Chapter 52

Chapter 52
Aurelia's POV

"Did he have any special reason for asking for me?" I walked towards his desk.

My boss didn't respond at first. He sifted through some papers, then finally glanced up at me with a small smile. "He noticed you were paying attention yesterday. That's a compliment. It means you have a passion for every aspect of the job, even the most boring parts."

Compliment. That was very funny. The only reason Killian did that was because we used to screw each other. "Thank you," I said with a smile.

"You're welcome," he replied, already focusing on his work again.

I turned and headed towards the door, the knot in my belly tightening.

Killian had to just find a way to get his hands into every goddamn thing, and it annoyed the fucking hell out of me.

I closed the door shut behind me and stood for a moment, just standing, hearing the beat of my heart.

I moved slowly forward and my heels clicked gently against the floor. The office felt different, in some way, more claustrophobic, like everything was pressing in just close enough for me to notice. Clara passed me as she headed to the break room and glanced at the flowers on my desk with a tiny smile.

"Congrats," she said.

"For what?" I answered, attempting to keep my tone even.

"For the project with the large investor," she said, flashing me a quick wink before disappearing into the break room.

I continued on, acting like I hadn't felt the shiver crawl up the back of my neck, acting like my heart wasn't now pounding in my ears.

I stopped next to the elevator and pressed the button so I could have my break too. The doors slid open and I went inside, my chest tightening a fraction with every second that passed. Other employees were already inside, tapping on phones, drinking coffee, and having quiet discussions. None of them even looked at me. That was good.

I didn't spend much time in the break room. I simply grabbed a doughnut and a slushie and headed back to the elevator.

By the time I reached my desk, the flowers remained there filling the air with a crisp scent, too crisp. I set my bag down carefully and ran a hand over the smooth top of my notebook to keep myself occupied. I opened my laptop and let the screen light up, but my eyes continued to drift back toward the flowers.

I had cut him off. I had told him to stay away. And still, here he was, making himself known in ways that I couldn't help but notice.

I balled my fists up against my face for a second, letting my fingers smooth over my eyes, hoping for the tension in my shoulders to wear off. I looked up when a couple of my colleagues wandered in, each of them pausing to glance at the bouquet. They spoke under their breaths, their voices hardly loud enough but still not quite loud enough to cover over the hum of my mind.

"Beautiful," Clara spoke from across the room. "Didn't notice it earlier. From who though?"

"I don't know," I answered. "No name."

I exhaled and turned to face my laptop, fingers resting on the keyboard. Every message I opened was secondary to the flowers and to the recollection of him smiling next to my boss a while back.

I forced myself to breathe and shelve the thoughts. Focus. Work. That's all that mattered.

I stood up and walked towards the water dispenser, the motion calming me slightly. I filled a cup slowly, listening to the water hit the cup. A person walked by, whispering something about this morning's conference, but I did not react. I just nodded and drank a sip of my water, feeling the coldness hit my throat, trying to dissipate the tension in my chest.

Returning to my own workstation, I set down the cup and rubbed my hands. The keyboard was cold against my fingers. I typed out a quick email, a mere few sentences, before stopping and leaning back in my chair.

Why flowers? Why now?

I thought about Ethan, how easy it was to talk to him this morning, how comfortable it felt to have someone other than Killian around. I forced myself to smile, thinking about the brief laugh we shared over the coffee and muffins.

Then I looked back at the flowers. The scent again drifted up to me, reminding me that he was ever in the background of my mind, ever a step ahead, even when he was not there.

I pulled out my notebook, writing down the meeting's agenda, trying to stay ahead of my mind with the pen, trying to see if that'll make me more distracted than using my laptop, and for a time I allowed myself to imagine that I could ignore him.

It did not last because I got a text from him.

Good meeting today. We should discuss.

I decided to ignore it.

After what seemed like forever, it was closing time and I was so fucking glad this nightmare of an internship was over till tomorrow.

Yeah, and you'll be dealing with Killian tomorrow too, a voice at the back of my head said.

I groaned and rolled my eyes, clearing up my desk. My eyes travelled towards the flowers on the desk and I wanted to toss them in the trash but did not, because someone would wonder why, and I was not ready for more questioning.

Outside, it was cold and damp. I called an Uber and waited at the curb, replaying the message on my phone even though I had already deleted it.

As the Uber pulled up I hopped inside and gave a slight smile to the driver. I looked out the window until we reached my house trying to focus on my surroundings instead of my thoughts.

The house was quiet. I opened the door and entered, setting my bag on the small table near the wall. There was a light fragrance of flowers in the hallway. I stopped immediately then followed the smell upstairs.

There was another flower arrangement on the floor near my room, bigger than the one in the office. Red roses this time and a plain white card rested on it. The tag said Lia again.