Part of me really wanted to walk back to the building since it was only five minutes away. But I still needed some time alone to think. I shut off my phone so I couldn’t be interrupted

    again.

    Pride washed through me for standing my ground as I sent a message to Alexander saying that I had already eaten and was on my way to the office. Since I was still early, I took a cab to get my car from the parking garage across from Ava’s apartment building.

    Then, I drove to work, stopping by the coffee cart outside of the building and getting arge coffee and a bagel, which I ate on a bench outside. As I ate, the same sense of peace fell over me. Alexander and Ethan were two entirely different men, but I wasn’t going to allow either of them to dictate how I felt. Despite myplicated life, I could still have a nice morning by myself.

    Once I was finished eating, I took my coffee cup and rode the elevator to the office. Just as I was sitting on my chair, Alexander and Gai walked into the office. The sight of him in his fitted grey suit and artfully gelled ck hair made my pulse race.

    I realized that I still needed distance from him even if we were at work. I grabbed myptop and hugged it close to my chest, and gathered the rest of my things.

    When I got close to Alexander, he frowned when he saw everything in my arms. “I have to go downstairs to the secretarial department for a meeting,” I told Alexander before he could say anything. “I can be reached by phone.” I had switched my cell phone back on when I got to work.

    “I didn’t know we had a meeting scheduled in the secretarial department,” Alexander said suspiciously.

    “Yes…it just came up.” My cheeks flushed.

    “Right, okay, well have a good meetingi,/ii” /iAlexander said shortly, then walked to his office.

    I let out a small breath of relief. I was d that he was going to give me the space that I needed, especially at the office.

    “I might be gone for the whole morning,” I told Gai.

    06:10

    288 Vouchers

    Her eyebrows raised. “The whole morning? Really? What’s going on down there?”

    I could feel my cheeks heating even further. “Listen, I just need to work downstairs for the morning,” I rushed out. “Remember how I covered for you after you got drunk yesterday?i” /i

    Gai’s lips twitched. “Fair point.”

    As I walked out of the office, I turned back once more and met Alexander’s gaze. He was standing in his office doorway with his arms crossed, staring at me with an unreadable expression. It was difficult for me to tear my gaze away from him, and that was exactly why I needed to leave.

    The entire morning, I stayed down in the secretarial department. I actually did run a meeting about how to file the paperwork correctly, but when that was over, I worked from an extra desk down there.

    At noon, a man and woman walked up to ine. I immediately recognized them as David, the CFO of thepany, and Margie, the VP of administration.

    “Hi, there, Olivia,i” /iMargie said. “I was in the back of the meeting you conducted today, and iI /ijust wanted to tell you how great I thought your presentation was.

    11

    I immediately stood from my seat and shook the hand that she was offering me. “Wow, thank you. That means so much to meing from the head of administration.”

    “No one understands how important filing paperwork correctly is,” David said. “It saves our business hundreds of hours when paperwork is filed correctly.”

    “I agree,” I said and smiled. Then, a stroke of inspiration hit me when I realized I could use this as aworking opportunity. “What if we all got lunch together?”