Until The End

CHAPTER 9 - JUST A SIGN

Nadia hesitated for a moment, then started in his direction. "Did you read it?" She asked, almost breaking into a sprint to catch up with him.

"You don’t expect me to sign it without reading it, now do you, Hayden?" Dylan noticed how she had to put effort into walking in heels and matching his longer strides, but he didn't trouble himself with an act as simple as slowing down his pace.

"It's just a permission letter, Mr VanAssche" she informed. Her tone, to Dylan’s utter amazement, was dubiously too polite, "Brianna said I'll have to show it at the gates. I won't be allowed entry without your signatures on it."

"I'm aware" he stated, simply.

"So, you signed it?"

"No. Of course, not."

They entered the office and Dylan went to sit in his chair behind the massive desk. Nadia remained standing. Her stance indicated the only thing forcing her to stay put inside the room was the unsigned letter in his hand.

"Have a seat," Dylan gestured towards the chairs on the other side of the desk.

Nadia put on a polite smile and dismissed the offer with a wave of her hand, “It’s just a sign, Mr VanAssche. I wouldn’t want to take up any more of your precious time.”

"You're going to work for me, Hayden and I always try to squeeze some time into my busy schedule for my employees," he said, matching the professionalism in her voice. “Sit” he added, the word sounding more like a command than a request.

Nadia reluctantly settled in the chair. The professional front that she had donned only moments ago, started to crack as she sat under his steady gaze.

Dylan knew he should simply sign the letter and allow her to run out of his office. Brianna must have already informed her about all the things she needed to know about joining his company. He had nothing more to say to her. And yet, as she sat across from him, looking like she would rather be anywhere in this world than here, he knew he could not just let her walk out of his office.

Nadia Hayden was always trying to avoid him, always trying to run away from him. Even now sitting in front of him, she refused to look him in the eye. The files, neatly stacked to the left of his desk, were seemingly more interesting to her than his majestic presence.

“You have any plans for tonight, Hayden?” he asked, setting aside the permission letter and leaning back in his chair.

The question withdrew her attention from the files, back to him. Nadia tilted her head a little to the right and stared at him with suspicion as if trying to figure out the purpose behind the not-very-professional sounding question. Dylan held her gaze, allowing her an attempt to try and read his mind. He almost smiled at the irony. Unlike himself, she was an open book, written in shimmering ink in the simplest of words, for him to read.

Dylan had always had a sharp eye for reading people. Even as a child, knowing what was going inside someone’s head, by pure observation, had been a walk in the park for him. The skill had come in handy with his job and had developed over time, so much that it had started to feel like intuition. A little attention to actions and manners was what was required for him to figure someone out and he was hardly ever wrong about anyone. Precisely, he had been wrong merely twice. The first person was now lying six feet under the ground somewhere and the second was staring at him, possibly debating with herself whether to answer him honestly or with a lie.

"Tough question, huh?" He mocked.

"I do," Nadia spoke through gritted teeth, "I do have plans for the evening." Dylan gave a sarcastic nod. It was a lie.