Looks can't kill...But I can-Watty Awards 2012 (completed)

chapter 7: retreat

Chapter 7: Retreat

It had been a week since the party and I was more frustrated than ever. Nate had been working late every day and when he arrived home he would go straight to bed, if I was lucky enough he would have dinner with me. This had to stop.

He was working from home today so I decided to talk to him. As I walked to his private study I felt my hands get clammy with sweat. I knocked softly and waited for a reply, but all I got was silence. I knocked again but with more force, silence. I quietly opened the door and walked in.

Nate was asleep on his recliner with his laptop on his lap. Seeing him looking so innocent and vulnerable melted my heart, I smiled. I walked over to him and picked up his laptop.

My curiosity got the best of me so I took a quick peek. There were figures all over the screen, but they were all wrong. I looked at Nate sleeping peacefully. Should I wake him and point out his mistakes? Maybe I’m wrong, he’s the accountant after all.

Files were thrown carelessly all over his desk. He must have been very frustrated because Nate was a neat freak.

I sat at his desk with his laptop and picked up his files. This didn’t seem too complicated. I read through all of them and glanced at the figures on the screen. I soon figured out what he was doing and where he had gone wrong so I deleted his work and started over.

“What are you doing?!” Nate’s voice came booming behind me. I didn’t see him get up and walk over to me. I didn’t even notice him peering over my shoulder. I froze. This had to be the end for me. I had invaded his privacy. His silence was killing me. I could take yelling, screaming, anything but silence.

“How…” he sounded stunned, stunned? Where’s the anger? “Ally how did you do this?”, this time he looked at me in awe, awe? “I’ve been trying to sort this out for days. It’s due tomorrow” he finished quietly.

This was too good to be true. He should have been mad at me, not looking at me with so much pride and adoration. This I can’t take. No one has ever looked at me like that before, not even my mother. I couldn’t take the pain that had risen in my chest so I ran out, leaving him shocked.

I ran out to the garden. When I felt safe with the distance I had created between Nate and I, I collapsed on the lawn and cried my heart out. I don’t know how long I had been crying when I felt a pair of two strong arms wrap around me, I didn’t have to turn around to know it was Nate.

We sat in silence for what seemed like hours before he finally spoke. “Ally. What happened back there? Why did you run? I’m sorry I shouted at you, I’ve just been under so much pressure this week, forgive me?”

He was so sweet. Did I really deserve him? “I’m not mad at you Nate. I just couldn’t take the way you were looking at me” I whispered.

“You are amazing. I’ll make sure I remind you every day. Ally you deserve so much more than I can give you” he replied seriously,\.

“But I don’t deserve you” I replied softly.

This time he turned me around and looked straight into my eyes, “You’re wrong, I’m the one who doesn’t deserve you Ally-bear” he smiled at me, “You are worth so much more than you think baby”

He got up and pulled me up with him, “Come. I’ve neglected my girlfriend for far too long, I owe her a week of my undivided attention and I’ll start by cooking for her” he kissed my forehead the led me back to the house.

The next day he went to work with the complete presentation and the correct figures. I didn’t feel like spending another day alone so I decided to call Mrs Peters.