I had made it back to the house after breakfast. Mr. Wolfe had already gotten Lark ready for the day, making my life that much easier. We loaded up into the car and drove in silence to the apple orchard. I was too nervous to talk to him about it in the car, deciding to save it for the rest of the day.
Once we arrived there, we paid for our bucket and headed out of the building into the orchard.
"I…wanted to talk." I looked over at Mr. Wolfe.
"So did I." He nodded, looking back over at me.
"Oh. Okay. You can go first, then."
"I wanted to ask where you've gone on your days off."
"With my friend. I told you that."
"Your male friend, yes?" He raised an eyebrow.
"This one!" Lark spoke up, pointing towards one of the trees.
"Yeah." We stopped at the tree, and I picked him up to help him reach the apples that he then dropped into the bucket.
"You've rarely talked about him."
I set Lark back down as we continued along the path. "We first met at the art show."
"You slept with him, didn't you?" He looked over at me once more, a frown on his face.
"Yes. The night of the art show. Not--not last night, though." I quickly corrected myself.
"I thought you weren't one of those women who had one-night stands." He tilted his chin up slightly, causing me to scowl.
"When did I ever say that? What's wrong with women like that anyways?"
"I suppose you didn't." He shrugged, looking away.
"So what's wrong with me having a male friend I slept with?" I crossed my arms over my chest.
"I just didn't take you for that kind of person."
"You act like you have a stake in it." I scowled, not really sure why it got under my skin so much. Isn't that what I wanted from him? To care who I did and didn't sleep with.
He raised his eyebrows. "You can do whatever you'd like. Just don't let it get in the way of your job."
"Have I? Because I think you're just jealous."
"I think you have a wild imagination."
"Is that why-" I stopped myself. This was no time or place to have this conversation now.
He folded his arms across his chest. "Is there something you'd like to say?"
"Not anymore, no." I shook my head, looking away. "'Let's just let it go so we can let Lark enjoy the day out with both of us."
"Good idea."
----
Somehow the day had turned out worst than I ever thought that it could. Mr. Wolfe spent the rest of the day ignoring me once more. I wasn't sure what part he was so mad about, but I also didn't really have the option to ask him about it either. Part of me felt that he really was just jealous, that maybe he did have feelings for me too and was upset by knowing some other guy had hit that first, but at the same time, I worried he was just mad to be mad, not because he cares about me.
I crawled into bed, tucking in under the covers and pouting slightly. I wish we could just have a civilized conversation to figure out our feelings, but it didn't seem like something that would happen.
Somehow things had gotten much better at this job and then much worse. From getting a maid, the meal boxes, and me a room to paint into him barely even acknowledging my presence because he was too busy being upset with me.
A part of me had to admit to myself what I wanted out of this. A family and a happily ever after? Just taboo sex? To be able to keep my job while sleeping with my boss? I wasn't fully sure what I really did want. All I knew was I wanted more from him.