Too Much Care

“Oh, Blair. You’re done already! How are you feeling?”

Claire immediately puts on a relaxed expression.

“Better.”

“Mr. Par…” I stop myself. “I mean, Leonard brought you something to eat. You need to regain your strength.”

I look toward the desk.

Fresh orange juice, grapes, a steaming porcelain teapot with a selection of teas, white and rye bread,cheese and ham, butter, jams. So much food!

“You didn’t need to go to all this trouble. Just some tea and a few cookies would have been enough.”

I look at him and smile, slightly embarrassed.

I slowly make my way toward the table, afraid my legs might give out beneath me.

“Of course you need it,” Leonard replies. “You haven’t eaten anything in quite a while. That’s why you’re feeling dizzy.”

He pauses.

“The doctor will be here in about an hour to see how you’re—”

His eyes suddenly drop to my legs and his expression changes instantly.

“What happened to your legs?!”

The shock in his voice makes me stop.

I follow his gaze.

Shit.

I forgot I was only wrapped in a towel. My legs are completely exposed.

I turn pale.

I can’t bring myself to look at him.

“Umm… it’s nothing. Don’t worry. It was me…”

I swallow.

“I did it while washing myself. But I’m really fine.”

I force a reassuring smile.

His gaze remains stern, his nostrils flaring. He’s holding himself back.

He simply nods.

“I’ll be back in a while with the doctor.”

Then he leaves the room and closes the door behind him.

I sit down in the chair.

Claire sits beside me.

She eats a few grapes while I sip my orange juice and nibble on some plain bread.

We sit in silence for several long seconds.

I know Claire is dying to say something.

I know her too well.

“Speak up.”

“What?”

“Spill it.”

“Me? I don’t have anything to say. You’re wrong.”

She pops two more grapes into her mouth, as though she’s trying to stop herself from talking.

“Claire, speak up.”

“Fine, okay! I think your boss is head over heels for you.”

She says it with her mouth still half-full.

“What?”

I stare at her.

“You’re crazy. He’s only doing all this because of what happened. And because I’m his employee.”

“It’s not quite like that.” She pauses. “Jonathan told me he went crazy looking for you because he wanted to tell you that the staff knew…”

She hesitates.

“About your secret.”

She avoids looking at me, clearly unsure how to say it without hurting me.

“When he walked into the gym, he ran into Leonard as he was leaving and asked him about you. That’s when they saw that creep running toward the elevator.”

My stomach tightens.

“They realized immediately that you were inside, but they weren’t quick enough to stop the elevator.”

She takes another grape.

“Jonathan said that from then on, Leonard went crazy. He ordered the security guards to go to the floor where the elevator stopped and told the camera crew to keep an eye on every camera and find you.”

She shakes her head.

“He almost destroyed the elevator button from pressing it so many times!”

I’m not quite sure how to feel about all this information.

Of course, I’m grateful. But I also feel a little… overvalued. I don’t want to develop any kind of feelings for my boss, the most desired womanizer. The wine magnate.

I can’t make that mistake.

“Don’t make a big deal out of it, please, Claire.”

I try to downplay it.

“He acted that way because he found out about my secret himself. And apparently, being a virgin at twenty-eight is something men find desirable.” I shrug. “And honestly, I think he also wanted to join the group of people who wanted to take it from me.”

I finish the rest of my orange juice.

I need to come back down to earth. The truth is painful, but I can’t romanticize his behavior. Even if Claire doesn’t know everything that happened between us before, she’s aware of Leonard’s reputation.

And so am I.