Page 46 of When The Night Falls

Ellie was guiding the way to a vacant desk when warm brown eyes met mine across the room. The owner was walking straight toward us, seemingly on his way to William’s office, but he came to an abrupt halt just before he passed. Visibly confused, his attention flickered between Ellie and me.

Could this day get any worse? If he learned that ‘Sandra’ and I were the same person, it was only a matter of time before rumours about my previous encounter with William would flood the office. As their latest trainee, that was the last thing I wanted.

Ellie paused to regard him. Meanwhile, Andrew kept studying me with a bewildered expression on his face. Exerting every ounce of the self-discipline I had harnessed over the years, I managed to remain composed. While feigning obliviousness, I returned his gaze with eyes that claimed innocence.

‘Sandra?’ he asked, sounding surprised. ‘What are you doing here?’

Ellie came to my rescue. ‘Sandra? This is Cara Jane Darby, our new trainee.’

Perplexed, Andrew’s eyes did a sweep of my body. Faint pink coloured his cheeks and he frowned. Clearing his throat, he lifted his gaze to mine. I gave him a small smile, sympathising with his confusion.

‘Sorry, I must have confused you with someone else,’ he said embarrassedly. ‘I could have sworn you were her.’

Ellie giggled.

‘No worries,’ I said.

He offered his hand. ‘I’m Andrew Thompson, but everyone calls me Andy.’

Nodding, I clasped his hand and gave him another small smile. ‘Cara.’

‘Are you showing her around, Ellie?’

‘Sort of.’

His attention shifted onto me again. ‘Why not William? I thought he was supposed to be her supervisor.’

He was slick! I was certain he had only asked to observe my reaction. Thankfully, my face didn’t even twitch.

I said, ‘He had work to do. He seems delightful, though.’

Andy tittered. ‘He seems delightful? First time I’ve heard that. “Delightful”.’ He glanced at something behind me. ‘Just remember that where other people might end a sentence with a question mark, Will usually finishes with a full stop. It’s just who he is and always has been, but as long as you’re aware of that, I’m sure you’ll be fine.’

I was almost tempted to say, ‘No shit, Andy. I’ve already gathered as much,’ but I refrained.

Ellie chuckled. ‘I haven’t briefed her on what to expect of Will’s general behaviour yet, so thank you for taking care of that.’

Andy gave me a wink. ‘I’ve got your back, sweetheart.’ Looking at Ellie, he asked, ‘So he’s busy right now? I’ve got something I’d like to run by him, preferably before his meeting with the lawyers from Lightning Charge this afternoon.’

‘He’s always busy, but he hasn’t got anything other than paperwork until then. I’m sure he could spare you five minutes if it’s urgent and you ask nicely.’

‘Great, thanks.’ Steering his eyes back to mine, Andy grinned. ‘Pleasure meeting you, Cara.’

‘You too.’

As he walked away, he shook his head, and I had a suspicion as to why. I feared he would ask William about me in only a few moments. If he did, I prayed William would either tell him a lie or ensure his silence some other way.

‘Seems you’ve got a replica out there,’ Ellie said and started walking again. ‘But I’m sure her freckles aren’t as adorable as yours.’

Her compliment made me flash her a grin. I had always been grateful for my freckles, and they were in fact Aaron’s favourite part of my face.

My smile faded as I thought of him. Now that I was bound to encounter William time and again, I was certain it would wreak havoc on the dynamic between Aaron and me. It had taken me a week to recover from my session with William, and Aaron had spent it growing worried about our arrangement. How was I supposed to manage this time around?

By not flirting with William, I thought. I was motivated to manage that for several reasons: for the sake of my placement, for the sake of my friendship with Jason, for the sake of my arrangement with Aaron, and last, but certainly not least, for the sake of my sanity, my education and finally my career.

‘Here we are.’ Ellie brought me out of my thoughts and motioned to a vacant desk.

‘Thanks,’ I said, perhaps too eagerly, but I was in dire need of privacy.

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