The following day, Ashley did her daily morning routine, she made Emma her  lunch to take at school, took bath and she took her to school.
She then continued to work, her mind kept on wondering about Emily, she asked her self how she passed through the night because it was a hard one for her.
When she reached, she decided to pass by her office to say hey to her but to her surprise her office was closed. She thought maybe because of the bad night experience, she was to come a bit late, she therefore left and she entered the elevator to take her to level seven.

There is this one thing she liked about level seven, it was comfortably  silent the kind of silence she could confide in in case she needed space and time to  think. They were only three people on level seven, her , Lenny the receptionist and Mr Matthews.

Ashley entered her office took a seat and she stared into space, she kept on thinking about Emily, sighing she turned on her PC and she found on a new mail for Mr Matthews. It was from one of his clients. She decided to take it there for him to check.

Hayden was seated in his office, he didn't know whether it was because of his lack of sleep but he was not feeling fine, he had a throbbing pain in the head and he was a little dizzy. The previous night had really been hard to him also.
Suddenly he had someone knocking on his door , with all the strength in his feeble body he said "Come in ".

When Ashley entered his office, she was surprised to see Hayden's head resting on his work desk.

"Hem hem" She cleared her throat for him to sit upright "um..Good Morning sir" she continued.

When Hayden finally lifted up his head, Ashley gasped,  he looked like shit, his eyes  and their rims were all red, many emotions crossed his face but he immediately masked them. He looked at her with raised eyebrows and Ashley took it as a sign for her to say why she had entered in his office in the first place.

"Um..sir you have a mail" she stretched her hands out and Hayden got the papers from her.
Ashley observed Hayden's  every move, something about him was off , the way he massaged his temples and the way he opened and closed  his eyes continuously said it all.

He passed through them and after a while he said " I have a meeting at two in the evening, fix  it on my time table today "
He then stood up but he immediately fell back into his chair.

Ashley's eyes widened and she ran to his side, she gently placed her hands on his shoulders and she helped him sit upright. " Sir are you okay?" She asked panicking.

"Ashley no worries am okay , I am just a bit  dizzy" Hayden waved her off.

She played with her fingers  nervously as she looked at him, she wanted to help but she was scared of exceeding her limits. She desired to ask him other issues were to come later " Sir, um...is..it okay if I bring you a bottle of water"

"I would love it Ashley , thank you " Hayden said as he winced in pain. The pain in his head was unbearable.

Ashley looked at him for a while and she left . She was so fast that she got curios glances from some workers. When she got the water from the refrigerator, she remembered the way Hayden was massaging his temples, she ran to the near by pharmacy and she also bought some painkillers and headache pills.

When she entered the office again , Hayden was leaning against his chair, his eyes closed.
She bit her lower lip nervously " Sir...am back "

Hayden immediately  swallowed the pills and he also took the water in big gulps. He emptied the bottle and he released a heavy breath "Thank you Ashley" he sent a weak smile in her direction.

Ashley's eyes widened , was Mr Matthews his boss thanking her? and also smiling at her? She lowered her gaze on the ground "Mr Mathews its....not much but um..you are welcome" she swallowed her saliva nervously.

She picked up the empty bottle from Hayden's table and she threw it in the dust bin on her away out of his office.

When Ashley turned to leave , Hayden  looked at her small back until she closed the door behind her. He wondered where such kind hearted people came from. He didn't know much about her but he knew that she was secretive and he always over heard her talking with someone called Emma. When talking with that Emma her eyes were always bright and her lips always curved into wide a smile
Last night had opened new gates for him, he was to change at least for the sake of her daughter Alison.

After a while Hayden felt a little better and  he  went back to his work.

Ashley returned back to her office and she wondered what was troubling Hayden. She always thought that rich people had no worries and disturbances since they could get whatever they want, to her Hayden Matthews was in that category , that is how she saw him, so why was he hearting,he looked as though he hadn't slept in a while .

She brushed off her curiosity and she continued with her work.  After some time, she tried to call  Emily but her phone went straight on a voice mail, she decided to send her a text  message.

Hey Emily, you are not picking up my calls but I was checking on you, you are scaring the shit out of me, if you see this message please reply me, we meet at lunch"our usual table"
Ashley❤.

She continued with work, later she went and organised the conference room where the meeting was to be held. It was coming to lunch and she hadn't heard a word from Emily, she checked on her phone continuously to see whether there was something from her, but it was all vain.
She also thought about Hayden whether the pills did something on his pain.

Finally it was lunch time and she couldn't wait to see  Emily , she immediately got her phone. Someone knocked at her door at the same time she was opening it, Hayden's face appeared as she widely opened the door.

What the hell was he doing in front of her  office. They stood in a silence for a while,

"Mr Matthews,......how can I help you"

"Ashley am here to remind you that  there is a meeting at two, we have to keep time , hope everything is set" Hayden said in a calm deep profession voice.

"Well..umm..sir everything is set" she sent a closed mouth smile in his way.
After that Hayden went back to his office and Ashley went to the cafeteria.
She got her lunch and when she went in the dining room, she didn't spot Emily on their usual table, she furrowed her brows and she went straight to the table , she sat down and she looked at her phone. She decided to text Emily again.

Emily where are you, I am at our usual table and you are no where to bee seen.

She looked at the food in front of her and she even lost appetite, she was not used to having lunch alone, she played with her fork. She turned her head every time  to see whether Emily could emerge in those door but she didn't , she looked at her phone to see a text message from her but it wasn't there.
She had only taken two forks when lunch break ended, since she had a meeting, she didn't waste more time. She immediately  stood up and emptied all the food in the can  and she went back to her office.

During the meeting she took down the minutes as Hayden kept on talking to his client. It ended immediately and both men shook hands, the man then turned to Ashley" Hayden you didn't tell me that you have a pretty lady " he then caught Ashley's hand and he planted a kiss on it "Nice to meet you pretty, call me Brandon" he continued as he looked at her in the eyes.

"Call me Ashley" Ashley uncomfortably replied and she withdrew her hand back immediately.
Hayden escorted Brandon to the door as Ashley remained behind to collect all the papers , that is why she didn't hear Hayden  return back. He crossed his arms on his chest and he looked at her closely "Sorry about what happened  earlier" .

Ashley jumped immediately and she placed a hand on her heart" Its okay..Sir" she said in between heavy breaths.
She looked at Hayden who was scratching the back of his neck nervously. Why was he nervous.

"Well Ashley if you don't mind I would like to treat you to dinner ..." Ashley narrowed her eyes at him "Ohhh its okay if you don't  want to , it is just my gesture of telling you thank you for what you did earlier." He continued immediately as he passed a hand in his hair.

"Mr Matthews don't mind I am very grateful for your dinner but I am sorry I can't and besides what I did was nothing  " Ashley said apologetically.
She didn't know where to leave Emma if she was to go and also what she did in the morning was something small..okay according to her.
Hayden just nodded his head and he went out of the room.