Chapter 87

87 Saving a Workaholic

“Hello, Miss Elena. Sorry for the late introduction but I am Mr. Brandon’s secretary. My name is Kenneth,” the man said politely.

“I’m Elena...” I replied before smiling a little at him.

“I wasn’t here to greet you the last time that you were here because I was out on some errands and I do apologize for that,” the man said humbly.

“That’s not a problem at all,” I replied.

It was honestly very surprising that Brandon had a male secretary. I’m not being sexist about job roles and suitability based on gender or anything like that because I knew that if this man could survive as Brandon’s secretary, then he must be extremely good at his job. It was just a little surprising...

“Please follow me, Mr. Brandon is...umm...working in his office,” the man said a little hesitantly.

I wasn’t certain but it seemed like something was troubling Kenneth. That coupled with the fact that Brandon is not here...

...

Kenneth led me into Brandon’s office and gestured towards the large table where Brandon was busy typing away on his computer. This sight was familiar, and I immediately knew what was going on.

.....

“How long has he been like that?” I asked immediately.

My eyes stared at Brandon who was busy typing away like a lunatic on his laptop. Although we had entered his office, he didn’t acknowledge our presence at all. His eyes never left his laptop screen as his fingers continued typing at an astonishing speed on his keyboard. It was like his eyes couldn’t see anything but the work right in front of him and that was probably the truth. I knew well that when he became like this, he didn’t care about anything else besides his work and that included his own health as well.

It was like he was now operating in a completely different world and the reality of our world did not matter to him at all. It had been years since I’ve last seen Brandon like this. The last time that he was like this, he almost landed himself in the hospital.

“Umm...I’m not sure but my guess would be around two days...” Kenneth replied in a shaky voice.

“When was the last time that he ate?” I asked as I suspected the worst.

“I’m not sure...I don’t think he’s eaten since this started...” Kenneth replied.

It was clear that Kenneth didn’t know what to do with Brandon when he entered his zone like this. I was so thankful for my sleep last night because I was going to need all the energy that I had to pull Brandon back from his zone. I walked over to Brandon’s side, and I knew right away that although he was physical sitting there, his mind was somewhere far away.

“Brandon...” I called his name and waited.

After five seconds of complete silence, I called his name again, louder this time. Once again, completely no response or any signs that he had heard me.

“Kenneth, can you get some food for Brandon. Anything that’s easy to eat with your hands. Like food that is in small pieces that can be put directly in his mouth without him having to bite it. You know...” I instructed, trying my best to explain.

“Yes, right away...” Kenneth replied before quickly heading out of the room.

I stared at Brandon’s face and the dark circles that had formed under his eyes. The worst part about this was that although his brain could take it, his body always had a problem keeping up with him. He’ll end up overworking himself and his body will end up suffering the aftereffects.

“Wait for me, Brandon...” I said to him before turning away and heading to the pantry.

It’s got to be here somewhere. There’s a coffee machine so there’s coffee but what about the other ingredients that I need. Here we go! I opened the cupboard and finally found what I was looking for. Then I need fresh milk which I found in the fridge. This should work out...

With the mug of coffee in my hand, I headed back to Brandon’s office. Not surprisingly, I found him in the exact same place and doing the exact same thing just like before I had left him. I grabbed a chair and placed it directly next to his before sitting down on it. I sucked in a deep breath and began blowing on the coffee to cool it down to a drinkable temperature.

I took a little sip to test if it was warm enough before slowly placing the rim of the cup against Brandon’s lips. He didn’t react in any way to my action but slowly, he began sipping the coffee. I closed my eyes and sighed softly before reopening my eyes again to focus on getting the angle of the cup right. Slowly, Brandon sipped on the coffee, and I watched him in silence. Some things never change and thankfully so, otherwise, I wouldn’t know what to do in this situation.

Brandon’s eyes were still glued to the screen and his fingers were still moving frantically on the keyboard. The sound of his typing filled my ears and I found it calming. It was a familiar sound that filled our bedroom when we were living together. He worked very hard back then too. Looking at his screen, I could tell that he was coding. What exactly he was coding, I didn’t know.

After a while, Brandon almost completely finished the cup of coffee. By that time, my arm was partially numb, and I slowly pulled the cup again from his lips. Brandon blinked a rapidly a couple of times before turning to look at me. He seemed a little surprised to see me there.

“Elena...” he whispered as his eyes came to focus on my face.

“Welcome back, Brandon,” I said before offering him a smile.

I stared deeply into his beautiful grey eyes as he looked up at me with a mix of confusion and exhaustion. The dark circles under his eyes are much worse than I thought now that I can see them up close. Brandon needs to rest and soon. The peace and quiet around us was disturbed by the loud sound of the door opening. I turned to see Kenneth walking in with bags of food in his arms.

–To be continued...