After Effects

Chapter 14 • After Effects

I lifted my head slowly to be met with the finest pair of dark-blue Italian suit pants my eyes had ever had the privilege to come in contact with. I gulped uneasily as I allowed my eyes to continue drifting upwards to see a matching dark-blue suit jacket and vest, covering most of a blue, button-down shirt. A gray and dark-blue striped tie laid neatly on the shirt, and peeking out from under both the sleeves of the button-down shirt and the suit jacket, was a Rolex oyster perpetual.

I swallowed once more, finally granting my eyes the permission to stare up at the face of the man wearing all these adornments. Making sure that I only peeked through my eyelashes so I didn't have to lift my head all the way for him to recognize me, I started looking over his best features, one by one.

His lips - which spent most of the time in a straight line or a scowl, whenever he was around me.

His strong jaw - which he spent most of his time clenching in irritation and anger, whenever he was around me.

His eyelashes - which touched his face ever so softly whenever he would blink slowly to show his boredom, whenever he was around me.

And finally, his eyes - those wonderful blue eyes, the same ones that had always held a permanent glare for yours truly...and well, some others...but mostly me since he always saved this specific diamond based one for the special moments he shared with me.

I had to admit it, I had missed him. Something about the way I trembled in fear whenever I was near him made me strangely mis- nope! Nope! I had to stop in the midst of my thoughts. If I continued whatever I was going to say, it would've had to go down as the biggest lie ever told in history. The only way I wanted to miss him flew by like five minutes before. If only we had lingered a tad bit longer in the cafeteria, I would have definitely missed him, and that kind of miss would have been surely appreciated.

I raised my head to look at him fully and not through my eyelashes only. I noticed that he had been looking down at me with curiosity and not that hateful glare that he reserved just for me, but soon I realized that that was only because he hadn't recognized that it was me as yet. I was not to worry for as soon as I was looking at him head on, the oh so wonderful glare found its way back into his eyes like light into his darkness as he sneered one word,

"You."

I visibly gulped.

"Ms. Harrington? What are you doing on the floor?" Mr. Gordon asked coming forward from behind him with a hand outstretched to help me up. He didn't get very far though as Mr. Remora's arm shot out to prevent him from doing so.

"What are you doing here?" he asked slowly, his face livid. I swallowed again and opened my mouth to answer but closed it as soon as I realized that no sound would be coming out anytime soon.

"Get off the floor." he ordered making my eyebrows raise. What did he take me for? Some dog who would follow her master's orders? I scoffed at the audacity of this man.

"Excuse me, but I do not work for you so I don't have to do anything you s-"

"Get. Up. Now." he repeated, his patience obviously wearing thin. A chill passed through my spine and even though I tried my hardest to disobey him, it was as if my body was programmed to follow his orders automatically.

"I'll have you know that I am getting up because your floor is hurting my knees and not because you told me to do so." I muttered as I grabbed my bag and stood, trying to save whatever little face I had left. I could tell that it wasn't very much.

His jaw clenched as he looked me over with his scrutinizing glare. "Go to the elevator now and wait for me there." he continued spitting orders making me start to protest automatically but shut up when I realized that this was my chance to escape. He was sending me to the elevator for Pete's sake, I could just leave right at that moment!