Ending

Chapter 49 - Strange Questions and Strange Comforts

I gripped the edge of the car window with all the strength I had in me. Ben even tried rolling the window up to get me to leave but I held on.

"Are you sure it's safe for me to be here?"

I had the opposite problem from Cassandra in the sense that I would prefer to have Ben around rather than not after the incident yesterday.

He sat back exasperated, tired, and not nearly caffeinated enough. "I promise it's safe. It's probably the safest place for you to be. Mr. Thomas wouldn't let anything happen to you."

He moved to push my fingers away from the door, "You're going to be late for work, miss. Go."

He won this time, quickly backing up and speeding out the driveway before I could pry the door open like last time.

I puffed, slightly annoyed at the old man.

I looked at the doors and decided being inside the scary building was at least better than being outside with the scary bullets.

I came into the empty hallway with ease, knowing what to expect at this point. The double doors pressed to my back as I looked at the archway Amanda and the others were sitting just beyond.

I did my best to recall where James' office was as I walked into the waiting room and continued to make my way back, waving briefly to Amanda.

"Good morning." I said shyly.

"Where are you going?" I stopped as her tone registered in my head.

I looked over to the woman as she looked me up and down. "I'm sorry, James told me to go straight to his office when I got here."

Her mouth opened as she laughed quite loud at me, "It's Mr. Thomas. Everyone gets checked in, you're not special, so come right here and I will let you know when you can go after I call Mr. Thomas." Her fake eyelashes waved at me wildly as she spoke.

The anxiety I felt just seconds before turned to anger at the woman in front of me. I did my best to hold it in as I trudged over to the counter and watched as Amanda picked up the phone and dialed.

Her smile, looking more like a mocking grimace, only got bigger when the call was picked up.

"Hello, Mr. Thomas." Her voice was dripping with honey. Soothing sweet as she spoke.

"I have your assistant here" Her expression wavered a bit. "Sir?" She pulled the phone away from her ear and stared at it.

We didn't have to sit in confusion long as James came striding down the hallway.

"I thought you said you remembered where my office is?"

I sighed looking at the man in front of me, already tired of today. "I remembered." I said plainly.

He didn't reply to my answer, only waiting for me to continue. At this point, Amanda had realized I was telling the truth as her face seemed much damper than it had moments ago.

I waved to the receptionist, "She said I couldn't go without permission."

James turned to Amanda; brows creased. "I already gave her permission."

I waited, looking between the both of them trying not to enjoy this as much as I was.

Amanda fidgeted in her chair, "I'm sorry sir. We just normally check everyone in. I just wish you would have told me."

James smiled. Chills went down my spine at the sight. It certainly wasn't a nice smile.

He leaned forward and lightly reached a piece of paper next to her, holding it in front of her face.

"And I wish you would read the instructions I give you for the week. I don't make them for fun, you might find useful information in them."

She mumbled an apology, her eyes cast downward. James didn't wait for a response, turning on his heel and gesturing for me to follow him.

"Come on, let's not waste any more time," he said, his voice brisk but not unkind.

"I'm Coming, James." I put emphasis on his name, staring at Amanda as I followed him out. Her head was still bowed but rose to meet my eyeline and glare, right before I left the room.

The trip there was silent as I followed behind. As we reached his office, he pushed the door open, moved and ushered me inside first.

I didn't need much instruction past this point. I moved to one of the comfortable seats that spins and sat down, doing my best not to twirl. Instead, my hands gripped the edge of the seat hard as I tried not to fidget at all.

In all honesty, I had been hoping that James didn't know about the gun shot. But more time had ticked on and James had still not said a word.

My suspicions were all but confirmed when, instead of walking around his desk, he chose to walk over and stand in front of me, leaning against the piece of furniture.

I looked up at him, waiting for him to speak first.

"Jane." He only said my name before stopping, seemingly trying to gather his thoughts.

A long palpable stretch of silence lulled the conversation to a complete halt. Soon my own stress caught up with me, I found that I couldn't keep quiet anymore.

"James." I said after a moment. His eyes snapped to mine and despite the rather serious situation, I couldn't help but laugh.

And not too soon, I could see him smile just a bit. Shaking his head, he asked me, "Why are you laughing?"

"Because you're being so serious. Just tell me what you have to say." I giggled as I said this but I meant every word. The gaps in the conversation were starting to wear on my nerves.

Mentally I readied myself with all the fake explanations I could muster. I spent the last four seconds before he started speaking, reminding myself of all the lies I've already told him, ready to explain whatever he threw at me.

I gripped the seat tighter.

"Are you okay?" I was unsure If I had heard him right.

"What?" Surprisingly, he asked me the only thing I hadn't come up with an answer for yet. I was fully expecting his focus to be on Natalis...

"Yesterday, Ben called me after everything happened." I could feel the gears of stress in my body start turning again at the mention of Ben.

I nodded, "He did?" My guard was reinforced tenfold.

James nodded back. "He said someone shot through your bedroom window and you almost got hit."

I looked down at my lap, very unsure how to proceed. The last thing I wanted was to be interrogated or worse, get Ben in trouble.

I felt something touch the bottom of my chin and before I could register what was happening, I found my head involuntarily tilted back up at James.

His hand reached out in front of me to hold my face in place to look at him, "You are great at avoiding questions. Are you okay?"

I blinked, feeling the warmth of his hand against my chin, the unexpected gentleness of the gesture throwing me off balance.

His eyes, usually so cold and calculating, held a genuine concern that I hadn't expected. He eased off, giving me space to regain my composure.

"I..." I stammered, searching for the right words. "I'm okay. It was just... shocking, I guess. I'm not used to people trying to kill me."

With his arms crossed he regarded me with a soft expression. "Normally, I wouldn't expect you to work after such a traumatic event, but I don't exactly feel like sending you home by yourself right now is safe."

I shook my head, "I can work! I'm not that traumatized."

This time he laughed instead of just smiling, "Still, I think I'm going to have you with me most of the day rather than walking around the building on your own."

I did my best not to pout, "Alright."