10 The unexpected trip

Caleb's POV

Leaning back in my chair, I sighed wearily and closed my burning eyes. The environment outside my cabin slowly seemed to come alive as employees filled in, greeting and making small talks with each other.

I stayed inside though, conserving my energy for the fiery ball of anger that was sure to come my way this morning.

I knew I deserved her wrath, but that didn't mean I was going to let her put me in my place that easily.

The asshole in me was too dominant to timidly accept my fault and face the consequences.

The most maddening part of it all was that even I didn't know why I had done what I did yesterday. Not all of it was puzzling, of course.

I felt a faint smile cross my lips as I remembered why I had piled up a mountain load of work on her head for weeks now, even though most of it could've easily been avoided.

Her indifference had hit a nerve, and I had wanted to know that she was spending her days doing things exactly as I had asked her to do.

In the last two weeks, she had reverted back into her shell and no amount of my probing would lure her out. I wasn't quite sure what I would do if she did shed her amour and became the sensuous thing I sensed her capable of being.

But that didn't stop me from tickling the side of her that had so recklessly accepted my challenge on Halloween night.

I had flirted with nearly every woman at work, talked to or been borderline asshole around her but her steel armour was still in place and it had ticked me off.

The only chink I had noticed in it was when she had seen me talking to Ellen Cole a week ago, and ever since then, I had made it a point for her to see me talk to her cousin whenever she possibly could. It was childish, yes. But it was something that just had to be done.

And when I was supposed to travel out of state, I had piled her with so much work that it probably didn't leave her a minute to breathe.

In a twisted sort of way, I had wanted her to remember me every minute of the day that I wasn't in front of her, even if it was to curse me.

It was my revenge on her for unknowingly being constantly on my mind, and I didn't care how much of an asshole I sounded.

Even though I felt it was kind of evil, I allowed myself that bit of pleasure in the light of the other mishaps I had been facing past two weeks.

My jaw clenched as my cell phone screen lit up with a message. Even though I knew it was a bad idea, I still swiped the screen, and read the message on it.

Wish you a Happy Birthday, Caleb. I wish you would just come back.

- Love, Ana.

I clenched the phone in my fist, as the pulse in my temples throbbed. Ana was a thorn that I never could remove from my life. It was pierced deep, not letting the wounds heal. Why the fuck couldn't she just leave me alone?

It honestly seemed that Ana had some inner sensor that made her pop up at the most unwelcoming of times. Either that, or the fate must really hate me to play a coincidence like that just as I was feeling some peace of mind.

Breathing in deep, I willed myself to focus on the unexpected treat that I had found waiting for me here last night.

While I hadn't thought she'd be working that late, her presence was a blessing nonetheless.

I shuddered thinking what would have happened had I not found her when I did.

My feet ached in the confines of my shoes from my punishing run this morning. It was 4 am by the time I had made it home, and by then sleep was completely out of question.

It wasn't that I wasn't sleepy or didn't have the time. It was just that I didn't want to tempt the demons to make an appearance again.

I wasn't sure I could handle it the hard way after discovering an easier escape. I had barely taken a shower and coffee before leaving for work.

The benefit of working with software developers was that they tend to work round the clock. Even though the sky was still dark outside, there were plenty of coders working when I had reached here.

Just as I sipped my third coffee of the morning, the door of my cabin opened to reveal Ruth Brooke in all her furious glory.

Her hair was tied in a neat knot behind her head and her dress was perfectly prim, not a wrinkle in sight.

My fingers twitched to rumple that starched stiff attire and I felt an odd tug in my chest, wanting to see her disheveled look from last night.

Unlike all the other times, she didn't play the assistant, and instead strutted into the cabin without knocking or asking permission.

I kept my expression casual, lazily eying her as she stood in front of me and demanded, "we need to talk, Mr. Cross."

"Talk?" I drawled, wanting to stroke that fire she was displaying instead of dousing it. "Why talk when I can put my mouth to much better use?"

Faint pink coloured her round cheeks but she gritted her teeth and hissed, "no innuendos, Caleb or I swear I'll -"

"Make me shut up? I hope you choose a creative way to do that."

I knew I was being an ass but it was a force of habit that couldn't be helped. Even though I could see she would've much rather preferred to pretend that last night didn't happen, something must've made her want to take this aggressive approach. I both loved and hated it.

Narrowing her eyes, she spat, "what was that last night?"

"I'm sorry but is it too late to ask if you're a kiss-virgin? Because if you didn't work it out by yourself then.."

If she was a teapot, I was pretty sure she'd be whistling by now.

I barely suppressed a laugh as she replied, "it wasn't just a kiss and we both know it. You honestly looked like a man possessed."

Well, that kind of killed my laughter. Something must've shown on my face because suddenly all the anger drained from her and she eyed me with concern.

"What was that, Caleb? I know I don't know you all that well, but you seemed like you were on the verge of having a break down."

Damn. I hated this. She wasn't supposed to be concerned about me. She was supposed to shout in rage. That was our thing. We didn't do touchy feely.

A part of my brain traitorously whispered, maybe she can help. She certainly did last night.

Something in her tone made me want to honestly answer her.

Girls dig that shit, no? The selfish part of me whispered.

They loved the idea of having the ability to mend the broken.

To be someone's peace and all that romantic shit?

I opened my mouth, to say what, I wasnt sure. But the force of habit struck and instead of sputtering something I was sure to regret later, I retorted, "must be Aunt Flo's RSVP."

Her mouth opened, but the ringing intercom on my desk made her pause.

Still holding her gaze, I answred the call onto the speaker, "Caleb Cross."

"Mr. Cross, this is Stacey Rhodes, assistant to the executive. I'm calling to let you know that you are required to attend an urgent meeting at 9:30am with other HODs. I tried calling your assistant but she seems to be otherwise occupied."

Ruth's skin tinged darker as she heard the judgemental tone in Stacey's voice, as I responded, "alright, Ms. Rhodes. I'll be there. Thanks for informing me."

As the line disconnected, Ruth seemed to pull-on her professional mask again because she straightened and said, "let's discuss this further after the work day is over, shall we?"

Without waiting for a response, she turned to leave before I replied, "of course, Ms. Brooke. I'll make an appointment for you, off the clock."

**

Three hours later, I walked back towards my cabin with a weird buzzing in my brain.

That's what you get for not getting any sleep, my irritated brain sneered.

The meeting had been tedious, to say the least. Apparently, the Board of Directors had gotten a wind that some big shot software company from Boston was planning a hostile takeover against us.

Even though there were laws to prevent these stuff, people didn't shy to play around the obvious loopholes.

The Board was of the opinion that a direct confrontation with the concerned person will have more chances of success at this point.

They thought that letting the company know that we were onto them will make them back off for the fear of a lawsuit.

I snorted. In my experience, such stuff never made any difference. Huge companies were never deterred from their expansion plans by the fear of lawsuits they must've already anticipated and planned for.

What baffled me was that the Board had decided to draft me as a representative of the company.

Even though my negotiation skills were honed to perfection after doing exactly this at CrossRoads Softwares, I was still a newly appointed employee and had a lot to learn about the company.

The fact that other HODs and executives had voiced the same concern made it clear that no one understood why Board had made this decision any more than I did.

Lost in thoughts, I rounded the corner and my eyes fell onto Ruth Brooke sitting behind her desk, typing something furiously.

I felt an evil smile curve my lips. Well, atleast some parts of this trip made sense. Or had more chances of a positive outcome.

Walking up behind her, I suppressed a chuckle as she jumped, startled when she felt my presence behind her, and turned.

Her neck turned red, and I swallowed an insane urge to press my lips on her pulse to feel it racing.

"That looked intense. Am I interrupting?" I asked in a fake polite tone. She obviously had no problem catching the hidden taunt in those words.

"Not at all, Sir. I was just getting everything ready for you to run off again." She replied in a sugary sweet voice.

Cat, my mind hissed. And for once, I agreed. A sharp-clawed cat.

Keeping my smile in place, I chirped, "great! Now, don't let it be said that I wasn't a gentleman and didn't offer to share."

As I had hoped, she looked at me like I had completely lost my mind.

"What are you talking about?" She asked.

Leaning down, I placed one of my forearms on her desk and other on the back of her chair, giving the impression of looking at something on her screen to save the innocence of our colleagues' eyes.

Leaning close to her, I whispered, "the hotel room, Ms. Brooke. My vote is to courteously save company funds and make do with just one. But as always, the choice is yours."

"Are you prepositioning me? Here at work, in the broad daylight?" she asked in disbelief.

"Tsk tsk, Ms. Brooke. Would I ever dare? I was merely pointing out that since my room would obviously be more lavish than yours, you can simply move in to make better use of... furnitures."

Her jaw dropped open as I straightened.

I didn't even attempt to hide my amusement as I said, "Why don't you take the half day off, Ms. Brooke? I'm sure you have lots to pack for our run-off trip. See you at the airport at 7pm."

This will be fun.