"I rescheduled the meeting as you requested." I sort of rolled my eyes, in my head, of course, at my forced formality and the fact that my hands were already feeling damp.
I stood very short as compared to Nicholas, as he stood not that far from me, despite my height, and my shoes and the man towered over me easily and maybe that was the reason he maintained this 'comfortable' distance between us, though a part of me was petty enough to possibly question it and be offended by it.
It wasn't like he needed to be closer to me or anything, that would be questionable and uncomfortable as well.
His jet hair and brown eyes seemed particularly sharper than usual, I didn't know whether it was their color or if it was the fact that I had possibly made him seem so unreliable to one of the sponsors because of my problems. The thing with the burst pipe had eventually dragged on longer than I thought and in my worst moment I had ended up wet and had to rush home to get changed and had to put my hair up in a bun–this was a day from Hell.
My boss however looked nothing close to that and was perfect in his soft grey suit and darker trousers. I admired the effortless style and the easy hair, but his sharp eyes brought the serious issue to the surface as he stared at me with his full lips pouted and his eyebrows knitted together quite stiffly. Throw in his well-sculpted cheekbones and his heart-shaped lips and he earned his spot up there in beautiful–it was annoying. It was also unimportant and the guilt, and the embarrassments, were already gnawing at me I had to say something or let his eyes bury a hole deep into my soul. They were heavy enough without them digging answers right out of me without him having to share a single word. I was wrong and if he was considering a warning or punishment for me I deserved it and it was better for me to be dealt with it sooner rather than later.
"I'm sorry and I sh–"
"Grace," he said, calmly halting me from even saying anything further and I had to admit it sure did sting. Regardless of him having taken my suggestion with regards to his health and not being too nosy or forceful in getting to know me, he was still pretty much my employer and so he had to follow conduct as I had to.
Nichola's height succeeded at intimidating me, which it didn't normally do, and usually, it was his eyes that made me feel as if I was guilty of something and forced me to be on my toes, hence why I was never late. Except this morning had been a first and the last, his silence was far harsher than any warning or shout, it made me so aware of what I had done and made it hard to keep my chin up–I had embarrassed him. I hated myself and was upset with my sister and also guilty because this wasn't her fault–I loathed myself even more. If the ground were to open up and swallow me up then I was to take that opportunity happily.
I sighed lowly, my shoulders slumping as he stepped closer and very carefully–he was always this careful around me. He smelled intoxicating in a way I couldn't describe and whatever cologne he used carried this comfortably subtle and light woody tone that was quite sophisticated with a touch of spice-it was attractive. Pretty much like he was and I needed to stop eyeing him. I sighed. "Is your silence. . .a punishment."
"Punishment? You're not a child. . .ajd this isn't school," he said, head tilted to the side. I hated the fact that he looked at me as if he was concerned and as if I was some type of weirdo for even daring to point out the fact that he was not saying anything. "I don't feel there's a need for a. . .punishment, unfortunately."
"Maybe the wording's a little off." I found my shoulders slumping as I did my very best to stop my cheeks from heating up any further.
Eventually, I had to lift my head and meet his eyes which shone with amusement. "It is, but I'm not firing you."
"That's good to hear." I let out a sigh.
"Why would I fire you? You're good at your job. . .maybe even better than I thought you were going to be." He folded his arms and kept his head cocked to the side.
The brilliant brown of his eyes slightly shone as the light washed over the glass and came to rest against his face. Sure, he was standing at a safe distance or at least one comfortable to him and it didn't feel weird that he was, though some part of me was offended regardless, still, it felt as if he was towering over me with his tall figure. It felt as if there was nothing he could miss and Nicholas wasn't afraid to 'look', his eyes bore into mine most of the time as if he was searching for something, and half of the time I tried my best for it to not bother me because I had nothing to hide, fortunately. Other times I found myself holding my breath as if somehow whatever it was he was trying to figure out in that head of his would-be missed and then that would upset me before it made me feel guilty and I would return to telling myself I had nothing to hide. It never really helped and on rare times I felt I did–I avoided his eyes.
"Why?" His deep whiskey brown eyes were beautiful when they wanted to be.
I bit my lip, involuntarily, as I watched him moisten his plum ones before he let out any word. "I've had less hope with others."
"Why? Is it because if you do then if they fail you would have seen it coming?" I tilted my head to the side.
"I've had fifteen assistants since my last one." He let out an easy yet deep laugh, dimples softly gracing both of his cheeks almost prominently.
"Fifteen?" My eyes were probably ready to pop right out of my sockets.
"Ten temps. . .and five interns to be exact if they count." He shrugged nonchalantly, tugging his hair behind his ear.
I stepped forward just to mess with him as I arched a brow and kept a hand against my hip. "You're holding back then?"
"With what?" His lips looked even more plump close up. What was he using? The arch of his upper lip seemed even more delicate and I could see the shape of his chin properly. I even noticed just how his skin held a tinge close to yellow and wasn't even that porcelain, but his eyes were practically burning a hole straight through my chest and my heated cheeks weren't helping–I needed to get over it.
I followed where his eyes were trained and were ready to be upset, but my preparation for an upset was destroyed as I noted the state of my shirt. I must have been in a hurry and must have paid more attention to my hair than my outfit, sadly.
"I'm sorry." I quickly turned around and unbuttoned my shirt, and was left no other choice but to do it down, and button them up again and properly this time. "I didn't see that."
"Your buttons were bothering me." He sighed as if he was relieved and I had no right to frown, but I found my face twisting as I did, and with quite a lot of effort, for some pathetic reason, I managed to shove the frown away.
"You could've tried to warn me," I said, wiping my palms down my abdomen. "This is. . .embarassing, by the way."
"I had no way of saying it, I didn't want to offend you." He returned to maintaining that 'comfortable' distance between us and really, that was what offended me here. Pettiness was what made him not even giving my healthy and full cleavage not even one more glance and to be only bothered by mismatched buttons. He has every right to not be bothered and I was an employee and I had no clue just where these thoughts were coming from, but I despised how insignificant they made me feel. I hated bringing my insecurities to my job, let alone even having them to begin with and this was not like me–I was way too grown for nonsense like this.
"I'm not offended." I straightened up, clearing my throat.
"I see." The corners of his lips slightly lifted or at least I imagined.
"I'm sorry you had to cancel that meeting because of me, by the way." I still felt awful for my behavior and the fact that he was sort of being far more understanding than I was accustomed to.
"I wasn't in the mood for it either, migraine hit and I had to soothe them with. . .decaf."
"Yoga's still not an option?"
Nicholas's smile, at that moment, seemed far more beautiful than he was. "I'm still. . .tall."
"You have that meeting with that architect and then. . ." I bit my lip trying to remember the schedule I had printed into my brain.
"You're a bit scattered today," he pointed out.
I watched him as he returned to his seat. "I've had better days."
"What are you going to do about your burst pipes?" He began to rub his templates and closed his eyes as he spoke to me as if I was a friend.
I slumped on the chair before him and found myself sighing quite heavily. "I don't even. . .my landlord's a pain and I don't even want to know what he'll say the damage's worth."
"I meant as in where you'll be staying in the time being." He kept one eye open and shut the other as if he was wincing, which made me frown. "You can't stay there if it's that bad, Grace."
"You. . .care?"
He shut both of his eyes. "The well-being of my employees is important to me, yes."
Employee? I had no clue as to why I hated the sound of that. "That's good."
He leaned forward. "I would offer to help but you'll decline."
I laughed as I tugged a free curl behind my ear. "I definitely will, you're right."
"I figured." He didn't seem disappointed or even remotely offended by my words. "You're a very proud woman, Grace."
"Is that awful?" I tilted my head to the side.
"How could such a trait be. . awful?" He buried both of his hands into his hair and pushed it away from his face completely. "You're complicated. . .maybe, but not awful."
"Complicated? You're just saying that to be nice." I offered him a smile.
"I'm not an expert on nice, but. . .you are a bit of an enigma, to say the least." He carried each word carefully as if each one held some sort of importance.
I looked him in the eye as I said. "I doubt it."
"Are you telling me you want me to prove you wrong?" He arched his left brow.
"I'm not saying–"
"I don't have to, you know it." He leaned back in his chair sighing. "You just would hate me being. . .right."
I rolled my eyes-he already was right. And I didn't like him being right about anything that had anything to do with me. "You pay attention."
He smiled. "You hate it?"
"You have no idea." I rolled my eyes at the way his eyes shone so brilliantly with amusement.