Estelle

19 | Night does not last forever

The papers are done and I have to enter his office to give them to him. Standing up, I straighten my pencil skirt and stack the papers nicely. My lone office is quiet as always with the only sounds coming from whatever I am doing.

I stand at the door and take a sharp breath in before letting it out. He doesn't talk much. It has been a month since I started working here and we have only spoken about work with him saying no more than five words to me. I have to mentally prepare myself for the one sided conversation. I've been trying to read his body language instead and I think I'm getting the hang of it.

I scrunch up my face before making it neutral again as I push the doors to his office open. The office is dim despite the blinds being open. Rain gently taps against the large windows of his office.

My eyes zero in on Mr. Irey leaning back in his office chair, eyes on the rain outside his window and the back of his seat is angled away from his desk. I can tell he is there because his hand is resting on the armrest with a whisky glass in hand, an open whisky bottle sitting on his desk.

I clear my throat and approach the desk. He does not turn to acknowledge me. "Drinking during the work day?"

He grunts in acknowledgment. I place the papers on his desk but pause so I can hear it. He mumbles something softly and quietly. "The night never ends for me". His voice is deep and slightly raspy like he hadn't used it all day.

I stand there and watch him for a moment. He is zoned out, probably thinking about something I have no clue about. Whatever it is, it is weighing on his mind.

I swallow and think over my words before saying them. I make sure to keep my voice calm and neutral. As intimidating as he is to me, I don't want him to know.

"Don't let the dark fool you into thinking it's never ending. The sun will come."

A low rumble of thunder echoes around the room as soon as I finish speaking. His chair turns enough so he can see me and he places the mostly empty glass down. His eyes focus on mine and I watch him in silence, waiting for a response. We stay like this, neither of us moving but comfortable in the silence.

Something in his gray eyes changes and he gives a subtle nod before placing the lid back on the bottle of whisky. "I agree." His eyes stay on me, never moving and holding a faint smile that I can only see in his eyes.

..................

"Non sappiamo chi fosse. Avrebbe potuto essere chiunque."

I feel my face scrunch up as the first thing I notice is someone speaking quietly. I am unable to catch what they said but I heard them. I feel a slight pain in my head as I open my eyes a little. I'm on my back with my head resting to the right where a large window is. It isn't raining and for a second I frown as I notice the bright, clear blue sky.

Oh, that's right.

"Deve aver lavorato con qualcuno per prendere Jane."

I roll my head over and spot a figure standing in the doorway. Even though I cannot see their face, I immediately know who it is. Adonis is half way out of the room with his back to me, speaking to someone who I recognize as Alec.

"Era un cecchino tra gli alberi." [It was a sniper in the trees.] His voice makes me relax as I listen to him speak in Italian.

They must mean whoever shot me. I sit up a little, wincing in pain. Looking down at my shoulder, I see a bandage. The sniper they are talking about was in a tree on the other side of his fence. I feel my eyes widen a bit as the memories come back to me.

The bullet must have gone through my shoulder and into Samantha's head. The sniper's goal was to kill Samantha before Adonis's men could get anything out of her. I was just in the way and they didn't care if the bullet tore through me or not.