Heart of Stone

Records

As Alexander was walking Eloise to the door, she paused. She looked at him with her face burning once again. She still felt embarrassed.

"What if they heard us?" She asked.

"They didn't hear anything." He said.

"How do you know?" She insisted.

"Pretend the walls are soundproof." He said.

"What??" She chuckled. "Pretend?"

"Yes, then you will not think about it." He answered simply.

She smacked a hand to her forehead, and he gave her an amused smirk.

"Don't worry about it so much. They likely wouldn't hear you through two sets of doors." He said, petting her head.

"You're probably right." She conceded.

She leaned up and gave him a chaste kiss on the lips.

"I'll call you later, okay?" He said.

"I'll be looking forward to it." She said with a smile before slipping out his office door with Luna.

On the other side of the door, she nearly collided with someone. They reached out to steady her and Luna was already sniffing them profusely from afar. It was a man in a light blue dress shirt, black tie, black dress pants and shoes to match. He had neatly combed back dark hair and dark eyes, though there was nothing particularly striking about his face.

"I'm so sorry. Are you alright?" He apologized quickly.

"That's alright. I'm fine." She said.

Suddenly a look crossed his face that she felt confused by, almost as if recognition dawned on him, but she had never met him before. He straightened the papers he had in his hands and gave her a polite smile.

"I'm Richard, me and Alexander work together." He introduced.

"Nice to meet you, I'm LouLou." She responded.

"Beautiful German shepherd." He commented, looking down at Luna.

Eloise also glanced down at her dog, petting her head softly to let her know it was okay.

"This is Luna. She's very protective of me so she's a big sniffer." She said.

He held his hand out to let the dog inspect it and she sat back, deciding he meant no harm.

"Nice to meet you, Luna." Richard said.

He straightened and looked at Eloise again, curiosity in his gaze.

"I think I've seen you before. I hope that doesn't sound odd. Are you and Alexander close?" He asked.

Eloise felt her face grow warm; what if he had heard them?

"Uhh...why yes, we are. I don't recall ever seeing you before though." She said.

"I think it was in passing." He waved it off, trying not to come across too bold. "Alexander is a good man. You're lucky."

She smiled softly, knowing the truth of his words.

"You're right, I am. I'm very lucky." She admitted.

"Well, welcome to Pearson Enterprises. Just let any of us know if you ever need anything." He said.

"That's very nice of you. Thank you." Eloise said, nodding and feeling a bit more at ease with his friendly demeanor.

"Are you often here?" He asked thoughtfully.

Eloise hesitated a moment, wondering how to answer. Why was he being so inquisitive? Perhaps her recent encounters with Julian and Ryan were clouding her judgment and making her unnecessarily suspicious.