One morning the city woke up to an extreme cold warning. Elle begrudgingly got dressed for work; putting on a pair of warm tights under her dress pants followed by a long sleeved shirt under her sweater. Finally, she put on a thick pair of thermal socks followed by her jacket and a woollen blanket scarf. Even then when she stepped outside she could feel the cold numbing her face as she quickly ran to where Adam waited in the driveway.Adam didn"t usually pick her up, especially in the mornings since it risked the chance that her father or Jacob would spot them, but Elle"s car was currently under maintenance so that morning Adam insisted.
"Here take this." He said firmly as she got in, handing her a steaming cup of tea. Elle took it eagerly, wrapping her blue fingers tightly around the hot cup.
"Why is it so cold?" Elle moaned as Adam drove.
"I have a meeting scheduled for later in the day, I might get late. If I do just wait inside. I"ll come get you as soon as I"m finished." Adam instructed.
Elle looked at him sympathetically. "I can just take a taxi." She said softly. "You"re so busy."
"It"s fine. The roads are messy; I worry too much so just let me drive you."
Elle had nothing to say to that, she also craved spending time with him. Even if it was only for a quick ten-minute drive. Soon they arrived in front of Tae.
"Thank you." Elle said as she got out. "And thank you for the tea." She called over her shoulder.
She got off the elevator onto her department"s floor to discover that half her department still wasn"t in. The half that did manage to make it to work on time were all still in their coats and mittens. "What a day to be at work" Elle thought to herself.
As she settled in at her desk she discovered that even though she had only been outside for no more than five minutes, she couldn"t chase the cold from her body. Elle wrapped her big scarf tighter around her and sipped on her tea. Revelling in the warmth that spread through her chest as she did.
Eventually Elle had to start on her work, despite the fact that she was cold and miserable. Her project only had a few more weeks before it"s completion. Elle was quite satisfied with her team"s work and their results so far, but she was no longer satisfied with settling for only "good" results. Elle was determined to surpa.s.s even Adam"s expectations.
She burned through her entire day slowly and meticulously going through several reports, adding in her own notes and recommendations for improvements as she went along. Luckily it was a rare day of silence for Elle. Perhaps it was because the entire building was overly busy or perhaps the freezing temperatures had everyone feeling lethargic. Either way Elle managed to get through the entire day without being interrupted.
When the end of the working day finally did arrive Elle leaned back in her chair and stretched her arms out in front of her, chasing away the stiffness in her arms and replacing it with a pleasant burning sensation. She packed away her things and made a mental note of what things she had to do tomorrow. The last thing she did was quickly check on their sales progress before she left. Elle frowned as she looked at the number displayed on the screen.
Elle didn"t have an exact count, but the number seemed low compared to what she had read in the reports. Just then her phone rang, distracting Elle from her confusion. She had expected it to be a call from Adam but instead David"s name appeared on her phone"s screen. Elle took the call and then headed downstairs.
"Mr. Hayes is still in a meeting." David explained as Elle got into the car. "He asked me to send you home in his place."
"Sorry for the trouble." Elle murmured shyly.
"It"s no trouble at all. I hate to think of you waiting in this cold weather." David a.s.sured her.
They had only been on the road for a minute before Elle suddenly spoke up. "Can I ask you a favour?"
Some time later Adam finally existed the meeting room and headed back to his office. Once again he stopped short in the doorway. "How do you keep sneaking in here?" he asked sarcastically, looking at the beautiful girl sitting at his desk with a grin and a mischievous twinkle in her eyes.
"I decided to come see you. Come look what I"m looking at." She said, beckoning him over to his own desk.
"You know, I can imagine how you could have gotten into this office, but how on earth did you manage to hack into my computer?" Adam asked with a low chuckle.
"I couldn"t of course. You"re the boss of MK, how could a small person like myself possibly get into your computer. I"m just using the guest account." Adam smiled and walked over to the desk and glanced at the screen. Elle was looking into trips.
"I don"t really like hot climates so I thought somewhere mild would be nice but after today"s cold weather I want to go get sunburned somewhere."
"Are you really that confident in yourself?" Adam teased. "Won"t you be embarra.s.sed if you don"t win the bet after showing off like this?"
"Of course I"m confident." Elle said proudly. "I"m almost there already, just wait and see. I will present you with spectacular results."
Adam replaced Elle at his desk and continued with his work while she crossed over to the lounge area and continued to look at trip destinations on her phone. Some time later Adam glanced at the time restlessly.
"I"ll be at this a while longer. It"s rare for you to get off work on time these days, you should go home and rest. "
"I don"t want to."
Adam frowned. "It"s so cold outside. It will only get worse once the sun sets."
"I don"t care." Elle said while pulling her legs up onto the couch in an act of rebellion.
"Why are you being so stubborn."
"Our jobs keep us both busy, you in particular. Is it wrong of me to choose to spend time with you this way?" Adam hesitated, he couldn"t deny her that. So despite the cold wind that blew outside they both felt incredibly warm as they spent their evening quietly pa.s.sing the time in each other"s company.