Page 43 of His Obsession

She put her hand on my shoulder. “Yeah, me too.” Wiping her tears with a tissue, she walked back to her desk. And it left me alone to think for a minute.

I felt sympathy for Becca. She was a sweet woman, and she didn’t deserve the treatment Mr. Donovan gave her, yet she still appeared to have feelings for him. I wasn’t sad that he was dead, which made me sound heartless, but it upset me that he died in such a horrific way. It wasn’t right—no one should die that way.

“Liz.” Alek boomed behind me.

I turned in my chair, biting my cheek. “I’m fairly certain we have recently had this conversation, Mr. Jackson,” I said, trying to sound sarcastic but professional.

Alek’s eyes darted to Becca and then back to me, slicking his lips with his tongue. “Duly noted.”

“Did you need something, Mr. Jackson?”

“Take these papers to the IT department,” he said, plopping the same papers I copied this morning back onto my desk.

I rolled my eyes and took the papers from his hand, his eyes darting back to Becca.

“I can take those to Jake,” Becca said from across the room.

“Oh, look, she can do it.” I smiled.

I walked to Becca’s desk, and she reached to grab them.

“No. I want you to do it. Becca has other things to get done,” Alek said, raising his voice.

Becca flinched and sat back in her chair. I shot daggers at him with my eyes. A grin etched his face that made me want to slap it off him. Curse him and his smoldering looks.

I picked the stack up and went to the elevator. I had never been to the IT department, but I knew where it was, thanks to the labels on each floor. I had practically memorized them in the last year.

I punched the button for the fifteenth floor, and the elevator doors closed, moving down with a jolt.

The metal doors pulled apart and opened up to the exact opposite of the twenty-fifth floor. My office space, white, airy, and bright, was in stark contrast to this floor, dim, dreary, and colorless. This floor held a maze of halls and rooms with servers blinking their bright blue lights and their fans whirring with speed.

Voices and quiet techno music came from the room that Jake sat in with his team, surrounding their computers with multiple screens. Jake looked up from his screen and waved me over to his desk.

“Just put them right here.” Jake pointed to a cleared spot on his messy desk.

“Wow, how do you stay fit with all of this candy and soda?” Jake had a twelve-pack of soda, and a massive Halloween-sized candy bag of Snickers propped up next to his table. A red and purple costumed figurine, holding all his paper clips in his hands with magnets, sat on his desk next to a bobblehead of Darth Vader. “And could you be any more of a nerd?” I shook my head.

“Thanks, Liz, but the term is a geek. I’m not socially awkward like nerds.” Jake popped his head over his screen and stared at a slightly balding, middle-aged man. “Isn’t that right, Gary?”

“Whatever you say, Jake,” Gary replied.

I chuckled and dropped the papers on his desk. “What is this?” I picked up the purple figurine, turning it over, and studied it.

Jake took it from my hands, “Who, not what. And that is Magneto, you freakishly sheltered girl.”

“Well, excuse me for having a life not centered on made-up characters.” I laughed.

“No excuses, Liz. You need a proper introduction to X-Men.”

“Not happening. Have fun with your squad, Jake,” I said, turning on my heel and leaving them to geek out.

∞∞∞

"Do you ever donate to people in need?" I asked Alek while he stared at traffic.

The day had thankfully gone by quick, and we were on our way home after staying after hours. Alek wasn't kidding when he said he had paperwork to do. I was copying and filing all day.

"Yes." He looked at me quizzically.