Page 21 of Prey

At 10 AM, he walks past my desk without looking at me.

At 11 AM, he asks me to schedule a meeting with Rose Sophie.

Rose. The woman who apparently is with him each time I'm not. I schedule the meeting but my hands can’t stop shaking. At 2 PM, he calls me into his office.

He's standing by the window. Back to me. Hands in his pockets. "The Thomas file," he says. "Did you finish the revisions?"

"Yes, sir."

"Send them to legal by three."

"Of course, sir."

He turns around and looks at me. For a moment I think I see heat and want in his eyes. But then it’s gone.

"That's all," he says. "You can go." He's pretending it didn't happen. Like it didn't mean to him what it meant to me. Or was he using...I stop the thought before it can finish.

At 3 PM, he asks me to bring him coffee.

Coffee.

I'm his secretary. That's my job. It's not a test. It's not a message. It's just coffee. I walk to the break room. Pour a cup. Black, no sugar, the way he takes it. My hands are still shaking.

Stop falling apart. You're better than this.

I walk back to his office; he's on the phone and doesn't look up. Waves me toward the desk. I set the coffee down too hard, the cup rattles, liquid sloshes over the rim. A dark stain spreads across a stack of papers.

No, no, no.

"I'm sorry," I say. "I didn't mean,"

He holds up a hand. Covers the phone. "It's fine. Get a towel."

It isn’t fine. I'm standing in your office with coffee on your desk and your voice in my head saying prove it and you’re acting like I'm a stranger.

"Grey." His voice is sharper now. "The towel."

I wipe up the coffee. My hands are shaking so badly I can barely hold the towel.

"Something wrong, Grey?" His voice is careful. Like the voice you use with a scared animal.

"No, sir. I'm fine."

"You're not fine. You've been shaking all day. And you've been looking at me like I killed your dog." He says. "What happened last night..."

"Nothing happened last night." I say to fast to loud. "I had drinks with friends. You had drinks with...someone. We happened to be in the same place. That's all."

"That's all."

"Yes."

He walks toward me, slowly. Don't come closer. I'll break.

"Grey."

He stops in front of me. Close enough to touch.

"Look at me."