Chapter 6. Silent Truce?

Olivia Barnett

It was half past two in the afternoon when I finally finished with half of my work for the day. 

After the delivery crew left, I began to tidy Josh’s desk, and that’s when I saw the folder that contains a blueprint for a house. It says on the title Daisy’s dream house. 

So, this is what made him angry yesterday. Or maybe it was more than that?

I felt a pang of regret, seeing how Josh had been making future plans with Daisy in his mind, and now, they had broken up.

The grapevine gossip also mentioned that Daisy left for abroad yesterday.

While I don’t personally like Daisy, I do not want to see Josh hurting. 

I am sure Daisy reciprocates my feelings. She never missed a moment to brag about how Josh loves her. 

I placed the folder in his drawer, arranged neatly the documents that were sent to me this morning so I can file it to his desk, and then made a sweeping look around me, making sure everything is in the right place.

Josh hated a messy surrounding, that is why I make it a point to keep his office clean all the time. Even with a cleaner, I still make it a point to check that his office looks tidy and clean. 

When the place met my approval, I walked out to get back to my desk. 

The sight of the sandwich and milk bottle Lucy brought me made my stomach grumble. I looked at the time and decided to take a break. 

Josh’s arrival thwarted my plans.

He walked in calmly and collected. His mere presence commanded attention.  I knew I was not the only one following his receding figure until it disappeared inside his room. 

When the door shut, there was a dreamy silence. Unfortunately, I can’t share my co-workers’ sigh of admiration while I waited in bated breath.

I kept darting at his closed door, awaiting his reaction to the giant golden eggplant that I had ordered to be placed there. I was so sure there will be a reaction. 

He did not disappoint me. In no time, I heard him yell. 

Ignoring the rumblings of my stomach, I dropped the sandwich and the milk back on my table and walked calmly to his office.

“Mr. Sterling?” 

Josh sat on his desk, his head was bent and he was massaging his right temple. For a moment, I felt pity for him, but when he banged his hand on the table and pointed angrily toward the eggplant, my sympathy was gone. 

“Haven’t I told you to fix that monstrosity? I don’t want that here!” He thundered.

This was the Josh I knew in the six months I had worked for him. Always angry, always frustrated. But only to me. Maybe I had this special talent of earning his ire all the time. 

Ignoring his tirade, I walked further into his office until I reached his rest room. There, I rummaged through the cabinets to find the medicine kit that I always leave there in times of emergency. 

I took a pill, walked out to the pantry to get him a glass of his cold water. 

I placed both the pill and the water on his desk, right in front of him. 

Josh took both. When he swallowed, he turned to me. “The eggplant….” he winced when forced to look at the sight again.  “.... get it out.” he hissed. 

“That cost a million dollars. Your million dollar.” I emphasized because technically,  it was purchased with his money. It was just right that it stayed here with him. 

“I don’t care.” He enunciated every word. “Throw it away!” 

It was like a verbal slap. It only meant one thing. I was foolish, I know. Hoping that it did. At least a little. 

His outburst discarded any notion, any wishful thinking I had. 

Last night did not mean a thing to him. Like this monstrosity as he called it, I was also indispensable, easily thrown.

Josh began to explain, hammering the nail further, making my chest tight. 

“Look, what happened last night was a one time thing. Do not expect that our relationship will change because we had s*x. I don ‘t love you.” 

“Daisy and I might have broken up, but it does not mean that I was giving up on her. She’s the love of my …”

My chest tightened but I met his gaze proudly when I interrupted him.. 

“You don’t have to explain. I understand perfectly well. Last night was just… “I let my words hang in the air before I slid in smoothly, “....nothing.” 

I made my voice sound perfectly cold, same with my facial expression. If anything, I did not want Josh to see how his words affected me. I knew he did not like me. I already spent ten years accepting that fact, but why does he have to brandish around to my face his rejection? 

Didn’t he have any tact at all?

I was not trying to force myself on him, never giving any indication that we were connected apart from the office relationship we maintained.  I learned long ago that you can not teach people to like or love you. The same way that you cannot teach yourself to unlike or unlove someone even when it is what's best for you.

In the long silence that hung between us, I saw Josh hesitate. He looked at me as if he was trying to dissect my words for its veracity. Like I still have some ulterior motive. That I initiated last night. 

“And for the record. I did not come to you last night. You came to me. You begged me, remember?” 

I felt an intense gratification to see how his eyes widened slightly in shock. Maybe he did not expect me to be blunt and confrontational. 

I am still me. I am still a woman who knows exactly what she wants, choosing peace above everything else. 

I was about to pivot on my heels to leave, but then another thought crossed my mind. 

“I am not expecting anything from you other than this job. You see, I am staying here even when you keep harping about my presence, my lack of skills and inability to be professional not because I wanted to cling to your side. It was because I do not want to disappoint Grandpa Jonathan. He means the world to me. He is the only family I have, even if we are not blood related. And it hurts me every time you argue about me.” 

My chest heaved.

There I finally said it. 

I wanted to congratulate myself for the courage that brought me here, but Josh dashed my triumph with a sneer. 

“So why don’t you leave then, and put us all out of our misery?” He challenged. 

Josh’s chin juts proudly, daring me.

Silence reigned around us. I paused, thoughtful for a while, mulling his words. 

And then, I nodded. 

“I will keep that in mind.” I told him calmly.

The arrogance left him instantly, replaced by conflicting feelings before a frown appeared on his forehead. 

Again, I turned around to leave. I did not stop until I closed his door gently behind me. 

I went back to my desk to collect the food I abandoned earlier. 

On the way to the pantry, I already made plans ahead. When the time is right, I will leave this place. But for now, let me just keep my promise for Grandpa Jonathan. I will help Josh Morgan Sterling run his company, even if he did not think that I was capable.