Chapter 20

I woke up to the sounds of someone moving around in the room.

I opened my eyes, still feeling drowsy, and very confused at my odd position and the pain in my back and neck.

My mind soon started clearing, and I realised this was Mr. Carlton's room and I was still on the floor, next to his bed, which was empty now.

Hearing another sound, I turned my head to see Mr. Carlton in front of his mirror putting on his tie.

I gasped at the sight, immediately standing up and staring at him wide-eyed. He was watching me through the mirror the whole time.

"Mr. Carlton!" I exclaimed. "You can't go to the office today!" I said, completely shocked to see him getting ready.

I mean, he was lying in bed the whole night, with a fever so high, unable to get up on his own. And now he is getting ready to go to the office?! What's wrong with this man?

"And why can't I, Ms Sanders?" He asked me cooly.

"Because..." I said, moving forward. "You know very well why. You need to rest. Your fever was so high last night. It could come back today. God, I don't even know if you still don't have a fever already!" I said, looking at him worriedly.

"Well, it's none of your concern if I have a fever or not, Ms Sanders." He replied, meeting my eyes through the mirror.

His eyes, which were narrowed on me, were unreadable, and his face was devoid of any emotion. I felt all the color drain from my face as he said that.

"What?" I whispered, completely shocked.

"And as there is no one here to stop me, accept a secretary who is clearly overstepping her boundaries, I suggest you learn your place and leave my room so that I can get ready." He said, breaking eye contact with me and reaching for his watch.

My breath hitched as I felt a searing pain in my chest. I couldn't believe this was Mr. Carlton, who is speaking to me like this.

I searched his face to see if there was any trace of the man I had gotten to know these couple of weeks, but there was none.

Just the cold, indifferent, distant Mr. Carlton that I had worked for, for the past year, was standing in front of me.

Was the soft, caring person I had seen briefly just a facade my desperate mind had shown me?

"Miss Sanders." He called out, breaking into my thoughts.

Ok. I have been put in my place, and I should not interfere with what's not my business again.

My heart felt really heavy, and I felt close to tears, but I took a deep breath and closed my eyes to get my emotions in control.

With a nod in agreement, I started walking towards the door but stopped when he called my name.

"I will compensate you for your services last night, Ms Sanders."

"What!" I gasped out in shock as I met his blank stare. My eyes widened, and my mouth fell open at what he had just said. Compensation? For caring?

"There's no need, sir." I told him stiffly before I quickly exited the bedroom, not giving him time to respond.

I knew if I stayed there any longer and listened to another word he said, I would for sure burst into tears.

How could he say such a thing! Was everything about money? If so, shouldn't I be the one to compensate for his services first? I mean what he has done for me, I am indebted to him for life!

What is last night compared to everything he has done for me these past few weeks. Can't his cold heart stand a little bit of my kindness? My care? He has to compensate for it!

Fine then. If that is the case, I should no longer accept his kindness or his 24/7 care since I already have no way of compensating for that...

.........

It was nighttime now, and I was done for the day. Mr. Carlton never came to the office today.

He had left by the time I had gotten ready for work. And I have no idea where he went.

So I had spent the day worrying about how he was, whether his fever returned and whether he was taking enough fluid today and had he eaten and what his blood report must have said...

But since I didn't have the right to find out the answer to any of these questions, I had instead buried myself in work. So much so that it was seven o'clock in the night now, and I had completely forgotten to eat anything the whole day.

With a tired sigh, I stepped into the parking lot and walked to where I had parked my car.

As my first step to stop taking his help, I had taken my car today. So I had a long drive home.

Maybe I can get some takeout on the way. I have to eat something.

I was digging through my bag for my keys as I was walking and I didn't notice that I had company until I had almost reached my car.

Mr. Carlton was waiting, leaning against my car door, his arms folded across his chest, and his legs crossed at his ankles.

Seeing him made me remember how he had treated me today, making my steps falter. I took a deep breath, keeping my face neutral. He was still my boss, after all.

"It took you long enough." Was his first response.

"Was there something you wanted, Mr. Carlton?" I asked, wondering why he couldn't have just called me.

"Yeah, I'm here to give you the compensation for last night.

I couldn't prevent the hurt that I felt hearing him say that, and I'm sure it showed on my face.

His eyes narrowed, and his face tilted to the side, giving me a scrutinizing stare.

"Sir, I told you there was no need for that." I told him dully.

"And I don't recall me agreeing to that."

I let out a sigh, saying, "Sir, can't you just accept someone's kindness without paying them back. A simple thank you is enough."

"Fine, then accept this as a thank you."

"Mr. Carlton! I don't want anything!" I said exasperatedly.

"Just come with me, would you!" He said, standing up straight and advancing towards me.

He had a commanding aura about him that didn't allow people to disobey him, and I was feeling intimidated by it.

I stepped a little back so I wouldn't feel so overwhelmed.

"Let's go, Ashley," he said in a quieter tone, stopping a few feet away from me. I let out the breath I was holding and looked up at him.

"Where?" I uttered, feeling confused, and I had to admit a bit curious. Why do we have to go anywhere if he is just giving me a compensation. He can give it to me here and just leave.

"You will see when you get there." He said, looking a bit perked up at my response.

I narrowed my eyes and stared up at him, wondering what the hell was going on, and he soon lost his patience and advanced towards me again, grabbing my hand, catching me by surprise.

"But my car!" I said as he started dragging me with him.

He looked back at it before he looked at my hand that he was holding, which had the car keys in it. He reached for it with his other hand, grabbing it and putting it in his pocket.

"Hey! That's my keys!" I yelped out in surprise.

"And you're never getting them back." He said oh so smoothly.

"What!" I gasped out, my eyes widening in shock. My footsteps faltered, but I was still being dragged forward by him, so I stubbled, almost falling.

Mr. Carlton turned around, grabbing me, stopping my fall as I landed on his chest with an "ufff."

I looked up at him, ready to apologize, but as I did, our eyes met, and I forgot what I was going to say.

His eyes really were the most beautiful gray that I had ever seen. It gave me the feeling of warmth on a cool, snowy day. I can't explain why. Something like a warm hug after a walk in the snow.

I was gazing up at his face completely dazed with a silly smile on my face, embraced in the most comforting hug, when I saw his oh so sexy lips twitch and the corners of his eyes crinckle as a look of amusement crossed his face.

"Do you plan on standing here in my arms all night, Ashley?" He asked me very softly.

My reaction was slow. Very, very slow. I first stared up into his face, confused. Then, I observed what he said into my foggy brain and then slowly looked down ans saw that I was, in fact, in his arms, clutching his shirt tightly as he had his arms wrapped around me.

With a loud gasp, I leaped out of his arms, my eyes wide in shock, almost losing my balance again in my hurry. But I managed to get my balance back before he caught me again, taking a few steps back, just for good measure.

He was still staring at me with a self-satisfied smirk on his face while I looked down, avoiding any eye contact with him.

My face was completely red. I didn't want him to see it anymore. He already saw too much of just how taken I was of him.

"So...ready to go?" He asked after an awkward silence.

By now, I had composed myself enough to look up at him with a frown and shake my head.

He just rolled his eyes and took my hand again, pulling me along with him.

Once we were inside his car, we sat quietly until he pulled out of the parking lot. After which I again asked him for my car keys.

"I told you, Ashley, I'm never giving it back." He replied calmly while I was fuming.

"Why not. It's my car!" I exclaimed, somewhat childishly.

"Ashley, there is a number of cars at home from which you could choose any one of it. And you will be driven with one of the bodyguards to and from work. I thought this would be clear to you by now.

You can have your car too as long as one of the bodyguards or I am in it." He explained it to me very patiently like as if he was explaining it to a nine year old. I rolled my eyes in the darkness.

"Why?" I asked, and he looked at me incredulously. "I mean, why are you doing that? Why do I need to be escorted everywhere?" I asked again, looking at his profile while he drove the car.

"So you would be safe, of course! So I can be sure that nothing happened to you." He stated like as if the answer was obvious.

"So what do you want in return for taking such good care of us?" I asked him. My face remained blank as he looked at me in complete shock. He was silent for a while before he finally responded. I didn't take my eyes off him the whole time.

"Nothing, Ashley." He finally replied in a sad voice. "Why would you even think that I'm doing this because I want something in return?" He looked at me briefly before turning his eyes back to the road. His sad eyes pulled at my heart strings.

"Then why are you so adamant about compensating for last night. I was also making sure nothing happened to you that you were OK. Then why is it that if I do something for you, it immediately has to be paid back. Is it because you have money to pay everyone for everything they do for you?" I asked him bitterly.

He again remained silent before he suddenly took a turn and parked in a parking lot.

I looked at him questioningly as he let out a deep sigh before pointing outside, saying resignedly, "I just wanted to take you out for dinner."

My jaw dropped as my eyes widened, and I looked at him speechlessly, while he just gave me a tired look.

He turned back to look ahead of him, slouching a bit down in his seat and stretching out his legs as much as he could, waiting for me to come out of my frozen state.

"Di-dinner!" I finally sputtered out. "All this was about dinner?" I asked him incredulously.

"Yeah..." He told me, giving me a sheepish smile while I narrowed my eyes at him, knowing full well by now that he knew exactly what that smile did to me. I'm not falling for the dimpled boyish smile trick.

I continued frowning at him, not at all pleased with what he did. After all, he had been very cold to me this morning for someone who had been intending to take me out to dinner.

"I'm sorry for this morning, ok?" He finally said in defeat. "I was upset."

"With me?" I asked in alarm.

"Yes, with you." He said in frustration.

"Why?" I asked him worriedly. The feeling of dread creeping up on me. I couldn't help it.

"Look, can we not go into that now?" He asked me tiredly. "I really don't want to, and neither do we have energy to deal with that right now." He told me, looking away from me with a frown.

"Are you still upset about it?" I asked him in a small voice, wringing my fingers nervously.

His eyes fell to my hands, watching its movements before he grabbed my hand, stopping it.

"No, Ashley," he said softly. His face had come considerably closer to mine as he held onto my hand. He untangled my fingers from its tight grasp and laced one hand with his. "I'm not angry, Ashley. Not at all." He told me comfortingly, looking up and meeting my eyes. He squeezed my hand, giving me a comforting smile.

When I gave him a small smile back, he leaned back in his seat, taking my hands with him. My boss is very handsy, I thought, eyeing our entwined hands with a raised eyebrow.

His response was to stare at it absently, rubbing his thumb softly on the back of my hand, giving it a calming effect.

"So, are you ready to go in?" He asked, after some time, making me look up and out of the window, wondering where we were.

All I saw was sand. A wide expanse of sand, and then beyond that, water. And the sky with a full moon staring back at us.

"Where do we go in?" I asked, searching everywhere.

How long had we been driving anyway? There wasn't a single sign of city life here. In fact, there was no life anywhere.

I looked back at him worriedly, and he smiled before opening the car door.

I watched him coming around to my side and opening my door. Didn't he say dinner? Where did he plan on giving me dinner down here?

Ashley, you really should stop trusting people blindly, I chided myself. One day your going to get yourself killed with this overly trusting attitude where you end up in random, deserted- not to mention dark areas with humongous men that you have no hope of defeating if it came to running for your life. Seriously, grow up!

I looked up to see Mr. Carlton is watching me closely while waiting for me to get out of the car. When he saw the look on my face, he rolled his eyes and said, "Really, Ashley, if I wanted to kill you, I have way better places than this that I could take you to."

My eyes widened, jolting back in my seat, startled at his comment. "Now come on Ashley, come out of the car and stop acting like I dragged you here by force."

I slowly stepped out of the car at his remark, but I couldn't help saying, "But you did drag me here." He looked at me startled, but seeing that I wasn't upset, he rolled his eyes again, closing the car door and walking away.

I quickly followed him, asking, "Where are we going?" But as always, Mr. Carlton had to be his annoying self, saying, "You will see..."

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Meh. It's not my best, but I hope it's satisfactory at least.

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