I raised an eyebrow, still not looking at him. "Don’t be ridiculous."
Caron chuckled. "I am not being ridiculous. I am being observant. You have been acting strange around her for weeks anyway, and now you are... You are falling for her Adrien."
My eyes snapped to his, a mixture of defensiveness and panic rising to the surface. "I’m not."
Caron held up his hands. "Okay, okay. You’re not. But you’re definitely feeling sothing. And I don’t think it is just because she does her job well."
I frowned, grabbing a bottle that was empty and staring at it like it held the answers to everything there ever was. "I don’t know what you’re talking about."
Caron gave a shit eating grin that made my skin crawl. "Deny it all you want, Adrien. But you’re really not fooling anybody, least of all yourself. You wouldn’t be this ssed up about a random employee. You’re possessive, jealous, and you’re drowning your emotions in whatever this god-awful liquor is. Classic signs, my friend."
I looked at him, took a long sip, then said, "Maybe."
He raised his eyebrow. "Maybe?"
I shrugged. "Maybe I am. Maybe I am not. I don’t know."
"Well, which is it?"
I shifted uncomfortably. "Don’t jump into conclusions, okay? Yes, I ssed things up today. I ssed up today. I shouldn’t have left her but it’s not about liking her."
"Could’ve fooled ..." he muttered, but I ignored him.
"She’s got confused; that’s all that’s going on. She’s... she’s complicated things. She’s made second guess everything. She’s made act like a fool." I poured myself another drink, hand slightly shaking. I needed a little more burn.
I took a long desperate gulp. The burn wasn’t enough anymore.
"Acting like a fool," Caron said dryly. "Or acting like a guy who finally realized he screwed up sothing he actually cared about?"
"I don’t care about her!" I wasn’t as quiet as I thought I was and I was ragged and raw. The words echoed in the very large room we were in. It sounded hollow even to .
Caron didn’t flinch. He just watched , his gaze steady and knowing. "Really? Because the guy I’m looking at right now looks pretty damn close to caring."
He sighed like he was watching sothing fall apart and couldn’t stop it.
"This isn’t you, Adrien."
I didn’t respond.
Caron didn’t give up.
"She’s just your assistant, Adrien," he said, voice sharp. "That’s all she is, right?"
I stared at the empty glass in my hand. The silence stretched too long.
He leaned forward again and his faced squinted as if fascinated in a bad way. "Just an assistant you happen to have a contract relationship with. That’s all this is, yeah? Nothing to make it special, nothing to make it worth it."
I didn’t answer.
"Then why the hell are you sitting here drinking like you just lost your damn wife?"
My jaw tensed.
"You keep saying she’s nothing," he pushed on, "but you’re acting like she’s everything. Do you think this makes sense to anyone that doesn’t know what is going on in your head? Because it sure as hell doesn’t make sense to ."
I looked up, slow and focused on the weight of his words.
"You’re spiraling, you know." He shook his head. "And I get it. You ssed up. You care—maybe more than you realize—but whatever this is? Sitting here, soaking wet, drinking like it’ll rewind ti? It’s not helping."
I leaned forward, elbows on my knees, pressing the heels of my palms into my eyes.
"I’m fine," I muttered.
"No, you’re not." He sounded much more serious than he did before. "And honestly? I don’t know what the hell happened between you two, but this?" He gestured at . "This right here isn’t the Adrien I know."
He leaned in.
"So how about you stop whatever the hell you’re doing, clear your head, and rember one thing ─she is your assistant."
I winced.
"Not your friend. Not your girl. Not your business."
I just want to throw sothing at him to make him stop talking!
"So keep it professional. Stay at arm’s length. That’s the right thing to do. That’s who you are. The boss." He pointed at like he was reminding of my own reflection. "You’re not an emotional person. You’ve fired employees before, Adrien. You’ve been an emotionally crisp CEO for years. You don’t dissolve because you had an employee stand in the rain for a few minutes. That’s not who you are."
I stayed silent.
"And listen," he said, voice dropping now, "if you keep pushing her like this, you don’t just lose her personally, you lose her entirely. She’s smart. She’s capable. You don’t think she wouldn’t quit?"
My throat tightened.
"She absolutely would. And when she does, yeah, you’ll lose the best assistant you’ve ever had, but you’ll also lose the one person that sohow can look past all that ice you wear like armor."
He is starting to get annoying with his words. But I hate to admit he is right.
"Stop pretending like you don’t see what’s going on," Caron said. "You don’t have to call it anything. You don’t even have to like it. But if you don’t get your shit together, sothing inside you is going to break that isn’t going to be easy to fix."
I dragged a hand down my face. My jaw clenched so tight it hurt.
"Then what the hell am I supposed to do?" I asked finally. My voice was low, tired. "Just... act like she doesn’t matter?"
Caron shrugged. "You tell . Isn’t that what you’ve always been good at?"
I didn’t have an answer.
"Get your shit together," Caron said.
He stood up, walked over and poured himself a drink, and then turned back.
"Because if you don’t... if you keep doing this to yourself, Adrien..." He shakes his head and sighs "Look, man, I’m not trying to be a prick here. I’m just worried about you. You’ve been acting weird since she started working for you, and now this..."
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