Echoes of Aphasia

Chapter 7: Confessions

The rest of my week passed by in a blur. I saw Hayden once or twice during the week, but we hardly shared any words. He would just look at me, give me a firm nod of his head and then walk away. He treated me exactly like I expected a boss to treat his lowly employee. I noticed that the bruise on his face was finally starting to fade away. He was only left with a yellowish spot underneath his right eye.

I couldn't help but think to myself that he still looks insanely handsome even with a bruise covering up half of his face. Silently I scolded myself for even thinking that. I wasn't supposed to be thinking about how handsome my boss is. Especially not now that I have a boyfriend. A boyfriend that had only been good to me since I met him.

Caden and I didn't see each other a lot over the week. He had been busy with work just like he said he'd be and I was busy with the day care. It honestly didn't really bother me though, I understood that he had work to do, and honestly, he came through on his promise. He called me every morning and evening and he texted me in between, I was still getting used to being in a relationship again after so long. However it did feel good to share something like that with someone again. I felt less alone. I was busy with some admin work when I heard a knock on my door. Looking up, I noticed that it was one of the other employees among with her group of friends.

"Hay, we're going to get going so will you please lock up when you're done?" Melissa, one of the girls that also worked on this floor asked. I nodded my head at her and then she, along with her friends, left. It was another late night at work where I probably would end up working until midnight. This is what I've been doing all week in order to not have to go home. It's not that I dreaded going home, it's just that whenever I was alone, I either thought of Zach or I thought of how much it sucks that Hayden and I are again not speaking.

When I finally decided that I had done enough work for the week, maybe even two weeks, I stood up and gathered my belongings. I grabbed my keys and locked up the main door of the floor and went to the elevator. Stepping into the elevator, I contemplated whether or not I should check on Hayden. Each night I left at work, I always looked up at the outside of the building to see the light of his office still burning. I decided that I just wanted to check if Hayden had at least gone home. Maybe he just forgot his light on, I thought. I shouldn't have cared whether he did or not, but I did. He was my boss after all, and I think it is normal for a employee to care whether their boss is safe or not, right?

When I reached his floor I noticed that, once again, his office light was the only light burning on the entire floor. This man is going to work himself to death, I thought to myself. I've been coming to his floor every night for the past week to see if he's okay and every night his light was burning well past midnight. I didn't go to him once during the week. It seemed too personal, since we clearly weren't talking at the moment. Maybe he didn't even view me as a friend anymore.

Tonight however I just didn't care whether it was personal or not. It didn't matter to me that I might be overstepping some of my boundaries as an employee. I had to check on him and tell him to go home. It wasn't healthy for him to be working this late every single night, not that I was one to judge since I had been doing the exact same thing this entire week. I was going to show him that, regardless of what I had told Violet, I still cared about him. Gathering as much courage as I could, I took a breath and walked over to his door. I knocked softly and when I didn't hear any response I knocked more loudly on his door.

"Go away! I don't want to be bothered." I heard his tired and grumpy voice. This does not sound like the Hayden I knew. I felt a bubble of concern running through my body and without thinking twice, I opened his door. He was sitting behind his desk with his head in his hands. Paper thrown all over the place. His desk was a mess. His office was a mess. He was a mess. I noticed the slight stubble on his perfect jaw. His hair was sticking up in all directions probably from him pushing his hand through his hair too much.