I knock on my grandma's office door. Noah has sent me to get her signature on a couple of documents. I feel weirdly apprehensive. It will be the first time we've actually spoken since I came to work here. For the most part, I've been working hard to avoid her. I'm not sure either of us will be able to act like strangers.What if someone other than Martin is in her office?I've never been a very good actor. At least, I was never picked for my high school plays. And for good reason.When I hear her call out for me to enter, I hesitate for a fraction longer before opening the door. I do my best to paste a smile on my face. As I feared, the room is full of people, mostly people I don't recognise but that doesn't mean they don't know who I am."Eden," she says far warmer than she should and I grimace."Hello Mrs Clancy," I say with what I hope sounds like polite nervousness. "Mr Grisham asked me to get your approval on these.""Of course," she replies, holding out her hand for the documents
Making my way back to the department, their conversation runs on repeat through my mind."I just don't understand why there wasn't the funding to replace the products," one of them had said, only moments before I had walked away."It's just James Artie being a jerk," the other had replied.They had seemed genuinely concerned that our company might be suffering some sort of financial difficulty. Grandma would tell me if that was the case, wouldn't she? It's hard to believe that she wouldn't. She normally can't get enough of talking to me about the company. And in recent weeks, since I started working here, she's become more talkative, not less.I can't help but wonder why Noah didn't tell us that Mrs Clancy had chosen to bankroll the replacements herself.I'm distracted for the rest of the day and everyone notices it, none less so than Noah. He seems a mixture of irritated and concerned as he struggles to get my attention repeatedly before deciding to give up."Eden, I think you should
"I wanted to talk to you about something, grandma," I say as I follow her through to the living room."Oh. Something important?""Sort of. I'm not sure."I sit down on the opposite sofa to her, trying to gage her mood. She doesn't look like she's been overly stressed or worried about anything recently."Is everything okay at work, dear?""Yeah. Everything is great.""Noah is treating you well?" Her tone is so suggestive. She's definitely hoping something will happen between her. I should burst her bubble before her thoughts get out of hand. I can easily imagine grandma trying to play matchmaker. In fact, I wouldn't put it past her that that was exactly her intention when she put me to work as Noah's assistant."He's a great BOSS," I reply, emphasising the fact that he's my boss as best I can."Of course, he is," she says confidently. "And to think you didn't like him when you started.""That was for good reason," I mutter."If you say so, dear. What did you want to speak to me about?"
Returning to my apartment, I'm surprised to realise that I have a missed call and a text message from Noah. I must have really worried him if his text is anything to go by.'Hey Eden. Let me know if you need anything at all. If you aren't feeling up to coming in tomorrow, that's okay too."It's almost sweet. It's so out of character. He's usually so strict in his expectations. I can't imagine him giving me the day off without good cause and yet here we are. There's absolutely nothing wrong with me but the way he's acting you'd think I was in hospital or something.I start typing out a response but have to stop when his name lights up my screen."Hello?" I answer."Hey. Are you okay?" He sounds worried and I can't decide whether I should find it cute or not. I'm not used to people being worried about me, except perhaps my grandma."I'm alright. I'm sorry for worrying you," I tell him as I let myself into apartment.Once inside, with the phone to my ear, I quickly pick up the pile of let
Coming into work the next morning, I've barely slept. I'm yawning as I wait for the lift. I spent the whole night tossing and turning as I worried about my grandma. It's probably unnecessary. She doesn't exactly need my concern. She's not your typical granny. It's a fact I know well, but it doesn't stop me worrying about her. She's still my grandma after all."Morning," Noah says cheerfully as he comes up beside me.He hands me a coffee and I grumble out a quick thank you. It's weird how this is becoming something of a routine. Not so much waiting for the lift with Noah but having him fetch my coffee. I'm pretty sure it's me that should be getting him a coffee but I don't bother telling him that. It's not like it would discourage him from doing it again. And I'm not sure I want him to stop."Sleep well?" he asks."Not really," I tell him honestly as I yawn again."Are you sure you're not sick?""Do I look sick?""Well, you don't exactly look great."I don't know if I should chide him o
Noah's POV:I'm not completely sure what's gotten into Eden. She's distracted and worrying about things that quite frankly are above her pay grade. Above mine even. Don't get me wrong. If Mrs Clancy needed help, I wouldn't hesitate to give it her but in what world would she need my help. And with the company's finances of all things. It's not exactly my forte.I saw the look in Eden's eyes earlier and I know full well, she's not going to let this go. That woman can be like a dog with a bone when she wants to be. Just look at how she managed to get CCTV footage when I accused her of stealing the department's design. She's certainly resourceful.Trying not to dwell on it, I carry on with my work. There's a lot to do and no time to waste if we want to get these new designs into production by the end of the week. Today is the last real day to make any necessary changes before we lock things in with the factories tomorrow."Eden," I call out to her.She immediately looks my way, before gett
I'm not sure how to bring it up with Eden. I don't want it to appear like I'm just giving in and doing what she wants. That's not what's happening here. In fact, my actions have absolutely nothing to do with her concerns or our conversation yesterday. I'm only doing this because of that email. If I hadn't received it, I definitely wouldn't be doing this.Even as I think it, I find myself doubting myself. I'm not convinced I'd have been able to keep refusing her. No matter how I word this, she's going to think she's won. And maybe she has."Eden," I call her into my office with reluctance. She'd say I'm being stubborn."Sir?" It grates. I thought she'd finally gotten out of that particular habit."Noah," I retort."Sorry, Noah." She at least has the sense to look sorry."Come sit down," I tell her. "I've just received an email."Even I can hear the aversion in my tone. This is clearly a conversation I don't want to have but really it's just a matter of pride. I should just let it go."O
Eden's POV:This is tedious. I'm running through the file that Noah received earlier, combing it for inaccurate figures. I frequently have to remind myself that I'm doing this for my grandma. Everyone else went home hours ago. It's now close to ten o'clock at night and Noah and I are still hard at work.I'm flagging but I don't want to give up. Not yet. Not when the task is still incomplete.Noah's friend in IT is looking into who sent him the email but he's refused to make any promises. I have no idea how he will do it. He kept using technical jargon that quite frankly I just didn't understand. Like seriously, what actually is an IP address and why does everything seem to think I should know what it is?No matter how I look at it, I can't work out who would send it to him. And why him of all people?Is it because James and his nephew Lewis have been gunning for Noah and design team one? Is it some sort of silent solidarity or something? Or perhaps they believe that Noah has the gumpti