168 He Knows Where I Live
**A few days later**
Taking a few days break really did seem to help my state of mind. After spending time alone for two days, I had dinner with Justin just like we had agreed. Justin came as a friend, and it was like an unspoken agreement between us that we would not talk about work or any of my other life problems. The conversation we shared was light and full of laughter and cheer. Each time I laughed along with Justin’s jokes, it made me realize that there were so many simple joys in life that I had been missing out on. Not having to worry about my problems, my work, or my clients for a while truly felt great.
I wondered for a moment how Justin managed to tell my clients that I had suddenly decided to go on break and how they reacted; however, I decided not to ask while pushing that curious thought out of my mind. I admired Justin for how understanding and supportive he was of me. Justin simply told me to let him know when I wanted to start going back to work and left the decision up to me. After spending a few days away from work and the reality of my problems, I felt like I have had enough time to lick my own wounds.
“I think I’ll go back to work starting Monday. Does that work?” I asked.
“Are you sure that you’re ready to come back?” Justin asked as he stared at me from across the table.
“I guess so. I still have two more days during the weekend to rest before Monday comes along,” I replied while braving a smile.
“There’s really no rush. I spoke to all your clients, and they are understanding,” Justin said reassuringly.
“I’ll be fine. I think it’s about time that I get back to work before I get too lazy to do anything,” I replied with a small laugh.
“If you say so. I’ll let your clients know. They’re going to be so happy to have you back,” Justin said with a laugh.
.....
“You really think so?” I murmured, unconvinced.
“Why? You think they wouldn’t want you back?” Justin asked teasingly.
“Who knows…” I murmured before trailing off.
“Elena, you clients need you more than you realize. Of course, they’ll want you back,” Justin said and suddenly he sounded so serious.
My eyes widened in surprise at the sudden change in his attitude. For a moment, I felt a little relieved because of his words. Perhaps without realizing it, I had been fearing that because of what happened, Adrian and Brandon wouldn’t want me anymore.
“If you say so…” I replied softly without knowing what else to say.
“Just rest up and relax until then. Monday can be a soft start, you don’t need to see any of your cute hubbies if you don’t want to,” Justin told me with a smile before he winked at me.
“Thanks. I’ll think about it…” I murmured.
After parting ways with Justin, I headed back to my apartment. The sidewalk close to my place was crowded with people and I had no idea why so many people were out and about. There was a time when I used to like the bustling vibe of the city where there seemed to be so many things happening at the same time. However, now I thought that I could live well enough without it. Some more peace, quiet, and personal space might be good. Maybe I’m just getting older and perhaps a little bit more disillusioned with life.
Various thoughts along the same line ran through my head until I reached the front door of my apartment building. I halted when I spotted a familiar figure seated on the steps right in front of the door. This wasn’t the first time that I’ve seen him here and in that rough disguise of his but it still never failed to shock me to see him.
EROS…
“Where did you go? Do you have any idea how long I’ve been waiting for you?” he asked as he stood up.
I wasn’t sure if he even wanted answers to his questions, because to me, it just felt like he just wanted to complain. How am I supposed to know that he’ll be waiting for me here?
“Why are you here?” I asked the first thing that came to mind.
“Why wouldn’t I be here? Do you know how many days it’s been since I can’t contact you? Is your phone dead or something?” he spat as he came to stand right in front of me.
I looked up to see his golden eyes glowering down at me in a disapproving glare. EROS didn’t seem to realize what was going on about the fact that I had been on break which didn’t quite make sense because Justin should have already told him or his agency.
“I took a few days off from work. I’m still on my holiday right now too by the way…” I replied.
“Why did you take days off? Are you sick?” he asked while sounding more grumpy than worried about my welfare.
“Didn’t your manager tell you about this already? I’m not sick, I just…needed a break…” I replied before letting out a sigh.
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Now that I thought about it, the issue that I had with Adrian and Brandon ended up affecting EROS as well although he wasn’t at all involved. I guessed from that angle; it was sort of my fault for causing him to worry like this. I looked up at his eyes before letting out another sigh.
“I’m sorry. Some things happened so I felt like I needed a break. Anyways, there’s nothing for you to be concerned about. I’ll be back to work on Monday, and it won’t impact our deal about the charity concert. I’ll be there…so that you’ll be there…” I told him with a regretful grin.
“Elena…” he called my name softly.
“You should head back now…” I advised.
EROS took a small step toward me because that was all it took to close the distance between us. My body stiffened in place when I felt his arms around my body and pulling me even closer to him. I had no idea why he was hugging me so suddenly.
–To be continued…