She was terrified, on the other hand, of the work environment when stepping into the office. Was Lucas going to cause a scene? Was he going to send her packing? Could he fire her? He couldn’t because of their physical relationship.
Lucas could fire her for not being good enough at her job. She was already nervous about how well she did in the position. She parked the car and headed in. She would just have to see how things went. There was nothing she could do about it so she would have to do what she could and go from there.
The elevator doors chimed and the door opened up to Tom’s smiling face. “I was wondering when you were going to get here. I’ve been bouncing in my seat for a half hour,” he said with no time for hellos.
Amy sighed, “Hey Tom. If you’ve been bouncing in your seat for a half hour then you were here an hour early because I’m here a half hour early,” she replied. He ran up to her and threw an arm around her shoulders.
“Okay Amy, time to spill. What happened? You totally ditched me this weekend. The way the boss was acting on Friday night, I didn’t even know if you would be here this morning,” he whined a little.
“Everything’s fine Tom. The boss and I just had a little bit of a misunderstanding. I promise I’ll fill you in later but I need to get to the office and start on my work before the aforementioned person walks in and has a reason to fire me for being a slacker,” she said, while walking towards her office.
Tom trailed along with her. “You’re here early. You can’t get into trouble for chatting with me on your own time,” he said.
“I don’t think any time we’re in these offices is our own time. Please just let me get to work and we will go out for happy hour tonight, I promise,” she said pushing him back out of her office.
Amy was busy at her desk when Lucas came in two hours later . It must be nice to be the boss and show up when you felt like it, she thought with attitude and then regretted it immediately.
She wasn’t some high school ex-girlfriend that was going to even think petty thoughts. What he did on his own time was his business, definitely not hers.
Lucas was completely professional with her, giving her a list of things he wanted done and then left the office and stayed away the rest of the day. It gave her plenty of time to breathe and she found herself relaxing and finishing her work early.
The next few months flew by with things the same at the office. Lucas would give Amy her assignments with very little talk and then leave her alone. He never lingered and never seemed to make eye contact anymore.
She’d really gotten the hang of her job and finally felt comfortable with her work. Esther had stopped by several times and praised her progress saying it was as if Amy had been with the company for ten years instead of a few short months. Amy was thrilled by the praise and held the feeling close to her.
She felt like her insides were ripping out a little piece at a time whenever Lucas left the room though. His scent would linger with her, causing her physical pain, thinking of him for hours on end. She wanted him to take her back in his arms so badly she ached all over.
She would run through their night of love making over and over again. She would wake up in the middle of the night with his name on her lips and her body wet and ready for him. She was grateful he was keeping his distance because she would never have had the will power to push him away if he kissed her again.
She had no other man to compare him to but she couldn’t imagine lovemaking to be any better than what she’d had with him that night. Even though she tried so much to put him out of her mind, he came to her nightly in her dreams and she woke up aching and alone.
Amy put off taking a pregnancy test for far too long. She knew she was pregnant. She’d been dealing with morning sickness and there were subtle changes in her body. She was naturally small so most wouldn’t have noticed the tiny bump on her lower stomach, but she did.
She finally broke down and took the test, then threw it away. She’d already known the answer was yes. She supposed she’d better make a doctor appointment the following week. They were going to find out in a couple of months she was pregnant anyway. At least she had the advantage of doctor, patient confidentiality so Lucas wouldn’t have to find out she was pregnant until she was visibly showing.
“Amy it’s dark outside and I’m more than ready for happy hour. Come girl, let’s whisk you away from here,” Tom came bouncing into her office at six. “I’ve been patiently waiting for you for an hour now. You do realize you’re salaried, not paid by the hour?” he added.
Tom jumped up on her desk and sat on the edge while she finished her project. “Hold your pants on Tom, I’m almost finished,” she said with what felt like her first real smile in weeks. “Drinks, my dear, are on me tonight,” she said in delight. “I got paid and actually have some money left and I owe you a million lunches and drinks. I intend to pay them all back to you,” she said feeling really great about herself. It was so nice to have money building up in her meager savings account.
She only had that money thanks to having very little bills. She was in love with her apartment and car and things were perfect in every way possible. She placed her hand on her stomach, which she did often without even realizing it when she thought of her child growing there.
Lucas was in his office with the connecting door cracked and heard the exchange between Amy and Tom. He was surprised by the amount of jealousy he was feeling at how easily she laughed with him.
He’d never in his life felt jealousy before and was shocked by the emotion, at how it was tugging at his gut. They couldn’t be a couple. She was his employee and it wouldn’t work. He shouldn’t feel anything towards her at all but even after months he couldn’t stop thinking about her all the time, night and day.
He sat up a little bit straighter in his chair. He was going out of his mind, which would amuse his brothers to no end. He laid his head in his hands and waited for her to leave the office. He had no complaints with her work. She’d learned more and more each day and was doing an excellent job.
He’d entertained the idea of firing her but had thrown the thought out immediately. He just couldn’t let her go. Maybe he would be able to soon. Of course he would. He would get over his feelings towards her and be able to work with her, like anyone else, or he would have no choice but to figure out something else.