30

The situation couldn't be more stressful, not only because the elevator stopped, but because it had to happen right after the day we had sex. Mr. Hills sighs and quickly grabs his phone to make a call.

"I'm stuck in this damn elevator," I hear him say. "Do something about it. Yes. Do whatever you have to do, but don't take too long," he huffs. "Twenty minutes? Are you kidding me?"

I try to breathe to calm myself down, but how the hell can I calm down knowing that apparently, we have a pending conversation? My boss hangs up the call and leans against the metal wall of the cubicle. I can't help but look at him as he buries his fingers in his dark hair and messes it up. His blue eyes keep shining despite the dimness of the lights.

"I guess we can talk now," he says.

I tense up, more than usual.

"I'm not willing to talk."

"I'm your boss, and we're going to talk because I'm demanding it."

Fine. I shouldn't have refused.

"What do you want to talk about?" I pretend ignorance.

I'm just trying to waste time to avoid having this conversation. He raises an eyebrow and looks at me as if I'm stupid. Maybe I am, partly for wanting to evade this conversation in such a useless way, but I'm not prepared.

"You're asking?"

"Yes."

"It's not that difficult, you know? We just had sex, and you're my secretary."

"I know," I say, ready to confront him, looking into his eyes. "And you don't have to worry; it won't happen again. I just want to know if you're going to fire me."

"If I wanted to fire you, I would have done it as soon as you entered the building. I don't beat around the bush."

"I understand," I murmur.

I lean against the wall, and we fall into silence. Now what? Maybe ten minutes of pure silence, tension, and post-sex talks.

Unbelievable. These things only happen to me! I glance at Mr. Hills, who is focused on his phone. Should I say something else? Apologize? No, no, of course not. I don't have to apologize; he was the one who jumped on me, although in any case, it happened, and I can't change it because I let myself get carried away too. I let it happen.

I remain silent, lost in thought. Suddenly, I remember Camille's words, how proud she sounded.

"I don't want you near him. I've seen how he looks at you, and I don't want you interfering in what we have."

How does he look at me? Did I intrude on a relationship? Is Mr. Hills even the kind of person who has romantic relationships? I can't imagine him being a romantic boyfriend or something like that. I remember when I told Camille that I didn't plan on having a relationship outside of work with my boss, and now... now I ended up letting myself get carried away by him.

I glance at him out of the corner of my eye, feeling the need to speak to him, but I restrain myself. Our working relationship was never the most precise or comfortable, if I may say so, but now that we've had sex, it feels too uncomfortable, so much that I can't bear it.

"I..."

He looks away from his phone and looks at me, but I regret it instantly when he looks at me again... like that, in that way. I wonder if he does it on purpose or simply doesn't realize the magnitude of his gaze.

"What?" he mutters, noticing that I regretted speaking up.

"Nothing, forget it..."

I thought it would be a good idea for us to have a conversation about what happened to put an end to it or... I'm overthinking, yes, I'm nervous.

"You don't have to feel ashamed of what happened yesterday," he says calmly.

"No, it's not that... it's..."

"We're adults," he interrupts me. "Just because we had sex doesn't mean we have to act like idiots. It was just a slip-up, and you said it yourself; it won't happen again, unless you're thinking otherwise."

"No..." I mutter, "It's just that..."

"Mr. Hills, we're here! We're working to get the elevator back to normal."

I take advantage of the interruption to stay silent and wait for them to work on the elevator. Minutes pass, I hear a couple of noises, and the situation feels eternal until everything seems to return to normal. The doors open on the first floor of the building. Finally.

We step out of the cubicle, and a man who was in charge of giving instructions shakes hands with Mr. Hills, expecting some kind of gratitude or greeting, but he gets the cold shoulder when my boss leaves him behind, not even bothering to acknowledge the poor man, just walking towards the exit as if his life depended on it. I have to walk fast so he doesn't leave me behind, and once we're outside, Matthew welcomes us with the limousine that takes us back to Hills Corporation. Upon entering Hills Corporation, the reception area is filled with people, and I notice that most of the glances are directed at us. We head towards the elevator, but our action is interrupted by a woman who blocks our path. I recognize her instantly; Camille.

"Have I been waiting for you all day just for you to show up now?!" she starts shouting at Mr. Hills. "You don't even send me a single message, and you don't bother asking if I'm okay after having to put up with all your dismissive behavior, Nicholas! What is your problem?"

"It's not a good time, Camille. If you have something to say, do it in my office."

"Cut the bullshit!" she continues shouting. "You don't even have time for me, you son of a bitch!"

"Don't start."

Mr. Hills clenches his jaw, and the coldness in his eyes leaves me frozen because I don't think I've ever seen him so angry. I stand still and try to comprehend the situation; Camille is causing a scene in the reception area of Hills Corporation, under the gaze of everyone. All the people present are looking at the situation, some pretending not to see anything when in reality they hear and see everything that is happening, others whispering, and some wearing disapproving expressions. There's only one person in the room who is focused on their mobile phone.

"You son of a bitch!"

She pushes him and slaps him, leaving him motionless in his place. The look my boss gives her even frightens me.

"Get her out of the building," he demands loudly.

Immediately, some security guards appear and hold her by the arms. She doesn't stop screaming as they drag her towards the exit, hurling all kinds of insults and struggling against the guards' grip, who repeatedly asks her to please calm down.

The reception area falls into a terrible silence, and all eyes are on Mr. Hills. Even the receptionists and the cleaning staff remain still.

"Did you lose something or what?" Mr. Hills raises his voice. "Get back to work and mind your own business." Everyone averts their gaze, the reception returns to its current state, and everything goes back to normal. I shudder when his blue gaze inspects me. "And you, go to your office."

"Of course," I mutter, and I quickly enter the elevator. I don't want any trouble.

*

It's already night as I make my way toward the building where I live. I haven't seen my boss for the rest of the day after the incident with Camille, who seemed to have ruined his composure. I finished my workday after completing all the tasks, which were not a few, by the way, and I was able to go home.

"Eva."

A male voice resonates behind me, forcing me to turn on my heels.

"Josh..." I mutter, absorbed. I didn't expect to run into him. "What are you doing here?"

"I want to see Carol, I need to talk to her."

"She doesn't want to see you." I turn away.

"Eva, please..."

"You've hurt her a lot, Josh." I face him. "Carol doesn't have to keep overlooking your mistakes..."

"You know me, you know I can be hard to understand, but cheating on her? Come on, Eva, we know each other. You know I'm not that kind of person. Carol misunderstood things, and I've been trying to communicate with her for a long time. I know she's here, and all I want is to talk."

"That's not in my hands, it's Carol who has to decide. Lately, she's been doing very well, and I don't want to see her hurt again."

"Just think for a moment... Why would I want someone else?"

"I don't know, tell me."

I cross my arms.

"Eva, please..."

"I can't, I'm sorry."

I turn away again.

"At least tell her I miss her, okay?" I hear him exhale when he doesn't get a response from me. "Tell her whatever, but tell her I want to talk to her."

"Goodnight, Josh."

"Goodnight."

He leaves, and I enter the building. I take the elevator to the floor where my apartment is and walk towards my apartment door, still with Josh's words spinning in my head. With the help of my keys, I open the apartment door, take off my heels, and rush to sanitize my hands before having any contact with Louis.