“Bardil. Hi. I’ve been busy.”
“Doing what? Because it isn’t work-related. You didn’t send this week’s delivery report. You haven’t been into the office or the warehouse. What are you so busying with that you disappear for a week solid?”
I sigh, rubbing my fingers against my temple. Shit. I don’t want to drag other people into this. And I don’t want to tell him what I’m actually doing because this is private.
“Sorry, man. Just been a crazy week,” I chuckle. “Things are good here. I have finished that report; I just haven’t sent it through yet. I’ll do it tomorrow,” I tell him.
“Ok, but it’s not about the report. I was worried about you. What’s going on with you?” he asks.
“Nothing. Seriously. Life is good. I’ve been spending time with Blair. We went up to the Bahamas for a bit to get away. Man, I love that place,” I say, hoping to redirect the whole conversation.
“Oh, that sounds amazing. I was just telling Marlen the other day that we need to get the whole family up there again.”
“We should. But after the stormy season. We got lucky while we were there and things didn’t get too out of hand, but Blair did get to witness some incredible shows of nature.”
We chat for a while, laughing, talking about nothing in particular. By the end of the call, Bardil is reassured that I am alive and well, and there is nothing he needs to worry about, which is a relief because I didn’t need him to go to Marlen to report that I’ve gone down a rabbit hole of some sort.
After the call, I sigh and place my phone down on the desk.
I’ve been so deep in my research and planning that I haven’t realized just how tired I am. I think I’ve spent about three hours a night every night this week. If that. My body aches when I stand up and try to stretch.
“Hey, was that your brother on the phone?” Blair is standing in the doorway.
“Yeah, it was Bardil,” I smile, trying not to look as exhausted as I feel.
“You told him everything was fine?” she asks.
“Of course, why wouldn’t I?”
“Because you haven’t slept this week. You look like shit. You’re hardly eating, and you don’t even register when I stand in the doorway of your office and speak to you,” she says, scrunching her face and looking worried.
“Oh. Um. I was just busy with work stuff,” I tell her.
“If it were work stuff wouldn’t your brother know about it?” she asks, and my jaw clenches tightly.
I chuckle softly. She’s sharp. And she’s worried about me. “My brothers don’t know all of my business,” I smile, walking over to her.
She looks up at me with narrowed eyes. “Well, whatever is going on, I don’t like it. You’ve practically disappeared. You need to sleep, eat, and say hi to me every now and then. I feel like I’m living with a ghost,” she complains.
“I’m sorry. You’re right. It isn’t fair of me. I’ll grab a quick shower, and then we can go out to get a bite to eat if you like?”
“That sounds nice,” Blair nods, smiling.
I lean down, kissing her on the forehead before heading to my room to shower and change.
I don’t want to stop working on my plans, but she’s right. I can’t drift so far from her that she starts to worry about me. I need to be more careful.
“Blair?” I call out, dressed and ready to go to a restaurant with her. There is no answer, and I walk down the hallway heading for the stairs, thinking she must be down there already.
But as I’m passing my office, I see her standing behind my desk.
She looks furious as she stares down at the paperwork, the information about her stepbrother, and my notes about how I want to take him down.
When I walk in, she looks up at me, her eyes fuming.
“What is this, Simon!?” she demands.
`’it’s research,” I say cautiously.