Page 14 of Aydin

“No, I’m not.” My voice rose.

He tilted his head to the left.

“If you have something to say, spit it out.”

“I didn’t do anything to you, and you’ve ignored me since I started here.”

“Are we in high school?”

“You know what, never mind,” I hissed and turned to walk out of his office.

“Stop!” he shouted, and I froze.

I heard a low growl and felt the prickle of his breath on the back of my neck.

“I didn’t hire you. So don’t walk around here like you need my approval.”

Something in me fired up in my gut, and I spun around. We were face-to-face with him towering over me. I might be quiet and nonchalant to avoid confrontation, but if anyone tried to make me seem like I was needy, then I’d be ready to curse them out.

“Listen, Mr. Reeve.” I pointed a finger in his face.

“Aydin.”

“Huh?”

“Call me Aydin.”

“You’re my boss. I’d rather keep it professional.”

He stepped forward, and I felt a lump form in my throat.

“Aydin is what you’re going to call me.”

“But I—”

He cut me off.

“As I said, we’re not in high school.”

“Fine, but I need to know what you want to do about the renovation on the third floor.”

“Handle it yourself. We have a budget.”

“I understand, but the contractors you hired overestimated.”

“Are you some whiz at numbers?”

“Something like that.”

“Send me the breakdown.”

“All right. Thanks, Mr.… I mean Aydin.”

He cocked a left brow.

“Hey… Aydin. Am I interrupting something?” Nicco approached us and glanced from Aydin to me. Our eyes never left each other, and I couldn’t understand why he was being so difficult toward me. I didn’t beg for the job; I thought they would have hired someone more experienced.

“No, we’re done,” Aydin said, and I drew my eyes away and turned to leave. I shut the door to my office with my back against it and my eyes closed.

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