It was 8:50 AM, and Amara was early by ten minutes. She wasn''t in a rush, so she just sat in her car, waiting patiently.


    The second hand of her watch ticked away, followed by the minute hand, and soon it was 9:00 AM.


    Amara stepped out of her car, noticing only couples going in and out of the ce, but no sign of Finnian. It was weird-Finnian was always so punctual. He actually didn''t respect the time.


    Well, being just a minutete wasn''t a big deal. Amara wasn''t worried yet and found a spot under a shady tree to continue waiting.


    Another ten minutes passed, and still no Finnian. Amara pulled out her phone and dialed his number.


    "Sorry, I can''t answer the call. Please leave a message."


    The dial tone droned on for a few seconds before it went to the voice mail.


    Amara frowned, puzzled by Finnian''s tardiness and his unavability. Was his phone not on him? Did something urgente up at thest minute?


    It seemed usible. Finnian was a busy man, and emergencies were part of his routine. Amara tried to calm her anxious mind, deciding to distract herself while she waited.


    Another ten minutes slipped by, and it was now 9:20 AM. Still no Finnian. Amara felt this was getting unreasonable. Even if there was an emergency, he could have at least sent her a text.


    Thinking it over, she decided to call Will. Thetter picked up quickly. "Mrs. Everly, what can I do for you?"


    Amara didn''t bother correcting his formal address. She cut to the chase, "What is Mr. Everly doing? Is he on his way?"


    Will paused for a second, his voice careful. "Mr. Everly is in his office, working."


    "Is there an urgent matter he needs to handle?" Amara asked. "If he''s not too busy, could you pass him the phone?"


    Will''s tone grew even more cautious at her words. "Mr. Everly doesn''t have any urgent files. He''s just doing his regr work."


    That caught Amara off-guard.


    Finnian was just working as usual, so why was he standing her up like this? It had already been over twenty minutes.


    And if he was working normally, his phone should be nearby. Why wasn''t he answering her calls?


    "Could you please hand him the phone?" Amara requested. "I''d like to have a word with him."


    "Sure, please hold on."


    Amara heard the rustle of fabric as Will presumably pocketed the phone, and then there was silence.


    After about a minute, the rustling returned, and Will''s voice came back on the line. "I''m sorry, Mrs. Everly, but Mr. Everly doesn''t want to take your call."


    Amara was stunned.


    "Why doesn''t he want to take the call? Did he say the reason?"


    "I''m sorry. Mr. Everly didn''t give a reason, he just said he wouldn''t take your call."


    "Alright then, carry on with your thing," Amara said, ending the call.


    Her fingers gripped the phone tightly, a storm of questions swirling in her mind, apanied by a tinge of anger.


    She''d assumed Finnian had a


    el!


    legitimate reason for standing her up, like an urgent issue. But it


    seemed he simply didn''t want to


    deal with her at all.


    What was this about? Did he find her so annoying that he decided to leave her hanging?