Chapter Six

Willow’s POV.

After my little talk with Lennon, I had downed one more drink before I called it a day. The buzz lasted me for a while, and as soon as I got back home, I drank two glasses of red wine and curled myself into a ball, hoping to find sleep. I drifted off after ignoring Kendra’s calls and texts.

The next morning, I was back to the reality I had tried so desperately to escape. My body clock had woken me up at exactly 6 am. I dragged myself tiredly out of bed then I walked to the bathroom. I looked a silly mess, and I could not even bring myself to care. One thing that Dimitri had insisted on when I got the job was appearance. I was an extension of him and I had to represent him well.

I did not give a fuck that morning. I had no desire to even see his face. And I didn’t want to keep this job! He was basically forcing it on me at this point. I did not care about putting the job in jeopardy. Well I did care. But not enough that morning. So I threw on a dress and wore some flats.

By the time I reached the office, Dimitri Rustanov was not yet in, luckily for me. I walked to the coffee machine and made myself a strong cup of coffee. With the day I was about to have, I needed it. As I was sipping, I got the sensation that someone was watching me. My back straightened. No doubt it was Dimitri.

I fought the urge to turn around and stare at him. Instead, I finished the coffee slowly, then I put down the cup and stared into space for a while. I would not be able to avoid him for long. So I turned, and just like I thought, my boss was standing there and watching me.

“Good morning,” I muttered, then I walked past him and went to the mini kitchen so I could rinse the cup I had just used.

No matter how much the thought was distasteful, I was going to have to face that man. So I walked back to the reception.

“Willow,” he called out.

There was something in his voice that almost sounded like regret. I stiffened, I had probably imagined that. Dimitri Rustanov did not regret anything.

“Yes, sir,” I answered after what felt like an eternity. The only reason I did was because I knew he would not say anything as long as I did not give him a verbal response.

“I would appreciate it if you looked at me while I was talking.”

I heaved out a silent sigh but I still turned. Inasmuch as the murderous desires were flooding my body, he was still my boss. I had to respect him. I gasped at the intensity in his gaze when our eyes met. And I looked away just as quickly.I was a fool for letting this man affect me as much as he did.

I was surprised to notice that Dimitri Rustanov looked terrible. He looked like he had not slept in days and his clothes were actually rumpled. I fought the stupid urge that was rising, trying to push me to ask him if he was okay. This man did not care about my well-being. Why was I supposed to care about his?

“Please make me a cup of coffee,” he said. His voice sounded even more raspy than usual, almost like he had been yelling.

I wondered why he had been in such a state before I came back to my senses. The only thing I was supposed to feel was gratitude that I had not been the one bearing the brunt of that anger.

“Right away,” I said, then I walked to the coffee machine.

I made the coffee to his taste; black, just like his soul. Then I walked to his office and knocked. When I walked in, Dimitri’s head snapped up. His eyes… they were not their usual color. I frowned. The color was unique and it seemed I had seen it somewhere. Before I could put two and two together, the eyes snapped back to grey.

Dimitri lifted one of his brows superciliously, asking a silent question.

“Your eyes,” I whispered, then I shook my head.

My boss looked at me impatiently. “What about my eyes, Willow?” he asked and I shook my head.

The conversation I had had with Kendra was still fresh in my mind. I had no desire to be called crazy once more. So I walked to his desk and dropped the coffee, careful not to spill it.

My effort was for nothing because as soon as I went closer to Dimitri, he jerked out of his chair and spilled the coffee all over the table. The cup went crashing to the floor and it broke into a thousand different pieces. I jumped out of the way and stared at my boss like he was a madman-which I was starting to think he was.

“Sir,” I said reluctantly.

“You changed your scent,” Dimitri stated with some difficulty.

He did not meet my eyes. He got out of his chair and walked to the window and stayed there. I swallowed.

“I wore the fragrance I used to wear…” my voice faded. I was so confused.

“No you did not,” Dimitri let out tightly. I swallowed. He was right.

I had not worn any perfume that morning. My aim had been to torture him just like he was torturing me. Now that it was working, I was not sure how I felt about the entire thing. I swallowed and waited for him to say something else.

Dimitri turned to me suddenly and I took an instinctive step backwards. Something like hurt flashed in his gaze but it was gone too quickly for me to confirm it. I held his gaze for as long as I could, wondering if I was going to catch anymore of the freaky eye changes. We stared at each other like that for a while, silently.

Was all of this even normal? I felt like I had walked into the set of some sci-fi movie or something like that. Why was the lack of a perfume affecting a grown man like this? Was it that he had such a strong sense of smell and that was what was making him go haywire? I was so confused. I knew rich people always had weird quirks but of all the months I had been working for Dimitri, I had thought he was pretty normal.

I could see my chest rising and falling in my peripheral view but I did not want to take my eyes off my boss. I wasn’t crazy and I was determined to catch another one of the weird things that had been happening since the day I changed my perfume. I almost regretted it—actually I did regret it. I should just have listened to him the first time he said I should wear a heavier perfume and not ask any questions.

“It will be hard for you to understand everything now,” he said, and it seemed he was talking with so much difficulty. I lifted one brow at my boss.

“I’m a grown adult, Mr. Rustanov. You’ve refused my resignation and you’ve threatened me. I deserve to know what is going on with you and why you’ve been acting so out of character.”

If I was being honest, there was nothing holding me back anymore. I didn’t want this job anymore, he was the one keeping me here. I wasn’t scared to air my mind. He could take offense. All he had to do was let me go and he would never have to put up with me again.

“Willow… let’s leave it at that… for now. Call the cleaner so she can get rid of this mess. And reschedule the meeting with Philips.”

I stared at him without saying a word then I heaved a sigh. “I’ll do that sir.” At the end of the day, I had no choice at all. He was still my boss. And for as long as I wanted to live a comfortable life, I was going to listen to him.

I left the office and closed the door behind me. Then I leaned on it and let out a small sigh. I was so fucking exhausted. Luckily, it was Friday. And I was not going to have to see this man’s face for two days. I was going to take all the small wins I could get.

I walked briskly to my desk and called the cleaner, then I rescheduled the meeting with Philips and leaned back in my chair. I was happy about the meeting being canceled. I was not completely certain that I would have been able to follow the meeting without getting distracted by everything that was happening.

My phone rang a few moments later, taking me out of my deep thinking. It was Kendra. I felt a little guilty that I had ignored her the previous day. But I really hated feeling like I was crazy. And I just knew I would have blurted out what had happened with the wolf. With Dimitri Rustanov treating me like I was dumb, I did not need my best friend to dog pile even more.

As soon as I picked up the phone, Kendra did not leave me the time to get in a word in. “Are you okay, Willow? I’ve been so worried! If you did not pick, I was going to call your boss and ask him what was going on.”

She sounded so frantic and my guilt went up a notch. The thought of Kendra calling my boss to make sure I was okay was even so distasteful. What would he have said? Oh Willow, my personal assistant? She’s fine, my pet whatever-the-fuck-that-was scared her out of her wits, so I gave her the day off so she would not feel so bad about me rejecting her resignation. I laughed silently at my own thoughts before I remembered to answer my friend.

“I don’t even know anymore, babes,” I told her honestly.

“What’s wrong?” Kendra’s voice had softened and I blinked back the tears that almost dropped.

“I can't tell you over the phone,” I said as normally as I could. Then I swallowed. I knew Kendra was going to worry and it made me feel extremely bad. I knew she had her own shit to deal with and the last thing I wanted was to burden her with my problems.

“Babes… how about I come over tomorrow morning, I make you breakfast and you tell me everything.”

“That sounds great,” I told her with a grateful note in my voice. At least being around her was going to get things off my mind.

“Okay honey. Hang in there, alright?”

“I will. Thank you babes. I love you.”

“I love you too,” she said, then she hung up.

I put down my phone and sighed and a movement caught my attention. Dimitri Rustanov was standing there and staring at me. I schooled my features into a mask of indifference.

“Do you need anything, sir?” I asked him.

Dimitri stared at me without saying a word, unsettling me a little. “Did you reschedule?” was all he asked, like I had said nothing. I was supposed to be used to this by now.

“Yes I did.”

“Great.” But he did not look away or leave, he just stayed there and continued staring at me. I hated the effect his gaze had on me. I hated that he had the power to unsettle me. And I hated that my entire being was still very sensitive to him, even after all the hateful things he had done.

“You do know you are not allowed to take personal calls of that nature in the office, yeah?”

I frowned a little. Personal calls of that nature? Dimitri Rustanov had walked in on Kendra sitting across my desk and had not once made a big deal out of it. What was the problem now?

“I don’t understand sir.”

“Your romantic relationships should be kept out of the office,” he said tightly, almost like he was keeping a strong rein on whatever emotion wanted to seep through.

“That was…” I started justifying myself, then I sighed and said, “Understood, sir.”

There was no need proving anything to this man. He was going to believe whatever he wanted to. I was going to save my breath, my time and my energy.

“Good,” he said, then he left.

By the time 5 pm rolled in, Dimitri Rustanov was still nowhere to be found. So I packed my bag with glee and left the office. While in the elevator, I was conscious that he could ruin my weekend by calling me at any time to work. But I was praying that it would not happen. The last thing I needed was the mixed emotions that his presence came along with.

I stepped out of the building gratefully and walked to my car. When I got in, I let out a deep sigh and covered my face with my hands. I contemplated stopping by Lennon's place for a while, then I shook my head. I did not think I was strong enough to socialize with anyone. So I started my car and drove home, hoping that the weekend would be a great one.