Page 4 of Whispers in the Dark

“I’m assuming I passed,” I said blithely.

“Passed what?”

“Don’t give me that, Sir,” I continued in a low voice. “You’re testing me and I just passed. I won’t fail you. You’ll see.”

I saw something flare in his eyes, and he was about to respond, but the waiter returned with the check, and Bea rejoined us at the same time.

Once the tab had been settled, Adrian walked us back to the front door of the office building, but mentioned he had an errand to run and would be back in about an hour.

I spent the rest of the afternoon continuing to take notes, learn about BT, and trying to figure out the Rubik’s cube that was Adrian Benedict. Granted, I had been employed by him for just shy of a day, but I was more intrigued than ever.

“Brynn, you can go ahead and go home. It’s past five-thirty,” Bea told me as she was packing up.

“Is it? I didn’t realize what time it was. I’ll just check in with Mr. Benedict before I head home. My dog will be happy to see me. He’s not used to me being gone all day, poor guy. Have a good night and thank you so much for your help today.”

After agreeing on what time I would arrive the next day, I wished her a safe trip home, then headed toward Adrian’s office.

His door was currently open and he was typing away furiously on his keyboard. I didn’t want to look like I was hovering, but I also didn’t want to disrupt his train of thought. I would be glad when I could read him a bit better and situations like this were more intuitive for me.

He reached a stopping point on whatever he was working on and I took the opportunity to knock softly on the doorframe.

“You didn’t have to stand there so long,” he said, grabbing a water bottle and taking a long swallow from it.

“I hate to interrupt someone who is in the middle of a thought,” I explained.

“What may I help you with, Brynn?”

“I was just checking to see if you needed anything else from me today? If not, I was going to head home. I have a dinner date with Lug Nut.”

I actually thought I heard a small chuckle, but Adrian didn’t expand on it. He took another drink of water before leveling a heated stare in my direction.

“What I need from you has nothing to do with work, Karma.”

The tone of his voice nearly made my knees buckle. I managed to stay upright, but a shiver raced down my spine. A slow smile crept over Adrian’s features, almost as if he had proven a point.Bastard.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Brynn. Have a good evening with Lug Nut.”

3.Adrian

The rest of the week seemed to drag on, and while I suspected Brynn wanted to ask me something, she never actually did. I assumed it was because Bea had been by her side the entire time. When not showing her replacement around the company, she had filled her in on her entire life history it seemed, even relaying a number of things I had not yet heard from her myself. Most of it revolved around her family, and I knew how excited she was to be home full-time with her husband in a place that meant so much to them.

It had dawned on me that I had no such place unless you counted Lotus. It wasn’t somewhere I could go to be alone with my thoughts, though. When there, it was for a direct purpose. The whole process seemed somewhat methodical, but then again, everything in my life was planned and perfected like a well-laid routine. Spontaneity wasn’t in my DNA, or at least it hadn’t been until I had hired Brynn.

I suppose that I had thought about it for a day or so before pulling the proverbial trigger, but the very idea of forcing one assistant out so I could bring in another was completely against everything that I was about. Honestly, I was surprised that Bea didn’t question my motives. I think she had just been sosurprised at the offer, and considering her home life, she took it like the lifeline I had meant for it to be.

It didn’t mean she was happy to go. I was more than a bit of an asshole, but we had worked together for many years. She was very aware of my idiosyncrasies and mannerisms. She knew how far to go, and I trusted her implicitly. I hoped to one day have the same level of faith in Brynn, but the truth was that I barely knew her. Yes, I knew the basics about her, but the main things I knew all revolved around sex, which was something I had to actually force myself to not think about when at Benedict Technologies.

“Knock, knock,” Bea said as she appeared in the doorway with what I assumed was her last box. “Do you have a moment?”

“Yes,” I told her, then motioned for her to enter. I wasn’t sure if Brynn intended to join her or not, so I glanced over the older woman’s shoulder, then leaned back in my chair when I realized she was alone. “What is it?”

“I just want to thank you for everything. It was a pleasure to work for you, Mr. Benedict. To have this time with my husband now...” Her voice cracked slightly, and she paused, before continuing. “We appreciate it all. Good luck in the future.”

“Good luck to you and Walter, too.” She smiled at me, then headed to the door. Bea then came to a stop and I watched her pull out a small, golden sculpture of some sort. She walked back over to me, then placed it on my desk. “I would like for you to have this.”

“I couldn’t,” I told her, but she clucked her tongue at me.

“Nonsense. I picked it up in Greece on a vacation, and it has always made me think of you, so I want you to have it.”

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