Despite the fact that she was anxiously waiting up on Monday night for Adam to come come, Elle managed to fall asleep without talking to him. She didn"t know how it happened but somehow she fell asleep before he came home.
When she awoke it was already Tuesday morning. It was only when she heard the tap running in the adjacent bathroom that she realized she hadn"t had a chance to speak to Adam yet.
He had already started getting ready for work when Elle approached him awkwardly. Her hands were fidgeting with each other and Adam could see her hesitation plain as day on her face.
"What is it?" He asked with concern. "Is something wrong?"
"No, no, nothing"s wrong. I just have a favour to ask."
"Oh." Adam let out a breath of relief. "You don"t need to be this anxious you know. If there"s something you need just ask me."
Even with Adam"s rea.s.surance Elle hesitated uncomfortably. "I know you"re busy at MK, and I hate to interfere with your work, but I was hoping you could come home a little earlier tomorrow. It"s my mother"s birthday you see." Elle said, her voice getting quieter as she went along. "I really don"t want to be alone tomorrow."
"Of course." He answered as he reached out to pull her into his embrace. As always, Adam understood her feelings perfectly."Did you take the day off?"
"Just the afternoon off." Elle said, breathing in his familiar scent.
"Okay. I"ll leave work as soon as I can tomorrow. I"ll come over to your place in the afternoon."
Elle wrapped her arms tighter around him, "Thank you." she said into his chest.
That day when Adam got in to work he instructed David to clear his as much of his schedule as possible for the next day. When Wednesday finally came David watched in awe as as his boss. .h.i.t a new level of workaholic.
Adam"s fingers typed away furiously at the keyboard as he rushed to get through his work. David hadn"t thought much of his bosses request the previous day but now he couldn"t help worry as he watched on.
"Is something wrong sir?" he asked nervously.
"I have something important to attend later this afternoon. I need to finish everything by four today."
David glanced as his watch which was already ticking towards one in the afternoon. It seemed like a near impossible goal but what could he say? The answer was nothing. So David simply did his best to help make sure Adam finished on time, worried about what consequences would face them if he didn"t.
Surprisingly, Adam seemed on track to make it out of the office on time that day. He went through his work quickly, his meetings were more efficient than ever, and anything that wasn"t the highest level of priority was left to be dealt with tomorrow.
As expected, a few unplanned and urgent issues arose that needed Adam"s immediate attention, but they didn"t manage to delay him for long.
Right around four in the afternoon Adam received a message from Elle that she was home now.
"I"ll follow shortly." He replied.
But of course no day could go so smoothly. It seemed like fate was against Adam today. As soon as he set his phone down David entered the office looking positively pale.
The nervous air around him and the hesitation in his eyes reminded Adam of Elle asking her favour from him the morning before.
"What is it?" Adam grumbled unhappily.
"Amelia is here again. The contract negotiations are continuing today..."
Adam sighed. Amelia had come to his office a few times now to kill time as the negotiations went on. She never distracted him and always kept to herself on the other side of the room so Adam had continued to ignore her as she did what she wanted. Today, of course, was different.
"Tell her I don"t have time to entertain her today."
"She"s not alone. You"re father is here too."
Adam frowned. "Let them in."
Meanwhile, Elle had just gotten out of the shower. She looked at her phone, at Adam"s message.
"I"ll follow shortly." He had written. Elle imagined he would be about to leave work by now. "He"ll probably be here soon." she thought to herself.
Elle went into the kitchen and pulled a mini cake from out of the fridge. She then retrieved a candle and stuck it into the frosting. She dimmed the lights and lit the candle, its dancing flame casting long shadows against the wall.
"Happy Birthday mother." Elle wished into the open air.