I just couldn't get enough of her and she seemed to feel the same way, responsive to my every touch and kiss.
I thought of her lying alone in her apartment's Murphy bed and felt bad, but I needed to give her the space to get over the migraine if she asked for it. My instinct was to go and stay with her, or better yet, have her come and stay at the apartment with me for the weekend so I could look after her, but I didn't want to argue with her when she was in pain.
It did upset me that she left the building and went home without telling Reg. I decided to talk to him and maybe have someone go there and make sure the place was covered. We still had no idea who Mr. Fedora was, and I didn't want to risk anything just in case it was one of my former staff members who was terminated and who wanted to hurt me and mine.
I left my office and went down to the security office. I glanced up at the camera and pressed the button on the security door. The duty officer buzzed me inside. Reg was in his office, reading over some report.
"Mr. Macintyre. What can I do for you?"
"Ella left the building without letting us know," I said when I sat in the chair across from his desk.
He frowned. "When?"
"I don't know for sure but probably after lunch. Let me check."
I texted Sharon.
JOSH: When did Ella go home with her migraine?
SHARON: She messaged me just after lunch. I suppose it would be soon after. Is something wrong? Didn't she tell you?
JOSH: No, she did. I was just wondering what time she left.
I then decided to tell Sharon about Mr. Fedora.
JOSH: I'll be right up. I need to talk to you about something.
SHARON: I'm here at your disposal.
I turned to Reg. "She probably left just after lunch hour, but I don't have an exact time."
Reg left the office and went to the videos in the control room. "I'll check the feed and see when she left, check to see if Mr. Fedora wasn't in sight but I'm pretty sure we would have caught him if he was."
"Good. And make sure to send someone to her place to watch over, just in case."
"Will do."
Then, I went up to Sharon's office and when I arrived, I closed the door behind me and sat across from her.
"What's up, boss? Is there an issue with Ella?"
I shook my head. "No, not at all. I've been followed recently by someone we can't identify and so we don't know who it is or what his motives are. I hired a security company to watch over the building and ghost both Ella and me when we leave and when Ella goes to her place, just to be safe."
She frowned. "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. Who do you think it is?"
"I honestly have no idea."
"Do you have any enemies?"
I shrugged. "Could be a disgruntled former employee. Could be a business competitor who is doing research on me. Until we have more information, I have no way of knowing, but I want to be safe rather than sorry, on the off-chance it's a nutcase."
"That's a scary thought. But given the employment related shootings that happen every year, I guess you have to be careful."
"Precisely my thoughts," I replied. "Anyway, Ella knows about it and has agreed to be careful to let the security people know when she's coming and going so they can ghost her, but she didn't when she left the building today. I know she's not feeling well so it just might be an oversight on her part. Sometimes people with migraines get a kind of brain fog and she forgot to let security know. Whatever the case, I have someone going over to make sure her building is watched for the weekend."
"That must be expensive," Sharon said.
"If it protects me or Ella, it's worth every penny."