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Chapter Eleven

He was past talking about it now, I could tell by looking at him.

It felt like a table was being turned in front of me though, before me I could see this confused man, yearning for freedom from his own thoughts. I could see me, and I wanted to help him, for the simple fact, I know how much being trapped in your own misery kills you inside.

I wanted to tell him I was here, that he could always talk to me, because he was right that first day in the lift. We are a lot alike.

But his eyes were like ice picks, ready to chip away at something. Delving in to any more of this emotional stuff was going to make him crack, and not in a good way.

“Yes Nick, I’ll step in” I replied simply, I stood up and walked to the door.

“Good. I’ll let Julie know. Oh and Sarah. Please don’t tell anyone about what I’ve told you” Nick said sternly.  I turned on my heel, annoyed that he even had to ask.

“Mr Jackson,  anything you tell me will always be kept confidential, unless you say otherwise” I replied, as I turned and faced the door again. I left quickly, before either one of us could say another word. As soon as the door closed behind me, I wondered what the hell I’d gotten myself in to.

Before I had a chance to think about it too hard, the phone at Janie’s desk began ringing.

I ran to the desk and picked up the handset.

“hello? Mr Jacksons office. How may I help” I said, unsure of the proper script.

“Whose this?? This isn’t Janie. Where’s Janie” an abrasive woman’s voice grated down the phone line.

“Janie’s had to rush home for  a family funeral, I’m, uh Roxy Levi. Her stand in” I said as fluidly as I could.

“Oh. Well in that case put me through to Nick. It’s Amelia”

Oh.

Amelia.

“Uh, sure, putting you through”

I found the codes for transferring calls, and successfully managed to transfer the call to Nick’s office. Once that was done, I sat at the desk and stared at the walls. The phone to the CEO’s office rung surprisingly little. For some reason I’d expected it to run off the hook with the amount of letters I had to process normally. Of course, logically, with a staff of hundreds, someone else reviews the applications.

Around 2pm Nick walked out of his office

“We’ve got that staff meeting to attend now Sarah.” He said walking past me, without even looking. I got up and followed behind him, he seemed even more gruff now, than he had before, and I felt guilty for getting him to talk about it, with me, and at work. I’d crossed yet another line with this man, except this time it went some place incredibly dark.

Once everyone was in the 13th floor conference room, I found Josh and sat with him.

Nick spoke for a bit, about the new systems, and then handed the meeting over to the security guys.

“So… Roxy. Uh with Marc and Janie out of town, I was thinking we could go out for dinner one night?” Josh suggested, whispering to me quietly.

I turned and looked at him, not completely sure if I’d heard him right. After all, I was attempting to concentrate on the meeting, I might have misheard right?