Jealousy

I swallow a pill and toss the rest into my purse. Hope these work. I lay in bed and hear the door open a couple of minutes later. "Ariya" I hear my sister call. "I'm up here" She comes up and opens my door. I smell food. "I brought you some really good soup," she says, smiling slightly. "Thank you" I sat up. "I wanted to apologize for overreacting.

"It's fine Sarah"

"Promise" she looks at me. Her eyes pleaded. "Yes" I smile. I get up and hug her again and we both go down stairs, put in a movie and eat our soup.

Life starts to become fuzzy around the edges the next couple of days. Going about my daily routines becomes hard and I decide to take some time off. Michael agrees automatically and I am stuck at home. Nursing my bruises which are all a horrible color and trying not to become an even bigger mess than I already am.

"How do you ever expect to get a man?"

"Wow Sarah thanks for the confidence boost" I say dabbing ointment over the cut on my left cheek. "I think your face is ruined forever, not that it was ever good" Sarah giggles.

"Well horrible looks run in the family" I look over smirking. She comes in and runs her fingers through the bottom of my long hair. "Your boss seems really nice" she looks down.

"Yeah he is nice. But if I know where you are going with this I'm going to say no" "come on, you need to get out there. Find someone to take care of you ''

''you make it sound like I'm dying ''

''I didn't mean it like that ''

''I know what you meant" I wince realizing there is blood running down my face. I grab some wipes and clean it.

"Are you okay?" She leans against the counter next to me. I roll my eyes

"you know I was just in a car accident right?" "That's not what I mean"

"Sarah...stop worrying about me so much" I hug her tightly and walk out of the bathroom. "You don't have to go back to work yet"

"I do Sarah. He can't just be okay with me not being at work" I hear a heavy sigh. "I promise I won't do anything to hurt myself" I say looking over my ugly fading bruises.

Putting on my flats I grab my keys and head for the door. Nick is sitting on the couch playing video games like he has been for the past week.

"Bye Nick, take care of my sister" I look at him and he nods and looks back at the tv. I sigh. Stepping outside I take in the fresh air. I feel the air traveling through my body and into my lungs. Looking up at the sky, the sun shining on my pale face. Shaking myself out of it I head to my car and drive to work. Pulling up I decided to not act like anything happened. Between my head and my heart Michael doesn't need to think he has any hold on my feelings. Checking my mirror I sigh and get out. "Good morning Ariya, you are looking a lot better" "thank you" "I got this for you" the receptionist holds out a card.

"Aww that's sweet Daisy, you didn't have to"

"oh but I wanted to" she smiles and waves me on.

I continue to receive cards from offices I walk by. I didn't think I was that important. All these people are so nice. Finally arriving at my office which is filled with flowers I drop my purse and sit down at my desk. Powering up my computer and watching as my documents are updating with latest numbers and my inbox updates to all messages and meetings I missed. Skimming through my messages I see that they actually operating at a higher profit margin than before and decide I should ask Michael for any paperwork he needs me to look over. Knocking lightly on his door I open and see a woman standing close to his desk. Looking quite skimpy and seeming to catch his attention. I glare and cough lightly.

"Hello Ariya"

"Hi... Mr. Tobias ''

''Here" he stands up and brings me a stack of papers and ushers me out.

"We can talk later" he closes the door softly behind me. How rude. Who is that lady... Noticing a twinge of jealousy I shake it off. Flipping through the pages I begin to feel impatient so I go back to my email. I'll just email him.

To: Michael

What's going on...?

--AR

I hit send and watch the refresh symbol spin.

New Message.... I see a flash and hit the email.

Ariya,

Everything is fine. Don't worry. Just an old friend.

--M

Ugh. He was the worst. I need to find out who she is. Going out I talk to the receptionist. "Who is in there with him" "oh as far as I know she is an ex girlfriend"

"used to be in here all the time. They were very close '' ''Okay, thank you ''

''I wouldn't worry Miss Rose" I wasn't worried...I just couldn't help but feel intimidated by her.

Here is this lady from his life who I don't know and I'm acting like a jealous teenager. I need to get out of here. I grab my purse and keys and head down to the parking garage. Pulling up to the little coffee shop that I love I look at my phone to see 4 new messages from Mich...I mean Mr. Tobias. Turning it on silent I walk in and order. Sitting in the corner trying to compose myself. I dial my moms number and stop right before pressing dial I stop... she would know what to do. I feel like I am in too far. Here is this guy who I have spent time with working and he shows me the littlest kindness and I develop a crush on him. If that's even what I could call it. It's more like lust. Biting my lip I look down at my watch and realize I need to get back to work. Telling myself I will go back and ignore Mr. Tobias I grab my keys and chug the rest of my coffee.

Walking in I head straight to my office and sit down at my desk. Placing my earphones in my ears. I find myself lost in paperwork. Finalizing the last sheet I shut my laptop and look behind me at his door. I can see that the light is off in the office so I assume that he has left for the day. Exhaling a sigh of relief....I made it...trying to ignore the sad feeling in my stomach.