The soft melody that sounded out of the intercom of the elevator reverberated inside the small confined place- acting like a background music to hide the silence that surrounded me and Mark as no words were exchanged between us.

Ever since our talk about having children, I didn’t make any effort to meet his eyes or talk to him. On the way to work, Mark had tried multiple times to start a conversation, but I ignored him as I wasn’t in the mood to hear his excuses that only functions to cover up his mistakes.

“You’re really not going to talk to me anymore?” Mark’s voice sounded above the background music, but I didn’t respond. With a stoic expression, I only looked ahead of me, staring at the elevator door as I pretended Mark didn’t exist.

Sticking my index finger in my ear I twisted it around as if I tried to clean the inside of my ear while glancing around the elevator while making sure to not look at Mark. “Damn I wish that this annoying mosquito would just shut up already.” I grumbled loudly to myself. Clutching my handbag tighter, I flailed it around me.

“Wow!” Mark exclaimed in startlement as he dodged one of my swing attacks. “Maybe I should squash it already.” I said through gritted teeth, my voice coated with an underlying threat towards the man next to me.

Using his index finger and thumb, Mark pinched the bridge of his nose as if trying to suppress a soaring headache. “Would you just listen to me-”

I spun sharply in my heals, giving him a piercing glare as I responded defiantly, “No, I won’t,” I then jabbed my index finger in his chest as I continued, “I won’t listen anymore to what else you have to say. You’ve pretty much said enough already, and I’m not interested in hearing how you’re trying to lie your way out of this. You’re such a con-artist.” I grumbled the last part indignantly.

“But I have said nothing.” Mark responded defensively.

“Yeah, exactly, you said nothing. Your silence spoke volume.” Just as I said that, we could hear the ding sound of the elevator, letting us know we had arrived on our floor.

The doors of the elevator slide open revealing the office that was filled with my colleagues whose chatters had died as soon as they saw me and Mark standing in the elevator. Realizing that I was still prodding Mark’s chest with my index finger coughed awkwardly before retracting my finger back. I threw Mark one last glare before exiting the elevator.

I could feel the burning gazes of my colleagues, who were curious to know about what had transpired between me and Mark that night from all angles. I was already regretting my choice of coming back to work until I saw Cher waving at me enthusiastically from her seat.

Giving her a small smile, I waved back at her. I was about to waltz to where she was until a baritone voice sounded throughout the office. “You forgot something, Ms. Westwood.” Mark called out to me.

Groaning, I rolled my eyes without turning around to look at him. “I am sure that I forgot nothing, Mr. Moore-”

I couldn’t finish my sentence as something grabbed my arm to forcibly turn me around. My eyes widen when I felt a pair of supple lips being placed on top of mine. I felt myself stiffen in place as Mark deepened the kiss; winding his arms around my waist to pull me closer to him. A small moan escaped my lips before Mark separated our lips.

“You forgot to kiss me goodbye, little kitten.” Mark said in a loud voice for everyone to hear. He then brought his lips to my ear and whispers, “Since you don’t want to listen to what I have to say, how about you listen to the newest gossip that’s about you and me.” With a smug grin, he sauntered off to his office, leaving me stranded in the middle of the office alone. My mouth fell open, and I brought my fingers to my parted lips, touching them as the realization of what just had occurred finally had sunken in.

Heat combusted in my cheeks, turning my face flaming hot. How can he be so petty! I thought, feeling speechless. One moment he can be creepy, the other moment he can be weirdly sweet and on a rare occasion like this one he acts like a bloody child!

The chatters that had died down in the office picked up again. The volume of it increasing every second as everyone was in awe and shock at what just had taken place.

“Oh, my God! So, the rumors were true!”

“I told you they were acting suspicious from day one. Which CEO tells you to go to his office to do nothing!”

“Tch, what does he even see in her?”

Though the babbles were loud and jumbled into one concoction, I could pick out my name from each of the conversations that took place. And the stories only got crazy and crazier, almost sounding like a fable. I let out an elongated sigh as I trudged to my desk and slammed my bag on it, earning everyone’s attention.

With a loud voice that didn’t leave room for interruptions, I spoke, “Yeah, that’s right. Mr. Moore and I are dating. Now that you’ve heard the truth from a trustworthy source, can we all act like adults and start working?”

Hearing some small coughs coming out of the crowd of people, they all diverted their eyes from me awkwardly before continuing with the things that they were doing before Mark and I arrived.

“Seriously, if they like to gossip that much, then they should just work at the news station.” I grumbled petulantly while giving them a side glare before sitting at my desk. My eyes went over to Cher, who was fidgeting in her chair. Knowing why she was behaving like that, I narrowed my eyes at her and said, “I’ll tell you all the details later, so you can squeal all you want later, but first let we focus on the work.” I pointed out to receive an excited nod from her.

I chuckled as I shook my head, but the smile got instantly wiped away at the sight of stack files I had to go through. Great, I mumbled inwardly.

…

The sun was at its highest point as afternoon was breaking in. No clouds obscuring it- its rays penetrating through the lounge-room, filling it with a golden glow, but it didn’t light my half-dead body up that sat slumped over in a chair- my body drained of its energy.

“Here catch,” Cher’s voice chimed in as she threw underhand a can of energy drink at me that she had purchased from a vending machine. Swiftly I caught it with one hand before placing the cold-icy can against my forehead to cool down my overheated brain. “Thank you.” I sighed, feeling the pain that was overshadowing my brain a few seconds ago lessen.

Holding a soda can of her own, Cher took a place next to me. “What a hectic day, right?” She said as she opened her soda can before taking a slurp from it.

I scoffed. “Hectic doesn’t even cover it. I’ve got the feeling that you guys had left all the annoying work for me to do.” I have been running all over the place since this morning. If I wasn’t talking my ass off in a meeting doing a presentation, then I was in an engagement with a client. And if I wasn’t doing any of those, then I was busy writing thousands of reports that had to be submitted by the end of the day. Why did I want to go back to work again?

Cher chuckled. “That’s what happens when you’re frolicking with the boss for days. So? What happened?” She prodded, nudging her elbow against my arm.

Hooking my finger through the ring of the can, I tore the strip open to hear the hissing sound of the carbon dioxide escaping through the small gap. “It happened exactly as you thought.” I answered her shyly before taking a sip, feeling the caffeine taking immediate effect.

“Really!? Oh my god I can’t believe this!” Cher squealed in delight at my confession of me and Mark hooking up and couldn’t sit still in her seat as many questions that she wanted to ask me were flooding her mind. Her shrieking was foghorn and high-pitched, penetrating my tired mind, bringing forth a new headache.

I placed my hand against her mouth to silence her. “I know that you’re excited that one of your fantasies has become reality,” Minus the creepy stalking and many near-death experiences, but I couldn’t tell her that, right? “But can you maybe lower down your tone? It feels like my head is splitting apart.” I told her with a tired smile on my face.

With my hand still covering the lower part of her face, she nodded. I removed my hand from her mouth to reveal a never fading smile that only kept increasing by a fraction. As if millions of stars were dancing around the moon, her eyes were twinkling with excitement. “But how did this happen? Because if I recall correctly, you were so adamant against dating him.” She queried, lowering her voice despite us being the only ones in the lounge-room.

Lowering my voice to match her tone, I answered her with a half-true half-lie tale, “Let’s just say that the suspension bridge effect worked in his favor.”

Cher’s brows quirked up, beckoning me to elaborate. I took a deep breath and spoke, already expecting her reaction, “I got kidnapped by my stalker and Mark rescued me.”

“What!?” Cher’s voice rose as she shot up from her seat, eyes broad from shock.

“Before you freak out. I’m okay. Mark got the kidnapper’s ass behind jail.” A lie, as Mark is my stalker and my kidnapper Casper, who are both still walking free on the street.

“Really?” Cher asked, her eyes probing me for more information that I cannot give.

“Really,” I assured her with a smile, placing my hand on her arm.

She sighed as she sat back down. “Do I have to be worried now every time I don’t hear from you for few days?”

A grin broke out on my face. “No, not anymore.”

“Thank God, because I was thinking of bugging your phone so that I will know about your whereabouts every time.” She said between a heavy breath before taking a sip as she was seriously considering following my every step.

“God no,” I shook off an impending shudder at the thought of getting a second stalker. “I’m fine, really. I promise. No need for you to go rogue.”

Sequencing the subject to something less stressful, I started, “I haven’t seen Sabrina the whole day. Is she sick?” I wondered, as not seeing the sight of the blond-haired lady was something surprising, knowing her history of pestering me whenever she had the chance. I expected to see her and her gang ganging up on me right after Mark taking the liberty of kissing me, but until this moment I haven’t even caught a glimpse of that golden lock.

Is it my lucky day?

“You haven’t heard yet? She has transferred to another company.” Cher said, filling me in about what had happened inside the company. My eyebrows rose towards my hairline. “She left?” The undercurrent of surprise in my tone couldn’t be hidden.

“Yeah, she didn’t even bid us goodbye. She just took her stuff and left. I guess she didn’t care about her colleagues one bit.” Cher snorted before taking another sip of her soda.

My forehead creased. Wait, she really left? The Sabrina left? Just like that? “Don’t you think it is weird how she left without a word? She would have at least made a dramatic exit, so that everyone would remember her. And what about Mr. Moore? Wasn’t she dead set on making him his?” I pointed out.

Cherry shrugged, “I guess she had a change of heart. I mean, she transferred the next day she visited Mr. Moore’s office. Maybe she couldn’t handle the rejection and left.”

“Wait, what?” I ushered in a surprised tone, my eyes blinking copiously as I grabbed Cher’s hand before she could take another sip. “She transferred after visiting Mr. Moore?”

Not understanding why, I cared so much about Sabrina’s transfer. Cher nodded her head slowly, “Yeah, is there something wrong? Don’t worry, I’m sure that nothing happened between them.”

I felt my throat turn dry. That’s not what I am worried about, Cher.