❇ Rachel's POV ❇

"Have you contacted the person in charge from The Wave?" Mrs Wright glanced up from her work schedule and exchanged it with another file.

"Yes, they will be making the necessary arrangements as requested by us."

"Eva would like you to continue to work with her new assistant, Katie, for her upcoming project. Since you've been the one handling all the stuff from the start."

"Okay." I mumbled an answer which made Mrs Wright to look at me, again.

"Look, I know it's overwhelming to be doing two jobs for the salary of one. But, it will be worth the experience." Mrs Wright removed her reading glasses and pushed her chair back.

"I'll be out for the rest of the day, call me if there are any important messages." Mrs Wright put on her coat and left the office.

I closed the door quietly and returned back to my table. The door opposite from where I was seated, opened up and Katie came out with her head hung low.

"What's wrong?" My question made Katie lifted up her eyes to look at me.

"Oh, nothing much. Eva's just having a bad day." Katie mumbled softly and I had a hard time trying to make out what she was saying.

"How did you put up with her horrible temper?" Katie's question made me snapped out of my day dream.

I blinked a few times before answering her. "Well, I just did my work and tried not to talk to her other than work."

Katie have nothing to say about what I have just told her and started sorting out her files. While searching for my pen, the phone on my desk rang and I answered it.

"Hello, this is Gracefully Poise, Rachel speaking. How can I help you today?"

"Hi, may I speak to Mrs Wright?"

"May I know who's calling?"

"This is Mr Burns from Cold Stone."

"I'm sorry, Mr Burns, Mrs Wright is not available right now. May I take a message?"

I took out my notepad and let out a breath of relief when I finally got hold of my pen. I quickly scribbled down Mr Burns' message and noticed that Katie's seat was empty.

"Alright, please ensure that she calls me back as soon as possible."

"Yes, I will. Have a good day."

I pasted a sticky note on my calendar to remind myself along with the long list of tasks that I have to do. I was typing an email to the supplier when the door to Eva's office flew open.

"What the hell is your prob-" Eva paused as she saw that Katie was not at her desk.

"Where is she?" Eva hooked a thumb towards Katie's seat as she lifted an eyebrow.

"I have no idea." I successfully stopped myself from shrugging because that would seem like I did not give a damn.

"Tell her to come in when she's back." With that, Eva whirled around and stomped back to her office, shutting the door with a loud bang.

I was too engrossed in my work that I completely forgotten about Eva's instructions. I lifted up my head to see that Katie had cleared up her table. Furthermore, she was no where to be seen.

I was tidying up my desk while trying to call Katie on her smartphone. The phone of Katie's desk suddenly rang and I quickly ran over to answer the call. Before I could say anything, Eva's voice pierced through my ear.

"Where the hell are you? Didn't Rachel tell you that I need to have a talk with you?"

"Um, sorry Ms Stewart. Katie has left the office."

"What?!" Eva exclaimed and hung up the call, I could even hear the bang from her room.

Eva came out of her office to verify the fact that Katie was not at her desk. Eva's hands were on her hips as flames were burning from her eyes.

"Can't you even do something as simple as passing a message?"

"I didn't even see her leave.."

"So you're even blind now?" Eva's voice laced with sarcasm as she gave me a look of distaste.

I had to take several deep breaths in to stop myself from arguing with Eva. Even though she's not my boss, but I still have to respect her as someone who has a higher rank than me.

"Urgh, just get lost. I don't want to see you." Eva dismissed me curtly as she went back to her office.

I rolled my eyes as my fingers tapped on Katie's name to call her again. She did not answer my call earlier on, that made me worry about her. I asked my other colleagues if they had seen Katie while making my way out of Gracefully Poise. All of them shook their heads while giving me a look of confusion.

"Hello?"

I let out a breath I did not know I was holding when Katie finally pick up the phone.

"Oh my God Katie. Where are you?" I tried to keep the exasperation out of my voice.

"I'm at the cafeteria opposite our workplace. Why?"

"Eva was fuming over the fact that you left without informing her. Plus, I was tasked to inform you that Eva wanted to have a talk with you. But, I did not even know you left the office."

I heard Katie chuckled softly over the other end as I made my way to the cafeteria that she mentioned. Bells rang above me as I pushed the door inwards and the owner looked up to give me a kind smile. Katie hung up the call as soon as she spotted me walking towards her.

"I'm sorry for causing any inconvenience.." Katie mumbled with an awkward smile.

"It's alright. I've sort of gotten used to Eva's mood swings." I laughed a little to ease the weird tension that was rising between us. I walked to the counter to get myself a drink and ordered my lunch at the same time.

"By the way, I requested for having the rest of the day off. Eva even gave me her permission. I was baffled when you told me what happened."

My eyes enlarged for a moment as my brain slowly register what Katie have just said. I could not help but sigh while Katie gave me a knowing look.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw someone taking photos of us. I turned to look at the guy and he immediately kept his phone. I stood up to approach him, he seemed flustered at my reaction. He was fumbling for his wallet and dropped it on the floor because his hands shook a little too much.

"Hey, were you taking photos of me and my friend?"

The guy lifted his gaze to look at me and I noticed something flashed past his eyes. He gulped and shifted uncomfortably in his chair. Denial was written all over his face but the look in his eyes betrayed him.

"I don't know what you're talking about. If you'll excuse me..." The guy pushed past me and dashed out of the cafeteria before I could even react.

I returned back to my seat and Katie's eyebrows were knitted together.

"Is everything okay? Who's that guy you're talking to?"

"Yeah. I have no idea who is he. But I think I saw him taking photos of us. But, I might have been wrong. Don't worry about it." I lied but Katie did not know that I was extremely worried about it. Since last week, I have the feeling that someone was watching me. However, I have nothing to prove that my 'feeling' was true.

"So how are you coping with work?" I asked and took a sip of the drink that I ordered five minutes ago.

"Still okay I guess.. It's still manageable even though Eva has been giving me a hard time."

"Honestly, she's never been this moody before. I agree that she can be harsh with her words but comparing to Mrs Wright she's much more lenient in terms of our work performance. I'm sure things will be fine after awhile."

Katie nodded in agreement and I shifted my gaze to a dark van. I frowned a little at it because there seemed to be a dark van appearing wherever I went for the past few days. Gavin did not know anything about this, yet. I planned on telling him tomorrow night, since we are meeting for dinner.

Katie and I bid our goodbyes while she flagged down a cab. I watched the cab drove further and further down the road. When I turned around, the person in the dark van was already staring at me. I looked away to break the eye contact however fear was starting to creep into me. Goosebumps immediately ran through my body as I quickly walked away.

I tried to keep myself calm even though what was happening right now totally freaked me out. My heart pounded at a speed as though I was running. Sweat was beginning to form on my palms. I brought my walking speed to the maximum but refrained from breaking into a run. I took a brief look over my shoulder and saw that the guy earlier at the cafeteria was behind me.

I quickly ran into a clothing shop and grab a few pieces of clothes before dashing into the changing room. I shut the door and breathe in several shaky breaths to stop myself from trembling.

I hid in the changing room for a good 15 minutes before my saviour arrived. I called my colleague, Bianca, and she immediately rushed over without asking anything.

"Rachel? Are you in here?" Bianca's voice floated into my ears and I stood up to unlock the door.

"Oh thank God you're here." I ran over to give Bianca a bear hug.

"What happened?" Bianca asked me, concern lacing her voice.

I told her everything and she advised me to go home first. But, Katie just took the rest of the day off and someone must be in the office. With no other choices left, Bianca made me promise her that I would attend the dinner with our colleagues later on. She said that it would be safer to have someone around me constantly.

As much as my introvert self wanted to decline her good intentions, Bianca had a point there. Gavin was the first person that I called when I was hiding in the changing room. However, the call was sent to voicemail. I gave Bianca my promise and thanked her for being an angel.

Author's notes:
Yo! I'm sorry for the loooong wait 😅 I've been busy with my school projects and finally managed to write finish this chapter. I hope you guys like this chapter! ❤ Don't be shy to tap on the vote/comment/share button below! 👇😋