Eleni’s POV – 

I had finally been able to convince Aaron to allow me to resume work at the office. At the same time, Aaron’s house was magnificent in all its glory. I still craved going out on some days. My legs were finally healed, and I could move around more freely. 

Not wanting to be late, I got out of bed and performed my morning routine. Then I got dressed in a black gown and put on my only pair of heels, and headed downstairs. 

‘Good morning, Sophia.’ 

‘Morning, Eleni.’ She greeted me as she set breakfast on the table. Seeing as she only set one serving, I had to ask. 

‘Won’t Aaron be joining me for breakfast?’ 

‘No. He has already left for work. However, Dimitri is on standby to take you to the office once you are finished with breakfast.’ 

Shouldn’t the personal assistant be at the office before her boss? Just because I was dating Aaron now doesn’t mean I am in any way going to slack on my work ethic. 

I picked up a toast and downed a glass of water, then turned to Sophia and said, 

‘Thank you for breakfast, but I’m going to be late, so I have to go now.’ 

‘Mr Foster had a feeling you might do this hence why he asked me to pack you lunch ahead.’ 

She said and handed me a lunch bag. I couldn’t help but feel like a schoolgirl on her way to her first day at middle school, but Sophia was too much of a good cook for me to decline the offer.

I smiled at her, took the lunch box and made a dash for the front door. Once I stepped out, Dimitri was already seated in the driver’s seat, and the car was in drive. 

I smile at Dimitri as I settle down into the passenger seat and buckle my seatbelt. 

‘All ready, miss?’ He asks

‘Uh huh’ 

The drive to the office was filled with my anxiety clawing at me. 

How would people at the workplace treat me after I have been gone for so long? 

Will they see this as the Aaron playing favourites? 

Will he be accused of being nepotic? 

What if they found out I was in a relationship with Aaron? 

Will they think of me as a whore, slut or gold digger? or worse, all.

I knew not to mix business and pleasure, so why was I doing it? 

And worse of all, In the power dynamic, Aaron held virtually all of it. One word from him and I will be blacklisted in the whole city, and even If I moved cities, It would still take me a while to secure a good job. 

‘Eleni, we’re here.’ 

‘Thank you, Dimitri.’ 

‘Always Welcome.’ He says as I climb out of the car. 

I decided to play a tactical move and avoid all interactions with my coworkers hence why I took the elevator from the basement straight to the 49th floor. And luckily for me, I was able to ride alone as no one else got on it. 

Once the elevator dinged open and I stepped out, I headed straight for my office, but I could already tell Aaron was there. The whole open area smelt of his cologne. 

I almost cry when I Walk into my office. It’s been so long since I was last here, and I missed every minute of it. I first set my lunch box down and removed the heels. I made it a habit to always be comfortable whilst I was working, and since it was just me here, there was a need to remain in those death traps.

I fired up my system and began placing phone calls and scheduling meetings. I liked how this felt natural, almost like I never left. 

~

After about 3 hours of working and editing documents. The intercom rang, and Aaron’s voice filled my ears the minute I hit talk; 

‘Hey, baby.’ 

‘Hi’ 

‘You know what? Can you come to my office real quick?’ 

‘Of course.’ 

I say and reach under the table to put my heels back on before walking out of my office and into Aaron’s. 

‘You requested my presence.’ 

‘Why so formal?’ Aaron says and walks over to me, pulling me into a hug. 

‘What if someone walks in and sees us?’ 

‘And that makes a difference how?’ 

I resist the urge to groan and roll my eyes. He knows what that would mean, but he just doesn’t care. That’s too bad because I do. 

‘I’m serious, Aaron.’ 

He takes a step back from the hug and looks at me. 

‘You have my full attention, Aaron.’ 

Not that I don’t want his full attention. It just makes it harder to focus in general when he looks at me like that, when he stares at me like I am the only thing that exists right now. Like time freezes, and it’s just us. 

‘I just don’t know how my co-workers will take this new development in our relationship, and I have a feeling it is not going to be good.’ 

‘Go on, He says, urging me to continue.

I know he knows where I am going with this, but he still wants me to say it out loud. 

‘It hasn’t been up to a month since I started working for you. I mean, people could easily read into that and think I am a gold digger or after your fame..’ 

‘But I know you aren’t after those things.’ 

‘I know, we know that, but they don’t, and let’s be honest, no one would want to listen to that story or even buy it.’

He sighed deeply, knowing there was no rebuttal for that. This wasn’t a book. This was real life, and such people weren’t so forgiving. News outlets and magazines will make a spin of this as vicious vultures are always waiting for a chance to spin the next story and run with this, spreading it as far and wide as they possibly can. 

My career can be ruined with just one of those articles.

‘So what are you proposing? That we keep us a secret?’ 

When I nod a yes, I can see how this kills him. 

‘I don’t want to hide you, Eleni. I want everyone to know what we have because what we have is special. I want to be able to hold your hand and take a stroll with you down the park without it having to be a big deal.’ 

Understanding how he feels, I pull him in again for a hug and mutter, 

‘That’s not possible; You are Aaron Foster. Almost every other night, you are on the news or the front age of some magazine or news report.’ 

‘For how long do you intend to keep us a secret?’

I remain silent as I haven’t particularly thought of a time frame. 

‘Eleni, You’re moving out, and now you want us to keep our relationship a secret…’

‘Aaron, can we talk about this after work?’ 

‘When..’ 

‘Aaron, anyone could work in. Let’s talk when we get home.’ 

‘No one walks in without knocking.’ 

Just then, the door flies open, and Nikolas walks in. Instinctively, I hum away from Aaron’s arms like his touch had suddenly burnt me. 

‘What is going on earth?’ 

‘Christ, Nikolas. You can’t just knock before you walk in. I have always told you..’ 

‘I will be returning to my office.’

‘Eleni, we aren’t done talking.’ 

‘From what I saw, you were doing a whole lot more than talking.’ Nikolas chimed in. 

‘Seriously, will you just shut it?’ Aaron said, giving Nikolas a cold glare. 

‘We can finish up later. It’s fine,’ I say and head out before Aaron can say anything or Nikolas makes it any more awkward. 

Once I close the door behind me, I finally release a breath I didn’t know I was holding. 

So much for keeping our relationship a secret. Nikolas was aware. 

But then again, he would have found sooner either way, so I guess It isn’t that much of a big deal. 

I tried to bury myself in work for the rest of the day. That recess, however much needed, only allowed more workload to compound.  didn’t have the liberty to take a lunch break, so I had to eat at my office desk while shuffling between documents. 

Time didn’t go by as fast as I wanted it to. And after a few hours of staring at the screen. A headache was starting to form. I was sure to go to bed immediately after we got home, and luckily for me. It was the weekend tomorrow. So in translation, no work. 

But then I intended to meet up with Cora and, after which, move in with Dr Daniel. But the day will be spent shopping with Cora and just having a fun girl’s day. I desperately needed one of those. 

For a month now, It has felt like my whole life was on pause. Like I was secluded from the outside world, and I couldn’t wait to pick up the remote and hit play. 

I decided to shut my laptop down the minute the clock struck 7 pm. I stood up and stretched a little whilst bending down to touch my toes and massage them a little, and I also cracked my fingers to release some of the tension and make ten feel less tense and stiff. 

After I was done with my stretches and mini-exercise session, I put my heels back on and picked up my stuff. I knew we had to leave separately so as not to stir up much gossip at the office. Because while everyone in this building carried themselves with an air of regality, I knew they would swarm gossip like sharks did at the hint of blood. 

I debated going into Aaron’s office to tell him I was leaving, but I knew he wasn’t going to like that idea and would probably find a way to convince us to leave together, which was way too risky. 

So instead, I head towards the elevator, and before I can use the button, I hear Aaron’s voice, 

‘Going somewhere?’ 

Busted. 

‘Yeah, I was going to send you a text.’ I said and tried to look anywhere but in his direction. 

I didn’t understand where this guilt was coming from. I thought we were all agreeing that I was going to leave with Aaron, but somehow my mind had also turned against me and made me feel guilty for even entertaining the idea of that. 

‘Where were you headed?’ 

‘Home’, I manage to choke out.

‘Without me?’ 

‘I didn’t want others to see us and think…’ 

‘Eleni, I am not in a relationship with other people. I am with you. Plus, is it so uncommon to see a boss dropping off their employer?’ 

‘Maybe not. I didn’t think about that.’ I said and chewed on my bottom lip. Why Hadn’t I thought this idea through?’ 

‘And we could have left through the basement with Dimitri.’ 

‘Aaron…’ 

‘Let’s have that talk once we get home.’ He says and opens the door allowing me to step in first. 

The drive home was so silent and tense. Aaron didn’t say anything and just looked out the window. 

I knew it was best that we waited until we got home before saying anything. I wouldn’t want Dimitri to be caught in the crossfire. 

Once we got home, we headed inside, and none of us said anything. For the first few minutes, we just stood in the living room and stared at one another. 

Aaron loosened his tie, rolled his sleeves up and sat down. At the same time, I took off my heels and sat down at the other end of the room.

‘You want to talk when we get home, so talk. I’m listening.’ 

‘Don’t you have anything you want to say?’

‘Of course, I do. But you go first. Like I said, I’m listening.’ 

I have never hated the distance more than I do now. It fe;t like it just wasn’t the physical distance between us. 

‘I am trying to be practical. It isn’t going to do us any good if anyone gets a whiff of our relationship. I am just trying to be cautious. What would people say? What would happen to our reputation? I mean, people could think all sorts of things, and I just don’t want us to go through that. I’m done speaking. I’m sure you know where I am going.’

‘But for how long Eleni. Forever? Throughout what you’ve said, You’ve mentioned people and people and people. So where do I come in, or are my feelings not worth considering/ What about your feelings? And our happiness?’ 

‘I am not trying to put you last or anything..’ 

‘But that’s exactly what you are doing? Have you thought of what you are doing to me? And how would this make me feel? I feel ignored and like I am not even a main player.’ 

‘Aaron, I didn’t know..’ 

‘Yeah, because you didn’t consider me. Did you consider yourself? How does this decision affect you? How could I inhibit our relationship? I have always felt ignored all of my childhood, and to also have you think of me last makes me feel… ‘ 

‘Makes me feel hurt’, He says after a pause and breaks eye contact. 

‘I’m going to bed, Eleni.’ 

Aaron says and exits the room. 

I hate the fact that I don’t say anything. That I just let him walk away thinking that. That I don’t stop him or try to change his mind. 

I could sit here and feel sorry for myself, or I could stand up and make him see just how much he mattered to me. I couldn’t allow him to go to bed, thinking that, It would eat him up. I knew that’s how I would feel. 

This wasn’t one of those conversations we could have in the morning. It couldn’t wait. It had to be now.