Pulse 3 (Pulse Series) by Rhea Wilde

time being.
    “ Okay,” he said. “No talk about business or the company.”
    “ Let’s just enjoy this dinner while we can.”
    “ But we have to talk about something. I can’t just sit here and watch you eat.”
    “ Why not? You don’t like the way I look when I eat?”
    “ Now you’re just trying to twist my words, Alice.”
    “ I’m not twisting your words. That’s what you said.”
    “ That’s not what I said.”
    “ You said you can’t watch me eat. So, what is it? Is it the way I chew? Do I not close my mouth sometimes?”
    “ Alice—”
    “ No. Please, Mr. Barnett. I need more help on trying to be a lady. I could use some lessons.”
    I stuffed two forkfuls of food into my mouth. I held my mouth open as I chewed for his amusement. The smile on Rafael ’s face grew wider until he finally started laughing. He shook his head at me before returning to his meal. I wiped my mouth and two of us enjoyed our dinner without thinking too much about anything else.
    After a hard day of work, it was nice to see him smile. I didn ’t know how often I would need to do it but it wasn’t hard for me. It was something I knew I was capable of. This is the reason Rafael wanted me to work alongside him. This was why he wanted me in his office. And now that I was here, I was willing to do whatever it took to make his job that much easier.

    Chapter 13
    Rafael spent his time late in the office every night that week. When I left at night to finally get some sleep, he would still be at his desk going over the latest data that was sent to him. When I arrived back to work in the morning, he was already at his desk going over what was undoubtedly the same information. If it weren’t for the fact that he was wearing a different suit each time, I would have thought that he actually slept at his desk.
    The long nights were taking a toll on me just as they were on him. He was always on my mind, regardless of where I was. At work, I couldn ’t organize the notes he needed fast enough. At home, I wondered what he was doing at every moment. I wished that there was something I could do but I knew that there wasn’t. I didn’t want to admit that being alongside of him in his office was actually beginning to feel like work.
    The end of the week came and it felt like he hadn ’t made any progress. The phone calls he made sounded like a broken record. The numbers and data I sorted all looked the same. Rafael said that it was just a matter of time before they finally came to terms everybody could agree upon. That time was starting to look like months instead of days.
    It wa s a Friday night. Even though it was the end of the workweek, I wasn’t sure that Rafael could tell the difference between this night and any other night. The city looked like it was full of life tonight. Everybody was coming out to celebrate the weekend. But Rafael sat at his desk, still focused on all of the work laid upon it.
    I made my way over to him but he didn ’t look up at me. I placed my hands on his shoulders like I was so accustomed to doing and massaged his muscles. His stress was obvious. I pressed hard to try and get rid of all of the knots in him.
    “ It’s Friday,” I whispered into his ear.
    “ Don’t remind me.”
    “ Come on. Let’s go out. Have some fun. Relax. This work will still be here when you get back. Nobody will notice if you’ve taken a few days off.”
    “ I’ll notice. And that’s more important than anybody else’s opinion.”
    I took my hands off of him and positioned myself next to him. I turned around and sat on the edge of his desk. I looked down at him but his attention was still on all of the work laid out in front of him. He shuffled through all of the papers like I wasn’t even there. I sighed then put my hand upon his to get him to stop. He finally looked up at me. The stress from a week of overtime was more apparent than it had ever been. But he still managed to look as handsome as he usually did.
    “