Obsessed

Chapter 16

Bella P.O.V

I walk in Ms. Henderson's office with her organic green tea. I stop cold when I see Simon sitting across from her, one leg across the other, chatting like old pals with each other. My first thought is what is he doing here?

"Oh, speaking of which," Ms. Henderson interrupts him. "Isabella, come on in and lock the door behind you, please."

I clear my throat and lock the door behind me. I place the cup of tea on her desk and take a step back, waiting. Simon stands up, as always, wearing an elegant suit that matched and his hair perfectly tamed. He smiles at me and offers me his hand.

"It's good to see you again, Isabella," he said, shaking my hand.

"The pleasure is mine," I say with a little confusion in my voice. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Please, take a seat." He sits down right after me. I patiently wait as Ms. Henderson hands him a brown file. He opens it and reads along the file of paperwork and notifications, eyeing them before closing it and placing it on the desk. "So, I wanted to talk to you about your job," he said with a polite smile. "An English major shouldn't be working as a PA, that's not what you studied for."

I frown at his comment. "I'm sorry, Simon. What does my job have to do with you? I thought you were a lawyer."

"I certainly am, but I also do a little human resources in my free-"

"What?" This doesn't make sense. "How are you a lawyer and work with human resources at the same time?"

His smile never disappeared. "I do both, it's not really complicated as it seems, Isabella. As I was saying, you're an English major. Worked for the small publishing company Forever for a couple of months before he was killed in his office. Why didn't you stay there?" He asked.

I clear my throat. I don't get why is he here to ask me this?

"Simon, that's a fairly delicate subject to discuss right now."

"You're going to be interested in what I'm going to tell you, but first answer the question," he said, never losing his politeness.

I sigh, looking down at my hands. "I didn't go back because it was hard. Mr. Newton and I were friends and working at the place he was killed in wouldn't have helped after everything happened."

He nodded. "It's understandable, Isabella." His cold hand sudden takes mine from my lap and holds it tightly. From the corner of my eye I could see Ms. Henderson tense. He leaned forward without letting go of my hand and without losing the eye contact. "You went through a very sad and traumatic experience, it's understandable why you didn't want to go back. You do understand why Anne didn't want to hire in the first place?"

I slightly take my hand from his, trying my best not to make it seem repulsive. "Anne?"

"That's me, sweetheart," Ms. Henderson said. She leaned forward on her desk and said, "When I first met you, I knew who you were. Your case was all over the news, that's why I gave you the PA job, to keep a close eye on you."

"Anne wanted to make sure you were worth trusting and trust me, sweetheart, you have proven yourself," Simon says. "That's why we're here to tell you that you have been given the job as editor in Seattle Times."

I know the news should make me happy, that I should jump in joy and hug Simon, thanking him for everything but something inside me tells me something is wrong. And what I've learned about myself is that I should start listening to that little voice in my head that tells me something is wrong right, it was correct the first time when I thought it wasn't over. I can't take the job.