Cold shoulder

Ruth's POV

I blinked, not believing my eyes for a moment. But it was true. It really was Caleb Cross who had just spoken to me, looking as if he has just stepped out of one of my dreams.

Sure, in the last 2 weeks, I've had recurring dreams of him, but none of them prepared me for this moment as I stood watching him, feeling at loss of what to do next now that he was standing in front of me.

"Caleb," I breathed out unconsciously. "You're really here."

"And you," he raised a mocking brow, eying my body.

But before I could blush or feel flattered, he continued, "you are really wet."

Huh?

I looked down at my overcoat and shirt that was dripping with coffee and shivered.

His reply brought my attention back to present, and I realised that the scalding hot burn of liquid was nearly giving me a rash. I held my shirt away from my body just as another voice spoke up.

"And just how is he allowed to get away with a blatant innuendo to his subordinate, when I'm not?"

Leo was leaning against the front desk that was generally occupied by Ellen, his eyes dancing with mischief.

"Leo! You're back!" All these surprises were giving me a headache, but I couldn't help feel relieved to see him.

Of course, that could also be because of return of the other Cross man, but something about Leo's presence put me at ease.

"Love that enthusiasm, dahlin', but I'd much rather you used that breathy, reverential tone for me too," he winked, making me smile.

It felt like an unfamiliar motion in my cheek muscles, and I realised that this was the first time in two weeks that I was actually - willingly - smiling.

Infact, I suddenly felt lighthearted, as if the constant buzzing in my brain has finally stopped.

"Some things never change, do they?" Caleb murmured and shook his head lightly, his dark eyes on me. For a brief second, I felt like we were back at the night of bonfire again as something toe-curling and warm flashed on his face.

But the moment broke when a third voice echoed from the elevator area.

"They most certainly don't."

Three set of eyes swung over to watch Tristan's tall form walk up to us, Ellen Cole trailing behind him. Her sharp eyes was snapping around, taking in the whole scene.

The atmosphere slowly changed, as Tristan came to a halt next to me, standing far enough to be professional, but still closer than he had stood ever before.

It could have been my imagination, but I thought I saw Caleb's eyes narrow for a split second before looking utterly disinterested.

"Are you done with your lunch, Ruth? There's a report I need you to complete before 4pm today."

I controlled the urge to shift awkwardly, even though I had no idea why.

"Um... yeah. Sure, Mr. Andrews."

"Oh Ruth, what did we discuss this morning? Mr. Andrews sounds so formal and-"

"Professional?" Caleb interrupted, sounding sarcastic and bored all at once.

Tristan turned to him, a sickeningly sweet smile stretching on his face.

"So you're familiar with the word? After the recent stunt you pulled, I wasn't so sure that was the case. But then again, avoiding work isn't new to you, is it?"

Something malicious reflected in Tristan's eyes, as if he was trying to remind Caleb of something particularly sordid, but Caleb didn't take the bait.

Instead, he replied, "Oh, I'm familiar with the word, Mr. Andrews. As are you that it wasn't the 'work' part that I was avoiding this time too."

It was the people part.

He didn't say the last part out loud, but he didn't need to. Especially when his dark eyes briefly swept over to me, before returning back to Tristan's.

It was a very subtle movement, a blink-and-miss, but it was enough to freeze me in my place.

Caleb was away to avoid me? Why?

But before I could dissect and analyse that statement further, he continued, "Like it or not though, I am here now, ready to take back all that belongs to me."

This time when he looked at me, there was no mistaking the intent in his eyes.

I saw it. Tristan saw it. Leo saw it. Even Ellen Cole, who was situated at her usual place behind the desk now, saw it as she cleared her throat subtly, and asked, "so whose name should I add as an employee and who is a visitor.... Sir?"

Her question fell heavy in the air between the 3 men standing in front of her. I looked at Tristan, with his arched brow and repressed smirk, looking like he was winning a bet he had unintentionally placed, to Caleb, who had boredom written all over him, except for his dark eyes that seemed alert.

I fully expected Caleb to give her a scathing remark. Or for Tristan to give her a double-edged reply.

But it was Leo who stepped ahead and leaned onto the counter, "let's end this confusion once and for all, shall we dahlin'?"

At that moment, even with his exaggerated Boston accent, Leo sounded like a Cross. The man who should never be taken lightly no matter how much he tried to convince you otherwise.

"A Cross will always be the 'employer' and everyone else will merely be the visitors that are just passing by. Are we clear?"

*

I glanced at the closed cabin door for what felt like 1000th time in the last 3 hours. But it remained just as unmoving and secretive as the people on the other side of it.

After the mini showdown downstairs, I had fully expected to witness more fireworks at the place of actual operations aka, the cabin. It was afterall, Caleb's space that was currently occupied by Tristan.

But as soon as the three men in question had reached up, they had locked themselves inside, not a single squeak leaking out. The curiosity, more than anything, was killing me, as I checked the report Tristan had asked me to prepare, before sending it for the prints.

Even with the curiosity burning a hole in my brain, I wasn't in a hurry to quench it just yet.

There was no telling what I would find inside, but I knew whatever it was, I won't like it all that much.

But ofcourse, the report wasn't going to deliver itself, and so I mentally prepared myself to knock on the door as the report printed out.

I took my sweet time to arrange and file the papers, until I couldn't avoid it anymore. I walked up the cabin and knocked. Even though I told myself that I was being an idiot, my heart felt like it was trying to outrace itself.

"Yes." A single word in that familiar voice I had unknowingly been craving to hear for past weeks made my heart stutter, as I opened the door and walked in.

I had always thought of this cabin as a spacious space, with minimal furniture and soothing colours. But right now, it looked anything but spacious or soothing.

Leo was standing by the window with his arms crossed behind him, a far away expression on his face, while Tristan was situated on the leather couch in the far corner of the room, with a dozen or so files scattered about him, as if he just couldn't fit all of them on the desk.

None of them looked up as I stepped in, but I didn't mind. I was too busy looking at the third man in the room.

Caleb stood in the center of the room, arms relaxed, gripping the edge of the desk he was leaning against.

Instead of the fireworks that I was imagining from outside, the room was quiet, the atmosphere frigidly cold. No one spoke, or even looked at each other, but the tension and conflict was present in the very atmosphere.

Despite all of that, Caleb looked relaxed. Almost bored.

He was staring at the floor, like he was lost in some deep thought. I wanted him to look up, but it was as if he knew that's what I wanted, and was purposely denying me.

He must've felt my gaze on him though, because I watched as the fight suddenly drained from him. It was a subtle change. A slight droop of his shoulders, a silent exhale of breath, and he finally looked up, freezing me in my spot.

Because even if the rest of him was relaxed, nearly languid, his eyes were cold. Colder than the shards of ice.

It was such a shock to see him direct that look at me, so different from the one that had been replaying in my mind in the last 2 weeks that for a moment, I couldn't recognise the man that stood in front of me.

Why was he looking at him like that? As if I had personally wronged him somehow?

There were other things that I noticed then too. Like how purple the dark circles beneath his eyes were, standing out stark against his pale face. I frowned, and unconsciously stepped towards him, worried if he was sick.

But my concerns slinked back to where they had came from, because his body language changed. Even though he hadn't moved an inch, everything about his demeanor screamed back-off. And somehow I knew that any kind of care or sympathy from me was not welcomed.

"That report is ready, Ruth?"

As if coming out of some kind of trance, I blinked, and then turned to Tristan, who had finally looked up from his files, and at me.

"Uh, yes sir. I've added the expenditure list in the end like you had asked me to."

Tristan nodded in approval and started going through the file just as a shiver ran through me. Caleb.

I didn't need to turn around to know that he was looking at me. Even though I knew there was nothing good about it, I shivered again, feeling his gaze on my back like a physical touch.

I honestly didn't understand this reaction. Sure, I knew how we instinctively know when someone is watching us, but this was different. Too personal. Too intense. Too cutting.

I wanted to turn around, check and make sure if I was right, and not just losing my mind, but I kept my back to him, not daring to look.

My breath turned heavy with the knowledge that he was watching me. Tristan nodded, and murmured something but I was unable to concentrate.

"It looks good, Ruth. Can you send it to the finance department for cross-verification?"

Tristan smiled and handed me the file back, but I wasn't paying attention. My mind was too focused on the fact that I was still feeling Caleb's scorching gaze on my back. I absent-mindedly nodded and walked back to the door.

Before leaving though, I couldn't resist looking back one last time. And then I wished I hadn't.

Because I was right, and he was looking. But the expression on his face was something that I knew I'll probably never forget.

There was anger and accusation. There was heat and intensity. But if I had to choose one word to sum it all up, it wont be any of those.

The word I'd choose would be heartbreak.