Enduring Mr McGregor

chapter 7

Nia dropped her bag and coffee on her desk before making her way to the break room to reheat Connors muffins.

He liked them warm. Said it made it feel like they were straight from the oven.

Balancing the coffee and muffin on a small tray, she knocked on his door before walking into his office.

“Good morning sir,” she greeted in a cheerful voice. “I have your coffee and blueberry muffins for you. Fresh, just how you like it,” she called out as she gently dropped it on his wide desk.

Glancing around, she noticed he wasn't in the office, and that the lights were switched off. The office was a little bit dark, the only light coming from the glass wall on one end of the room and an open door leading to a mini library/archive room. She could hear someone moving about.

“Sir? Are you there?”

“Yes. Shut up and leave,” a muffled voice said.

She frowned in the direction of the voice. Connor sometimes came to work in a bad mood, but he never told her to shut up. Perhaps he was in a really bad mood. God knew who had upset him  She wouldn't put it past that son of his.

She had turned to leave when she spied a Hershey bar sitting on the coffee table.

Huh? Did Connor go through my secret stash of chocolates?

That wasn't possible, he had no idea where it was. And he never entered her office.

She shrugged and went back to work. For hours she immersed herself in it. It was amazing how much work could pile up over the weekend. But she wasn't complaining.

It was around one o'clock in the afternoon that she finally took a break. Her back ached from sitting upright all day and her fingers numb from typing. She slumped back in her chair and closed her eyes.

A loud growl from her stomach reminded her she had missed lunch. Pulling out a key from her purse, she unlocked the bottom drawer of her desk and drew it open revealing her secret stash of chocolates. Her hand hovered over a snicker bar for a moment. Ignoring the pull, she took the tortilla style protein chips instead and closed the drawer.

Hurriedly tearing open the packet, she took a bite and flipped open a file.

The things I do for a healthy body, she thought grimly.

Buzz buzz.

She looked up at the sound. That was the buzzer Connor used when he needed her for something.

Quickly she swallowed and closed the packet of chips.

Buzz buzz.

Snatching a bottle of water, she took a gulp and then wiped her mouth with a tissue and dusted the crumbs from her black pencil skirt.

Buzz buzz buzz.

The buzzing sounded like a bee. She hated bees. The sound was getting on her nerves now.

Buzzzzz...

Wow, Connor really was in a bad mood. Was he leaning on the button? She pushed open the door and walked to stand before his desk.

“Sir, you called?”

He was sitting in his chair facing the window and twirling a pen in his hand. She could only see the top of his head, and this guy had brown hair.

That wasn't right. Connor had greying hair.

“The records of the deal we made with Alastair, where is it?” he asked.