Obstinate and Headstrong

Part 3

The following morning I went by my usual routine in the office. I placed Mr Knight's mail on his table, opened the blinds in his office, turned the aircon to the right temperature. The usual. Since he hadn't come in yet, I held off on making his coffee and went straight to my desk to turn on my computer and check the messages on my answering machine.

There were already three voice messages.

I played the first one, which was from Mr Knight. He relayed instructions that had to be done first thing this morning. I scribbled down all of his ramblings as quickly as my fingers could manage. The message was left at nine o ' clock last night. 

This man seriously never rested.

This was actually quite normal for him. He often left messages such as these for me to complete in the morning.

I played the second one and almost immediately cringed.

"Lizzie!" My mother's screechy voice filled the room, "You snuck out of the house so early this morning I didn't get the chance to chat. We never get the chance to just talk anymore. I thought things would be different once you moved back home..."

I rolled my eyes at my mother's whining. She loved the dramatics. In the place of proper communication, she had guilt trips and overdramatized outbursts.

"Harper's mother phoned me last night to gush about good news. Now, Harper, had her swear that she wouldn't spill the beans, said she wanted to tell her yourself. That's why she's coming over on Saturday to have brunch with the family. I'm telling you now so that you can have enough time to sort out your affairs. You better be present, I don't even want to hear about your work or how busy you are. That boss of yours is driving you too hard..."

I cut her off there. I knew she would continue by ranting about my boss and what an arrogant, unpleasant man he was. 

This has nothing to do with his actual character, which in many ways warrants these kinds of remarks, but rather because of her own disappointment. You see, Cat, being the pain in the ass that she was, has finally decided to contact our mother again after avoiding her for months. And what was their topic of conversation? Me!

More importantly, my oh so dreamy boss. Not my words, theirs. Obviously, I had to set things straight by telling my hopeful mother that contrary to what the media was saying, we were not in fact in a secret relationship.

To our mother who desperately wanted all her daughters to be married and with children before thirty, this was quite the blow. She proceeded to slander  Mr Knight, making him out to be a dreadful human being, not worthy of her daughter, to make herself feel better.

I didn't have the heart to tell her at that point that I didn't want children either. Best not to destroy all her hopes at once.

I wonder what Harper's news could be? The last time we spoke, she was heading off on a business trip and hadn't come back yet. She probably got a promotion at her work. She was really dedicated and this would be the most plausible explanation. 

I guess I'd just have to wait until this weekend to hear the good news.

I played the final message.

"Elizabeth," I almost jumped out of my chair at the sound of George's British accent. I hadn't heard or seen him since a couple of months ago before I went away with Mr Knight. 

"I apologise for leaving a message on your work line but I realised that we never swopped details. Had I known you would have invaded my thoughts as you have been doing since our last encounter, I would never have hesitated in asking for your number. My runs have been significantly less entertaining without coming across you on the beach. So please, put me out of my agony and phone my back on this number. Or better yet, meet me at the beach tonight, our usual spot."

My heart started racing and I just stared into the distance.

I had been avoiding the subject of George altogether since reading Mr Knight's letter. I figured that it was highly unlikely that I would ever encounter him again, so what was the use in fretting about it? But now that he has reached out again, surely I couldn't avoid him any longer. Could I?

Someone cleared their throat from my doorway and I swear I could've died right there and then.

In my doorway stood a highly unimpressed looking Mr Knight. 

How much did he hear? Judging from his pissed exterior, I'd say enough.

"Miss Bennet, I don't pay you to sit around and listen to confessions of love. And on that note, need I remind you that this phone is strictly for work purposes?"  He asked sternly.

"No, sir," I answered, grinding on my teeth.

There were so many things that I wanted to say at that point to defend myself but I knew that there really wasn't any use at that point. Things didn't look good and I wouldn't be able to convince him that I had no idea that George would be contacting me on this line or that this was in fact the first time that he had done so. He would never believe me anyway.

"Very well, get back to work. I assume you're already busy with everything that I gave you to do this morning and I expect to find a cup of coffee in my office when I get there." He said before abruptly turning around.

I'm so happy to see that the stick is still firmly where it's supposed to be.

And... George is back! 😈

I hope you guys didn't think I was done with him yet! In fact, I'm not done with any of the original characters' storylines. Stuff's about to go down!

Remember to let me know what you guys think!

I love reading your comments and also gives me a good indication of how the chapters come across.

Thank you so much for reading!

XX

Audrey