Page 35 of Damaged Enemy Next Door

Does he think it? Or does he believe it?With every atom in my body, I pray to god he believes it.

Adrian consumes my thoughts every free moment and to distract myself, I push those thoughts aside and focus on work. I've become more up to speed with every single person at the office to such an extent that as soon as I step into the office, I’m hit with a barrage of questions from the team about the development’s progress. And then, there’s the matter of the land that still needs to be acquired. I can feel the weight of the responsibility on my shoulders so it’s no surprise that I feel slightly annoyed when Adrian calls me into his office. I don’t have time for this. I’m absolutely swamped.

And maybe even a little nervous about wanting him more than he wants me. After all, he thinks he’s kind of falling in love with me. I know I love him, even though I simply haven’t mustered up the courage to say it. There’s a bid.

"Hey," he says when I enter his office. “How are you? Have a seat!”

"Hey you," I say, “I really don’t have much time. What’s up?”

"Olivia, please sit. I want to discuss something with you.”

I take the bait because I am exhausted and he continues. “You've been working really hard lately," he says, "and I'm convinced that it's time for me to hire another paralegal."

I'm now fuming with anger. I have such a busy day, and this is what I’ve been called in for? Taking away valuable time from my tasks at hand! It's unbelievable that just when I was beginning to see Adrian in a new light, he goes and suggests something like this!

"What the hell?" I screech, unable to help myself. "Adrian - are you serious?"

"Olivia," he says, domineeringly, "I need someone to go and make site visits."

"But I make the site visits, don't I?"

"Well yes, and I want you to not get overwhelmed by so much fieldwork. Nowadays, you’re exhausted more than you ought to be and Olivia, I don’t want you to burn out. You’ve got a long way to go and these number of hours are unsustainable.”

I open my mouth to speak but realize I don't know what I was going to say. Eventually, I come up with "You might be right, and maybe I could use a break or two. But -”

"Good, then we're agreed," he says. "We'll have to have some more weekends away together."

"But you didn’t let me finish,” I interrupt. “It’s sweet that you noticed how tired I’ve been, and a little vacation might help, but there’s no reason why you ought to hire another paralegal.”

"Look, I admire your passion and dedication to your role, Olivia, and you must know you are extremely valuable to what we do. I’m not replacing you,” he says. "I’m just trying to get you some help. Think of it as a promotion. You get someone to boss around!"

"But, the only person I’d like to boss around is you,” I say, giving him a coy wink.

The look on his face is priceless. I love it when he’s trying to be serious, and I throw in a side-curve. “But on a serious note, I can handle it all alone,” I say.

"Olivia, I’m only looking out for you out of concern. You’re so stressed out, and it’s going to take a toll on you. Please, if you admit you aren’t feeling exhausted, I’ll let this go. Are you exhausted?”

He caught me. The last couple of weeks have been taking a toll on me. I leave the house at sunrise and come back post-midnight at times. Between the site visits and paperwork, it’s all a little too much. I admit to it.

“Good then," he says. "We're done here."

"We are absolutely NOT DONE here," I almost yell. The sound of my resonating shout makes me lower my voice, in fear that someone outside will hear us. "You're insane to think that I will give up on my current role just to satisfy your concerns. I work for you, Adrian. But you can’t go around giving me special attention just because we might kind of be dating. Look around yourself! All your employees are exhausted. Are you hiring help for them? "

"No, I’m not hiring any help for them because I don’t care about them as deeply as I do for you," he says, spelling out the clear truth with as much patience as he can muster. “It’s different with you Olivia! Can’t you see that? I’m worried for you as I would worry for a partner. And what do you mean by kind of dating? Goddamn it Olivia, do I have to say it out loud when it’s so clear? I ... I want more than kind of dating. I want a relationship."

Suddenly, my heart takes a leap. Could he be saying what I think he’s saying? For the past two weeks, I’ve been praying, hoping, waiting for something like this, for something a little more than I think I’m kind of falling in love with you. But of all the romantic ways he could tell me, this is how he chooses?

But this? A relationship? With Adrian Carter? Of course, it makes sense. So far, things are going great. We’re having so much fun between our encounters in the sheets and under his work desk … sometimes, when it’s very late at night, on his work desk. Everything else aligns too. I absolutely adore Emily, and she adores me, and everything feels perfect.

Except… now that the coin has flipped in just the direction I want, it’s the other side of the coin I’m thinking about.

“Adrian …” I say, at a loss for words.

He goes quiet. I can see that he's having a realization of sorts. "I thought that's what you wanted," he says.

"It might be ... I mean, if I think about it at the top of my head, it can be. But a relationship? That's serious business."

"Of course, it is, Olivia. I know that," he says. "I've been married before. I'm forty-two years old. I have a daughter. I, of all the people in the world, know just how serious a relationship is. Whomever I choose to be in a relationship with will forever leave memories in my daughter’s mind. Trust me, I know."

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