CHAPTER 94
New Feelings…
Cornell
A knock on the front door woke me up, making me realise that I'd fallen asleep in an awkward position, holding on to Elena's hand.
She was still sleeping, snoring softly with her nose wrinkled as she muttered in her sleep.
The knock came again, more insistent this time and I gently untangled my hand from hers, straightening to my feet.
Cautious of Elena who was still sleeping, I opened the door gently, spotting Sam on the other side of the door.
I stepped out of the room, slamming the door closed behind me. "What is it?"
"I'm so sorry to disturb you, sir, but urgent business has come up. I thought you would like to know about it."
Crap.
"Yeah, I would." I scrub a hand down my face to get the remnants of sleep out of my eyes. "You know what, just meet me in my office. Give me a few minutes and I'll join you."
He nods and walks away, allowing me to go back to the bathroom.
Reaching below Elena's thighs, I unplugged the drain so the water could flow out and then I scooped her in my arms and went back into the room.
After a quick strip out of her wet underwear, I covered her with the sheets, allowing her to sleep peacefully.
I was about to leave the room, but I couldn't help myself and went back to place a kiss on her forehead, breathing in her scent.
Eventually, I managed to drag myself down to the office, where I got swamped in the urgent business Sam came to talk to me about.
Turns out an intern mixed up a prototype that was supposed to be given to a client in two days and now, we have to deal with the mess.
I planned to spend roughly an hour on the issue, but one hour turned to two, and then time flew by so quickly that the next thing I knew, I heard a knock on the door.
Shortly after, it opened to reveal Elena walking in with a tray balanced in her hands and a wide smile, dressed in sweatpants. "Hey!"
"Um…hi?" I scooted back from my desk, pleasantly surprised. "I thought you were still resting…what's this?"
"Just a little apology meal…" she shrugged with a sheepish smile, setting the tray down gently on my desk. "When I woke up, everything that happened came rushing back and…I feel so terrible."
"Elena…" I started to say but she cut me off.
"No, listen. It's already hard for me to do this but I feel awful." She bit down on her lips, breaking eye contact briefly. "I can't believe I tried to force you to sleep with me!"
"Well…" I waggled my eyebrows, licking my lips. "I wouldn't mind you doing that every day."
"Oh, my gosh, Cornell!" She admonished playfully, giggling softly.
I joined her in laughing but only briefly, my expression turning serious shortly after. "But on a serious note though, I'm really sorry that this happened to you. I'm sure by now you've already figured out that my Mom planned this for Victoria and me, and even though you might not want to hear this right now, I'm really glad that you're the one who took the drink instead of her."
Elena looked away after my remark, going silent for so long that I thought I had said something offensive, until she looked at me with a half smile. "It's all good. Like mother like son, huh? One makes a joke about drugging me while the other actually does it!"
I chuckled but gently steered the conversation back to the most important aspect. "Also, about the engagement, I swear I knew nothing about it and I promise to sort it out."
Elena starts picking at the hem of her dress, then flips her hair to the side nonchalantly. "You can do whatever you want, it's not like I'm your girlfriend or anything."
"Well, it's only a matter of time…" I slide a look at her, which only makes her jump to her feet.
"I should get going…"
"Already?" I take one glance at the clock, realizing it was later than I thought. "Oh, okay, if you want to. Also, don't forget to prepare for the business trip coming up. I'd hate for you to be antsy."
"Nah, I won't. Besides, Ethan reminded me of the arrangement this morning, so I'm good."
She was already edging towards the door which was my cue to get up from the chair. "Well, let me at least see you off."
"You know you don't have to right? I live next door." She tells me over her shoulder.
"Doesn't matter." I shrugged. "I'll never get tired of spending any extra time with you."
Elena cuts me a look, rolling her eyes. "Those cheesy lines of yours won't get you anywhere, you know?"