Crazy Town

Chains

Eleanor's POV

I stretch in the uncomfortable office chair, we have just finished a two hour long meeting, my fingers ache from writing everything that was said down very quickly, I sigh before looking over at Mr Andrews as he packs away all of the papers into his briefcase. 

'That was the last meeting, we will be returning home tomorrow morning' he informs me. 

'So, there's nothing else until we return tomorrow?' I double check, picking up my bag and following him out of the meeting, he nods, 'So this means we can do what we want right?' 

He glances over at me with a frown, 'Just say what you want to say' 

I smile 'I want to go and visit my parents' 

'You already asked me this on Mother's Day and I already told you no, do I have to repeat myself?' he shakes his head, getting into the taxi that was returning us to the hotel, I slip in beside him and close the door. 

'That was different. this time I won't be missing work and we are already here in my hometown' I try and argue, pouting. 

'No' he replies, pulling his phone out and staring down at it. I glare at the side of his head before huffing and childishly folding my arms over my chest and staring out of the window, watching the buildings go past. This is so unfair, what would he do if I sneaked out of the hotel? Fire me, probably. Maybe I'll just have a really long video chat with them one we return to the hotel and apologise to them for being too busy to visit. My frown deepens as I begin to wonder if he will ever let me visit my parents, if I work with him for the rest of my life, will I never get to visit them again? 

---

I stir, a repeating alarm blares out in the room, I shift my position slightly as my eyes slowly open, the alarm sound is coming from his phone, telling us that we have to get up and get ready to return home. I try to turn over onto my back before realising that there's something heavy slung across my waist, I stare down in confusion before my eyes widen in surprise, it's his arm, wrapped tightly around my waist, I can now feel the warmth of his bare chest against my clothed back. Well this is awkward. 

I slowly turn to lay on my back, the alarm sound is beginning to annoy me, I stare at his closed eyes and relaxed face, how has that annoying sound not woken him up yet? I turn to face him, now chest to chest, bringing my arm up I try and reach over his broad shoulders for his phone on the nightstand. No luck, I huff quietly and wiggle forward pressing our chests together and try and reach over him again, my fingers run across the nightstand but I can't feel his phone, propelling myself a little on my elbow I reach even further over him, a smile tugging on my lips as I pick up his blaring phone. 

I click on the button that finally silences the alarm, but just as I'm about to put the phone back down I feel lips brush against the top of my chest, a quiet kiss sound is heard and I jump, dropping his phone in the process, it hits the nightstand before falling onto the floor. I look down to see that my position in reaching over him has meant that my top has slipped down a little to expose the top of my chest which is now pressed against his face. 

I gasp, falling back onto the bed and scooting away from him, his arm falls from around my waist and lays between the two of us, his eyes crack open 'it took you long enough to turn off the alarm' his morning voice makes me bite my lip as I blush profusely. This is really awkward. 

---

'Can I get something to drink please?' I ask, we are currently sat in Mr Andrews' home office which we came directly to upon coming back home, my luggage is still in the boot of his car and I'm still in clothes that I put on this morning, he didn't want to go to the workplace but he also wanted to dive straight back into work, so now we are here at his grand home, in his personal office. 

'Downstairs, first door to your left' he replies without lifting his head from his paperwork. 

I exit his office with a sigh of relief, does this man ever have a break from work? I skip down the magnificent staircase, admiring the painted and expensive looking artwork hanging on the walls, his home was more like a mansion and it almost chilled me to think that he lived in this massive place alone. No wonder he wants to spend his entire day at work, I would be too scared to live in such a big place alone. 

I walk down the staircase slowly, admiring the large grecian style painting that hangs on the wall, as I finally reach the landing the silence of the entire mansion. There was no talking, no faint music, no shuffling of feet, not even the ticking of a clock could be heard, it was so silent that if someone dropped a pin it would probably be heard all over the house. I shivered, there's no life in this place, doesn't he get lonely? No girlfriend, no wife, no children. 

I follow the directions he gave me into the kitchen and opened a few of the cupboards until I found the cupboard that held the glasses, I take one out and walk over to the sink, filling it with cold water then bringing it to my dry lips. I finish the glass in one go before refilling it, this time I sip it as I look around the large marble kitchen, everything is so expensive and clean, I wonder if he has a cleaner, I cannot imagine him cleaning this whole house on his own.

I walk out of the kitchen, sipping the water and feeling the coldness of it travel down my throat. I enter a living room, the floor is made of hard wood and a large deep red carpet is laid out in the middle, a flat screen tv hangs on the wall opposite a grey Chesterfield sofa. I take another sip, but I never managed to swallow it as a faint muffled sound barely reaches my ears. It sounded like... chains? I swallow the water in my mouth and put the glass down on the coffee table, I look around, maybe I dropped something but I cannot see anything on the floor. 

The sound was very faint and sounded a bit distant, maybe I imagined it, my brain playing tricks on me due to the silence of the house. Just as I was about to reach for my glass, I heard it again. It was definitely the sound of chains, did he have a dog chained up outside? Then came another sound, the faint sound of words, I couldn't hear what the words were nor if it was a male or female voice. Was he speaking on the phone upstairs and due to the silence of the house, I could kind of hear it? 

No, it definitely didn't sound like it was coming from upstairs, I look down and at the wooden floor and rug that I am standing on, before getting on my hands and knees and pressing my ear against the carpet. I must look crazy if he was to come down and see me now. I cannot hear anything, there's just silence again. I crawl forward and press my ear against the hardwood, I hold my breath and strain my ears, it sounded like it came from below me.

It stay on my hands and knees with my ear pressed against the floor for probably a whole minute before the sound comes through again, this time a little louder, it's definitely come from below the floor board, chains rattling and then stopping, the sound comes through twice. 

'What are you doing?' 

I jump, gasping deeply at the same time a squeal escapes my mouth as I sit up. Mr Andrews stands in the doorway, staring at me with a frown on his face. Should I tell him? No.

I put my hand over my chest, 'You made me jump' I tell him, standing back up, 'I lost my earrings and was looking for them, sorry' 

He stares at me for a couple of seconds as I shuffle nervously, 'You were never wearing earrings' he states, turning around and heading back towards the stair case to go back up to his office, 'You're a bad liar' he finishes. 

I sigh, quickly picking up my glass again and following him. Just before I exit the living room, I hear the chains again, this time the sound is a tiny bit louder, I hear speech again too, also a tiny bit louder but I cannot make out the words. 

'Come on' he calls from the staircase. I nod and follow after him quickly, back to his office. 

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Sorry for taking ages to update, I hope you found this chapter interesting, what do you think the sound was? Any ideas? COMMENT&VOTE.