomfortable feeling in my chest whenever I thought about Sienna leaving me.
Leaving me?Yeah, I could admit it, her resignation felt like she was leaving me. But she was right, we weren’t a couple, we were co-workers. The rational part of my brain argued with me as feelings of desertion and possessiveness worked through me.
“And how does that make you feel?”
I jerked out of my reverie at the reminder that I wasn’t alone. Dr. Pooja had been my therapist for nearly five years. I saw her once a week and never missed an appointment. I took care of my mental health with the same discipline that I took care of my body. For physical health, I ran every day, lifted weights, and ate a strict diet, for my mind, I attended weekly meetings.
“How does what make me feel?” I wondered, trying to catch up with reality, while my worries longed to pull me inside my head and keep me captive.
“That Sienna is leaving her job in order to pursue more personal relationships.”
A muscle worked in my jaw as I fought to keep calm. “I don’t know.”
Dr. Pooja glanced meaningfully at my clenched fist. “Are you sure you don’t know? You seem angry.”
I let my breath out slowly and accepted her observation. “You’re right. I am.”
“Because you need her at work, or the thought of her dating upsets you?”
“Can’t it be both?” I ground out, feeling exposed.
“I don’t know, can it?” Dr. Pooja said, with her usual brilliance at evading giving me any suggestions and merely leading me to realizing what was going on in my complicated head on my own. “Have you ever thought about dating Sienna?”
“She’s too young, and her father asked me to look after her. She’s off-limits,” I said, the answer springing to my lips before I’d even thought about it. It was a belief I hadn’t known I was holding so tightly in my chest until this exact moment.
Dr Pooja watched me closely. “And how does that make you feel?”
Furious. Disappointed. Frustrated.The words formed but wouldn’t leave my lips.
I shrugged. “I don’t know. What I do know is I have wasted an entire weekend thinking about this, and now it’s going to set me back, training a new assistant. We finally had a productive routine, and now, it’s ruined.” The words and retreat to talking of schedules and work was familiar ground and my shaken confidence returned a little.
Dr. Pooja smiled faintly at me. “If that’s your biggest worry, I’m sure that embracing the change will only help. With your aid, Sienna will get the replacement trained up well, and your productivity won’t suffer, so why don’t you help her?”
“Because I don’t want her to leave,” I blurted honestly. It was all I could think about.
Dr. Pooja nodded. “Yes, but you can’t stop her. You can’t control everything, Ronan, especially not other people. Sienna is leaving you. You need to accept that.”
I stared at Dr. Pooja, feeling like she’d just kicked me when I was down. The hurt swirled around my cold chest. “Remind me why I’m paying you to point out the bloody obvious again?” I muttered, standing up and shrugging on my suit jacket.
Dr. Pooja was unruffled by my outburst. “You still have half an hour to go,” she pointed out.
“I’m done for today.”
I strode toward the door and made my way out to the street. One of Dr. Pooja’s conditions for her patients was that they visit her in her own offices. Now, I was halfway downtown, and angry as hell. I strode away from the town car waiting at the curb, flashing my driver a signal so he knew I needed to walk off whatever had gone on in therapy.
I walked along the street, glaring at everything that fell into my line of vision. Dr. Pooja’s questions and urge to ask myself how I felt about things kept intruding on my peace. How was I going to get my equilibrium again? I found myself near the bar where I’d seen Sienna the other night. Impulsively, I went inside. It was quiet and I took a seat at the bar, staring at the bottles lined up on the wall.
