I'm tired

I'm tired
Hillary's POV

“Sit.”

He commanded and I fell to the chair, without stamina, my mind was racing and I felt like going outside to take a breeze. The words he said, I could not bear. He was threatening me to stay away from Travis using cruel things on me. I wasn't just intimidated by him, I wanted to find a way to avoid this evil man in front of me. If there's no way out of this, then I'll beg.

“Please, don't do this.” My fingers rubbed together as I pleaded desperately. “Please, sir. I promise I'm not a bad person and I only love your son. He loves me back.” I cleaned my tears.

He just flashes his teeth. “That was him mocking me. I continued to beg, but he grabbed his coat and wiped his mouth again.

“Well, I would be leaving.”

“No, please, not yet.” I leaned further to touch his arms, pressuring him to sit back. “What exactly do you want?”

“Simple…walk away from Travis life and you won't have to see that monster again.” He threw my hands irritatedly and stood at his feet.

“I'll give you two days. If you haven't thought of it by then, ohh…. Hillary. You don't know what I'm capable of…..” he dropped his card and walked away leaving me in shock and fear. I started breathing heavily. Tears padded to my cheeks like I was inside a river. My stomach hurts and my head is spinning so bad. Why me? Again? Aren't they tired? I bowed my head down crying and crying. I guess I drew the waiter's attention as he asked if I'm okay.

“Yes.” I cleaned my tears with my hands and walked away from the restaurant, without touching the food. My hands shakily held the card. Each step I took had sickening effects, making my head throb more. My phone had been notifying me of calls and text. I forgot I had spent a valuable amount of time with a sick man like this father and now, I had to go back to the office. The ugly thoughts made my head abnormal. I took a cab back to work. Hunger plus sadness and confusion. They never want to let me go. My face was still down and I needed to wipe out any sadness that still lingered there. I practiced inhaling and exhaling, calmed my racing heart and walked into the building.

“Oh, my gosh…. Where have you been?”

Rachel stopped pacing the moment she saw me.

“You are supposed to be in the conference room. Sir Travis mentioned your name and I had to tell him you went to buy lunch and it seemed you overstayed.”

I stared back at her, saying nothing. My hands were tied together behind my back.

“Well?” She tilts her neck. “Where is your lunch….?”

Oh Rachel, I received a lunch of warning instead.

“Uh, I just…..I didn't get it.”

“Well, whatever, just go already.”

I went to my desk to grab my notepad and rushed to use the elevator. My hands were still clammy and my mind, unease. Of all days, Travis' father decided to come today. I tapped my heels as I waited for the door to open. Travis would be pacing, annoyed. Probably. The meeting started, without me because I was crying and begging someone's Dad not to push me away from his son I truly loved. We just had sex and now…tension is on the way.
I adjusted my blouse as I arrived at the conference room. Everyone was seated, the room was full and Travis was at the head, spinning on his chair, non chalant but the moment our eyes met, he stopped and sat more professionally.

I bent my head down to walk in his direction, feeling a bit nervous.

A smirk flashed on his lips and my racing heart calmed.
“You're late.”

“I'm so sorry.” I apologized. The meeting had started. Travis' voice filled the room. He paced around, delivering a good message from the preservation slide. But everything started to blur in my eyes. I was hearing gibberish because my head was full of the warning from his father. That word kept on echoing in my head. Every word struck like thorns. But the moment I heard my name, I felt revived and focused. Travis mentioned my name but I don't know why, which made things more complicated.
Everyone was now staring at me, I just stared back in amazement with my eyes bulging out …I'm so lost.

“Like I said….” Travis caught my attention again. I opened my ears. “Hillary is the new project coordinator for the rebranding initiative… any objections?”

Oh. That's….quite impressive…. very good. But I couldn't help pull off the anxiety that danced around my stomach. If his father wants me to stay away, then how would I be able to when I'm assigned to a more dynamic position.

Well, some murmurs but it seemed no one was against it. He continued. “Good, she has full authority to report directly to me. No one has the right to disrespect her or hurt her fee……”

I tried to signal him. He was speaking with emotions, forgetting we were in a formal environment. He noticed he was and he stopped.

“Meeting dismissed.” He clears his throat and then, the shuffling of chairs filled the room as everyone packed up.

I stood up to leave immediately to try to avoid him but he called out my name. My face tightened and I turned back, with a normal look.

“Yes?”

Everyone has left now and he stretches out his hands to grab mine. I let him and his thumb brush my knuckles, very comforting.

“What's wrong?”

“Huh?” I looked up at his face. He grabbed my waist pushing me closer to his chest and I gasped, staring down as if I was shy.

“What's with the ... .um, weird attitude. Why aren't you looking at me?”

“It's nothing.” I pushed myself backwards away from him.

“Are you sure? I noticed you drifted away all through the meeting. Are you okay? Of course you're not.”

“I'm fine.”

“Hey, it's because of what happened in the morning. Do you regret us having sex?”

“No…it's not that…. no, no.”

I sighed, feeling overwhelmed and pressured. How do I stay away from Travis?
Is that possible?