What Can You Not Buy With Money?

“How are you feeling, sir?” I softly asked as I gave him a generous serving of his Luwak coffee and a small bacon sandwich that Lucy gratefully made.

“I can’t eat,” Burgess whispered as he rubbed his temples and took a careful sip of caffeine.

“This will help. It’s how my mom got over her hangovers,” I hesitantly added and looked away in a shameful reflex.

Burgess was silent and remained stubborn in not touching anything but his coffee mug.

“Why don’t you cancel this meeting with Bohr and go home to take some rest?” I suggested as I waited for him to insult my outfit, to scoff at my uselessness, to do something other than stare emptily at his desk like a miserable child.

“No.” He folded his hands as though making a prayer and leaned on his elbows over his desk. “I’m getting this over with.”

“What can I do to make this easier?” I fidgeted at the eagerness in my voice.

His eyes looked at me. They looked bloodshot and he had dark circles surrounding his eyes. “Anything,” he swallowed and added, “Thank you.”

“All right,” I looked away and took a step to leave. “Is there anything else you’ll need?”

“No.” Burgess’ eyes began to intimidate me again with his unblinking stare. “I’m sorry for… last night.” There was modesty in his voice that didn’t reflect in his face. Despite this, I believe he was earnest to the fullest extent.

I shook my head slowly with a small smile. “Don’t worry about it.”

When I closed Burgess’ office door I checked the time on my Smartphone and swallowed at realizing that Bohr was due in three minutes. The sudden winding of the elevator doors down the hallway caused my entire body to freeze like a rabbit watching its predator approaching.

The man that emerged from the silvery doors was very young, though not as young as Burgess. He had a pale, youthful complexion that caused him to shimmer. He had very dark features that concluded with lustrous black hair and dark blue eyes. He dressed smartly in all black, except for his tie that brought out the blue in his eyes.

As I carefully unclenched my hands, I dared to take a step toward the two guests. As I neared the Bohr representatives, I widened my eyes at seeing a familiar red haired woman with a smug grin taut at the corner of her lips. Questions rushed through my mind but I merely scowled at her. I’d deal with her later.

“Hello,” The man nodded at me without a smile. Despite the motionless of his face there was a flicker of arrogance that reminded me strongly of Burgess—but there was a different spark intermingled in the dark blue that Burgess could never have: a reckless abandon that terrified me.

As I stood paralyzed due to the intensity of his aura, his eyes tightened and a small smirk grew across his face. “You must be Ms. Hall. It’s a pleasure to meet you,” his voice was soft, calm, and deep. He stretched out his hand for me to take.

“…Mr. Bohr,” I clenched my teeth as I took his cold hand. “Mr. Burgess is waiting for you.” I took a step forward, trying to be as solid and unmovable as a stone wall. Opening the door, Burgess looked up with attentive recoil.

“Ah,” Mr. Bohr and Lila took seats without so much as a proper greeting to their host. “Concerning about your deal with Slater Enterprise, I feel insulted Ben.”

“Jon, I did what had to be done,” Burgess quietly spoke with a cool tone that amazed me. It was as though he never knew the word 'fear', his mask so convincing. “Slater was going down due to your… actions and I felt the need to interfere.” Burgess leaned back in his chair behind his desk. “So, what are you wasting your time crying to me for?”

Bohr smirked and turned to me. I began to inwardly tremble at the look of amusement that sharpened in his eyes. “My newly hired assistant told me a great deal of Ms. Hall. And what fascinated me was why you hired her... I've come to feed my… curiosity. And I heard that she managed to… aid you in persuading Slater.”

Burgess was silent as he looked at me with a raised eyebrow. “All right.”

“Quite amazing,” Bohr implored at me.

“What?” I asked defensively but I dared not bring out too great a tone of defiance.

“You are, for being a tool at interfering with me. And—Lila, dear, you say this young woman stole your job?”

“Oh yes,” Lila nodded. “And I had another run in with her yesterday.” She looked at Bohr with a pout and her eyes seemed to glisten miserably.

“Sh.” Bohr patted his assistant’s hands. “Burgess, you know very well how protective I am of my employees. I'm not a merciful person.”

“As am I,” Burgess stood up. “I apologize but since you're refusing to be civil this meeting's over.” Burgess pressed a button and within a few seconds large guards came into the office. “Escort these two off of campus.”

“No need to be dramatic, Ben. It merely shows how scared of me you are,” Bohr stood up and smirked at him. As he and Lila left, he flashed me a dark look that filled me with dread. Lila followed and threw me a disgusting smirk.

Ben and I were silent for a minute or two. I was wondering if that man had nothing better to do than to taunt Burgess. Burgess’ eyes were closed as he rubbed his temples and gave out a sigh.

“I don’t like him,” I said.

Burgess opened his eyes. “I wouldn’t expect you to.”

“He’s going to start something, isn’t he?”

“Yes. We can’t prove it legally, but he threatened you. I know he did.”

“Will this mean I’m fired?” I asked, wondering if I was the cause of it—if I was responsible for this.

“Of course not. Especially since he likes to hurt anyone he can. And he loves revenge.” Burgess stood up and looked out the windows into the city. “The sole reason he ran Slater’s company down to the ground was because her daughter, Terra, dumped him.”

“What...?” I muttered in disbelief. “So we’re next?”

“He can’t touch me,” Burgess looked at me. “I’m as powerful as he is. It’s you, the Slaters, and everyone around you I’d worry about. And the fact that Lila Maddock has managed to capture his attention only makes matters worse.”

“She’s horrible,” I folded my arms in anger. “Last night she made a scene with my friend.”

“Right, Choking Charles?” Burgess took a step closer with a playful smile on his face.

“That’s—what you called him? You’re horrible!” I shook my head. “And Wheezing Walker… how can you call him that?"

Burgess raised an eyebrow and he became a little too close for comfort. We were only inches away from physical contact. “And Bitchy Ben’s any better.”

“Yeah, it is,” I snapped at him—ignoring the warning signs my conscious was giving off. “Walker could die one day.”

“We all die,” Burgess snapped back. “Being sensitive about it only makes everything worse.” Burgess clenched his eyes tight and cradled his forehead in agony. “Shit.”

I took the phone and called his driver and began canceling all of his meetings for the rest of the day.

“No, what are you doing?!” Burgess snapped and winced.

“You’re headache’s getting worse. You’re going home and getting some rest or I’ll…”

“What?” Burgess smirked in between clutching his throbbing head. “You keep forgetting I’m the one who calls the shots.”

“I’ll tell Madame Slater.”

Burgess glared at me then surrendered. “Don’t think this gives you any dominance over me. But I’m too tired to press it.”

“Good,” I took a step back. “What will I do while you’re gone?”

“Nothing. Unless you want to care for me while I’m forced to stay at home I’ll pick you up tomorrow morning.”

“All right. Get some rest.”