Catching Feelings [bwwm]

Chapter 8- 10th Anniversary

Jonathan's POV

"I know you all are tired and overworked, but we need to put in more effort. We've been doing alright, but we could be doing better." I stared into the eyes of my department heads as I addressed them.

One of them scoffed, "You can't possibly expect us to be able to do better and control the people working under us better if the boss is distant and seems like he doesn't care."

"Distant? I haven't been distant. I've been on you all over the p-"

"You're seriously going to sit here and tell us that you haven't?" Another one said, "Do you even know my name and what I'm head of? The position you appointed me to?"

I scoffed. "Of course I do."

"Then what is it?"

Holy shit, what is her name? Charlette maybe? I think I've heard some people call her that... or is it Charlie?

What department is she the head of? I know it's not human resources because that's Mia, and it's not accounting or finances because I've been doing that since I fired Liv.

Shit, now that I think about it, I don't remember what any of them are in charge of.

"Your name's Charlie, and you're head of marketing," I replied confidently, even though I was pretty sure that was completely incorrect.

She laughed humorlessly. "Wow, that's closer than I thought you'd get. My name's Karleen - everybody calls me Karlie for short - and I'm head of advertising."

"Point proved, Mr. Stiller! You're distant, you don't care, and you've been bipolar since Olivia got f-"

"Her name's Liv," I growled harshly, "None of you should be worrying about me. You don't get paid to worry about me or to try to assess my feelings! You get paid to work, do your part to keep this company afloat, and do what I say when I say!"

"But Mr. Stiller-"

A knock sounded on the conference room door before my assistant walked in and straight over to me.

Leaning over in my ear, she whispered, "Sir, I have a Ms. Liv Williams here to see you."

"Did she say what she wanted?"

She shook her head. "No, but she said it's urgent."

"Thank you, Stephanie." I stood up and stared down at the people sitting in my conference room. "We'll resume this meeting later today."

Exiting the room, I found Liv sitting in one of the chairs, a depressed look on her face. When she looked up and saw me, she walked over slowly.

"Can I um... can I talk to you?"

I nodded slowly as I lead her towards my office. When we stepped into the empty elevator, however, she broke down in tears. Shocked, I stopped the elevator and pulled her into a hug.

"I-I'm sorry I've been avoiding you," She said.

Ever since I found her crying last week, I've barely seen her. She took on extra shifts at the diner so she was gone before I woke up and got home after I went to sleep. I didn't understand why she was making such a big deal about it because it's not like I'd never seen her cry before.

"You're crying because you've been avoiding me?" I chuckled, "It's really not that serious."

She pushed herself out of my arms and sat down on the floor of the elevator. "Ten years ago today, my parents died."

I sat down beside her. "Liv, why didn't you tell me?"

"How would I tell somebody something like that?" She looked up at me and cracked a fake smile, "Hi, my name is Liv Williams and when I was 18, my father shot my mother before killing himself and I sat at my mom's side as she bled out."