Aurora

chapter 2

I'm breathless by the time I finish explaining to Mr. Chris what has happened with the report, my chest rising and falling as I attempt to calm myself.

He pressed the intercom, and Charlotte's voice booms through the silence. "Yes, sir?"

"A glass of water, please."

The navy blue suit with a white shirt doesn't help but make me ogle at him more. His cold, icy eyes seem to pierce through me, monitoring my every breath.

He clicked his tongue, tapping on the glass table, his fingers on his full lips. "Interesting."

Charlotte bustles in, the click of her heels interrupting his train of thought as she placed the glass of water in front of him.

"Anything else, sir?"

"No." His reply was curt, and the tone cutting.

Charlotte leaves the office and more silence ensues. It's as if he's waiting for the right moment to prowl on me.

His face tells another story entirely, and his eyes deep in thought, contemplating. He passed the glass over to me, "Drink." He commanded.

One word forced me into action, and I devoured the water in one go, my throat still parched.

He leaned forward, elbows bracing the glass table enabling a hint of muscle from the cloth strain as he meets my eyes and says, "So, you're trying to say that you did make a report and sent it to me, but hence, it has been miraculously disappeared."

jeez, I should have just said sorry and left with a promise of a new report tomorrow by 8 am on his desk. Yes. Physical copy.

But nonetheless. I nodded my head, and said, "I am sure I have made the report. I've worked here for five years and delay on my end has never been the situation."

He nodded, exhaling. "Yes, Miss Le-Blanc, I'm well aware." His eyes still pierce through me, starting too narrow, "But I'm also very sure that a professional like you wouldn't breathe without securing your work on a personal device, Miss Le-Blanc."

I nodded, "Yes sir. I made the report on my personal device." My voice raspy.

His eyes flared, "Then it is a concerning matter for Hawthorne Constructions and Holdings. Although I don't want to confide this with you, Miss Le-Blanc but incidents like these have been marring our reputation for over a month now."

I swallowed audibly, my brows skyrocketing, "care to explain?"

"There is no explanation. A traitor is breathing among us and taking advantage of my employee's hard work. This is nothing new, Sammia on the sixteenth floor failed to collect reports from our investors the other day, and now you. Not only that but our stocks have been falling tremendously."

I sucked in a breath, my eyes widening. Someone among us has been doing this all?

But why?

"I don't know yet, but I've hired someone to take care of this. It'll be over before we know it." I hadn't realized I'd said that out loud until I heard words escaping his mouth. "But Miss Le-Blanc, please make sure to send me the report after you reach home today. I hope you're aware of how much the Texas deals mean to me."

With that he stood up, unbuttoning the coat of his suit, and I tried not to stare hard but failed. I'm sure I was salivating because he raised his eyebrow.

"U-um. Yes. Okay, boss. I'll make sure to do that." I stumbled out of my seat, raking my hands over my gray workplace trousers and then ironing my hair.