The Shadows of His Heart

Chapter Four

Aurora awoke the next morning later than she had meant to. Groggily glancing at the time on her cell phone, the blurred numbers slowly came together to form '7:23.'

She gasped and flung herself off the couch, ignoring the rumbling in her stomach caused by sleeping through supper last night.

"Shit..! I'm gonna be late!" She sprinted into the bathroom and took the fastest shower she could manage, hurriedly towel-drying her long hair and then using the hairdryer for less than a minute. She threw her hair up into a ponytail and grabbed a long-sleeved, dark green blouse and some black suit pants, scrambling to get properly dressed while hopping about and trying to gather her things.

Aurora shoved her glasses on, paying no mind to the fact that they were as crooked as a dog's hind leg. She jerked her black flats on and ducked her head to allow a beaded green and silver necklace to fall over her collarbones, scrambling for her purse, keys, phone, and anything else that her overactive brain could remember.

Faster than an Olympic sprinter, Aurora threw open her apartment door, locked it, darted to her car, and drove towards her workplace. With three minutes to spare, she cursed under her breath and jogged into the lobby and onto the elevator, jamming her finger repeatedly onto the top floor button.

"Come on, come onnn... I don't want to be late on my second day...!"

As if on cue, the elevator door dinged open and she sprinted to Leo's closed office door, stopping a few steps away and smoothing out her clothes and hair. She knocked on her boss's door, desperately trying to calm her breath.

"Good morning, Mr. Holloway... Can I get you anything?" She spoke before the door was fully open, meeting Leo's gorgeous, glowing eyes with her own soon afterwards. He smiled at her pleasantly, a pen in one tanned hand and a paper in the other.

"Morning, Miss Williams. Coffee would be amazing." Leo found himself admiring Aurora's style again today; he liked a woman that knew how to dress nicely.

Aurora nodded once, put her things away quickly into her office, and went down the hall and made Mr. Holloway his black coffee for the day. He gratefully accepted it, mouthing the words, "Thank you..." as he continued his conversation on the phone.

Leo's burning eyes fell over his assistant's body as she retreated to her own office, and he couldn't help but think about her the rest of the day. Often times he would call Aurora into his room for simple things, like delivering a paper to another office worker or filing something away for him. She gladly accepted any task; he was a good boss. He treated her well and deserved the help.

Noon was just around the corner and Aurora realized that, in her rush this morning, she hadn't packed anything to eat. Her stomach grumbled in protest and she groaned, pressing her face into her hands.

"I have too much work to do or I would leave and get something..." She muttered, shaking her head. "Oh well. Guess I'll eat this evening."

Her silvery eyes stopped on Leo's signature on one of her pieces of paper, and her thoughts immediately went to him. She liked how neat his handwriting was. He was an organized person; he liked things done his way.

Putting the paper down and getting back to work, it wasn't until about an hour later than her door opened and Mr. Holloway peered inside.

His smouldering eyes bore into her own and she bit back a shiver.

"Hello, Mr. Holloway. Anything I can do for you?"

He shook his head, silently smiling as he strode up to her neat desk and placed a bag on it.

"I noticed that you didn't bring anything to eat this morning, so here's some lunch. Hope you enjoy." His deep voice echoed in her mind as he made his way out again.

"Th-Thank you, Mr. Holloway...!" Aurora stammered, looking down at the paper bag with a flutter in her chest.

'Why did he do this for me...? Maybe he appreciates my help... Or maybe... he is interested in me...' She abruptly shook her head and frowned at herself.

"He's just being nice to me. I need to stop thinking that way..." With a heavy sigh, she opened the bag and found an appetizing meal consisting of a small cup of vegetable soup, a fresh sandwich, and an iced pastry for dessert.

Aurora couldn't help but smile to herself. He was such a good boss...

Her cheeks heated at the thought of him being so generous to her.

Once she ate, the rest of the day went by in quite a hurry. She busied herself with anything she could help Leo with: making some calls for him about upcoming meetings, organizing, filing, and sending off some of his paperwork, and whatever else he needed.

When the day was done, she peeked back into her boss's office and gave a slightly shy smile. "I just... wanted to say thank you for earlier, Mr. Holloway. You didn't have to get me lunch."

Leo glanced up, pushing his jet black hair away from his face. "Of course I did. Glad you enjoyed it." Another of his heartwarming grins lit up his face and she took a deep breath to steady herself. With a small wave, she turned out of his doorway. "Have a good evening, sir."

She made her way home and tossed her things onto the counter, ready to relax for the rest of the evening. She ate a hearty supper of grilled chicken, rice, and steamed vegetables before heading off to curl up in the thick blankets of her awaiting bed.

The next few weeks went along the same way; Aurora got to work on time, made Leo his black coffee, did anything he needed. She soon got the hang of her job and went out of her way for her boss, doing more things for him, like answering his calls and creating and confirming meetings for him. She kept track of what was coming up in his personal planner, being sure that everything was organized and running smoothly.

Leo was immensely pleased with his assistant. She was everything he thought she would be and more. As the days passed, he was aware of how much harder it was becoming to control and hide his growing feelings for Aurora.

His assistant was also finding it difficult to be away from her boss. She would help him as much as she could, even staying after most days late into the evening if it meant being near him for a little bit longer. But she hid her feelings well, as did he, and neither one of them knew that the other was slowly falling in love.