His stares are compliments

Mr. Cowall paused to think a bit longer. Kate felt her anxiety begin to wane as irritation and something akin to amusement began to well up inside her. She knew one would overpower the other depending on how he was going to try to talk his way out of this one. He'd have to craft a really compelling argument to be able to convince her that he wasn't regularly staring at her like a cheap piece of meat.

"Look," he began, "I'm not going to deny that I steal the occasional glance or two. You're an attractive woman. You know that, I know that, your boyfriend knows that."

"Fiancé," Kate corrected.

"Right, fiancé. So.. When I look at you, it means I think you're attractive. It doesn't mean that I don't also think you're a good employee. Think of it more as a... compliment." Mr. Cowall tore his eyes away from the ceiling and leaned forward, looking at her, piercing her with his icy pools of blue. Kate wanted to avert her gaze, still feeling uncomfortable maintaining eye contact with him, but something about what he said next held her there.

"Don't you agree that all compliments are good?"

Kate felt herself crumble beneath his frigid gaze as her psyche began to float and fall in a dizzying whirlwind, but her body strangely still felt like she was seated on her chair, tethered to reality by what he said. Her brain tossed and tumbled with his words, feeling them absorbing them. Of course all compliments were good. After all, compliments were just a way to express someone's appreciation, but Mr. Cowall's looks were hardly compliments. They felt predatory, they felt dirty, they felt wrong.

Kate felt nauseous. "Yeah, but..." she began to protest, but she felt so weak.

"No buts, Katie. Just let me finish," Mr. Cowall said firmly. Kate felt her resistance diminish immediately and she sank deeper into her chair, completely unaware of the name he just used. She felt engulfed by a frigid tundra. "When I look at you and admire you, it's because I think you're attractive. It's just like when your boyf- your fiancé calls you beautiful or sexy, he says that right?"

Kate nodded her head gently.

"Great," continued Mr. Cowall, "that's great. And he calls you that because you're attractive and it's a compliment, but I can't say those kinds of things, not as your boss, that would be wrong, right?"

"Right," Kate muttered.

"So really, my glances are the only way I can compliment you. And there's nothing wrong with a compliment, right? So, it goes to show, and don't you agree that when I'm looking at you, I'm just complimenting you?"

Kate's head swam. She wasn't expecting him to be so... persuasive, and even in her feeble state, she could see where he was coming from. Compliments were good and it would make sense that he'd want to give her compliments, but he couldn't outright tell her that he was attracted to her—that would be wrong—so he had to resort to more subtle means. Maybe she had been putting too much weight on the subtext of his glances. If he was just admiring her, that was a compliment, that was a good thing. Kate felt her body relax; she didn't realize how tense she had become. Maybe it was because she had felt so trapped in the glacial caves of his gaze, but now his eyes didn't feel quite so... malicious.

She blinked. "Yeah, you're right," she said. Her words came easier to her, like they were less **** or syrupy. "I definitely had the wrong... impression."

A smile erupted across Mr. Cowall's face and he looked like he opened the world's greatest Christmas present. He nearly tripped over his next few words seemingly I'm excitement. "I- I'm glad we could come to an understanding here. Have you been feeling that way for long?"

Kate looked Mr. Cowall in his eyes and nodded sheepishly. His eyes really were a brilliant sort of blue now that she dropped the notion that he was disgusting.

"Well, you did great bringing it up. I think we need to have more conversations like this, don't you?"

Kate nodded again. Compliments were good. Conversations about her development were good to have.

"Great!" He stood from his seat and began collecting his things from his desk. "I think we should leave it here for tonight. You look pretty tired."

Kate nodded. She looked around the room once he broke eye contact and it felt like the whole world came flooding back to her. He was definitely right. She felt very... woozy.

Mr. Cowall began to walk from his desk, but he turned around to say, "One more thing, Katie... Since all compliments are good, I think I'm going to try to give out more. In return, you should strive to get as many compliments as you can from me... Don't you agree?"