Chapter 394: The Chair Incident

Just as she thought that, Ellis stopped herself from turning around and heading home. Instead, she drove to the office as usual. As soon as she sat down at her desk, Cleveland showed up, looking a little tense.

“Ms. Harper, good morning.”

With a look like that, Ellis could already tell something was up. She kept her expression neutral and smiled politely.

“Good morning, Mr. Cleveland. What can I do for you?”

“It’s about Mr. Maxwell,” he said, looking uncomfortable. “His schedule changed. He’s going on a business trip starting tomorrow—for a full week. Someone needs to accompany him.”

“And?”

“I can’t go.” He furrowed his brow. “Could you possibly go in my place?”

Ellis didn’t answer right away. This obviously wasn’t something she could decide herself. If Maxwell didn’t want her going and she agreed to it without his approval, it would be like she was trying to overstep. And she wasn’t stupid.

Keeping her tone polite, she said, “Have you talked to Mr. Maxwell yet?”

“Not yet,” Cleveland admitted. “He’s not in yet. I saw you were already here, so I thought I’d give you a heads-up.”

“In that case,” Ellis said, glancing toward Maxwell’s office, “maybe talk to him first and then let me know?”

“Of course,” he agreed, and headed off.

Now that no one was bothering her, Ellis pulled up Maxwell’s schedule and reviewed the itinerary she’d worked on. She’d just finished finalizing his plans, and now it was basically useless.

Maybe I should just quit early, she thought. If he’s not happy with me, I might as well line up something new before he fires me.

Pushing that aside, she focused on work. A little while later, Cleveland came back. Before she could say anything, he said, “Mr. Maxwell wants to see you. Right now.” And then he left, just like that.

Ellis felt an immediate headache coming on. Cleveland really had no sense of subtlety. Still, he had taken the time to show her the ropes, and he’d been decent to her since she got there. So, even though he was terrible at reading the room, she couldn’t be too mad.

Sighing, she got up and headed to Maxwell’s office. She knocked.

“Come in,” came the reply.

“Mr. Maxwell, you asked for me?”

Even if she was thinking about quitting, she wasn’t about to slack off. She kept her tone respectful.

Maxwell didn’t show any unusual expression. But when he looked at her, he made a point of keeping his eyes above her shoulders.

“Cleveland can’t travel this week,” he said. “You’ll be coming with me instead. Be ready tomorrow.”

That caught her off guard. She blinked. Seriously? How had Cleveland talked him into this? And why was Maxwell suddenly okay with her going?

She must’ve hesitated too long, because Maxwell added, “Is there a problem?”

That snapped her back to reality. She gave him a quick smile.

“No problem at all. Where are we headed?”

“Bexford.”

Ellis nodded and stepped out to get the arrangements started.

The first thing she did was message Cleveland for Maxwell’s travel info—ID, preferences, loyalty numbers, all of it. Cleveland responded fast, sending everything she needed. While double-checking the documents before booking, one little detail caught her eye. Maxwell was the same age as her? She looked again to be sure. Yep. Same age. She wouldn’t have guessed that. He gave off an older, more serious vibe. Probably the way he carried himself.

With everything booked and organized, lunchtime rolled around. Ellis stretched, yawning, ready to head to the cafeteria. But just as she moved, her chair made a loud crack and suddenly gave out from under her. She hit the floor hard.

“Ms. Harper, are you okay?” A familiar voice. She looked up. It was Maxwell. He looked surprised, like he was wondering what on earth she’d done to fall out of a chair. Her butt ached from the impact, and she was too stunned to get up right away. Still, sitting on the floor was hardly professional. She tried to stand, lost her balance again—but Maxwell caught her. He’d just gotten back from a meeting and happened to walk by. She must’ve looked so helpless that he instinctively stepped in.

When he grabbed her hand, there was a weird jolt. For the first time in his adult life, Maxwell felt his heart skip. It was…her. Ellis had no idea what was going through his head. She was too focused on steadying herself.

Once she was upright, she smiled, a little embarrassed.

“Thanks, Mr. Maxwell.”

Normally, that smile wouldn’t have meant anything. But this time, it did something to him. His chest felt tight. He turned and walked off without saying anything.

Ellis didn’t think much of it. He’d helped her up, she’d said thanks—what more was there? Still, that chair was junk. She called admin and asked them to send a new one.

Meanwhile, in his office, Maxwell was trying to catch his breath. His heart was pounding like crazy, and he felt warm all over. It was the strangest feeling. He wasn’t some kid anymore, but apparently, his body hadn’t gotten the memo. He ended up locking himself in the bathroom for ten minutes just to calm down.

Should I be dating someone? he thought. But the idea of sleeping with someone just to get it out of his system felt gross. That’d make me cheap. And he didn’t do cheap.

When the day finally ended, Ellis was ready to head home—until she remembered Easton. Of all the apartments in Stonebridge, why did her ex have to move into the one right above hers? She wasn’t in the mood to deal with him, so she decided to kill some time at the mall. She bought a few things for the trip, grabbed dinner, and wandered around until it was late enough that he’d probably given up.

Sure enough, when she got home, he was gone. Only Maya was there. Before Ellis could say anything, Maya said, “Your ex came by earlier. I told him you were working late.”

Ellis gave her a thumbs-up. “Nice.”

“Damn right.” Maya looked proud.

It was already close to midnight. There was no way Easton would come back tonight. Ellis could finally relax and get ready for bed.