CHAPTER FOUR  

ELOISE’S POV

“Good morning, Eloise.” A voice greets me the moment I walk into the office space I share with my team members. I’m not surprised to see that it came from Kacey, the tech guru of my team. He’s always the first to arrive. Three years of us working together and I’ve never been able to beat him to work in the morning. No one has.

“Good morning, Kacey. How are you today?” I ask, walking over to my cubicle where I drop my handbag on the desk. Kacey stops typing on his laptop and shoots me a very chill smile. It’s just the two of us in the office. The other team members are yet to arrive.

“I’m doing just fine, thank you?”

“And your weekend? How was it?” I follow up and he maintains his chill smile as he nods.

“Splendid. Thank you for asking. What about yours?” His question makes me tense and the feeling of despair I’ve been trying to kill within me since I stepped foot into this building resurrects and sips into my blood like poison.

My weekend was a nightmare. My mood turns sour every time I recall the events that took place during dinner at Klein’s parents’ house last Saturday. As if telling me off after I confronted him about the news spreading on the internet about his affair wasn’t enough, Klein didn’t come home for the rest of the weekend and it breaks my heart to think that he spent it with Jasmine.

I flash Kacey a forced smile and say:

“Same.” … in a small voice.

He knows I’m lying, but he doesn’t say anything. He simply nods and goes back to typing away on his laptop. He and everyone else in the company must have seen the photos circulating on the internet. It’s going to be the topic of discussion on everyone’s lips today.

“Before I forget, I got a call from Mr. Wesley’s secretary. He wants you to submit the final project design proposal the moment you arrive.”  

My heart starts pounding fast against my ribcage the moment those words reach my ears.

Klein wants me to submit a document to him in his office. That means he’s here. Right now.

“Eloise.” Kacey’s gentle call pulls me out of my trance. His unexpected presence right before me draws a startled gasp from my throat. I was so lost in thought that I didn’t notice when he walked over to my cubicle. With knitted brows, Kacey tilts his head to the side, studying me closely as he asks. “Is anything the matter?”

“No.” I answer quickly, shaking my head and offering him another fake smile. “Everything’s fine.” My gaze drops to the document in his right hand. “This is the document, I suppose.”

“Yes.”

“Great.” I quickly take –seize—the document from his hold and dart out of the office before he can utter another word.

The elevator ride to the last floor where Klein’s office is located is the longest one ever. My heart starts beating at an abnormally faster rate when it finally stops and the doors slide open.

  After our little altercation on Saturday, Klein and I both went our separate ways and haven’t seen each other again since then. We’ve not even communicated over the phone and right now, I’m about to go and meet him in his office. I don’t know if I’m ready to face him.

His secretary is not on her seat when I arrive, so I go straight to his office door. I stop before it and take in a few deep breaths before pushing it open. The moment I step into the spacious office, my eyes go over to his oak desk, expecting to see him seated behind it with his attention either buried in a pile of documents or on the screen of the desktop he’s typing on, but that’s not the sight I’m met with. The desk is void of his presence. Instantly, my gaze sweeps over to the sitting area and my brows knit in surprise when I spot a feminine figure comfortably seated on one the sofas.

 As if sensing my presence, the girl turns to face me and all my bones dissolve when I see her face.

 It’s her.

 The girl in the photos with Klein.

 Jasmine.

 I take calm, calculated steps further into the office and she rises from the sofa.

“You must be Eloise.”  She points out, her face beaming with a smile as she eats up most of the distance between us. I can’t believe she has the nerve to look at me and smile. What I can’t believe the most is that Klein brought her here. God, I’m filled with so much rage right now and I want to set something on fire. “Good morning, Eloise.”  She greets in the warmest tone. 

“Good morning.” I reply dryly, eyeing her from head to toe.  “It was you, wasn't it? The girl who was photographed with my husband at the hotel.” I ask sharply.

“Yes. Oh… I'm so sorry about that. I told him he needed to go home because I know his wife was waiting to celebrate his anniversary with him, but he insisted on having a few more drinks and refused to go home. It made me wonder if his wife was so scary, but I knew that was just nonsense.” I roll my eyes so hard; they nearly get stuck at the back of my head. “Anyway, you have nothing to be worried about, Klein and I are just good friends. I’m sure you know that already. The three of us practically grew up together. I just came back to the country after many years and I thought it'd be absurd for us not to have a little catch up.”

I have never been mocked, insulted, disrespected and humiliated at the same time. This girl is not here to play with me. She means business.

“Well… thank you very much for taking my husband to a hotel. That was very considerate of you.” I say sarcastically.

“Please don't misunderstand my intentions. Klein was very drunk that night. We said to have the driver take him home, but he refused. I'm sure you know how clingy he can get when he's drunk. That's why I had no choice but to go with him. But I swear to you that nothing happened between us. Did he not explain everything to you?”

“May I ask why you are here today?” I ask, ignoring her question and keeping a neutral expression despite the rage boiling within me.

“I'm waiting for Klein.”

I absolutely hate that she addresses my husband so casually.

“Why? If I may?”

“Oh, don’t worry about me, he asked me to wait here.” 

My anger stirs, but I keep calm. I have to. Bad things will happen if I don’t.

“Also, can you please fetch me some water? I've been wanting to get some, but I don't think it's right for me to just go around touching things.”

A soft chuckle tumbles from my lips before I can hold myself back. After all the provocation, she still has the nerve to ask me to fetch water for her to drink.

Klein, is this what you’ve reduced me to in the eyes of your mistress?

“Don’t worry. Klein won’t bite you just because you went to get some water.”

“I guess that's permission for me then.”

A derisive scoff leaves my throat as I go over to Klein's table where I drop the file I came in with.

Where is he anyway?

“You know…” Jasmine’s voice comes through again. She's walking towards me with a glass of water in her hand. “Klein really scared me that night.” My brows knit. She nods at my perplexed expression and takes a step closer.

We are too close for my liking. I can feel her breath on my face and it disgusts me.

“When I held him, he told me he often thought of the old days when we were still together.  He said whenever he held you in his arms, he secretly wished it was me. He told me time and again how much he missed me and how accepting to marry you is the decision he regrets the most in his life. He also said…” Her words are suddenly cut short by the creaking sound of the door. Without warning, she intentionally splashes the liquid content of the glass on her face and releases it from her hold. The glass shatters into broken pieces the moment it collides with the marble tiles and Jasmine unexpectedly drops on the floor along with the pieces, letting out a painful yelp for absolutely no reason. Before I can react, a strong body pushes me aside, throwing me off balance. I find myself on the floor as well with a sharp, intense pain slicing through my left palm.

“What's going on here?” Klein’s voice demands, but as I raise my head, I find him holding Jasmine in his arms and staring down at her with fear and concern etched on his face.

“I don't know.” Jasmine cries out. “Eloise suddenly splashed the water on my face and smacked me.”

That’s when I finally understood the reason for the act she pulled seconds ago.

What a bitch!

“Liar!” I shout out furiously. My chest heaving as I draw in angry, short breaths.

“That's enough!” He scolds me and turns to the girl in his arms. “Jasmine…” he calls almost sweetly, “Are you alright? Do you need to go to the hospital?”

“I don’t know, my hand hurts, ahh….” She says as she struggles to rise up, but she clumsily trips and falls back on her butt. As she opens her own palm, I see it’s covered in blood.

My head starts buzzing and I feel a warm liquid trickling all over my own palm. I turn to look at it and nearly pass out when I see blood oozing from the cut I got when my hand collided with the broken glass pieces.

“Let’s get you to the hospital. That needs to be checked.” Klein tells her softly and gently lifts her to her feet.  “And for you, Eloise. Logan will take you to the hospital and once they're done taking care of your wounds, go home. And for the next few days, I want you to reflect on how you're supposed to properly treat your superior in your workplace.”

“What do you mean by that?” I ask, completely lost. The pain of the cut in my palm morphing into sheer confusion.

“You heard me. Jasmine is the new Director of Production of PHOMORA.”