The CEO's Favorite

Chapter Twenty Five

I decided I'd given Gabriel enough time.

It's been exactly a week since we last spoke. I didn't go to him sooner because I assumed he'd come to me. It's Gabriel. He always does. But it seems like this time is different.

I'm worried out of my mind because he got worse each day. He's snapping at everyone, not just me and it looks like he's always in a bad mood.

Some of my colleagues say it's nothing new and that he used to be like this when he first took over from his father, so they minimized their interactions with him, not wanting to get fired over the smallest mistakes.

However, this was new to me, and it caught me off guard whenever he snapped at someone. An intern lost her job last week because she spilled coffee on him. I feel bad for her, but there's nothing I can do about it.

I know something is very wrong and if not taken care of, he may spiral out of control. I recall that he told me it's none of my business, but I can't help the fact that I care about him on a personal level and just not because of the fact that he's my boss.

Hilda's back and she has been helping with Lucas again, which makes things easier on me. She has already taken him to school and I'm about to go to work as well. It's nine o'clock already, so I lock up the apartment and make my way downstairs.

It has only been a week since the dinner with my parents and our relationship has drastically improved. Well, at least the one with my dad. My mom has always been indifferent. It's nothing new. At least, I know she cares even if she hasn't called since then.

My dad, however, has made sure to call every day. He says he's making up for lost time as he never got the chance to do this when I was in college. I tell him he doesn't have to, but I secretly enjoy brewing a relationship with my parents.

During one of those everyday calls, he revealed that he has cut ties with Patrick Hernsburg since he can't work with someone who threatened his daughter and grandson. He knows what Patrick is capable of, which is why he takes the threat seriously.

I come to a sudden stop at the apartment parking lot when someone appears in front of me. I move back a little, gasping in surprise. It's Shawn, my ex-boss from Landon and co.

"What are you doing here?" I blink, looking around to make sure there are people close by. The last time I was left alone with him, he assaulted me. I don't trust him.

"What am I doing here?" He scoffs in disbelief. His hair is rugged and his eyes make it seem like he hasn't been sleeping well. That's plausible since Heather told me that they were losing investors. Speaking of, Heather found a new job at an advertising company. They're a new company and they haven't been in business for over a year yet, but they seem promising. "I came to see you, Aria."

"How do you know where I live?" I ask because it's kind of creepy and quite frankly, scary.

He ignores my question. "What did you do, Aria? Who did you tell? My company is in shambles after you left."

I look around again. I try to walk past time, but he doesn't let me. "What makes you think I did anything?"

"Who else, hmm? You're the only one who objected to it." I scrunch my face in disbelief. He doesn't feel remorseful for kissing me forcefully and trying to force himself on me. Instead, he's mad I told on him. He's so disgusting. I wonder how his partner keeps up with him. "And investors keep leaving because of an alleged assault."

"You did assault me!"

He grips my wrist and the sharp pain that follows makes me whimper, even if I don't want to show him that I'm scared of him a little. If he can assault a woman without remorse, who knows what else he can do?

"That doesn't matter," he grits out, his hold on my wrist tightening with each word. To others, it must look like we're just having a regular chat, which is why no one comes to my rescue. "What I'm trying to say is that you should reverse whatever you did. I will not ask twice."

"I'll scream."

He eyes me as if assessing if I'll scream or not. I cock my head at him and he releases me with a glare. "Fix it. I mean it."

I don't answer as I quickly walk past the crazy man who once identified as my boss. I don't look back until I'm inside my car and when I stare at the spot we both were, he's still there, staring at my car.

He can't see my face because of my tinted windows, but he doesn't stop staring until I drive off. Only when I do I finally breathe in relief. I never planned to see him again after my last encounter with him, so having him come find me threw me off a bit.

When I arrive at work, I'm late for the first time. I quickly find a parking spot and run into the building. I'm in a rush, but I still stop to greet Grayson.

It seems like the day is full of surprises because when I arrive at my floor, the elevator opens to reveal Gabriel. I did plan to meet him and find a way to get him to talk today, but I didn't expect to see him so early in the morning.

My heels catch his attention and he turns around to look at me. At first, he lets his eyes trail across my body, as he usually does, then, it seems like he snaps into his new reality because he raises an eyebrow at me that has me stopping in my tracks, still breathing heavily from the small run I made into the building. "And why the fuck are you late?"

His harsh tone still takes me by surprise; I don't think I can ever get used to this Gabriel. His glare is frightening and his tone is unsettling. I refuse to let this be the new normal. "I'm sorry, I got held up."

"Your morning time was made to fit your schedule. Don't take advantage of that."

My tongue pokes the inside of my cheek. It's the first time Gabriel is scolding me in front of the other employees. "Yes, sir. It won't happen again."

It's like he doesn't even hear what I said. "Keep this up and you're losing your place here."

I nod my head stiffly, but he's satisfied with that as he doesn't say anything else before walking away. Immediately the elevator doors close after him, and whispers erupt.

While others talk and form theories behind my back, Belle approaches me and walks with me to my cubicle. "Did you two fight?"

"What makes you think so?"

Marcus joins us. "He's unusually nosy. He has never been interested in what we had to do until you were the one working on a project. He had a lot of critics by the way."

"Yeah," Belle agrees. "Nessa will brief you on what you have to correct. But are you guys good?"

I throw my head back on my seat with a sigh. "No, we're not. I don't know what's gotten into him. He just started acting rude all of a sudden. He won't even talk to me."

The thought that he's moved on after having his fun with me crossed my mind, but it was quickly thrashed. Gabriel doesn't seem like the kind of man to play with someone else's feelings. It's obvious something is seriously wrong, but I don't know how to help him if he won't even let me in.

"Well, you better find a way to talk to him and fix whatever's wrong." I straighten up at Nessa's voice. When did she join us? "The man looks like he'll snap very soon. We don't want to be the recipient of that, so do something."

"Me?" I blink in surprise.

"Yes, Aria, you. Or you're going to lose some colleagues with how he's going."

I open my mouth to reply, but a deadly silence fills the room. I hear the familiar tap of shoes before I hear it. Of course, it's him. He's the only one who can command such silence.

He appears at my cubicle and stares at the three people around me. They don't move. No one does. Then, his gaze drops to my wrist, as does mine. I see the pink ring forming around it. Curse me for having such pale skin. He's still staring at my wrist when he says, "Come with me."