Cavenaugh Tower (A Rapunzel Remix)

Chapter 6

A few days after the nightmare, Kamree sprinted into work. Late. Later than late. Her black baby heels clacked loudly against the lobby floor. Under her arm, her purse slipped. Not only was she late, but this morning it'd been raining harder than she'd ever experienced. The bus carrying her and Paisley had gotten stuck in a deep pothole disguised as a puddle, and all the passengers had had to wait until another bus came by to pick them up.

Without a cell phone or a watch, she hadn't been able to tell exactly how late the two of them were until she physically arrived at the building and looked at the massive clock behind the front desk in the lobby. Almost nine o'clock.

Mr. Cavenaugh was probably furious.

The elevator ride up to her normal floor took much longer than she wanted it to. She tapped her foot restlessly and tried not to make eye contact with any of the other nicely dressed people stuck in the small confines with her.

The moment the ding sounded to alert her they'd gotten to her floor, she whirled out and half-jogged over to her desk.

What she found at her desk made her freeze.

Daxton rested, collar open, tie scrunched in one hand, in her desk chair fast asleep. His dark hair sat in many awkward angles and his clothes looked more than rumpled.

Poor guy. Did he even leave the office?

She sat her purse down carefully on the floor near the wall and walked around the desk. His head rested right next to her letter opener and stapler. If he wasn't more careful, he could've really hurt himself.

"Mr. Cavenaugh?" Kamree settled a gentle hand on his shoulder blade.

Daxton stirred, but did not wake up. Kamree wondered if maybe she should let him sleep. After all, she could use Becca's computer instead.

He looked quite peaceful. Sleep helped erase the worried lines that always appeared on his face. It gave him a chance to keep away the stress of the job.

If he wanted to sleep the day away, she'd let him. But at least she'd make sure he was in the comfort of his own home.

"Mr. Cavenaugh." Kamree tried again.

He still didn't budge.

Well, she tried the nice way.

"Daxton!" She slammed her palms down on the desk at the same time.

Her boss jumped up and, alarmed, sat back in her chair. His eyes were wide. "What?" He blinked, processing. "Jeez, Kamree."

"Sorry."

Kamree slid a hand onto his shoulder and stared down at her boss sympathetically. "Mr. Cavenaugh, if you are tired you should go home." Surely he could skip a day. "You've worked late every day this week."

Daxton ran a hand over his face. That same stress she'd seen lining his features once again appeared. "The company's producing a new advertisement campaign for Musetunes and it's proving to be... difficult."

"What time did you get here?" Her eyes couldn't help but lock onto the tiny tuft of dark hair that stuck straight out the side of his head. Such a slight detail, but it made him look younger, more his own age. After all, her boss was only twenty-two.

Daxton frowned at her like he couldn't process what she'd asked for a moment. "I guess never left."

"You guess?" Did he care about his health at all?

Kamree sighed. "Come on." She held out a hand. "Time for a nap. Let's get you home."

The plan was to simply get Daxton into a cab and off on his way. Except by the time Kamree had him into a cab, he'd been adamant that she come with him.