THE NEXT DAY
it was Monday morning, and Amelia had arrived at work with Brittney as usual. They went down the underground garage and they took her private elevator from there upstairs.
Amelia had on a brown pantsuit, gold turtle neck and a brown robe coat. Her shoes were a 6 inch pointed-toe brown stilleto with small gold designs on them. Her hair was tied in a fine pony tail and her mask was brown and gold as well.
Brittney looked to her and smiled before facing facing forward "You look ravishing, Miss Amelia" she commented and Amelia gave a slight hum in response smiling a little.
They got to the last floor and Amelia took her bag from Brittney and went into her office. She locked her door and went to her desk taking off her mask. She sat down dropping the mask on her table and looked around at all the paperwork she had and began to put her hands to work.
After four hours of non-stop working, Amelia's desk phone rang indicating a call from Brittney. She picked up the call while still concentrating on the analysis of the sales team she was reviewing.
"Miss Amelia" Brittney called and Amelia answered "Go ahead". "Umm.. It's lunch break Miss Amelia and um... I... I was hoping I could take permission for the day off today. The thing is... My brother... He is sick... And... and I'm_"
"Take the day off, Brittney" she said and ended the call. She knew Brittney would probably go on and on saying thank you, so she did not want to hear it this time.
She heard Brittney arranging her stuff from outside and heard her shout a thank you to her before her retreating footsteps were heard.
Amelia smiled and got back to her work, but she suddenly remembered Milo. His battered face and weak body came to her mind and she wondered if he went to work that day.
After ten minutes of battling with herself to call him or not, she decided to just call his office, and his secretary picked up.
"Good morning.This is the office of the CEO of Trust Investment, how may I help you" she waited for the girl to give her usual line, then she asked her "Did Ivanov come in today?".
The secretary's eyes widened. Amelia had never called Milo's office before, it was always the other way around. She quickly got herself together and replied "No ma'am. He called in sick and took a one week leave today". Amelia simply nodded and replied "Okay" and ended the call.
'At least he didn't go AWOL' She thought to herself, so she decided to go back to her work.
Somewhere along the line, Amelia had found herself heading to the house of Milo Ivanov with the first-aid box she had in her office.
She looked at the box she had kept on the passenger seat and looked away shaking her head "I'm only going there because I feel responsible for him. No one would let a person they've known for two years to be on their own when they are that badly injured. In a way, I'm also doing this for myself right? I'll be relieved of the guilt I'm feeling" she reassured herself as she drove to the address through the GPS in her car.
She arrived at his house and pulled up to his driveway. She took the first aid box from the passenger seat and walked to the front porch of his house and rang the doorbell. No one came through for a few seconds and she rang the doorbell again.
She stood there and suddenly began to think that it was very stupid of her to be there. She wondered what even brought her all the way to his house. She sighed dejected and turned back walking away to her car, but the sound of the front door opening stopped her.
She turned back to the door to see Milo wearing a tank top and shorts. She looked at his face and it showed how weak he was feeling.They both stared at each other for a while.
Milo opened the door a little more for her to come in and Amelia walked back to the front porch and into the house and Milo shut the doors.
Amelia looked around appreciating the work of his interior design. "You did this?" She asked, but Milo shook his head heading to the kitchen "No, my mother did. Everything concerning beautifying is kind of her thing. Juice?" He asked as he opened the fridge.
"Water is fine" Amelia replied, so he took out a bottle of water and brought it to Amelia in the living room. He kept it on the side table where she was sitting and he sat on the two seater sofa away from her. "What brings you here Amelia?" He asked her. It took her a while before she answered "I came here to check on you and your injuries" She took off her coat to be free a little. He nodded "But I'm fine. I already applied the antibiotics on them" he reassured her, but she stood from her seat and moved to where he was with her first aid box.
She looked at him straight in the eyes and suddenly punched him in his guts and Milo doubled over in pain groaning. "Yeah, you're definitely fine" she said sarcastically as she opened up the first aid kit.
She told him to take the tank top off, and he obliged. She first disinfected the bruises he had and began to apply ointments on them, then she bandaged the places that had open wounds. After she was done, she moved to his face and did the same thing.
All the while, Milo had his eyes on her not even taking a second to look away "Amelia" he called to her in a husky voice and she answered with a hum very concentrated on what she was doing.
"Do you not see me as a man?" He asked her and she answered him with a question "What do you mean, Ivanov?"
"You are so close to me without a care in the world. Do you really think I am not a man who has hormones?" His voice had gone deeper than it last was, but Amelia did not stop tending to the wounds on his face.
"I know you are a man with hormones, but I also know that you are a man who respects me, so you would not do anything without my will" she looked him straight in his eyes and turned her attention back to the wound she was tending to. "Besides, I'm wearing a mask"
She was done with his face, so she took her hands down and fixed all her tools back into the first aid kit.
She looked at his wrist and saw the bruises around them, so she took his hands and began to massage them softy with an ointment from the first aid kit. As she massaged his wrist, she knotted their hands together and smiled a little. This did not go unnoticed by Milo.
She looked up to him and answered the question she seemed to know he was asking "I'm an arms woman Ivanov. I can't help but appreciate nice hands whenever I see them".
She was soon done with massaging his wrist and Milo spoke "But you never appreciated my hands before"
"That's because I was never this close" she replied as she zipped up her kit. "Does that mean you've appreciated other men?" He asked again and she looked at him "I don't really have men in my life, Ivanov. You kind of forced your way in".
She stood up from the seat wearing her coat and getting ready to leave, but Milo stopped her giving her a warm back hug wrapping his arms around her waist "I owe you one" he said instead of a thank you.
Amelia had the urge in her to hold on to his neck and rub on it, but she held it in and just patted his hand "Good thing you know" she said and pulled away from him.
Milo walked her out to the front porch and watched her get in her car and drive away. The smile on his face could not get any broader than it was.
Amelia was in her car smiling like a five year old child who got candy from her parents. She remembered how close their face had gotten when she was tending to the wounds on his face, and her smile broadened.
It's not that she had not noticed that time, it's just that she did not want to pay attention to it, if not she would have lost control.
Amelia was not a woman with a low EQ. No, she was very aware of her femme fatale. She knew very well the deep feelings Milo had for her. It was just that, she was not in a position to commit to anyone at the moment. She had her identity to hide, her parents to look for, and a whole target at her back to avoid. She also was not ready to let Milo see her face, so this moment was too crucial for her to have a love life, but it seemed like her hormones and feelings this days had a different thing to say to her.
Amelia had gotten back to her office with an uplifted mood ready to get back to work. She arrived at her office and locked the door as always taking off her mask.
She looked at the work on her table and saw sn unfamiliar document on her desk. She recognized it to be just like the document she had gotten with her parents' info in them.
Her heart began to beat faster and she heard the beats in her ears. She carried it from the table slowly and opened it to see what was inside.
The image made her heart to completely sink.
They were pictures of her parents hanging up in chains with blood all over them.