Chapter Four:Things I Shouldn’t Notice
1329 Words
Emily’s POV
“You didn’t hear anything, did you?”
“Hear what?”
“Nothing” she said like it was that simple
“Then why are you asking if it’s nothing?”
“I just wanted to know” She shrugged
I looked at her for a moment.
Did something happen between her and Liam that I wasn't supposed to know about?
My mind replayed what she said yesterday.
‘You can’t keep pretending it didn’t happen’
What exactly happened?
Before I could ask another question, Isabelle pulled into the driveway.
“We’re home”
And just like that, nothing more was said.
The second we got inside, Isabelle went upstairs while I stayed downstairs trying not to overthink everything.
Bad idea.
After a while my mum walked into the kitchen and sighed the moment she saw me.
“How was work?” she asked
“It was fine” I said simply
“Just fine?” She repeated like I'd said something offensive “Hope you’re doing everything like you’re being told to?”
“Yeah i am”
She folded her arms
“Isabelle would’ve already stood out by now”
I stared at her. Two days.
I'd only been there for two days and somehow Isabelle had already beaten me.
There it is. Always something Isabelle would’ve done better.
Before I could respond, the door bell rang.I quickly rushed towards the door to open it.
“Surprise!”
I gasped.
“Sophie!”
“Oh my God finally,” she said pulling me in for a tight hug “I’ve missed you so much”
For the first time that day, I forgot about work. Forgot about whatever strange thing was happening between Isabelle and Liam.
“I’ve missed you too”
Sophie pulled away and I closed the door behind her.
“You look stressed” she noticed
“That’s because I am”
My mum walked past us without saying a word. And that felt worse.
“Okay, did I interrupt a family meeting?” Sophie asked
“What’s that about?”
“Just ignore her”
Sophie followed me upstairs still carrying her bag while talking nonstop.
“I swear if I'd stayed one more week at work,I would’ve lost my mind” she complained dramatically “My manager is literally out to get me”
“You’ve said that about all your managers”
“Because they are all terrible”
I laughed softly as I shut the bedroom door behind us. The room suddenly felt lighter and like I could breathe properly. We sat on my bed and Sophie looked at me.
“You look stressed” she pointed out again
“Thanks”
“I’m serious”
She always noticed these little things about me.
“How’s the new job?”
“It’s okay”
“That sounded very convincing”
I rolled my eyes
“It’s just exhausting”
“Your mum is stressing you out again?”
“When does she not”
Sophie nodded because I was sure she understood how things worked here.
“Tell me what else is stressing you”
I looked away immediately and her expression changed.
“Oh my God”she said dramatically “There’s a man involved”
I ignored her
“Work is just weird”
Sophie frowned “That’s not enough information”
“My boss made a fuss about my mess up today”
“Wait..What’s his name?” she added
I hesitated. “Liam”
“Wait. Liam Ashford? As in Isabelle’s ex?!”. When I nodded she winced. “Oh you’re so lucky”
I gave her a confused look.
“Because he is ridiculously attractive” she added
I opened my mouth to disagree. Unfortunately I couldn’t.
“Sophie” I said
“I’m serious and he is your boss which somehow makes it worse”
I didn’t even know what to say so I changed the topic. “How long are you staying?”
“A few weeks, probably”
I smiled, feeling calmer than I had all day.
She smiled back “I’m here now to talk about anything that’s bothering you” she said seriously
That felt comforting. We spent the evening talking about random things.
Her work. People we used to know. Her love life. Anything except my work.
Well.. mostly.
By the time Sophie left, my head felt a lot lighter but that definitely couldn’t last long.
The next morning I got dressed and I was rushing downstairs to get to the car.
Isabelle was waiting looking energetic today.
“I heard Sophie came by yesterday”
“Yeah. We thought you were asleep so she didn’t want to disturb you”
“Probably for the best,” she laughed and somehow I felt relaxed.
I think Isabelle and I are okay now.
The office looked busy when I arrived. Phones rang while everyone seemed to be on their feet.
I went to my desk trying to settle into the chaos around me.
Then my eyes landed on Liam. He stood outside his office talking to a staff member. His sleeves were rolled up and he looked tired. Exhausted really.
Then suddenly his eyes lifted. Straight to me.
My heart raced.
God. Why was I acting this way? I quickly looked away and sat down pretending to focus on something on my computer.
Embarrassing.
A few minutes later, one of the printers jammed. I stared at it and it stared back. We were both struggling.
“You have to pull the tray out first”
I looked up to find Liam standing beside me. Now whenever I saw him, Sophie’s words rang in my head.
He pulled the tray out with ease and the paper immediately loosened. That’s when I noticed his eyes. Not exactly blue. Not great either.
“Oh” I said
“You seemed determined to figure it out yourself”
“I was”
“How’s that working for you?”
For a second, the corner of his lips twitched like he was trying not to smile.
“You’re welcome”
Then he walked away
I stared at his back for a second before forcing my attention back to the printer.
Sophie was getting into my head because before yesterday, I definitely hadn’t been paying attention to the way Liam almost smiled.
The morning went by slowly after that . I answered emails from clients. Around noon one of the assistants dropped some folders on my desk.
“These are old reports from the storage. Mr Ashford needs them organized in the storage room”
“Okay”
Somehow every task nobody wanted seemed to end up on my desk. I picked it up and headed towards the storage room.
The room was dusty and smelly. So many folders stacked everywhere that it looked like not a lot of people came here unless they really had to.
I started arranging when something caught my attention. A brown folder sticking out. I pulled it out slowly.
At first I wasn’t even trying to read it till I saw my mum’s name.
Huh?
My eyes moved across the page.
Then I froze.
David Sinclair.
Richard Ashford.
Both names were printed across the top of the page.
I flipped through the papers, my confusion increasing. There were payments, signatures and dates from years ago.
None of this made sense and the longer I stared at the papers, the harder it became to breathe.
Why would my mum's name be connected to Richard Ashford?
Then a voice spoke behind me.
“Where did you get that?”
I turned around so fast.
Liam stood by the doorway staring at the file in my hand. His eyes moved across the paper then back to me. The colour drained from his face.
And for the first time since I met him…
he looked completely shocked.
My stomach dropped.
- Writer
