hidden | ethma

thirty five

i sit down at my desk on monday morning and sigh.

i had a bad case of insomnia last night, and i couldn't get to sleep for the life of me. i finally drifted off around two in the morning, and i'm dead tired.

ethan eyes me from his desk. i open the manuscript on my desk and click open my pen. i notice zeke isn't at his desk.

i turn to lana.

"psst," i say and she looks up. "where's zeke?" i ask.

lana shrugs. "sick day, i think," she replies.

i nod slowly before thanking her.

the events of the weekend are still fresh in my mind. following ethan to the meeting; hearing that zeke, one of my good friends from work, is actually in on this whole thing; and who could forget everything ethan told me about alec.

why would zeke be against me? is he against me? was he the one to break into my apartment, or did i hear that wrong?

i sincerely hope that he didn't, because i've grown to like zeke over these past couple of weeks. he always talks to me from across my desk and seems like a genuinely nice person.

i shake my head to clear my thoughts and scribble in some copy editing marks to my manuscript. i know i must look like hell from my lack of sleep, but at the moment, i really don't care.

my thoughts drift to aaron. i haven't spoken to him in a few days, i should call him at lunch. i hope he doesn't think i'm ignoring him, or something.

a piece of paper lands on my desk, startling me. i jump slightly and ethan smirks from his desk as he leans back in his chair, clicking a pen rapidly.

i grimace at him and unfold the note.

roof at lunch.

i furrow my brow.

what?

i scrawl below the words and toss it back to ethan.

ethan reads the note and rolls his eyes. he clicks his pen open and scribbles a response before throwing the paper back to me.

meet me on the roof at lunch.

i crumple up the note and toss it in the trash. if it weren't for my damned curiosity, i wouldn't agree. but of course, even after ethan has told me about alec and his business, i'm still hungry for details. i hate being so nosy.

i try to focus on my work, but i can't. ethan doesn't even try, he just plays with a glob of silly putty. i wrinkle my nose at him as he stretches it out again and again.

finally, one o'clock arrives, and i stand to follow ethan to the roof. he smiles at me as everyone files out of the office and into the break room for lunch.

"roof?" i ask him when we're the only ones left in the office area.

"it's not raining today, so we should be fine," he says, as if that answers my question.