When the elevator opened on the top floor, I couldn't hide my nervousness as I took a deep breath and marched on towards his office. My stomach started to knot while I kept on getting closer. Then I looked up towards the desk outside, to the desk where I used to sit. My mouth suddenly hung wide open at what I saw.

"What are you doing here?" I asked in surprise, staring at him as he started back in shock.

"Andy? Andy Peterson?" Evan's deep voice became breathless as he tried to recover. "What are you doing here?" he asked after he cleared his throat.

"I, Uhm, I am..." I stammered and averted my eyes from his, trying to find an excuse for my sudden appearance.

Thankfully, I was saved from the inevitable interrogation. "Andy, is that you? What are you doing here, dear? I didn't know you were coming." Maggie entered the hall from the break room, holding a mug.

"Hey, Maggie. I just came by to see you. How have you been?" I lied smoothly, walking towards her for a hug.

She went to his desk and placed the cup before giving me a hug. I reciprocated, wrapping one arm around her as I balanced the coffee on my other hand. "I'm fine. How about you?" I replied as I let her go.

"I'm good." She gave me a reassuring smile as she stepped around me to go to her desk. "What brings you here?" she asked and sat down.

"Oh, I just came by to say hi," I replied wearily as I placed the coffee on her desk. "I got you some coffee. I know you wouldn't be able to get some today."

"Oh, thank you. You are a lifesaver." She beamed as she grabbed the cup I placed in front of her. Then she turned to her right, eyeing Evan in interest. "Do you two know each other?" she asked as she looked back at me.

I opened my mouth for a reply but stopped when Evan replied first. "Ah, yes. She is a co-worker of my sister. We met over lunch a few days ago."

"I didn't know you work here. I thought you said you work for a not-so-famous company," I stated after his explanation.

"Well, it would be bad if I did tell the truth, but it seems like you are the one who's been hiding a lot of things. How did you know Miss Margarette?" he asked, turning the heat on me.

"I, we... Maggie and I met a few months ago from my last job," I stammered slightly before replying vaguely.

"What job was that?" Evan asked skeptically as he looked at me with refined interest.

Did he connect the dots? I remembered Sydney telling him about William being beyond his standards. She did not mention his name, though. Did he guess that out himself?

"She was a waitress and a bartender for one of Maxwell's restaurant chains and clubs," Maggie replied on my behalf, making me look at her gratefully.

"Oh, is that so? I thought you worked as a secretary before, maybe that was how you met. Syd told me something like that in passing..." He nodded stiffly and trailed off as he processed Maggie's answer.

"Well, I think I should go. I just came by to say hi," I said a little nervously. After that, I slowly paced towards the elevator. I didn't know how I would react if William was here. I only hoped that he was still at a meeting or something.

"You're going already? I'll escort you back down to the lobby." Evan quickly stood up from his desk and walked towards me.

I held up my hand in protest. "No, I can get by just fine. You have work to do here." I made a quick glance at Maggie's direction.

She looked amused as she silently glanced between Evan and me. I silently pleaded for help when our eyes meet. She gave me a coy smile before turning back to her computer monitor. I've never felt more betrayed in my life.

"No need to be too formal," Evan said as he placed a hand around my shoulder, turning me towards the elevator. "I needed the short break anyway," he added in a whisper as he slightly crouched down to my ear.

I leaned away from the feel of his warm breath tickling my bare neck. He pulled away and gave me a smug smile. I rolled my eyes at his playfulness and walked towards the elevator.

"Don't think that I will not tell your sister that you're sexually harassing me," I stated grimly as I tried to hold back my amusement.

I felt Evan's lack of response from my words, which made me chuckle.

"Please don't. She would kill me if she knew I hit on her friends," he begged half-heartedly as he followed me towards the lift.

I glanced up at him and grinned. "If you don't stop flirting, I will," I warned sweetly.

He chuckled at my threat and shook his head in disbelief. "I don't know what's so funny about this, maybe it's your expression or the truth of what you're saying," he stated under his breath. I might have misheard it, though.

I ignored his statement and pressed the call button on the elevator, and like the lift was already waiting for us, the metal door immediately opened. Startled, I took a step back as I recognized the person coming out.

William stopped in front of me, looking surprised. There goes my prayer. "Andy..." he called out in a whisper, but his face remained surprised.

"Ah... Good afternoon, Mr. Maxwell," I greeted stiffly, sounding a little off as I addressed him formally.

"What are you doing here?" he asked with more volume on his voice as he tried to compose his facial expression.

Before I could reply, Evan butted in and placed an arm around my shoulder again. "I'm sorry about this, Mr. Maxwell. She was about to leave. She's Maggie's acquaintance and a friend of mine," he explained like he was trying to save me from being kicked out.

From how he was holding me, it was likely that he would be the one to be kicked out any time soon. I elbowed him on his side, making him cringe back and let his hand slide off my shoulder. I continued to look at William with an expressionless face as he held me under his gaze. He noticed how I quickly reacted to Evan's touch, making me visibly relax for a second, but then his expression turned stern as he looked at Evan.

"You can go back to work, Mr. Nelson," William instructed with a severe expression.

I stiffened at the tone of his voice, knowing all too well what it meant. "As for you Miss, I'll walk you out. I'm heading back down, anyway." William turned towards me and held the still opened metal door.

My eyes hardened at the tone of his voice. I knew he was pissed, but why the hell was he getting angry at me? I was able to move away from Evan's hold.

"It's okay, Mr. Maxwell. You don't need to trouble yourself with..." Evan started but trailed off as William looked back at him in a warning. "Right. Sure, Mr. Maxwell," Evan said a little sadly as he retreated back to his desk.

"Right, this way," William asked after lingering his eyes on Evan's direction.

I gave him a brief nod as I entered the elevator. I turned around and stopped in the middle of the lift, facing the office. While William entered the elevator, I quickly glanced at Maggie and Evan. Both of their eyes were on us. I looked down on my feet in embarrassment as I let the metal door close on us.

When we were finally alone, there was an eerie silence that lingered between us. I snuck a peek at William's direction as he stood by my side like a statue. I continued to keep my eyes on his face. Finally, he made a move and let out a heavy breath.

"How did you meet Evan Nelson?" he asked with slight disinterest, his voice low as a whisper.

I could hear him clearly, though. I was glad we were in a confined space. "He's my friend's stepbrother. We had lunch together a few days ago," I replied in the same volume and then looked away from him.

"Why didn't you tell me about it?" he asked, his voice a little too cold than usual.

I bit my lips in frustration while I tried to hold back my anger from his indifference. "It wasn't really necessary. I just met him, and I didn't know I would see him again soon," I replied with a little more volume as I looked back at him.

"Is he always this comfortable around you?" he asked a bit too strongly, his tone sounding a bit pissed. When he realized it himself, he let out a huge breath as he ran his hand through his hair.

I looked at him with wide eyes, taken aback by his tone. "You don't have to sound pissed about it. He was just being playful, and besides, he doesn't know about us," I replied firmly.

He finally looked at me, his eyes blazing with anger, but he didn't say anything. He kept staring at me until I give in, but I'm not going to. He should know better by now. I'm just as stubborn as him. "If you're jealous, you should say it clearly before you try to fight with me," I pointed out grimly.

"Yes, I am. Is that what you wanted to hear from me?" he grumbled in reply.

My head snapped up in his direction. At the same time, he grabbed my hand and spun me around to look at him. "I'm not the tolerant man that you think I am," he whispered under his breath, his words sending a shiver down my back.

"And I can be stubborn," I countered mindlessly.

The deep stare he was giving was sending the wrong message to my body. In my head, I was thinking of how pissed he looked, yet my body was sending hormones that might make any erotic reader blush from the mental image. Before I could move an inch, William stepped away with a heavy sigh.

"I don't want to sour my last memory of you with this nonsense," he started and paused to straighten out his blazer. "I will be gone for the rest of the weekend. I won't be back until Monday. I will contact you by then," he continued just in time for the elevator to reach the lobby.

I watched him walk out ahead of me without looking back. I followed behind him with a good two feet distance. When I exited the building, I stood by the revolving door, studying him as he entered the black SUV parked in front. There was a moment when he finally glanced back in my direction. His eyes looked apologetic and guilty. It mirrored what I felt at that moment.

Uncharacteristically, I held up my hand and gave him a brief wave. Finally, the disdained look on his face momentarily faded as a smile took its place.

The weekend passed without me hearing a word from William. I wanted to text him, but I felt lingering guilt from what happened the last time we met. The thought of wanting to find out about his whereabouts was gnawing at the back of my head all the time, causing me to have a slight headache, but I couldn't bring myself to make the first move.

When I wasn't willingly brooding around about William, I spent some time alone with my father. On Sunday, we went out to the park and strolled, giving him some exercise and fresh air. He looked much better now than when he was released from the hospital. It made me think that the doctors back home were exaggerating about his terminal illness.

On Monday morning, I dragged my tired self out of bed. As I was preparing something for breakfast, I was startled when I saw my father walking towards the island counter in our kitchen. He walked at a slow pace until he got himself settled in his chair.

"Good morning, Dad. You are up early today," I greeted with a slight smile as I turned my attention back to the scrambled eggs that I was cooking.

"I had a good rest last night, so I woke up early to join you for breakfast today," he replied weakly, his voice still hoarse from sleep.

I glanced at his direction for a second, giving him a warm smile in reply. "That's so sweet of you, Dad. I'm almost done here, so you don't have to wait long."

"Take all the time you need, peanut."

When I was finished cooking, I evenly placed on each of our plates a portion of the food I cooked. After that, I got some fresh juice from the fridge to go with it. We both sat silently as we ate our meal, but the silence wasn't awkward or uncomfortable for both of us. I cleared out the table when we were done and continued to do the rest of the morning chores.

My father was a little hesitant to leave me with the dishes since he always cleaned his own plate, but I easily talked him out of it. While I was scrubbing the plates and pans, I faintly heard the television in the living room. My father settled there for the rest of the morning.

When I was done with the chores, I headed out to work. I was happy to see my father up as he properly sent me off to work. I felt my mood lighten up from his gesture, but it did little to improve my sour mood.

I didn't know what kind of expression I had when I finally got to my desk. From the way Sydney's eyebrow rose in question, I knew I was showing too much than I should.

"What happened to you? Trouble in paradise?" Sydney asked in interest though it sounded a bit like teasing.

"I listened to your advice last Saturday..." I replied with a sigh and trailed off as I remembered how I felt when I watched him walk away. Why am I so affected by that gesture?

"What happened? Did you fight or something?" she asked, sounding genuinely worried, her teasing tone now gone.

I winced at her words and looked away as I turned my computer on. "Oh, no. Shit! I'm sorry, Andy," she stated after a moment when she realized that she hit the jackpot.

I'm pissed by the fact that William hadn't called me after our meeting last Saturday. I already knew he was busy, and I was partly at fault for being stubborn, but why am I so affected by it?

"Did you know Evan worked as William's secretary?" I asked dryly.

"I did not. I thought he worked at a not so famous company. I should have known something was up when he kept on evading the topic before. Was he there when you met William?" she asked almost apologetically.

"Yes."

"What did he do?" she probed, sounding a bit annoyed at her brother.

"Let's not talk about it, okay? Please," I sighed in exasperation, my voice low as a whisper.

"Sure, if that would make you feel better. I'm sorry for whatever my brother did. I'll deal with him later," Sydney replied softly, looking at my expression for a moment before turning back towards her computer.

"It's okay, Syd. Evan didn't do anything, really."

"Okay," she said, but from the sound of her voice, I could tell she wasn't buying it.

I let out a huge breath and closed my eyes for a moment, trying to push away all personal emotions to concentrate on my work. That mentality worked half-way through the day, but when I was done, my mind was forced to think about it again. How could something so small lead into this huge mess? This wasn't William and I's first rodeo when it comes to bickering.

"How about you pick up that phone and call him, Andy?" Sydney commended roughly while I stared at my computer monitor blankly.

Sydney wasn't looking at me while she said those words. I turned towards her with a sad smile. She glanced back when she felt my stare. "Trust me, Andy, you will feel much better when you finally hear his voice no matter how pissed off you are with each other."

I gave her a shy smile and picked up my phone that was insilent mode, but before I could turn it on, the screen flashed brightly with anincoming call. My heart started to pound on my chest while I read the name onmy screen. It was him.