Chapter 04.01: The Sabotage

The sound of the truck pulling back outside was the first thing Adeline heard and also the reason she woke up early in the morning. She got up from bed with a frown face and an irritated mood.

She grunted, "What the heck is that noise?!"

She immediately went off the bed and wore her bathrobe, before going out of her apartment. Right in front of her apartment was a mover truck parked.

Adeline didn’t even realize that there’s someone new moving to the same apartment where she is staying. The landlord informed her, but she didn’t know it’s today.

When she was about to go back inside her house, she accidentally bumped into a man, which made her fall to the ground.

“Oh, shit. I’m so sorry!” she heard from the man who immediately tried to help her.

Adeline glanced at the man who was gently holding her by her arms and got surprised to see who it was. 

“Chris?!”

Chris looked at her closely and was surprised to see her. He couldn’t believe his eyes. He didn’t know. Adeline couldn’t help but smile because she’s seen her longtime childhood friend back in Austin again.

The latter couldn’t help but panic a bit. Instead of helping Adeline get up from the ground, he let go of her arms, the reason for her to fall down on the ground again.

“Ouch!” Adeline glared at him. “What the hell, Chris?”

Chris gulped and couldn’t give her a proper look, “I thought you were someone else who deserved my help.”

Adeline frowned and felt insulted because of what her ‘used to be’ childhood friend just told her.

“So, you still hated me. I thought after what I did, staying away from you from junior high school till university would lessen your hate on me. I guess I was wrong.” Chris can hear the sadness in her voice.

Chris glanced at her and couldn’t bear to just watch her get up on her own after falling down. He held her by her arms and helped her get up. 

“It’s nice to see you again, Chris.” Adeline told him as he remained to stare at her lonely facial reaction, which he felt guilty about.

Adeline walked back inside her house when Chris spoke up before she could even open the door.

“It’s nice to see you too, Quinn.” he told her.

Adeline glanced at him again, which made him uncomfortable, and decided to just walk away from her. Chris Emersyn was her first love, which she kept a secret from him during their childhood until now. 

Every time she sees him, her heart pounds happily. She couldn’t help but smile while reminiscing her memories with him until she realized something. 

“No way!” she exclaimed.

She immediately looked again at the mover truck downstairs by the balcony of the apartment. There, she saw Chris helping the movers with the furniture.

‘Is Chris the one the landlord is referring to moving in near my apartment?!’ she thought.

Adeline held her head as if she was going to get crazy. She also started remembering the terrible memories that Chris had given her. She was attracted to him, but she knows he’s childish as F.

Chris used to bully Adeline when they were kids, and it will not be impossible now that they are both young adults. A bully would always be a bully!

“What are you still doing there?” It shocked Adeline when someone spoke to her and it was Chris again. He was looking at her in confusion while carrying a few boxes.

Adeline remained to stare at him, with a nervous reaction written on her face, before running back inside her apartment and slamming the door shut. Chris ignored what just happened and proceeded with his task.

A few hours later, Adeline was finally prepared to go to work and get done with her presentation. She’s confident of herself, she knows she can do it.

Her phone received a notification, and she saw it was a message from Shirley who was telling her to be at the office 45 minutes early so that they could prepare.

Adeline took her shoulder bag and wore her formal high heels before going out of her apartment. While in the middle of locking the door, Chris who lives next door was also doing the same thing. 

She saw him suited up with James Dean’s Rebel Without A Cause fashion, and couldn’t help but to admire him again like she used to. But she went back to her senses and immediately walked away, passing by him.

“Good luck, Quinn!” he told Adeline that made her stop in her tracks.

She turned to look at him and he was slowly walking towards her with both hands on his jean pockets.

“Why are you suddenly telling me this?” she asked him in confusion.

“You… may need it.” he said.

Adeline remained to stare at him, making Chris uncomfortable again. That’s why he suddenly covered her entire face with his right hand as a tease before walking away. 

It only took Adeline half an hour to arrive at the company building. As soon as she entered their office, she saw Sandra wasn’t at her station yet.

Usually, Sandra would always be the first to arrive than Adeline, but now it seems like she will not be coming to work early.

Adeline placed her belongings where they were supposed to be, before opening her computer to get her file of the presentation.

However, when she moved the mouse, the monitor turned on. She didn’t notice that the computer was just put on to sleep. 

While in the middle of opening her file folders from the desktop, she couldn’t stop thinking about why her computer was already turned on.

'Did I forget to turn it off before going home yesterday?' she thought.

“Good morning, Adeline.” Sandra caught her attention as she arrived.

“Good morning.” Adeline greeted her dumbfounded.

Sandra noticed her absentmindedness, “Is there something wrong?”

Adeline glanced at her and smiled, before shaking her head.

“No. I’m good.”

Sandra arranges her desk before doing her task for the day. Adeline continued to look for her saved file, which she will present for today’s meeting with the second-level authorities. But it has been a few seconds despite that, she couldn’t find it.

Adeline had looked for the file everywhere. But it’s not there. It’s nowhere. She panicked but remained to keep everything to herself. Until Shirley already approaches her.

“Adeline, have you prepared everything? They will be in the meeting room in 10 minutes. We need to set up everything.” she told her.

It left Adeline speechless while looking at Shirley. She doesn’t know what to do in this kind of scenario.

“Did you just hear what I said, newbie? What’s wrong?” Shirley asked her.

Adeline gulped nervously, “I-It’s… It’s… missing.”

“What is?” Shirley asked her.

“My presentation. I couldn’t find it.” Adeline said.

“What?!” Shirley exclaimed.