The Headturner

Journey to Reunite

A/N: The picture above or to your right (based on which device you are on right now), is of Lee Pace as Mr. David Smith, Anne's boss... Enjoy!!!

Chapter Twenty Nine - Journey to Reunite

As far as Tanya was concerned, she had already started packing for their journey to Seattle; things were not so easy for Anne though. She had obligations, especially at work. Though she would never admit, she was pretty intimidated by her boss Mr. David Smith. He had the piercing eyes and the look which would always be judging you. He rarely smiled, and even when he did, it did not reach his eyes. She often wondered how he must have been as a child, if he ever was one. He acted far too mature for his age.

She mustered her courage and decided to ask for a leave. She was not sure how long it would take, but she figured a week would be enough.

She took a deep breath and knocked on his door.

"Come in." His deep voice answered.

She entered and cleared her throat.

"Yes, Ms. Miller." He said, without even glancing at her. He was working on his computer, and probably thought it was more important than what Anne had to say.

"Here are the documents you asked me to fetch." She said as she put the documents on his table.

He nodded, and when Anne did not leave as expected, instead stood there fidgeting, he looked at her; the cold stare that she feared.

"Anything else?" He asked, annoyed that he was not left alone yet.

"I... er... was wondering... er..."

"Make a haste for I don't have time for your stammering." He narrowed his eyes further, and he looked menacing as ever.

"I needed a leave."

He frowned, visibly displeased at her request.

"You have barely learned anything, or proven your worth to me yet. And here you are, demanding a leave already."

"It was just a request, if possible." She did not want to get fired for asking for a leave. But it was quite possible as she had heard about his previous assistants, getting fired for even smaller things that irked him.

"How long?" He asked, with a bored tone.

"About a week..." She replied, unsure.

"Denied." He said in a tone, that was final.

Anne was flabbergasted. She did not expect him to reject her request so abruptly, without even discussing it. She was just asking for a leave, not his head on a platter.

"Why are you still here?" He was looking at the computer screen again.

"Four days."

"Are you bargaining with me?" David sounded amused now. Anne found some confidence as his voice sounded less menacing now.

"Three days, please. It is really important to me, not as important as this job though." She added to coax him.

"Fine. But make sure you arrange someone to cover for you to run my errands, when you are gone." He glared at her again. "Make sure I do not miss your presence." He did not say 'or else', but Anne understood. She gave a slight nod, smiled at him and left his office. She noticed out of the corner of her eyes that David was giving her his infamous side eye, the one reserved for when he detested someone's presence. What she did not notice was that his lips were twitching into an unintentional smile.

She heaved a sigh when she closed the door behind her. She now had to coax somebody into taking care of her responsibilities towards her boss for when she was not around, which proved to be quite difficult as nobody wanted to be the subject of Mr. David Smith's glares or angry outbursts (or tantrums as Anne called them, not to anybody out loud though).

"Please, this will just take a few days." She begged to Janine, assistant to her boss's brother, Harry.

"You know. I would help you if my hands weren't already full." She looked apologetic.

"I will owe you a favor, please. I won't ask you another time. You will just have to take care of something that may come up. Rest of the things, I'll make sure to have arranged."

Her pleadings finally made Janine agree to be her substitute, even if she was still reluctant about it.

"You owe me big time, sister. That guy makes me shit my pants. I wonder what he has for breakfast everyday. Probably coal, that makes him so bitter." Janine inadvertently expressed her thoughts.

"Actually he likes waffles for breakfast." Anne replied absentmindedly. Janine looked at her like she grew a second head.

Anne giggled, "Of course I know, I'm his assistant, remember? And it will stay that way, as long as you cover for me."

"Any words of wisdom?" Janine said, rolling her eyes.

"Just don't piss him off; well, more than he usually is."

Instead of going home early to pack for her journey, Anne was forced to stay late at work since her boss was staying late. She was afraid to leave before him for the fear she might make him change his mind.

"You....." David looked surprised as he came out of his office door.

"You're still here?" He looked at his watch. "It is 9 o' clock."

"You are here so..." She shrugged as if that was explanation enough.

He had his blazer on his left arm and his briefcase on his right hand.

"I'll drop you off." He said as he approached the elevator.

She rushed, following him, her heels clacking as she ran.

"No no, there is no need. I'm sure I can...." Her heel got caught on the elevator threshold and made her fall on David, who threw his briefcase out of shock, to catch her fall.

"Oh I insist." He said with tease laden in his voice.

Anne was so embarrassed, she did not utter a word until she had to tell him her address.

The next morning she packed up her belongings and joined her friends for her journey to Seattle. She could not wait to see Adam again. There was a mix of emotions; she was not sure how Adam will take this surprise visit and how Tanya will react when she sees him.

When his assistant told Adam he had visitors, he was first irked to have been disturbed. When he found out his friends were there to visit him, he was beyond excited. It had been so long since he met them. As soon as Anne entered his office, she gave him an awkward hug and apologetic smile. Before he could ask her about it, Tanya literally pushed Anne out of her way and wiggled her finger at him accusingly.

Neil, who had entered last, closed the door shut in order to muffle any shouts.

"Let's go out for lunch, shall we?" He proposed to Adam, who was looking bewildered as he had no idea what was happening.

"You, out of all people, you turned out to be like this." Tanya hissed, without paying heed to Neil or Anne who were trying to calm her down.

"Tanya please. Let's not do this here." Anne pulled her arm and looked at her pleadingly.

Tanya finally gave in, "Fine, but I am dragging you by your ears to the door." She crossed her arms and Adam looked questioningly at Neil who shrugged with a sheepish smile.