Back to work

The sun was already high by the time I opened my eyes. The silence in the room pressed in on me. 

I sat up slowly, the weight of last night still in my chest. I had waited last night, thinking Xander will come back and apologize or offer an explanation, but he never did.  

My honeymoon break was over, I wanted to tell Xander that I'll be resuming work today, since he wasn't here, I guess I'll just go without telling him. 

I stood up to take a shower and get dressed. Outside the bedroom, two of the house guards stood in the hallway, with straight like they always were.

“Have you seen Xander?” I asked, trying to keep my voice even.

One of them, the younger one with buzzed hair, exchanged a quick glance with the older man beside him before answering. “He said he needed to be alone.”

I swallowed. “Did he say where he was going?”

“No, ma’am.”

I nodded, then turned. “Can someone take me to work?”

Five minutes later, I was in the back of the car, with my eyes on the blur of the city as it rolled past the window. My phone buzzed a few times, but I ignored it, there was nothing I wanted to read.The only person I wanted to talk to was nowhere to be seen. 

By the time we pulled up in front of the office building, something inside me had already started to shift. I needed to work, to think about anything but the distance in his eyes last night or the way he’d walked out like none of it meant anything.

I walked through the glass doors. 

“Good morning Mrs Kendricks,” one of my Colleagues greeted me with a smile on her face. 

I forced a smile and nodded “Good morning Mia, no need to emphasize on the Mrs.” 

Mia was one of the few colleagues I talked to. 

“Congratulations Kaia, sorry i couldn't make it to your wedding, my kid was terribly Ill.”

“It's okay Mia, I'll see you at lunch break.” 

I was surprised to see the amount of work that had piled up for me. I answered emails, checked on campaigns, and forced my brain to focus on numbers and timelines. 

A soft knock came on my door. “Yes, come in.” I said. Mia popped her head through the door “it's lunch break already Mrs Kendricks.” She said teasingly. 

“Wow, so fast?” I asked. She shrugged in response. 

I rounded up what I was doing and followed her outside. 

I was grabbing coffee in the corner of the office lounge when I had the weird feeling that I was being watched. I turned slightly, just enough to glance around without making it obvious. Just across the road Jax was standing with his hands in his pocket. 

Then a colleague walked past, blocking him for a second and when I looked again, he was gone.

I frowned, maybe I was imagining it or I was probably just paranoid. I didn’t see him again for the rest of the day.

Work ended later than I expected. The sun was already starting to dip as the driver pulled back up to take me home. 

When I walked into the house, it was a bit dark. I thanked the driver, stepped out, and walked up the steps.

Inside, there was this faint scent of perfume, it smelt unfamiliar. I stopped by the staircase and inhaled again, It wasn’t mine, neither was it Xander's. 

The scent was stronger now, leading toward the guest wing. My footsteps were slow, I held my bag in front of me for protection, in case someone jumped out. I followed the scent down the hall, until I reached the one of the rooms that was slightly ajar.

And then I heard a low moaning sound coming from inside. 

I didn’t want to go further, every instinct screamed at me to turn around, to walk away, to pretend like I hadn’t heard anything. But my hand pushed the door open. 

My eyes widened in shock, my purse slipped from my hand and hit the floor with a dull thud.