HER ONLY EXCEPTION

Chapter 8- WHISPERS IN THE HALLWAY

Monday morning hit Andrea like a freight train. She'd spent the entire weekend trying and failing not to think about the elevator incident and now she had to face him at work.

Andrea arrived at 8:55 AM, clutching her coffee like a lifeline. She'd finished the Hillcrest analysis on Sunday night, printed it out, and left it on Henry's desk before anyone else arrived this morning. She wasn't giving him any excuse to fire her, she needs this job.

She made her way to her desk, keeping her head down. Rachel was already there, scrolling through emails while Emily sat across from them, organizing a stack of files.

"Morning," Rachel said, glancing up with a smile. "You survived your first week."

"Barely," Andrea muttered, dropping into her chair.

Emily laughed. "It gets easier or you get numb to it. One of the two."

Andrea was about to respond when Alex one of their team members appeared, practically vibrating with excitement.

"Did you guys hear?" he said, leaning against Rachel's desk.

Rachel raised an eyebrow. "Hear what?"

"...it's about Mr. Moore."

Alex grinned, clearly delighted to be the bearer of latest gossip. "Apparently, he got stuck in the elevator on Friday night for like, thirty minutes with some woman from this office."

Andrea felt her heart stop beating.

Emily's eyes widened. "Wait, seriously?"

"Dead serious," Alex said, lowering his voice conspiratorially. "My buddy in building security told me, he said the maintenance guys had to manually override the system to get them out."

Rachel frowned. "Who was the woman?"

Andrea was scared now, she desperately wanted to run away.

"No idea, security wouldn't say. But can you imagine?" Alex shook his head, laughing. "Being trapped in an elevator with Henry Moore for half an hour? I'd rather jump out the emergency hatch."

Emily snorted. "God, that poor lady. He probably tore into her the entire time."

"Right?" Alex leaned in closer. "You know how he is, cold as ice. He probably made her cry or something."

Andrea's hands clenched beneath her desk.

Rachel shook her head. "I feel bad for whoever it was. That must've been awful."

"Seriously," Emily agreed. " I can't imagine being stuck in a tiny space with him alone. I'd be having a panic attack."

"Unless he was nicer about it than usual," Alex said with a shrug. "But let's be real, when is Henry Moore ever nice?"

They all laughed loudly.

But Andrea stayed silent, staring at her computer screen without seeing it. Her pulse was racing and palms were sweating.

Did they know it was her?

No. They couldn't. Security hadn't said anything, Alex said so himself.

But what if someone figured it out? What if someone saw her leaving the building at the same time as Henry?

"Andrea?"

She jerked her head up. Rachel was looking at her with mild concern.

"You okay?" Rachel asked. "You've been weirdly quiet."

Andrea forced a smile. "Yeah…I'm just tired."

"You sure?" Emily tilted her head. "You look kind of pale."

"I'm fine," Andrea said quickly. "I just need some water. I'll be right back."

She stood abruptly, ignoring the way Alex and Rachel exchanged glances.

"Okay..." Rachel said slowly. "You sure you're alright?"

"Yeah, I just…" Andrea grabbed her phone and headed toward the hallway. "I'll be back in a minute."

She walked as calmly as she could manage until she rounded the corner then she bolted for the women's restroom. Andrea shoved open the door and locked herself in the nearest stall.

Her heart was pounding so hard she thought they could fall from her chest.

“Breathe. Just breathe. They don't know, nobody knows”

It was just gossip, just office drama. It happened all the time. She pressed her hands against her face, willing herself to calm down.

“Get your sh*t together, girl.”

Across the building, Marcus Barnes walked into Henry's office without knocking, he never did and dropped into the chair across from his desk like he owned the place. He has been friends with Henry since childhood, people usually assumed they were brothers because of how close these two were. He was also the COO at Crestview.

"You look like s**t, man" he said.

Henry didn't look up from his computer. "Good morning to you too."

"I'm serious. What's going on with you?" Marcus leaned back, crossing his arms. "Lindsay told me you've been staring at the same email for over an hour."

"Lindsay talks too much, she needs to learn how to mind her business."

"Well, she's your assistant and it's good she notices things." Marcus tilted his head. "So tell me, what is it? Deal going south or Board pissing you off again?"

"None of that."

"Then what?"

Henry was quiet for a long moment. Then he closed his laptop and leaned back in his chair.

"It's just this woman…,"

Marcus blinked. "Wait, wait…a woman?"

"Yes."

"You. Henry Moore are distracted at work because of a woman."

"Uhh.. yeah I mean…"

Marcus stared at him for a second, then burst out laughing. "This is crazy, now I need to hear this story."

Henry's mouth twitched. "It's not funny."

"C’mon man, It's hilarious. You don't get distracted. Ever." Marcus leaned forward, grinning. "and the first time you do, it's because of a woman?....“Okay tell me, who's this woman? Where did you meet her?"

"That's not important."

"The hell it's not. Come on, spill."

Henry hesitated, then shook his head slightly. "I don't know but there's something just different about her,"

"Different how?"

"I mean she's the first woman I've met that clearly doesn't want anything to do with me."

Marcus frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I mean exactly what I said." Henry's fingers drummed against his desk. "She isn't moved by my looks, money, power or status. Can you believe, she told me she'd rather be with a blind begger than be with me. She looks at me like I'm just some rich asshole who's just standing in her way."

Marcus raised his eyebrows. "And you're into that?"

"Apparently."

"Why?"

Henry webt quiet again "I don't know…but I think I'm just moved by her confidence and audacity, no one's ever done that before."

"This is stupid, man. I don't get why you'll be distracted by a woman who clearly doesn't want to have anything to do with you."

"That's the point Marcus." Henry's voice rose slightly. "Every woman I meet wants something. It's either my money, status, access, myself or Whatever. But her?" He shook his head. "She wants nothing to do with me and I don't get why?"

Marcus let out a deep sigh "So, what really happened?"

Henry's mouth curved into something that wasn't quite a smile. "I made a move on her and she rejected me, she even slapped me."

Marcus stared at him, his eyes shooting daggers "She what?"

"Yeah, she slapped me." Henry said it almost proudly. "Hard."

Marcus let out a low whistle. "Damn…And you're... what? Impressed by that?"

"I am, actually."

Marcus shook his head slowly, laughing. "Man, you're losing it."

"Maybe." He whispered almost to himself.

"So what did you do after she hit you?"

"Nothing. She walked away."

"And you just let her?"

"What was I supposed to do? Chase her down?" Henry leaned forward slightly. "She made it very clear she wanted nothing to do with me."

"So why are you still thinking about her?"

The words hit him hard, Because that was the real question.

“Why couldn't he stop thinking about Andrea Collins even after everything?”

Why did he keep replaying that moment in the elevator; the fire in her eyes, the way she'd shoved him away, the sting of her hand against his cheek?

"She's the first woman who's ever said No to me, and it has made me curious" Henry said finally.

Marcus raised an eyebrow. "Come on. That can't be true."

"I mean it," Henry's voice was flat. "Every woman I've ever wanted said yes. I mean eventually they always do after I work my charm on them. But not this one."

Marcus was quiet for a moment, studying Henry's face. "Hmm…you like her." Marcus said slowly.

"I'm just curious."

"That's not what I said."

Henry shot him a look. "I barely know her."

"Doesn't matter. You like her." Marcus leaned back in his chair. "I can see it on your face, man. You're hooked."

"C’mon bro…I'm not hooked, I just want to find a way to prove my point that she's just like the other girls."

"Naa…you're totally hooked." He laughed loudly.

Henry didn't respond because maybe Marcus was right. He was hooked.

"Alright, Just... be careful," Marcus said, his tone shifting to something more serious. "Don't do anything stupid."

"Like what?"

"Like getting too attached to someone who clearly doesn't want you." Marcus held his gaze. "I'm still very shocked, you don't do relationships, Moore. That's the rule. So why do you want to break it now because some woman slapped you and bruised your ego."

Henry's jaw tightened. "My ego is fine."

"Is it?"

"Yes."

Marcus didn't look convinced. "Look, I'm just saying... if this woman actually matters to you, don't screw it up. Don't push too hard or be an asshole."

Henry's mouth curved slightly. "Too late for that."

"Henry…"

"I know what I'm doing."

"Do you?"

Henry didn't answer.

Because the truth was, he had no idea what he was doing. All he knew was that Andrea Collins had gotten under his skin.

And he had no intention of letting her go.