AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The elevator descended to the ground floor. Just as I took a step out, something—someone-- collided against my chest.
“I'm sorry, sir.” She bowed continuously, her voice shaky as she did so.
Short brown hair framed the side of her face… a little too much. Aside from the thin curve of sharp jaws, I could barely see her face. But her warm brown eyes were still visible through the glasses.
She raised her head to glance at me for a few seconds. I narrowed my eyes when they met with hers. Something about the eyes seemed… vaguely familiar?
“Good night, sir.” She turned around, clutched her bag tighter, and hurried towards the entrance.
I paused, watching the jump in her steps as she walked out.
Shaking my head, I dropped my hands into my pockets and made my way outside. It was a common occurrence, judging the number of people I'd met in my lifetime.
I reached my Aston Martin DB12 before settling against the plush leather.
Slowly, I revved out of the lot and turned into the road with just one thought in mind. What the fuck was I doing?
fourteen
Evie
She couldn't have known. It wasn't obvious that her brother had been making out with his secretary. Of course not. It couldn't be.
I watched Sophie point at a shape.
“Good girl,” I cooed with a grin.
“Can you also point at a triangle?”
She nodded before pointing at it. I clapped.
We were playing a game called Show Me Shapes. It wasn't a real thing. Just something I coined for fun. But I knew she was having fun.
The shapes were drawn on green softballs. Each time I asked her to pick a shape, she searched for a ball with the shape and then pointed at it. Apart from helping her, it was also a way to take my mind off a certain someone. Obviously, it wasn’t working.
“Sophie, I want you to show me a cone.” Without hesitation, she moved to the pile of balls and brought out one with a cone.
“Beautiful,” I giggled. She looked down shyly.
Sophie was starting to have different reactions to things. I’d notice it. Where she’d usually stare blankly or have no reaction at all, she looked down shyly. Or looked away.
“It's okay, Sophie. I'm so proud of you.” I smiled, wishing she would understand that I was proud of her for how far she’d come.
Her stare was dry when they met my eyes. Though I thought she’d been progressing, she still had her usual reactions. Sometimes, I wondered if it was selective mutism or if she was being her father’s daughter.
“We’ll move on to counting now.”
After some minutes of counting balls, we moved to color. I deliberately gave her a bird to color. She took her time with it. I studied her.
The thick concave of her brows furrowed slightly in concentration as she colored. Her hand dragged across the surface with near precision.
That was another thing I’d noticed about Sophie. She was precise, or at least tried to be. Unlike kids her age, where the colors jotted out of the frame, she was always intentional about hers.
I released a sigh and leaned back in my chair, briefly wondering how she’d feel if she knew what I had going on with her father. That is, if anything was going on with her father.
Surely, there was nothing. Nothing aside from the irresistible pull I felt for him that led us to intense make-out sessions twice. Gosh, I needed some alcohol. I wished I could get some to erase this…confusion and reason straight.
With another sigh, I raised my hand to flatten my hair. After Stephen, I didn't feel anything for anyone. I abstained from any sexual interaction… until him.
