A Whisper

24: Have A Snickers

One Year Later

Eric's apartment was no longer just his apartment. A year to the day that I met him I moved into his place. There were some growing pains involved with getting used to being in the same space all the time, but we were working it out. With Eric's encouragement I made the move to do something other than working for the Chelsea Post. I felt like I was stagnant there and not really making the contribution that I wanted to. So I quit my job to write a book instead.

I wanted to write about what happened to Hadley and finally dedicate myself to really getting into investigating the case. My first move was to hire a private investigator named John Flood. The police had nothing new to report. I still wanted to set up an interview with Detective Weiss at some point. Mr. Flood was just starting his investigation, so he had nothing new to report but I was excited to see what he could dig up.

In the meantime, I was pretty free during the day, not that Eric minded. I picked up some Chinese takeout and brought it to his office. Luna, his assistant knew I was coming. Usually she ordered Eric's lunch unless he had a meeting. We had gotten good at colluding with each other over the last year. When he got too stressed out or wanted to work too late she'd call me. It was actually kind of funny. Eric's energy was easy to refocus. All it took was a dirty selfie and suddenly he was ready to go home.

When I reached Eric's office Luna was at her desk. To be nice, I'd brought her lunch too. I knew it couldn't always be easy working for Eric and I knew he adored her. Just to make sure she knew she was appreciated, I figured it couldn't hurt to bring her lunch.

"A little birdy told me you like sesame chicken and brown rice," I said when I got to Luna's desk. I pulled a container from my bag and presented it to her.

"Is that birdy six-foot-five and currently pacing around his office?" she chuckled.

"Why yes, as a matter of fact," I smiled. "I personally just wanted to say thank you for being such a great assistant. Eric tells me all the time how lost he would be without you and I know he can be a complete shit when he wants to. So it's not the fanciest lunch, but I hope you enjoy it."

"I appreciate it," she smiled. "He is a complete shit, but he's a good boss. I'm just glad it ends at that. I don't know how you deal with him full-time at home."

Deepthroating...

"Prayers," I laughed.

"Well, you might need them now. His last meeting didn't go so well so he's on a rampage," she warned. "My last words to him were to eat a goddamn snickers."

"I'll see if I can get him to chill. Feel free to vacate the premises for a while and eat in peace." Technically I didn't have the authority to do that but I'd deal with Eric if he got pissed.

"I appreciate that. I just might take off for a bit. I don't want hear how you calm him down," she laughed. "I'll forward his phone to my cell."

She was a smart woman. I waited until she was gone before I knocked on Eric's door.

"Come in." I could hear it in his voice he was irritated.

Just to mess with him I knocked again instead of opening the door. The door was ripped open and a very pissed off looking Eric was on the other side.

"You're an asshole," he sighed. That didn't stop him from leaning in to kiss me.

"And you're a grouch. I brought lunch and sent Luna to enjoy hers. I hope you're in the mood for General Tsao's." I held up the bag.

He took the bag from me and stepped back so I could walk in. Eric closed the door behind me before following new to his big oak desk where he set the bag down. Once it was on the desk he tugged my hand to pull me to his chair, pulling me onto his lap when he sat down. Eric's face immediately nuzzled into my neck.