Chapter XVIII
''Good morning, Thomas.'' John walked past his assistant's desk, looking rather dashing.
''Go- good morning, sir.'' Thomas looked up from his work, surprised to see his boss in such a good mood so early in the morning. Ever since he and Anna had returned from Rome, something had changed in the demeanour of his usually ill-tempered boss. He had yelled far less, and he had even said "thank you" and "please" more often.
Thomas knew that something was up, but he could not ask John and, for the time being, Anna had kept quiet, no matter how hard he had begged her to tell him and even though she had promised she would explain why she had needed John's address so early in the morning the previous week.
''Any messages?'' John called from his office, already going through some paperwork. He had a lot do to before leaving for the hospital. He hated to leave his team alone with Green on his first day at the company, but his commitment to the hospital left him no choice.
''No, sir.''
''Has Miss Smith arrived yet?'' Since he was not going to be at the first meeting, he wanted to make sure Anna was ready. He knew she would be, but he really hated the idea of leaving her with Green, even though he knew she wasn't going to be alone with him.
''No, not yet, sir.'' Thomas chuckled under his breath. What in the world was going on between them!? ''But she should be here any minute now.'' He checked his wristwatch.
''What about Green?''
''About 10 minutes ago.'' Thomas walked into his office ''I need you to sign these.'' He handed him some papers.
''Did you change the code?'' John asked, as he signed the papers without even glancing through them. Regardless of what Thomas thought, John completely trusted him when it came to business.
''I did. Just like you asked me to,'' Thomas nodded. He had no idea why John had made him move all their client files into the safe and start changing the combination every week. But he had learnt long before not to ask questions about certain things.
''Good. And don't forget, not a word about this to anyone,'' John said, though he knew that Thomas had probably already told Jimmy.
''Yes, sir.''
''Now, can you please tell Smith I want to see her before I go? I need to talk to her about the meeting.''
''Certainly, sir.'' Thomas took the papers. ''Will that be all?''
''Yes, thank you.'' John turned his attention back to his computer and the two dozen or so emails he needed to respond to.
''You're welcome.'' Thomas stifled a chuckle. John being nice to him still felt very odd. But what bothered him even more was the fact that he didn't know the reason behind his change in behaviour. And it was about time he found out.
xXx
''Oh, crap,'' Anna cursed under her breath when one of the files she was carrying fell out of her hand directly into a big puddle as she was getting out of the car. She had spent the whole weekend preparing for today's meeting with the team. It wasn't a big meeting; she knew everything she needed to know about the project, but still… John wouldn't be there - and Green would be. Green had texted her more than ten times in the last few days, asking her to go out with him. He hadn't been rude, but she was getting tired of him not taking no for an answer.
''Allow me.'' Thomas's voice made her jump. ''Sorry – I didn't mean to startle you.''
''That's all right. Thank you.'' She took the file from him but saw that the water had ruined it. ''Shit.''
''Something important?''
''Mr. Bates's plans, actually.'' Anna tried to lock her car but couldn't, not with so many things in her hands.
''I'll take it,'' Thomas offered, relieving her of the dripping file.
''Thank you.''
''Is it for the meeting?''
''Yes. He lent it to me so I could prepare for today.''
''Oh, don't worry, I have another copy.''
''Really? Oh, Thomas, could you…''
''I could and I will, but I need you to tell me something first.'' He smirked in such a way that Anna could already guess what he wanted to know.
''Thomas, don't…'' Anna warned him with a smile.
''Oh, come on, you promised!'' He ran after her as she started walking towards the building.
''There's nothing to tell.''
''Anna…'' He placed a hand on her shoulder, and she turned to face him. ''Come on…you texted me for his home address at six in the morning, with no explanation, no nothing. He's our boss, for god's sake. And I've been living in complete fear for the last couple of days.''
''Why? What are you afraid of?''
''He's being nice to me. Like…really nice. I thought he was drunk when he first said thank you to me the other day. So please - just take me out of my misery and tell me what's going on between you two.''
''Nothing, all right?'' The last thing Anna wanted was to lose all the progress she had made with John in the last few days. Plus there really was nothing to tell. They were friends, and that was it. But Thomas being Thomas, he would not give up easily.
''Anna…''
''Look there's nothing going on between us. We're just friends,'' she replied matter-of-factly, and continued walking.
''Did you sleep with him?'' Thomas called after her.
''For god's sake, keep your voice down!'' Anna exclaimed, hurrying back to shush him.
''Oh, my god!'' Thomas was jubilant. ''You did, didn't you?! I knew I was right to book you two just one room in Rome. No wonder he's being nice to me!''
''Thomas, shut your mouth!'' Anna hissed, panicked. All she needed was for people to start talking. Even though what Thomas had concluded wasn't true, what had happened between her and John back in Rome and afterward was private. The only person who knew the whole story was Gwen, who was like a sister to her and to whom she always told everything.
''How was it? Oh, why am I even asking! Of course it was good!'' Thomas grinned. But Anna wasn't in the mood.
''OK, listen to me.'' She stepped closer to him. ''I'll say this only once, all right?''
''All right.''
''Nothing happened.'' She stared directly into his eyes. If Thomas thought she had been lying before, her face right now told him everything. She was telling the truth.
''Oh, come on! I booked you one room, for god's sake! One room!'' His face fell. ''Are you serious?'' he asked again, hoping she was teasing him.
''I am perfectly serious.'' Anna smiled. ''Why do you care, anyway?''
''Because I do, all right?'' Thomas crossed his arms.
''Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but there's nothing going on. We're just friends.'' She started walking away from him toward the building.
''Just friends…as if!'' Thomas called after her, but Anna just laughed without looking back.
beta: annambates! I think I love you! xoxo ;)
hello reader... ;) ;) ...
