Chapter 30 CHAPTER 030
Amelia POV:
"What the fuck are you doing home?" Ashley's loud voice echoes around in my head from her spot at the door. I am curled on the couch where I have been since this afternoon when I ran away from Linc's office.
I couldn't handle facing anyone when it could have been any one of the professional faces around the firm that saw us.
"Oh, are you alright?" Ashley's voice goes soft when she walks into the living room to see me on the couch. I have cried myself to a short dreamless sleep and woken up again to my dread still sitting heavy in my throat.
What the fuck was I thinking being that reckless? Oh God. I didn't even check whether the door was locked before going on my knees in front of him immediately I stepped in.
I have driven myself insane thinking about who it could have been. Who stepped in on us without us even noticing. Only when the door clicked shut did we hear it. The fact that it could have been literally any one doesn't help my paranoia. I break into a cold sweat on the couch multiple times since I laid here but I don't move. I let the fear wash over me.
"Amelia? Are you okay? What happened? You just disappeared from the office around lunchtime." She drops her bag on the floor and sits beside me, she touches my damp forehead gently with worry etched on her brow.
"Someone saw us." I say, the words dragging out of my parched throat like hot coals. I wince like I can actually feel the physical discomfort of it. I keep blaming myself. What was I thinking?
"What are you talking about?"
"In Linc's office. We were...uh, we were, you know...and we didn't hear or see the door opening, only when it shut but I am sure whoever the person was saw us and, and...oh my God, I think I am going to be sick." The dread twists my stomach, making me a nervous nauseous mess.
Ashley's eyes widen, and she brings a hand to cover her mouth. Her dramatics don't annoy me this time. It is so fitting. I am fucked. First time I will do something reckless like that and it will probably be my last. The more time passes from this afternoon to now, the harder the consequences of the situation hits me.
"Oh fuck." She moves closer to me. She wraps her arms around me and I melt into her warm embrace.
"Yeah, I am very much fucked." I say into her shoulders.
She pulls away to look me in the eyes, "for what it is worth, I didn't hear anything around the firm before leaving. You know hot gossip travels fast. Charlotte and her gang were pretty normal all day. You know if it was any of them, the office would have gone ablaze.
So maybe, that is one silver lining?" Ashley moves my hair away from my face gently. This is one of the reasons why I love her. She can be playful and unserious most times, but when the situation asks for it, she becomes this warm and affectionate person. Thoughtful too.
I am grateful for her. Without her company during my freshman year after I lost my mother, I wonder the kind of dark depressive hole I would have dug for myself. She was loving and affectionate with me even though we were practically strangers at that time.
"I don't know." I say, laying back down.
"Or maybe it was just the wind? Did you see anybody?" She says, refusing to let me wallow in my misery alone. She pulls off her high heels, drops her bag on the coffee table set in the middle of the couches framing the living room.
"No, I didn't see anyone. I was, uh, my mind was rather preoccupied. But that door doesn't close except it was opened. I closed it when I entered but I didn't lock it." I say weakly. She has never been to Linc's office so she doesn't know. But I allowed myself that shred of hope. That maybe it was just a breeze or whatever that made the door click shut. Maybe I didn't close it properly like I thought I did.
But I did. If I am not sure of anything, it is that one fact. I did.
"Hm. So what did Linc say?"
"He promised to take care of it." I try to remember all he said in that moment but I was so overwhelmed with panic that my memory is foggy. But I am sure he said something along that line.
"How? Did he see the person?" Ashley settles besides me on the couch, she brings my head to rest on her chest and I close my eyes, inhaling her sweet lavender perfume.
"No, I don't think so." I snuggle closer to her, needing her assuring warmth.
"Oh dear. You poor thing. Don't worry, it will be fine. I am certain Linc will take care of it however he meant. Don't worry your cute self about it." Ashley says soothingly, rubbing down my back.
We settle in the warm silence, cuddling each other like we used to when one of us needed it back in our modern college apartment. Sponsored by my stepfather, of course.
After a few minutes, Ashley raises her head to look at me on her chest and says, "but, and I am just painfully curious, what did this intruder see? What were y'all doing in his office in broad daylight?"
The teasing smirk on her face lightens my mood, I snort as I pull away from her, her rich laughter ringing loud.
"C'mon! Don't be like that..." Ashley reaches for me and I pull further away from her, but the couch is too small, finally she pulls me forward and onto her chest again, cradling my head like a child, I can't help the smile that curves my lips.
"Whoever it was probably didn't see anything and if they did, they probably didn't look long enough to know it was you. If I walked in on Linc when he is involved in what you are hinting at, I don't think I would stay and stare long enough to know who his partner is. It is Linc Dmitri we are talking about."
I don't know if she is just trying to assauge my fear but she might be onto something. The position we were in didn't face the door, I was on his desk looking out the window. But I can't allow myself indulge in that hope. If it was someone who knew me already, they would immediately know it was me. My hair. My dress.
"Hmm." I murmur against her full chest.
"So...tell me." She says.
"Tell you what?" I roll my eyes.
Ashley starts tickling me and I shriek, we are a tangle of limbs and screams on the couch in no time. And I am laughing, temporarily free of the dread that took control of my soul this afternoon.