Chapter 5

Elliot’s pov

My phone buzzed in my pocket during my morning coffee break, I pulled it out expecting a work email.

Instead i saw a message from an unknown number. Stay away from Aiden Blackwood.

My hands started shaking so bad, I almost dropped my phone right there in front of everyone. I looked around, nobody was watching me so I deleted it fast.

It had to be Vivian because nobody else would send something like that. I tried to focus on work, but I kept checking over my shoulder every few minutes like someone was standing there.

At exactly two o'clock everyone started heading to the conference room for the presentation. I grabbed my laptop, then followed behind some other assistants who were talking about lunch.

Nobody talked to me much because I was still new so I just walked quiet behind them.

Aiden was already in the conference room when we got there. He stood at the front with his arms crossed looking all serious like he always did before meetings.

I sat down near the middle of the table then opened my laptop to pull up my notes.

Vivian walked in last wearing a black dress that probably cost more than my rent. Her heels clicked loud on the floor, she smiled at Aiden but he did not smile back so she just sat down across from me with her coffee cup in her hand.

Aiden started talking about quarterly numbers so I followed along while taking notes. Everything was going fine until Vivian stood up to grab some papers from the side table.

She walked right behind my chair so close I could smell her perfume which was too strong.

Then everything happened so fast I did not have time to move. Hot coffee poured all over my laptop then splashed onto my hands.

I jumped up so fast my chair fell backward but it was too late because coffee was everywhere.

"Oh my god," Vivian said in this sweet voice that made my skin crawl.

"I am so sorry Elliot. I did not see your laptop there."

My laptop screen went black then made a weird buzzing sound before dying completely. All my work was on there, two hours of reports just gone like that. My hands were burning from the hot coffee but I just stood there staring at my dead laptop.

"I am so clumsy," Vivian said then put her hand on my shoulder like she cared. Her nails dug in a little bit through my shirt. "Are you okay?"

I looked at her face expecting to see guilt or worry but her eyes were happy. She was enjoying this, she did it on purpose.

"I'm fine," I said even though I was not fine at all. My hands hurt so bad I wanted to cry but I would not do that in front of everyone.

"That is so unfortunate," Vivian said then sat back down like nothing happened. She even picked up another coffee cup from the table to take a sip. Everyone else just sat there staring at me like they did not know what to do.

Aiden had not said anything yet. When I finally looked at him his face was hard as stone but his eyes were on Vivian. The whole room got so quiet I could hear people breathing.

"Vivian," Aiden said in this cold voice I had never heard before. It made the temperature drop about ten degrees.

She looked at him then smiled. "Yes?"

"Replace Elliot's laptop today," he said. "Then redo all the work he lost yourself."

Her smile fell off her face so fast it would have been funny if I was not so upset. "What?"

"You heard me," Aiden said without blinking. "You destroyed his work so you fix it. I want that report on my desk by end of day."

"Aiden that is not fair," she said in this whiny voice. "It was an accident."

"Was it?" he asked then looked at her in a way that made everyone else look at her too. She opened her mouth but nothing came out because what could she say.

"End of day Vivian," Aiden said again real slow like he was talking to a child. "Or you can clean out your desk instead."

Nobody moved or talked or even breathed. Vivian's face turned red then she grabbed her purse so hard I heard the leather creak.

She stood up fast then walked out without saying another word. The door slammed behind her so loud it made me jump.

"Meeting is over," Aiden said to everyone else. "Get back to work. Elliot stay here."

People left the room so fast you would think it was on fire.

When the door closed behind the last person Aiden walked over to where I was standing.

"How bad is it?" he asked while looking at my laptop.

"Everything is gone," I said quiet because my voice did not want to work right. "I cannot fix it."

He nodded once. "I will have IT get you a new one within the hour."

"Thank you," I said, because what else could I say. He kept looking at me in this intense way that made me nervous.

"Has Vivian been bothering you?" he asked straight out.

My heart jumped into my throat. "No," I lied fast. "She has not."

His jaw got tight so I knew he did not believe me even a little bit. "If she does anything you tell me."

"Okay," I said but we both knew I would not tell him because that would just make everything worse.

"I mean it Elliot," he said while stepping closer. "Anything at all."

"I will," I lied again while looking at the floor instead of his face.

He stared at me for another long minute like he wanted to say something else but then he just nodded then walked back to grab his papers.

I left the conference room then went straight to the bathroom because I needed a minute alone. My hands were bright red where the coffee hit them so I ran cold water over them until they stopped burning so bad.

When I looked in the mirror I saw how scared I looked which made me angry at myself for being so weak.

I dried my hands then pulled out my phone to check the time.

There was a new message from another unknown number. My stomach dropped before I even opened it.

I know who you really are.