Chapter 129 Anything Else, Boss?
Emily couldn’t get out of the hotel fast enough as the event wrapped up. She didn’t get to talk much to Katie after giving her the ‘mentor speech’, and Byron was constantly swarmed by people.
“Are you going to be sad if I never go to one of these again?” she asked Byron over drinks in the limo on the way home.
“Please, I’m not a delicate flower,” Byron said, pouring a liqueur into glasses for them.
“Are you sure you won’t mind?”
“Yeah.” His posture was more stiff than usual, and he didn’t put his arm around her like he often did.
“I can tell you’re mad,” she muttered. Her liqueur tasted bitter, and she felt a sinking feeling as the bright lights and restaurant signs sped by outside the window.
“I’m not mad. I just wish you would come to my dinners more often. And I suppose I do find it offensive when you say they’re boring.”
“Oh… sorry,” Emily said. “Maybe it’s better if I just don’t go then.”
Byron put down his glass with a sigh. “I know they might not be as witty or colorful as your art and design crowd, but they’re nice people, and they do good work for me.”
“Nice people?! That Monty or Morty whatever his name is—said he wanted to kill otters! He’s some kind of monster.”
“Yeah, Monty is actually not very conscious of environmental issues. But it’s good you were there to give him on alternative perspective.”
“I certainly did,” Emily said.
Byron chuckled. “See, you got a chance to share your opinions. Maybe these stuffy business people can learn something new.”
“But at what cost to my sanity?”
“Fine, you don’t have to come if you don’t want to,” Byron said coolly.
“Oh really? Thank you so much,” Emily said, “When we’re married I’ll have to ask your permission each time I don’t want to attend an event.”
“Come on, you know I’m not like that. But would it really seem crazy of me to expect you to attend some events with me as my wife?”
“I don’t know,” she said sullenly. On the one hand, what he was asking for seemed perfectly normal; on the other, Emily was always watchful against anything that threatened her freedom. Playing the role of a dutiful wife seemed constricting at times.
Being a high-profile figure, Byron often had to be at such events, whether for his own company or networking with others, and if they were going to be married, accompanying him would seem like something she was expected to do.
Byron spent a long time in his home office, and despite what he said, Emily felt like he was avoiding her.
She knocked on his door, feeling self-conscious. Perhaps she had over-reacted. It’s not like anyone was forcing her to do anything she didn’t want to, and she realized she could have handled it more gracefully.
Byron looked up from his computer screen, slightly irritated by the interruption, but then his gaze softened. Emily looked back at him, their connection instantly flaming up again without them saying a word.
“It couldn’t have been that boring if you had a debate about otters,” Byron said at last.
Emily let out a small laugh. “You’re right,” she said, “it was a good thing I could give Morty a piece of my mind.”
“It’s Monty.”
“Sorry if I came across as too abrasive,” Emily said. “I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. I just want to be my own person, you know, not to be thought of as someone’s wife.”
“Of course you are,” Byron said, leaning forward in his chair, “It doesn’t make you any less of an independent person if you attend a party with me once in a while.”
“I know.”
“But I shouldn’t say I expect it. Of course, I’d like for you to be there because these official events take up quite a bit of my time, and I always want you near me.”
“Oh…” Emily realized she had been looking at it all wrong. It was not some ‘duty’ she had to do as his wife. It was only that Byron missed her and wanted to be with her as much as possible. “Why didn’t you say so?”
“I… thought you knew.” He got up from behind the desk and came closer to her.
“I should have known, and now I feel silly.” She hugged him, and he returned the hug warmly.
“It’s okay,” he said in a sweet, soothing voice, “You don’t have to come to any event you don’t enjoy. It was silly of me to try to pressure you.”
“But I want to be with you too,” Emily said, looking up into his sexy blue-green eyes. “It makes me happy to be in the same room as you, even if we don’t get a chance to talk while you’re busy with other people. Maybe I won’t go to every single event, though.”
“Of course you don’t have to!” Byron replied.
“And you’ve got to do something about those seating arrangements.”
His mouth curved into a sly grin. “Are you saying you don’t want to sit by Monty again? Maybe I should put you beside him just for fun.”
Emily didn’t dignify that with a response. “Maybe everyone could just move around the room a lot more, and that way no one is stuck with anyone they are not particularly fond of.”
“Okay, I understand,” Byron said. “Anything else, boss?”
“You could issue a memo about otters being a protected species, and about employees being allowed to wear colors.”
“Wear colors?” he asked in confusion.
“Yeah, I talked to a woman who thought she would be looked down on if she didn’t dress only in black and white.”
“Oh, that’s Stacie,” Byron said, grinning, “I think she knows she’s allowed to wear colors. But maybe you can persuade her to loosen up a little when you see her again.”
“I’d love to!”
“See? You’re already doing so much good,” he said, pressing one finger to the tip of her nose.
“Yeah right. I haven’t even begun to get through to old Monty,” she said, returning the gesture.
“I don’t know if anyone ever will.”
“I had no idea there were people like him.” Emily said, “I guess I learned something too. It was arrogant of me to think these people had nothing new to tell me.”
“You’re always curious, and it’s one of the many things I love about you,” Byron said. “As for the otter situation, I don’t think I can issue a memo… but I’ll see what I can do.”
