The Boss & The Assistant - Rewritten Edition of "The Boss"

Chapter 10 - Lafayette

 For the first few nights of Emerson residing at my house, I stayed at the office. I did not want to over step at all or make him feel uncomfortable during his stay. On Monday morning, I heard Emerson come into his office. I hadn't actually seen him since Friday afternoon for lunch. Friday night he left to go visit his family and returned late Sunday night. I walked out of my office to greet him. He had a large iced coffee in his hand. He looked tired.

"Good morning," I said.

"Good morning," he replied quietly.

"Are you okay? You seem tired or unwell."

"I'm just tired," he said, then took a sip of his coffee. "I didn't sleep that well."

"Is something wrong with your room? I can get new bedding or-"

"No, it's not that," he said. He glanced up at me and then at the coffee in his hands. "It's just...it's creepy in your house. Like, alone and at night. I'm convinced it's haunted, or that someone is going to break in."

I tried not to laugh. "I promise you, no one can break in. There's an alarm. They would have to jump the gate, too. Now, as for haunted, that's a possibility."

His eyes grew wide. "Oh my god, don't say that," he said. "I swear, I heard footsteps last night coming down the stairs from your room, but you weren't home, right?"

"No, and I promise that if there is a ghost they are nice."

He pouted. "I don't know how I'm going to live alone," he said. "I always get so anxious at night, but I don't like relying on melatonin. When I was a teenager I'd have these anxiety attacks at night and my mom would have to take me on a drive. I always felt better seeing other people living and knowing my mom was awake."

"Well, if it makes you feel better, I can try to stay at the house more. I don't mind, I just haven't because I wanted to give you space," I said.

"It's your house. If anything I'm the one who should give you space," he said.

"It's fine, Em. I'll try to stay the night more. If you need to get more sleep, feel free to take a nap or something on the couch."

"I need to catch up on my work," he said. "But thank you."

I nodded. "Just let me know if you need anything."

The day went on like normal. Meeting, report overviews, meeting, meeting, lunch meeting, meeting. Emerson was staying late, a usual habit at this point. I couldn't focus after five o'clock. What if Richard called? I didn't want him to. He called Friday night, ruined my whole weekend. If he called then I would have been in a bad mood the whole evening, and I couldn't do that with Emerson staying. I couldn't be in a bad mood.

When six rolled around, I knew I was in the clear. I gathered my things and met Emerson in his office. "Are you ready to go? I can drive us," I said.

"Yeah, sure, that's totally fine," he said.

We went down to the garage where my car was parked. If there were no traffic, the drive could take less than ten minutes, but with the evening traffic it took about fifteen minutes. Some days, it could even take over twenty minutes, such as in the winter when everyone forgot how to drive when there was - heaven forbid - a little snow on the ground.

"Do you ever walk to work?" Emerson asked as we entered the kitchen.

"No, it's like a thirty minute walk. That would be a good workout, but a little long for a daily commute," I said.

"I walk about thirty minutes, or I did, when I lived in my apartment," he said. "It was a nice workout. Sometimes if it's too hot or too cold then I'll take the subway, but I like walking in the morning. I think sometimes I might get a little sweaty but I usually freshen up in the locker room. I really like the locker room. Is that what you use, like when you sleep at the office?"