8 - Ocean Orchids
1.8k words
•─────⋅☾ꨄ☽⋅─────•
Hardly working and shifting through plans that were now dust in the wind, I could feel a presence standing behind me. Or should I say hear — they were nervously tapping their foot against the carpet and if the floors weren't fabric then I would have also heard sweat dripping onto the floor.
"Are you just going to stand there or do you need something?" I snapped, aggressively tapping on my keyboard without taking my eyes away from the screen.
"Sorry," Alex apologized after I clearly got irritated by his hovering. I know it's only because he cares, but I was not in the mood to be coddled and questioned, "Um, so how are you doing?" He asked the exact question that about a dozen have asked me within the past hour. I usually waved them off with an 'I'm okay', but now I have had it.
"How am I doing," I echoed as I stopped typing and twisted in my chair to face him, "I will tell you how I'm doing Alex. As a matter of fact let me tell everyone how I'm doing," I stood from the chair to address everyone with a smile that resembled that of a mental patients, "I caught my fiancé cheating on me last night, which prompted me to end the engagement. But let me make it clear to everyone that I am fine. Perfectly fine," Awkward laughter filled the room... my awkward laughter, "Im even canceling all the wedding arrangements I made, right now — unfortunately I'm barely getting any of my deposits back so I'm out thousands of dollars but again, I'm fine. So please, don't ask again, okay? Okay."
I slowly sat back down in my chair and turned to face the screen with a deep breath. I was about to begin with my cancellations again when the phone on my desk beeped. The red light signaling the com was lit, and I already knew who it was.
"Yes, Mr.Skywalker," I said politely. I still felt eyes on me that I was doing my best to ignore.
The first thing he did was sigh, "I received a complaint about you, so can you tone it down before I send you home?" The thing I hated about the com was everyone in the office could hear.
I didn't let my smile falter, although it wasn't a smile of joy, but a smile a predator would wear before lunging for a kill, "May I ask what this complaint is in regards to?"
"That you're not fine."
"And who, may I ask, put in this complaint?"
"I did," He answered and the room fell silent, other than the sound of steam coming from my ears, "Now stop using company time for your personal objectives and close those screens and get back to preparing for our pitch next week."
"Right away sir," I removed my finger from the bottom and removed all the open tabs on my computer, "Oh and Mr.Skywalker," I put my finger back, "Would you like coffee or anymore of the leftover cake?"
"Okay sure, I'll take both." He sounded surprised, but appreciative.
But not suspicious.
I got up and made my way to my friend Talia's desk which was not far from mine, "Hey, I'm sorry to bother you but I was wondering if you had any, you know..." I trailed off as I rubbed my stomach and she instantly knew what I meant.
"Of course I do," She started rummaging through her purse, "I don't know why you don't just say it, you don't need to be embarrassed. We all get constipated every once in awhile." She held the the small bottle up fro me to take.
I awkwardly laughed when I took it, "Thank you. I'll bring it back in a few minutes." I quickly left to follow through with my little plan. This is what he gets for being a jerk and embarrassing me like that. He could have made the conversation private with a phone call, but he chose to be humiliating knowing what I'm going through.
No surprise that his kindness has a limit.
I walked into the conference room which was empty and closed the door behind me. I made his cup of cheap coffee and cut him a decently sized piece of cake. I pulled out the tiny bottle from my pocket and dropped a few droplets into his coffee and stirred it with a red plastic stick while occasionally checking behind me to see if I had anyone looking at me through the glass walls.
I only met one pair of eyes, Esme. She does... something, I don't know she's the newest to be hired by Fred and I've hardly had the opportunity to introduce myself. All I care about right now though is that she saw what I did, and so I placed my finger in front of my lips, telling her to keep silent. She instantly nodded and looked away, back to her computer. Smart girl.
I finished stirring the drink and tossed the plastic stir into the trash before picking up the plate of cake and leaving the room. With a smile on my face, I entered my boss's office and set his items onto his desk. He didn't look up at me when I walked in, he mumbled a thank you and dismissed me. His face buried into another manuscript, or it may be the one we're pitching for next week. I couldn't see the title so I wasn't sure.
"Please let me know if you need anything else," I said in my sweetest, customer service tone.
That made him glance up as he grabbed the cup of coffee, "You're acting weird."
"I'm just trying to keep my boss happy," I shrugged and turned around to leave, causing my hair to flip dramatically.
He groaned, "That's the weird part."
I strutted back to Talia's desk and handed her the little bottle, "Here you go, and thank you again."
"What is that?" Alex asked, munching on chips as he hovered over Talia's desk.
"Liquid laxative." She said, rather nonchalantly as she put it back in her purse, "I have IBS so this saves my life sometimes."
"Okay, that's too much information," He folded his bag closed, suddenly losing his appetite.
Their conversation continued, but turned into mumbling as I walked away and could no longer make out what they were saying. They were my best friends here, but today and probably for the next week or so, alone is what I'm going to want to be. Talia gets that, she's given me my space all morning. Alex hopefully gets it now after my little rant, borderline meltdown.
I sat down with a sigh and buried my attention into my emails. Not even ten minutes go by before I was interrupted again. At least this time it wasn't a sorrowful apology for what I'm going through, "I have a delivery for (y/n) (y/l/n)," A mans voice filled the room. A few of the employees voices died down, but multiple phones continued to ring.
"Over here," I raised my hand as I stood up and met him halfway. He placed a bouquet of ocean orchids in my hands, "Thank you," I furrowed my brows as I looked for a card, but couldn't find one, "Is there a—"
"Anonymous, we were just told to wish you a happy birthday." He smiled, "So Happy Birthday (y/n), may all your dreams and wishes come true."
I smiled back, "Thank you."
After placing them on my desk, I continued to inspect them. They were absolutely beautiful, the most beautiful bouquet I have ever been give. A part of me wanted to throw them away though, I wasn't sure if they were from Arthur or not. But also, he's only ever given me flowers once and that was on our first date years ago. That kept me from throwing them away, they're likely not from him, it's not his style. A card would have been nice so I could know for sure.
I sat back down in my cushioned chair with another heavy sigh, my eyes drifting to every petal to admire the mixture of colors. I feel like I now have a new favorite.
"Pretty flowers," My boss appeared next to me with his laxative laced coffee in hand. He took a sip as he eyed the petals just as I was, "Orchids, among many other things, are a symbol of fertility. I would say receiving these is a good omen, one day you just might have the family that you wish for."
I met his gaze and for a moment I got lost in it. When he's not being a thorn in my side, it's easy to see his real beauty. I don't mean that he's beautiful—he is but that's not what Im referring to. I'm referring to his heart, he has the potential to be a good, kind person which has me wondering why his default setting is the complete opposite.
"It's a nice thought, but I don't know about that. I don't even have a fiancé anymore. I doubt there are any men right now that are lining up to fertilize me." I'm also infertile apparently, but he doesn't know that.
He scrunched his face in disgust, "Dear god, don't word it that way ever again."
I chuckled as I leaned back in my chair, "Seriously though, thank you for trying to cheer me up."
He took another drink and it was then I noticed his cup was more than halfway empty. Any moment it's going to hit him, hard, "Do you like them?" He asked with a head tilt.
I nodded, "They're beautiful," I reached up and gently touched a few of the petals. I was careful so none of them would come off, "I just wish I knew who sent them so I could thank them."
He hummed with a nod of his own, taking another drink. Just when I thought he was going to say something, he turned and walked back to his office without another word.
Thirty minutes later he was power-walking to the elevator, "Where you going boss?" I asked, spinning in my chair to follow his every move.
"Forgot something in my car," He mumbled as he stepped inside and turned to press a floor number. I know it wasn't the parking structure.
I smirked when our eyes met, "The top floor has the cleanest bathrooms."
Just as the doors were closing, his eyes widened with both realization and anger, "You little—" And with perfect timing, they closed.
•─────⋅☾ꨄ☽⋅─────•
Bạn đang đọc truyện trên: AzTruyen.Top