The place was quiet, only a few people were sitting in one or two chairs scattered in every corner of the room. Diaz was there, one of them, with a cup of coffee he had just bought five minutes ago at one of the drink counters. Diaz spends his afternoons in the hospital canteen with his cell phone to his ear. "Sorry, Ed, I left suddenly. But earlier I called HR for a half-day permit." "I heard from Sonia earlier, that your family has been admitted to the hospital. How are things?" Unbeknownst to Edwin—the person who is currently on the phone with him—Diaz grimaced at the statement as well as the question. The reason is that he did use the excuse of "relatives being hospitalized" to apply for permission to the HRD office, but hearing it from Edwin made him feel like someone who was being caught lying. That excuse sounded stupid now, even though Diaz wasn't lying about himself having to rush to the hospital, but describing Claire as an important family or relative was ridiculous. Jus
Elise closes the door slowly. She even held her breath to make sure that her movements didn't make any disturbing noises. Her lips pressed tightly together, holding her back against the door for a few seconds before deciding to leave without looking back. In her heart with a regretful look on her face, Elise mumbled the word sorry many times. Sorry to the two people who are now isolating themselves and decided to have a one-on-one conversation."Sorry, Mr. Diaz, for making you confused today. And sorry, Ms. Claire, for involving people without Ms. Claire's knowledge and permission..." Elise's lips mumbled as she recited the sentence along with her steps away from the now forbidden room, for her.***Inside, the two high school acquaintances exchanged glances. Neither one relented, nor felt intimidated even though the gazes they gave each other were too sharp for two people who were in an unplanned reunion. For some women who receive Diaz's gaze at this time, perhaps that kind of look
One of his hands touched the surface of the mattress, forcing a movement that was still relatively weak because his body consciousness was functioning less than fifty percent. Almost a minute without finding the object he was looking for by fingering, Diaz finally forced his eyes to open slightly, peeking through the sleepiness that was still attacking. The increasingly deafening sound of the alarm made Diaz move faster to find his cell phone, almost falling off the bed when he reached for the cell phone which turned out to be on the side of the nightstand. He pressed the button to deactivate the alarm, exhaling tiredly just from trying to find the phone in the early hours of the morning.Diaz glanced at the clock on the wall which just showed 6 am. There was still plenty of time for him to get ready for the office, and although he could have chosen to sleep again to fulfill his sleepy desire, Diaz still tried to keep his eyes awake. Rising from the sleeping position, the man pondered
The two people were frozen in place with each other. Just yesterday they had stressed to each other that they should never see each other again, not get involved with each other, and not meddle in personal matters more than they should. But now the two of them are reunited, without planning, without being taken into account by the two of them."Claire?" the sound of breaking broke the silence between both of them. Claire turned her gaze to the person who called out to her, smiling faintly trying to control herself from her surprise.Ryan invited Claire to sit in the space provided, while Diaz followed the figure of the woman who no longer exchanged glances with him at every step the woman took. Out of the corner of his eye, Diaz found Elise who was also surprised to see him in the same place. The girl followed behind Claire and took a seat beside her boss still with grimacing eyes staring at Diaz. Unexpected encounter, isn't it?The meeting started with the formal introduction of the
As soon as she got in, Claire laid her head against the car seat and found a secure spot for her to let go of whatever she had been holding back for a very long time. Emotion? Awkward? Flustered? Afraid? Worried? For roughly the last two hours, Claire had to struggle with her mind since everything was so dreadfully messed up in her head. Grateful that Claire made it through it today despite having struggled mightily to survive for the past two years since accepting the role she currently holds. Of course, there are days and times when Claire fails and loses, not just once or twice, but tens or even more than hundreds of times. Because of all the bad thoughts that she could not overcome at those times, Claire had to end up imprisoned in the hospital like yesterday. Specific time. Elise, who is seated in front of the steering wheel, has a worried expression on her face, indicating that she is aware of what her boss has been through. She must constantly be aware of her surroundings due t
Diaz gulped down saliva again. Breathe in deeply and slowly let it out. Because he didn't know where to gaze for the remainder of the time, his head was occupied staring down or sideways out the window.Claire was in front of him, and Cheryl was on the other side, occasionally catching her eye on him even though she didn't seem to care. Despite not constantly watching it, Diaz was able to comprehend his ex-actions. Diaz knows Cheryl much better than her present lover, who just happens to be his employer, thanks to the five years spent together in a relationship that was on the verge of leading to the altar.They are currently seated at a huge table in a family restaurant with seven other people. The atmosphere at their table seemed fine in the eyes of the sighted layperson. Everything appeared to be going as usual, especially with Edwin and Liana making the most noise out of all of them. Elise would occasionally join in when Liana forced her into the discussion. Due to their shared j
A Sunday would be silent after the hundredth shout. Who's to blame? It's even expected that uninvited guests will show up. Claire did her best to pretend to be deaf, to keep her emotions in check so they wouldn't explode, or even to be strong enough to rudely eject her guest in the event of a severe occurrence. Even while her actions did not suggest that they had the right to accept that, Claire was, sadly, nevertheless able to maintain control and realize that she was dealing with elderly people, who were deserving of respect."You have no idea who or what you are, Clare!"Claire closed her eyes at the incoming loud noise that felt like it would burst her eardrums, which made her mood worse even after the arrival of these uninvited guests.All right, take a breath in and a breath out. It was accurate to say that since Claire's parents passed away, her uncle and aunt had been looking after her. But it should be noted that the incident happened when Claire was in her teens, just before
When stillness engulfed them once more, Diaz was still standing close to the door. The awkwardness isn't the reason for the atmosphere; rather, it's due to the pauses taken to listen to and understand each other's views. Diaz's previous remarks, as well as those he made the previous day at the hospital, were unmistakably heard in Claire's head."What is it then? If I'm honest and tell you everything, what will you do? So who are you? Why do I need to justify myself to you?"Even after only a few phrases, it was clear that Claire was drained and not feeling comfortable. Claire is not interested in or willing to talk about her issues with anyone. Claire constantly reminds herself that she is under no responsibility to say anything to anyone or to defend herself in any manner. It is not Claire's responsibility that other people are having issues with it; rather, it is their fault for choosing to care even though Claire never asked for it. Claire is the only exception; everyone else shoul