Kate hates how he stares

Kate took a deep breath. It was now or never. If she ever really wanted to be comfortable at this job, the two of them would have to figure out how to prevent her from cringing every time she saw his pale blue eyes looking at her. She was going to have to get to a point where she didn't feel uncomfortable with him looking at her even in a professional manner, like he was now.

"Well, umm... Mr. Cowall," Kate stammered. She averted her gaze from his. She wanted to get to the point where she could comfortably maintain eye contact with him, but she wasn't there yet, and his eyes chilled her to her core. She steeled her nerves and continued, "I actually feel really uncomfortable with the way you... look at me." She nearly had to **** out the last few words, but she managed to do it.

"What do you mean?" she heard him ask. Her eyes were looking down at her hands and she was wringing them anxiously, so she unfortunately couldn't see if his facial expression changed at all. She wanted to know how he reacted, but she had nothing to go on except for the words he said.

"I... You look at me inappropriately.. A lot.. And I know that you know it. I know you've noticed me catch you in the act. It makes me really uncomfortable." She looked up at him as she finished her statement, hoping to glean some kind of emotion from his expression, praying that she didn't see anger on his face. She felt a huge weight lift off her shoulders when she saw him lean back in his seat and look upwards with an introspective expression. Now that she was out of the moment, she could feel her heart racing and her hands were sweaty, but at least it was over.

"I see," he replied. "Well, I'm sorry I make you feel uncomfortable. But perhaps I can explain myself. I think... I think you have it all wrong." Kate furrowed her brow. Was he really going to try to mansplain his way out of this one? She almost didn't want to, but she let him speak.