Hello Mr. Arrogant

Chapter 13

[Not edited]

Chapter 13: {Social Anxiety} 

"Is this really what you do all day?" Karen asked when she caught me stuffing my face with candy after her shift. I swallowed the remaining sweets that were in my mouth and smiled cheekily.

Karen was another friend I had in the office. I met her shortly after meeting Belle and we instantly hit it off. We were basically a trio friend group now. One of us was best friends with another, and then that friend was best friends with the other friend, but everyone still liked each other. It was weird and hard to explain.

"Oops. Sorry Karen," I rolled my eyes sarcastically. I shoved the bag of candy in my desk drawer and went back to scanning emails.

"You're going to get into so much trouble one day, Lydia. And I'll be the first in line to watch you burn." Then she walked away with a wide smile on her face.

"You never have faith in me," I called out to her from behind my desk. A moment later I was alone again. 

"I wanna do something fun!" I sighed loudly, stretching my arms in the air and spinning in my office chair. 

As of yesterday evening, f*******: was now apparently blocked since Mr. Snooping-Pants decided to look at my computer history. And around seven-thirty this morning, someone- June- ratted me out for having my phone out during work hours. Now it's mandatory that I turn my phone into Mr. Snooping-Pants's office every morning before work and have a routine history search by the same guy at the end of every week.

So during my lunch break, I took a cab over to the nearest Walgreen's and bought myself a whole bunch of candy to hide in my desk as well as some solo card games and energy pills. I was also contemplating buying a mini-fridge to go into my office, but I realized I hadn't paid my rent this month and I quickly said no to myself. 

As I spun around in my chair I realized Mr. Stooping-Pants ( I mean Mr. Hadley) had been very quiet as of late. Usually, he would call me down to get paperwork or to do some errands for him. We would bicker most of the time, but I tried to keep our conversations professional.

For the last few days, however, it was different. He was closed off and only spoke to people when absolutely necessary. The word, Bipolar, danced in my head a few times, but I came to the conclusion that he was just going through a rough patch. I really wanted to confront him about it, though. It really bothered me that he wasn't talking or interacting with anyone.

I pressed the intercom button on my desk. "Mr. Hadley, sir.?" I asked the speaker. 

"What?" He snapped at me. I just shrugged his temper away and continued with my mission.

"May I come down to your office? I must speak to you about some urgent business." I almost laughed out loud, which would have blown my cover. I bite my lip and held my breath.

"If it's urgent-" I wouldn't let him finish his sentence before say,

"Thank you," and rushing out the door and down the hallway. 

I was there in seconds. My breathing was erratic and my hair was frizzy, but I had no instinct to fix it. All I had on my mind was helping the poor soul of this man and finding out what his problem was. Of course, without him knowing.

I knocked once on the door then opened before he could even get his words out.

"Hello, Mr. Hadley," I greeted him with a smile. My bubbliness seemed to catch him off guard. His fingers froze on his keyboard as he looked over at me, and his glasses fell to the tip of his nose.

God, he was something else.

My mouth watered at the sight in front of me. I almost forgot why I had come down to his office in the first place, but then I saw the sadness in his eyes. I frowned too, and when he raised an eyebrow at me, I only ignored him because he was hurting inside.

"How are you?" I asked sitting down in one of the leather chairs in front of his desk. My body seemed to be engulfed by the leather, and I looked ten times smaller than usual. 

"I'm...I," He lost his words for a moment. His eyes darted around the room as if to keep them away from mine. I knew better as I watched him struggle. "What do you want, Miss Bennett?"

Avoiding the question, I see. Well, two can play at that game.

I couldn't hide my smirk as I spoke. "Mr. Hadley, I have some very pressing business to discuss with you." I crossed one leg over the other. "You see, it seems you are dealing with a bad case of social anxiety."

The look on his face was priceless. "Now, I have some remedies for you or we could just take you out somewhere, but I feel it is necessary if you want to continue running a successful company like this one, that you take care of yourself at all times."

After my little stupid speech, and a few unspoken words passing between us in the following silence, I stood up.

"I'm taking you out," I said as a statement. He, as expected, did not approve whatsoever of my idea.

"What makes you think I'm going with you?" He questioned.

"Come on." I ignored his questioned like he did mine, and with that, I headed to the elevator. 

But said one last thing before I stepped out. "If you don't come with me, I'll find another guy to take your place," I hummed right before leaving his office. I heard him grumble to himself, but when I reached the elevator he was right behind me.

***

"Where are you taking me?" He asked when we stepped onto the train. The station was only walking distance from the office so I thought it would be cute if we took the train instead of a car.

"Somewhere green and open. Somewhere alive and dead. Somewhere that flows like water but is still like a statue."

"Would you stop playing games with me!" He exclaimed, frustrated with my constant attempts to avoid the answer. The true answer. The answer that he was wanting.

"Could you just trust me?" I retorted back, looking him dead in the eyes. His perfectly blue eyes that never ended. 

He groaned and rolled his eyes. Good, be bored. Serves you right for taking my f*******: away. Wow, I just sounded like my grandmother.

"You know, it's not so bad," I said trying to release some built-up tension between us and start up a conversation.

"The train is completely filthy! You know how many people come in and out of these cars daily?" Mr. Germaphobe stuck his hands in his pockets and stood as still as he could so not to touch anything.

"Please," I huffed, grabbing onto the pole in between us without fear. "This place is harmless." I smiled again, hoping my happiness was contagious. No such luck.   

He looked so out of place here. He was the only one I saw that was wearing a suit- that probably cost more than my apartment- and because of that, he stood out among the clump of strangers. He also seemed confused and nervous about the train ride. Little drops of precipitation formed around his forehead.

"Have you ever ridden the train before, Ashton?" I asked not meaning to say his first name. He looked at me and then sighed taking one hand out of his pocket and grabbing the pole with me. His hand barely touched mine, but I could still feel warmth radiate from his skin.

"No," He confessed. My mouth went slack before I recomposed myself.

"Well, I just changed that, didn't I?" I couldn't help but feel like I accomplished something again. My heart swelled in my chest as I realized I just created a first that he could experience, and I had the pleasure of watching him undergo it even though it was awkward most of the time.

The train rocked side to side as we came to a stop. The woman on the speaker announced that we had just arrived at our destination, and I happily skipped off the train with a lost and confused Ashton Hadley following me like a loyal puppy.

The streets were crowded, which was to be expected this close to Central Park, and I hoped that the large crowds would distract him long enough so he wouldn't realize where we were heading.

Central Park was massive. Bright, beautiful gardens and big fountains with intricate statues within them were scattered throughout the park with walkways going to each one individually. I used to come here a lot when I was a child with my brother, Kade, but those years are probably long forgotten by him. 

I sighed, dragging Ashton along the sidewalk. I missed my brother sometimes. He used to love me and care for me more than anyone in the world, but just like the rest of my family, he abandoned me, too.

 I remember not too long after I moved out of my parent's mansion, Kade visited me to see how I was doing. When he first walked into my apartment he smiled, but then I caught him inspecting every corner with a disgusted frown and pinched eyebrows. When he left he didn't even say good-bye to me. All he really said was, "You can come back when you're done pouting," and he left.

"Ta-da!" I waved my hands in the air and stepped out of Ashton's way, even though he could easily see over my petite body.

There in front of us was the Bethesda Fountain. Somehow, It was larger than I remembered it to be. People lined its outer edge taking selfies and group pictures to prove they were really there.

"You brought me to Central Park?" He asked in disbelief. 

"Yes," I said sarcastically, placing my hands on my hips. "What's a better place to cure your social anxiety than a park that has over a hundred thousand people in it?" 

Beat that, Mr. Hadley. 

"I don't have social anxiety-"

"Of course you do," I smiled interlocking our arms, knowing very well that he didn't. "Now let's explore!"