21

"Where have you been, Elizabeth?" Cole asked immediately I opened the door. He only ever used my full name when I was in trouble, and when I heard it, I would shake all the way to his office, but this time I rolled my eyes and closed the door.

Now, I was not just a secretary.

"I went out," I responded simply, and glanced at him sitting on the sofa directly opposite the door. He was still dressed in yesterday's clothes, and his hair looked wildly tangled. He looked like a mess.

"Where to? Your phone was off throughout and I could not reach you nor track down–"

"Is my phone being tracked?" I interrupted, incredulity dripping from my words. Cole looked at me and shrugged, like I should not have been surprised.

"You're my personal secretary, so I need to know where you are. At all times," he said.

"I am no longer working for you and–"

"But I'm still paying you," Cole retorted, raising his voice by an octave.

"Until when are you going to lord that fact over me?" I asked and sighed loudly.