Distance Between Us

CHAPTER FOUR

Amelia

Morning light slipped through the wide glass windows of the penthouse suite, pale and quiet after the storm of the night before.

Amelia Handoff laid in bed, just soaking in the stillness and calm before she would get swamped by calls, emails and meetings.

She turned around to gaze at the silhouette of Noah.

The way he slept, reminded her of last night.

How freeing it felt to give into the desire she felt without caring about the consequences.

It was intoxicating really, to live a life of freedom… not double checking or overthinking every little thing.

Suddenly, her phone buzzed violently on the nightstand.

Without taking a glance at it, she knew it was work.

It never stopped, just an unending stream of contracts to sign and paperwork to go over.

She wanted to ignore it but as soon as the phone stopped buzzing, the screen came alive and another call came through.

Sighing, she grabbed it and frowned at the screen.

Five missed calls and two urgent messages from the offshore operations manager.

Shit!

She had placed the phone on silent last night to avoid being disturbed.

Scrolling through the messages, a short text from her PA caught her attention.

'Emergency at Plant 14'

That was odd as her P.A knew not to send messages unless something had gone wrong.

Without wasting time, Amelia reached out to her and after a brief conversation, she was patched through to the manager in charge.

“Miss Handoff,” the manager said, voice strained. “There’s been an accident on Rig Twelve.”

That was bad news but she didn't let it show.“What kind of accident?”

“A worker fell during maintenance, the machine lost control, and his safety harness malfunctioned.”

“Is he alive?”

“Yes and he's in a critical state. The problem is…” the man hesitated. “If investigators dig into the accident, they'll realize it happened due to equipment failure.”

Which could open the company to massive liability, especially if they decide to sue… she realized.

This is a huge problem, yet she said. “It'll be alright, I'll handle it.”

She ended the call just as Noah got up from the bed, walking naked towards the shower.

A small smile appeared on her face as she took in his perfectly sculpted body.

Sadly, the smile faded as she returned back to the matter at hand, contacting the company lawyer. Soon enough, she received a legal summary from the company legal team.

Just then Noah got out of the shower, the white towel hanging low on his waist, water dripping from his black hair.

He walked straight to her, giving her a kiss on her cheek. “Good morning,” he whispered with less than a metre separating their faces.

At first, she was startled by gesture but she recovered quickly and murmured, “Good morning.”

“I want us to go out tonight.” He declares out of the blue.

“Go out?” She arched a brow. “As in a date?”

“Whatever you would like to call it. I’ve been thinking about last night and… well, there's no reason we can't switch things up once in awhile.”

“Last night was a mistake, Noah! Have you forgotten the rules?”

He leaned in, his warm breath fanning her lips. “Was it? Or would you love to do it again?”

He was so close that my brains instantly turned to mush and I gave in with a weak nod. “Fine.”

“Good, I'll send you the details.”

And with that, he picked up his things and walked out of the suit, his scent lingering in the air long after he'd left.

Forcing herself to focus, she picked her phone and made a call. "I take it you've seen the report from legal?"

"Yes," came the reply.

What do you recommend we do?” she asked quietly.

“The man has initially signed the safety compliance forms,” the manager replied. “If we classify it as operator error, the company avoids liability. We give the employee a forced leave, we pay him discreetly and the company escapes all scrutiny.”

Amelia’s jaw tightened. It was wrong.

The right thing to do would be to own up to our mistake but doing so would heavily impact the company and lose us several millions of dollars.

And since the company wanted to minimise damage, they would prefer this option.

“Miss Handoff?” the manager pressed after a minute had passed, his tone anxious.

Amelia exhaled slowly. “File the report as operator error. Give him 3 months leave and pay him discreetly. Also, keep me informed about his progress."

The words tasted bitter as it left her mouth but she couldn't take it back.

"Yes, ma'am," came the reply.

Later that evening, as Amelia walked into a quiet downtown restaurant, she was lost in thoughts.

Even though she tried to drown her thoughts in work, it was hard to stop thinking about that worker.

It was a terrible accident, all prompted by one mistake but the aftermath?

That was all her. With one statement, she had casually altered someone's life.

It was weird that she couldn't just forget it because she had done things like this over the years, shut down factories, bought out companies, and forcefully retired hundreds of workers without blinking.

As the restaurant doors closed behind her, she spotted Noah who stood when he saw her, flashing that crooked smile that always disarmed her.

“Well, look who came!” He beamed. “I was beginning to think the you might cancel on me.”

“Thought about it,” Amelia said lightly as she sat. “But for some reason, I changed my mind.”

Their eyes held for a moment, the energy between them crackling like static.

Things were awkward at first but they gradually warmed up to each other.

It turns out that Noah had a way of pulling laughter out of her when she least expected it.

He regaled her with interesting stories… from his DJ tours, encounters with drunk ladies at parties, and his college escapades.

After about an hour of smooth conversation and drinks, Amelia realised that there was more to Noah.

Or so she had thought.

Halfway through, Noah pushed his chair back. “I have to use the little boys room, I'll be back.” He says, ducking to kiss her cheek.

She watched him disappear down the hallway, a smile still playing on her lips when a phone buzzed on the table.

Instinctively she reached for it, picking it up before realizing that it wasn't hers.

It was Noah's.

The phone buzzed again after a second, the screen lighting up long enough for Amelia to see that a text message had popped up.

She didn't mean to pry but the angle of the phone made it easier to read the message.

"Have you gotten the info from her?"

Amelia had barely finished reading when the screen lit up again with a other message.

“A.H is definitely the one responsible for all this, you need to get closer and find out what you can!”

Amelia froze.

Those were her initials!

Another message quickly followed.

"I'm close to finding out what happened, and once I have done, we'll have M-Tex by the balls!

Her pulse began to pound in her ears because M-Tex is the name of her company!

What the hell is going on?

Who is Noah talking and why were they talking about her company?

She had barely processed what she just found out when a voice breathed down her neck. “Miss me?” Amelia plastered on a fake, cheery smile. “Of course…”

She watched him seat down, analysing every single thing he did.

A lot might be unknown right now but one thing was certain…Noah wasn't who he made her believe he was.