A gentleman and a lady

Wildflowers

After the first month, I realized Miss Grant was much better at the job that I had initially thought. I always had a coffee waiting for me, my once messy office space had become neat and orderly, and I hadn't been late for a meeting since she started.

Something about her simply infuriated me and I wasn't sure exactly what it was. She was very sure of herself, which one would consider a good thing, but I hadn't met a woman that sure of herself in all my life. She was always proud of herself, and she definitely had good enough reason to be.

Maybe it was the fact that she was breathtaking, but that I didn't make her nervous. Most women were completely nervous around me, no matter how sure of themselves they were.

Is that really it? I thought to myself. Do I dislike her simply because she isn't attracted to me? Because she doesn't blush when I look at her? Am I really that much of an asshole?

I looked up from my computer to gaze at Miss Grant. Why should I care? I don't particularly like her. She's more or less a piece of eye candy that gets the job done. I shook my head and went back to my work.

"Mr. Cavill," Miss Grant's voice pulled my head back up. "We should really be going, maintenance will be coming through to lock the doors soon."

"Yes," I responded, getting up from my seat and gathering my briefcase. She nodded, and grabbed her own things.

As we left my office, I felt slightly queasy. Although she had worked for me for over a month now, we had never left that the same time. I usually found an excuse to leave early, but I didn't have one today.

"After you," I said, holding the elevator door open.

"No thank you, Mr. Cavill, I prefer the stairs," she responded.

"Don't be like that, I'm trying to be nice to you," I scoffed. Miss Grant flashed me a stern little glare, but walked back towards me.

"Fine, if it would make you happy," she huffed as she stepped into the elevator. I felt my stomach flip. If it would make you happy. Those words echoed in my head for a few moments before I stepped in and pressed the button.

The elevator ride was quiet, but I relished in the fact that I was finally completely alone with her in a small area. I looked at Miss Grant again, this time noticing her smell. She smelled like wildflowers, and the aroma was intoxicating. I closed my eyes and sighed through my nose.

"Is everything alright, Mr. Cavill?" I opened my eyes to see Miss Grant staring at me with the intensity I always expected to see from her.

"Yes, everything is fine," I responded, and without thinking I added "outside of office hours, you're more than welcome to call me Henry."

Miss Grant stared at me, bewildered by the familiarity.

"Oh don't look so surprised. Even Arnold calls me Henry outside of work."

"Yes, but you don't call him Mr. Cache during business hours," she retorted.

"Miss Grant, you can drop the professionalism when we aren't working. You do realize I'm a person like anyone else."

Miss Grant muttered to herself unintelligibly.

"What did you say, Miss Grant?"

She shot one of her famous looks at me, this time with a hint of apprehension in her eyes.

"I'm sorry, sir. It was out of line."

"What was out of line?"

"Sir I really don't want to repeat it."

"Oh my god would you quit calling me 'sir'? You don't have to call me Henry but for the love of god stop calling me 'sir'," I snapped. Miss Grant's eyes went swiftly to the floor and I realized what I had done.

"Miss Grant, look I'm sorry-"

"Evelyn."

She looked up at me again, this time with an expression very soft for someone like her.

"..Evelyn. What did you say before?" I gently asked, never wanting to raise my voice to her again.

"Sir- Henry," she started. "What I said was 'you're not a person like anyone else'."

"What do you mean by that?"

"What I mean," she sighed. "Is that you're not like regular people. You're sarcastic and blunt, you're a little bit rude, and you're probably the most disorganized CEO I've ever worked for."

My heart sunk slightly. I hoped she meant it in a complimentary way, but I was mistaken.

The elevator dinged, and we both stepped off.

"I'll see you tomorrow.. Evelyn," I said. She only nodded as she walked in the other direction. I went to my car, and once I was safely inside, I put my head on the steering wheel. I could hear the rain falling outside, and thought about how the rain would make wild flowers grow.

The same wildflowers that Evelyn's perfume is made of, I shuddered, and shook the thoughts away.

That woman really doesn't like me, I corrected myself. I pulled out of the parking garage and onto the main road.

There was Miss Grant - Evelyn - trying desperately to hail a cab, her umbrella barely withstanding the rainfall.

In a split second my decision was made.

I pulled up to where she was standing and rolled down the window.

"Evelyn, do you need a ride?" I yelled.

"Oh, Mr- Henry," she yelled back. "Um I can wait for the next cab."

I stepped out of the car and held the passenger door open.

"Don't be stupid, get in," I ordered, and she reluctantly got in the car and closed the door.

I got back in and was immediately greeted by the fragrant wildflowers that seemed to follow her everywhere.

"Here," I pointed at the display on the dashboard. "Put in the address of where you need to go, I'll get you there safe."

Evelyn typed in the numbers, her hand hiding the screen despite the fact that I was going wherever the address was. I couldn't help but laugh.

"Is something funny?" She asked, her face turning to scowl at me.

"No it's just- you're hiding the screen. Because you don't want me to see the address where I'm taking you."

Evelyn looked at the screen and then back at me, her expression unreadable.

And then she burst out laughing.

I had never heard her laugh before, but I adored it. It was charming and warm, with a slight pitch to it, and I only wanted to hear her laugh more.

She abruptly stopped laughing.

"I'm sorry, Henry. I'm a little bit awkward," she admitted bashfully.

Well I'm sorry Evelyn, I'm a little bit hungry for you.

"No no, it's alright, it was amusing."

We spent the rest of the ride in silence, with me dropping her off at her apartment building, and her saying goodbye before running out of the car - leaving the smell of wildflowers behind.