Stoupající

14

It is funny how I no longer have a problem with Eric touching or seeing my naked skin and yet right now, I feel completely exposed und uncomfortable as I let Will remove the stitches from the finally healed wound on my stomach.

I keep staring at the ceiling while he is working and think back to the fight between Eric and me a couple of days ago.

He was not in the office the day after and had not been home for the entire weekend, meaning we haven't seen each other ever since.

At first, I was worried that something might have happened to him. But then, he was probably simply staying with one of his conquests. At least that is what I thought until Sunday, when my friends came over and Zeke casually mentioned that Eric had been busy drinking himself into a stupor down at the bar for the previous two nights.

"Alright, it's done," Will brings me back to the present, taking off his medical gloves. "I guess Eric will be glad to hear you're finally allowed to train again."

Great. Because that is what I need right now, being pinned to the ground by the idiot himself.

"So I'm completely healed?"

"Yes," Will smiles. "Just try to not get hit in the stomach right away, just to be safe."

"I'll do my best," I return his smile, pulling down my shirt, and hop off the examination couch. "Say hi to Chris for me, will you? I'm afraid I can't make it to lunch, I'll be stuck in my office all day."

Will grimaces. "Sitting in an office all day long really wouldn't be my thing. I'll tell her – good luck or steady nerves or whatever you need."

"Thanks," I sigh before making my way toward my office to report back to Eric that he is now allowed to torture me on the mat again.

Maybe I am lucky enough and Eric is so hung over that he has to take another day off.

But of course I am not, as I have to find out as soon as I step out of the elevator and hear him bellowing angrily into his phone.

I anxiously wait for him to finish the call, telling myself to just act normal, before approaching his open door and knocking against it.

"What?" He barks without even glancing up from his paperwork.

I clear my throat and start playing with the hem of my sleeve. "Will just gave me the green light to continue with physical training."

His head snaps up so fast I swear I can actually hear his neck cracking.

"About time," he grumbles. "You're far enough behind as it is. We'll start tonight, seven o'clock sharp."

"Sure, I mean it's not like my work day ends at five, but hey," I mumble, turning away from him.

"What was that?" He snaps.

I smile sweetly over my shoulder at him. "I said I can't wait."

Eric snorts and shakes his head.

I return to my office, shut the door and then let myself fall back against it.

Closing my eyes, I take a deep breath.

Though our inevitable encounter was not as awkward as I thought it would be, it was still uncomfortable enough for me to really dread tonight.

The day goes by far too quickly for my taste.

One moment, I am brooding over the files on my desk while my friends are having lunch together, the next I am walking into the training area. Due to my work load I have not yet had the time to be nervous or overthink what training again with Eric might be like, but now that I am sitting on the edge of the boxing ring, my feet dangling in the air, I can feel my heart pounding more and more wildly with every passing second.