Caught Between the Ashford Brothers

Chapter 7

Iris

My first thought was that maybe he came to find me. I know, wishful thinking but you know, maybe he found out after I left that he liked me and would really like to date or something.

Stupid. That was definitely not the case.

Maybe he came to find me because he was angry at how I had left like that. But what right did he have to be angry? He was the one who had called what we had a… fling and made me feel shitty about myself. I should be angry. In fact, I was angry.

“Hey?” I glanced up to see that I was now on the tenth floor and the elevator doors had opened. My guide, Emma, stood at the entrance. “What happened? Where is the coffee?”

Oh f**k. I looked down at my hands. I had totally forgotten about that.

“Uhm… I came to take something. My phone. I-i’ll need it.” she stared at me as i walked by her slowly, then hurried to grab my very important phone from my bag.

Fuck. Okay, I needed to concentrate for real. It’s been what? Less than thirty minutes since I started my job, and I've already made two blunders. I need to be professional and mature about this. If Jaxon is still downstairs by the time I get there, I'll talk to him like a proper adult and set some boundaries. He can’t just show up at my place to work like this.

I took a deep breath.

Okay, let’s do this. It’s going to be okay and definitely no big deal. But as I got into the elevator again but this time with Emma, who had some deliveries to make to another department, I couldn't help but wonder if I had imagined the whole thing because if not, how exactly had he found out where I work?

****

On getting back to the ground floor, I was more than relieved to find out that Jaxon wasn’t there anymore. Oh my God. I breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe I had indeed imagined it. I mean, there was obviously no way he found my place of work or decided that he wanted to explore things properly with me. That just doesn't make sense.

I ignored the faint pang of disappointment i felt within me. This was obviously for the best.

About five minutes later, I found the cafe Emma had been talking about. Manny’s and it absolutely wasn’t directly opposite the company. It was a few feet to the right, opposite the company and amongst other shops that looked alike. Anyway…

“What can I get you?”

I raised the list and started reading off it. “Okay… can I get a large vanilla iced latte, extra shot, almond milk. And, um… a caramel macchiato...”

“Just give it to me," the lady at the counter said after a minute and I did just that with an oddly embarrassing feeling and smile. After a few minutes, she handed me my order, which was in two large paper bags and I started my journey back into the company.

On getting back to my department floor, I found Emma at her desk again and handed the bags to Emma or tried to until she gave me a look. “Uhm… what do I do?"

“Hand them out. We have less than thirty minutes before the presentation.”

“Oh okay. H-how do I know who owns which, though?” She points to the paper in my hand. “Check the back. Match the name to the coffee. Same numbers.”

“O-okay.”

That should be easy, right? That is until I find out that I don't know the names of the team and who is who.

Shit.

“What are you still waiting for?” I glance between the paper and Emma. "I don't know who is who though.”

“Ugh!” she stands up from her desk and collects the bags from me. “Staple these reports together. I’ve done one…” She points it to me. “Use it as a guide and don’t mess it up, please.” The ‘please’ sounded more like a threat than a plea but I nodded anyway.

Fuck, the rush was getting to me and making me more nervous.

****

Till I finished putting the reports together, Emma didn’t come back to her desk. The few times I looked up the report, I saw her running from one end of the office space to the other and felt the pressure all over again. When I was finally done stacking the papers together, I left the desk to inform Emma that I was done with the task when I saw the elevator doors open.

I immediately felt my body freeze at the sight of Jaxon walking out of the elevator car. What the f**k was he doing here? You mean to tell me I hadn't imagined the whole thing from earlier? Oh my God, what should I do? Do I just find a place to hide? Run away? That’s a good idea, right? But what if he starts asking for me? Or starts acting crazy, which, oh my God, will be a f*****g lesson to never have a one-night stand or have a fling with a complete stranger. It would be so unprofessional for my personal life to mess with work on the very first day.

So with that thought, I moved forward to meet him on wobbly legs and took hold of his hands firmly. “We need to talk.”

“What?” I heard him say faintly amidst the ringing in my ear as I dragged him to the restroom I noticed at that moment in a corner.

Be nonchalant. Ask him what the f**k he was doing here and send him packing. That’s all. That’s all I need to do.

But the moment we entered the restroom and I turned to face him, all logical thoughts flew out of my head. God, seeing him so up close again after such a long time felt like a painful twist to my heart, not to talk of the rush of memories that flooded my head of everything we had done together.

I immediately felt hot at those thoughts.

“What are you doing?” I took in his appearance as he asked that, a perplexed expression written all over his face. He looked so different. Instead of his typical go-to of a tank top and jeans, he was in full suit attire with slicked-back hair and no tattoos in sight which even though it looked weird to me, it also made him kind of look sexy.

Okay, no. Remember, he was just a fling. You’re angry and he definitely shouldn’t have shown up at your workplace on your first day, which has obviously upset you.

I gritted my teeth. “I should be asking you the same thing. What the f**k are you doing here?”