Mr. Lawson's Assistant

Chapter 10

I glanced up the stairs to be sure Damon wasn't coming, before I began wandering slowly towards the kitchen, awestruck by my surroundings. The kitchen was just as lavish as the living room, with pure white cabinets, and black granite counters. The appliances where all stainless steel silver, and the barstools for the island were a tinted grey. Running a hand over the island counter, I took note of the fact that everything was in perfect order, and nothing seemed to be out of place.
They must have a maid.
I made my way through the kitchen, slowly, and went to peer out over the beautiful lawn, through the glass walk that accented the left side of the kitchen. From here, I could see a pool around the back of the house, and what appeared to be a grilling area.
"Impressed?" I heard a voice behind me and whirled around to see Damon walking into the kitchen, buttoning up his new shirt.
Extremely!
"Not bad." I shrugged, and Damon smirked. Rolling up his sleeves to his elbows, he walked into the kitchen and began getting himself a glass of water.
"You know you're taking the blame for making me late, right?" I pursed my lips, watching him casually move around the kitchen.
"Of course."
He continued doing what he was doing, and taking his time. "Would you like something to drink?" He asked me, turning his head to glance over his shoulder to me.
"No."
He chuckled to himself and turned back to the cubbard. "I need to get back to the office, I'm already missing the first half of the day," I started, seeing that he wasn't in any hurry to get moving. Damon stayed quiet and kept moving around, doing something. Finally, he turned around with a drink in his hand, and walked towards where I was standing by the dining room table.
"Greyson won't mind you missing an hour or two." He shrugged, sipping his ice water, and glancing at me. For a minute I was confused, before I realized that Greyson must have been Mr. Lawson's first name. It was strange to think that I hadn't known that until just now.
"Well I mind, so if you could hurry-" I paused, crossing my arms, "I would appreciate it." Damon smirked, but turned to place his glass on the counter, before ushering me back towards the living room. Pulling down a suit jacket from the coat hanger beside the doors, he pulled the black coat over his shirt and pulled open one of the doors for me. We walked down the sidewalk to the car, where he opened the passenger door for me once again, gesturing that I get into the car.
Avoiding his eyes, I ducked into the car, and waited for him to come and get in on the other side. Within a few minutes, we were heading back into the city. The quiet sound of the radio, and the rumble of the road beneath me was enough to fill in for the silence.
"Why are you working today?" Damon suddenly asked, keeping his eyes on the road, and I glanced over at him.
"Why wouldn't I be?" I frowned.
"I assumed with your injury, that you would at least take today off." He shrugged, and I shook my head.
"The bullet only grazed my shoulder, it's nothing serious." I told Damon, and a strange expression came over his face.
"I'm glad." His tone had changed a little, and by changed I mean it had dropped a few octaves, and his eyes were a shade darker. Obviously speaking about the incident had upset him.
I couldn't blame him.
Someone had come to an office party and shot up a bunch of innocent people, for no apparent reason. It seemed surreal that anyone would so such a radical thing.
The rest of the ride to work was quiet, with the occasional click as Damon shifted the gears of the Corvette. It seemed to me, that he liked shifting, because I knew it wasn't nessecary to drive the car. Damon parked the car, and opened the door for me, before we headed from the garage towards the office. As we entered, I immediately felt Rachel's glare, and I instinctively glanced up at her. Her brown eyes moved hatefully from Damon to me, before she plastered a smile on her face and greeted him.
"Mr. Lawson, I heard you had an accident! I hope everything is alright?" She said sweetly, her voice rising an octave as she addressed him. I don't think she even gave me a second glance.
Moving past Damon toward the elevator, I heard him conversing lightly with the front desk secretary, and I almost smiled to myself.
I had no idea why she disliked me so much. Perhaps she though that i was a threat to her? If I didn't know better, I would be sure she was interested in the Lawson brothers.
When the elevator stopped on my floor, I stepped out through the sliding doors and headed down the hall to my office. Just as I was about to pass Mr. Lawson's office door, I hesitated, and inhaled, before turning back and knocking. I hoped he wasn't in a meeting.
"Come in." He called to me, and as I entered, his blue eyes snapped to me, his full attention resting in his gaze. He set down the paper he was signing, and stood as I entered. "Oana," He began, looking to me for an explination.
"I apologize for being late sir-" I was cut off from my apology, when the office door closed behind me, and Damon walked in.
"I dropped by the house to grab an extra shirt. I made her late." He told his brother, walking past me. Mr. Lawson glanced to his brother and raised his eyebrows, but he didn't seem to disbelieve him because he turned his attention back to me.
"I rescheduled your appointment with Officer Dewy tomorrow at nine." He said, glancing at my shoulder, before nodding to dismiss me, and moving back towards his desk.
*
I worked as diligently as I could for the next few hours, skipping lunch to make up for the time I had lost. Mr. Lawson was beginning to start me on more than just faxing, filing and organizing, so the work was a bit more taxing than usual. Around 3:30, my shoulder began to ache, but I realized that I'd left my purse in David's car, so I had no medication for it, nor bandages.
Sighing, I finished writing the hundredth check of the day, and slipped it into an envelope to seal it. Placing it on the stack with the others, I grimaced at the shot of pain that threaded it's way through my left shoulder at the movement, but I was determined to get home on time today. I wanted nothing more than to go home early, so taking a break wasn't an option. Slicing open a letter that had been placed on my desk with Mr. Lawson's daily mail, I checked the front for a return address or name, but there was none. Frowning, I pulled out the letter addressed to Mr. Lawson and began reading.
Mr. Lawson,
I have been greatly disappointed in your reluctance to follow through with your side of our deal. Though I am sure you have noted my disappointment. I had hoped it would not come to this. However, now that it has, I advise you to stay clear of me and my contacts for your sake. You brought this on yourself.
              Have a nice day,
                    Signed, P.S.

I dropped the letter, my brows furrowed.
I had hoped it would not come to this?
To what? I had a feeling that I was definitely not supposed to have opened this letter, so I shut it back inside the envelope and reclose it as best I could. Setting the strange note aside, I continued working.
My thoughts distracted me while I kept working, but I knew better than to go ask Mr. Lawson about the mysterious letter. It was clearly not intended for my eyes, and if I understood the letter, this P.S. dude was not a nice person.
*
I managed to get all of the work done by skipping lunch, but I didn't end up leaving the building until 5:30, an hour later than normal. When I came outside, and checked my phone, David had called me six times, and Soma texted me at least sixteen times. Sighing, I opted to call David first, and he answered on the first ring.
"Where the heck have you been?" He asked me, his voice stressed.
"Working. What's wrong?"
"What's wrong is that Jared Litz called me and said you were riding out of the city with some guy, in a Corvette!" He was practically seething, and I bit my lower lip, trying to find words to explain to him what had happened.
"First of all, why is Jared even here?" I started, pursing my lips.
"Who cares! Why were you riding out of the city with some guy?" David snapped.
"He's my boss's brother, and I was picking him up because his car got rear ended." I began, but David muttered something incoherently, and my temper shifted.
"Then why was he driving?" David finally said, after a few minutes of silence, and I could hear him getting into his car.
"Because it's his brother's Corvette!"
I was exasperated now. David normally trusted me, and even if he didn't, he should know me better.
"And where were you going?" David sounded almost as angry as I felt, and it was all I could do not to scream at him.
"He got grease on his shirt and he needed a new one before we went back to the office-" David cut me off.
"Look, if you wanted to have a relationship, you don't have to lie to me about it, I don't care-" He started, calming his tone slightly, but that only soured my mood more. 
"I can't make you believe me." I snapped, not waiting for him to retort, before I jerked my phone away from my ear and hung up. I wanted to start walking back before David got here, because I did not want to be stuck in the car with him when he and I were both mad. It wouldn't end well for either of us. Pursing my lips, and letting out a frustrated breath, I checked the messages Soma had sent me, but it was only her going on about some party. She must have added me to a group chat, because there were at least four other people's names that were on my screen. Shutting my phone off and shoving it into my pocket more roughly than I needed to, I turned around to start walking home. I needed the walk right now, actually, I needed a run.