Chapter 72
It was Monday morning and I was nervous. I didn’t know when Hunter and the others would hand over the evidence to the police. But I expected my phone. and the police telling me I needed to come in for questioning. When my phone really did buzz I jumped in the office chair and I lost my train of thought with the caller I was talking to. I tried to focus long enough to help them and then ended the call and switched my status to “Away“. I read the message from Hunter.
H: The money is now back in your account. Thank you for the short–term loan.
I looked at it and wondered if he had spiked a fever until I realised he was telling me they had retrieved the hidden money from Simon and put it into my account. My hands were shaking as I opened my banking app. There in my savings account were almost six million dollars. My breath hitched, and my mind started racing. What was I to do now? Should I call to see if the bakery was still for sale? It probably wasn’t. And even if it was, I didn’t want to go through the same thing once more. This time I would pace myself. I had a good job; I didn’t need to rush into this. I don’t trust that the coming investigation and trial would not end with me having to give the money away again. And if I got to keep them, I didn’t know what type of publicity it would bring. There were a lot of ugly things that could come to light. I knew it could backfire and be angled in a way that portrayed me in a less favourable way, Especially with my relationship with Hunter being what it was. I didn’t care. But I saw it wouldn’t be the best time to start a new business. I could sit back and rely on my job for now and wait for a better time to start my bakery, Now that I had the money and had my freedom, I was okay with waiting. I changed my status to take calls again, as my brain had slowed down. Maybe I needed to warm may nanager about what was to come. It was only fair, even if I wasn’t looking forward to it. I was trying to figure out what I would tell her when my manager pinged me with a chat. She asked if she could call me up and I said yes, wondering if it was a coincidence or not.
“H, Hana,” she said.
“Hi, I replied, feeling nervous.
“I’m just calling because I got an interesting request from up high and I felt better talking to you in person than writing an email,” she continued.
“Oh, okay,” I said.
“The CEO has asked to speak with you. He wanted me to arrange a meeting. I didn’t want to spring it on you without warning,” my manager told me.
“I appreciate it,” I said honestly. “Do you know why he asked for the meeting?”
“No, he didn’t say.”
“Do you think it’s because I have done something wrong, or got negative feedback?” I asked.
“No, nothing like that I would say. I have only had very positive feedback from your work and you score high in the satisfaction index we send to the callers as well. No one gets a 100% because there is always someone that is not happy that they can’t force a square peg into a round hole. But you do good,” she reassured me.
“Okay, thank you.”
“I will send you the meeting invitation and don’t be too nervous, Mr. Smith is a good man to work for. I’m sure it will be fine.”
“Thank you. I appreciate you calling me,” I told her. We said goodbye and hung up. Minutes later, I got the invitation to an online meeting with Mir Smith. I tried not to overthink it. I didn’t think the police would have reached out so quickly. And even if they had, they wouldn’t have contacted the CEO, right? No, I was reasonably sure they would contact my manager. A couple of hours later, I got another text from Hunter. This one told me he would be about an hour or two late. I had agreed that he could work from the office, even if I would have preferred him to work from home. But I knew that this day, with everything that was happening. he would be happier at the office. So I had sent him off in the morning with a breakfast to–go and a warning to take it easy.
Me: I understand there are a lot of things happening. But please don’t overdo it. I will see you at seven.
H; I won’t, I promise. I miss you.
His message made me smile, and I made plans to sit down what I needed to order. I found I missed going to the store. I hadn’t been since Hunter and I had done the shopping my second day here. Since then we had relied
and p
order groceries after I got off work. When I stood in the kitchen, going through what we had left and on getting it delivered. It was fine, but it wasn’t the same. As I wasn’t out of the woods yet, safety wise, I had to stay at home. But I decided that the first thing I would do once it was all cleared up was to go grocery shopping. As I had sent the order, I wanted to try out some of my new toys that Hunter had given me. He had been so sweet to take the time and drag Chef with him and spend all that money on me. Some things they had picked out for me were equipment I hadn’t used since I finished my training, I didn’t have unlimited time until Hunter would be home, and I wanted to make dinner as well. So I settled on making baked cheesecake. When the cheesecake was in the oven, I made dinner. When dinner was almost done I looked at the clock and saw it was almost half past seven. And Hunter still wasn’t home. I took out my phone,
Me: Hi. Are you on your way?”
ΕΠ
H: Sorry, no. I think it will be another couple of hours.
Me: Hunter, you need to take it easy. You haven’t fully recovered yet.
Chapter 72
H: I’m fine. The work has piled up
un while I have been away.
Me: And you won’t be able to catch up in a day. It will be there tomorrow as well.
I want to finish a
H: I know. But I want to finish a couple of more things.
I frowned. This was as close to an argument as we had come. He was a grown man and if he wanted to overwork himself; it was up to him. I had told him it was a had idea, but I wouldn’t nag him about it..
Me: You do as you want. Your dinner will be in the fridge when you get home. You can just pop it into the microwave. I’m going to eat and then I’m taking a bath so I might not hear you get in.
H: Ok, I won’t be long.
I shook my head. I had a feeling the no hours would end up being a lot longer. I was right. When I got out of my bath, Hunter still wasn’t home. I briefly considered calling lason and bribing him with the cheesecake to make him bring Hunter home. But then I told myself, again, that Hunter was a grown man. If he wanted to stay out working until he dropped dead. It was his choice. I had no question that he would feel his decision in the morning. I watched some TV, but as the clock got closer to midnight, I could barely keep my eyes open and 1 had work in the morning,
Me: I’m heading to bed. Love you
H: Sorry, things just keep getting in the way, I’ll be home soon, Sleep tight and I love you too.
I shook my head, and then I hesitated. It didn’t feel right to head into Hunter’s room without him. But it felt strange going into the guest room as well. I didn’t think Hunter would mind me sleeping in his bed by myself. But I felt like I was imading his private space, I decided I was overthinking the whole thing and it would be easier to sleep in the guest room. That way, Hunter wouldn’t have to sneak around and I would wake up when he got home.
“Hana?!” I woke up from the loud shout. It took me a moment to understand why I had woken up and where I was. I had become used to waking up in Hunter’s room. “Hana!” Another loud yell rang through the air.
“Yes?” I called as I tried to rub the sleep from my eyes and get my brain to work, I was scouting out of the bed to find out what was happening as Hunter flung the door to the guest room open and rashed inside. He jogged over to the bed and dragged me into his arms, hugged me tightly. “What’s happening?” I asked, as I did my best to return the hugg Hunter’s embrace had trapped my arms against my body.
“You weren’t in bed,” he told me.
“I thought it would be better if I slept in here, so you didn’t have to be careful when you got home,” I told him. “Did I make you worry?”
“Yes. I panicked when I didn’t find you in my room. I should have looked in the guest room as well. Sorry waking you,” on his cheek and then frowned. I squirmed for a bit to get one of my arms free and then placed a hand on his forehead.
“You are warm. I think you might have a slight fever,” I told him.
“It’s probably just the adrenalin,” he said.
“No. You pushed yourself too hard today. What time is it anyway?” I asked.
“I’m not sure. Around two maybe?”
he muntured. I smiled and placed a kiss
“Two? In the morning? Are you insane? A week ago you were at the hospital having surgery. I told myself I wouldn’t nag you, that you are a grown man that can make your own decisions. But I clearly overestimated your self–preservation. Because this is insane!” I told him.
“Sweetness, you are overreacting,” he objected.
“Maybe I am. But you have a fever after spending almost seventeen hours at the office. Did you at least eat your dinner?” I asked. I could tell the answer by the guilty look on his face.
“I just wanted to go to bed. I didn’t mean to reject your food,” be said.
“I don’t care about the food. I care about you eating. When was the last time you ate?”
“Umm.” He thought about it for far too long.
“Seriously, Hunter. You can’t work for seventeen hours without eating. We are going downstairs and you are going to eat. I don’t care if it’s the dinner I saved, a sandwich or the cheesecake. But you are eating something and taking a Tylenol. Then you are going to bed and tomorrow you will work from home. Unless you still have a fever, then you get to go to the doctor’s and go back to bring on sick leave.” I told him. Hunter just looked at me, “Come on,” I said, taking his hand and
Chapter 72
walking him downstairs. “What would you like to eat?” I asked as I pushed him towards the breakfast bar.
“I’ll have dinner,” he said. I nodded and took it out of the fridge and reheated it as I took out my phone and sent a message to Jason Hunter was just sitting in the chair watching me. When the microwave dinged, I took out the plate and sat it in front of him with a knife and fork. I got him a glass of milk and a Tylenol. He ate and drank without a word.
“I never knew you could be this bossy,” he told me as he had finished and we were walking back upstairs.
“Well, you forced me to be this bossy,” I said.
“You’re not going back in there, right?” he asked as we came to the guest room’s door.
“No, it seems pointless. Come on, you need to get ready for bed,” I said. I was gently pushing him towards his bedroom. He smiled and nodded. As we cuddled up in his bed, I could feel he still had a slight fever. I would make sure he got that sorted in the morning.
