Chapter 11

Sara's POV

"That's great," I dipped my head to sigh in relief, lifting it afterwards to present a passive face to Asher.

"She resumes today and I will need you to..." His words trailed off at the sound of a knock on his door.

It opened a crack and someone popped their head in first, "Um...Mr Herman?"

"Come on in Laila," Asher beckoned invitingly.

A young girl that looked to be a couple years younger than me stepped in. She had large, bright, doe eyes and her hair was packed into a ponytail.

Her eyes scanned the room as she walked in, looking around with a curiosity that could not be concealed.

She was beautiful to say the least and had the air of a fresh budding flower.

I supposed I once looked like her, my eyes used to hold life and excitement just like hers held in this moment.

"I hope I'm not late, it's my first time on the job so I'm quite nervous," she held her hands out in front of her, clasped tightly.

"Oh no, you're good," Asher waved his hands dismissively then turned his attention back to me, "Sara, meet Laila. She's the replacement I was talking about."

"Hi Laila, I'm Sara," I made a little gesture to introduce myself.

She smiled at me then turned to Asher, "What do I do first?"

"For starters, you need to learn the ropes of how things work around here. Sara will show you around, you will shadow her for today and get used to things."

He alternated his eyes back to me, "Sara, please help Laila so she can adjust quickly."

"Of course," I nodded.

I had no issues with helping the new secretary familiarize herself with the company.

Not to be condescending but she did look like she had a lot to learn.

However, even after my immediate agreement, I noticed that Asher hadn't taken his face off of me.

His expression was almost critically scrutinizing me as if the reaction I had given him wasn't what he expected or he thought I would have some opinions of the new secretary.

I didn't.

For starters, I showed Laila around the whole floor then brought her to the employee's lounge.

While I showed her around, she expressed inquisitiveness and asked thoughtful questions.

She was a little forward but I didn't think that would pose a problem, not until she leaned in closer to me, while we were in the lounge, "What kind of person is Derek?"

I paused, angling my head slowly to look at her, "It's Mr Marshall to you."

She pouted, holding my gaze without shying away, "Well, he's not here."

I raised a brow slightly but decided to let it go, there was no point nitpicking over something so insignificant.

"So, what kind of person is he?"She repeated, her eyes searching mine curiously.

Even without her directly stating what she meant, I already could see that look of interest, the way her tone softened while mentioning his name-I wasn't a stranger to it.

Many women had exhibited the same over the years especially since not many people had a clue I was married to him.

"It's just, there are a lot of rumors about him. I need to know if he is as mysterious and dreamy as they say he is."

I held my lips clipped together, making no comment and pointed to the coffee machine instead, "He likes strong, black coffee, little sugar."

For the rest of the morning, Laila kept trying to pry into Derek's affairs.

She probably thought she was keeping her interest in him subtle but it was clear that she was more interested in him beyond what was allowed for a mere employee.

I, on the other hand, kept my conversations with her to a bare minimum and only answered the professional questions she had for me.

In the afternoon, I showed her how to organize documents and thereafter, made her organize some important documents Derek needed to review-contracts, merger notes and proposals.

She hovered beside me and I handed her a few pages, explaining to her how she would sort them in order of which was more important.

Through my explanation, she could hardly keep her focus and kept getting distracted which meant I had to repeatedly go over some things.

"Have you always worked in this field? She asked, making me pause mid explanation.

I took a second to process her question then shook my head, "No, I didn't even study this field."

"How do you then know how to sort these files by priority?" She frowned.

"I don't even understand half of these terms."

"It took time, you'll learn," I answered.

She let out a puff of air then leaned against a printing machine, watching as I highlighted figures and scribbled notes in the margin, "It looks so easy when you do it."

Little did she know...

None of this had ever been easy.

I lifted my head to glance at her, "I wasn't always good at this."

My first week on the job, I made many mistakes but kept pushing through because I desperately wanted Derek's approval.

Thinking back now, I was just so eager to please him that I hadn't given much thought into whether working here was what I wanted for myself and had worked myself to the bone.

And Derek, the man I had done all of these for, cared less.

We finished sorting the files and I handed the compiled folder to her, "You need to deliver this to Mr Marshall."

"Me?" Her eyes enlarged.

"Yes."

"Why don't you do it? I...I don't think," Her hands trembled as she took the folder from me.

"This is a part of what you need to get used to."

She lowered her head to the folder then took in a deep breath, "I guess you are right. I do need to get used to it."

A couple of minutes later, she walked out with cautious steps, gripping the folder tightly but carefully.

I watched her leave then let out a deep breath of air when she was out of sight.

A few minutes later, I felt Asher's presence behind me, "You sent her to him?"

"She needs the interaction," I muttered.

"She's a quick learner but you are an even better teacher...Most people would feel threatened."

I gave him a quick look then shrugged, "She does need to learn as much as she can."

Asher remained watching me for a little while longer and eventually, he walked away.

A lot of people probably would never understand why I could easily hand over access to Derek but I knew how easy it was for me to be replaced by a younger, prettier and brighter woman.

I knew that feeling too well.

By evening, while I was gathering my things to clock off work. My phone buzzed with a text from Rina, stating that she was waiting for me outside the building.

True to her words, she was waiting right next to my car and she gave me a big tight hug after I slipped into the passenger seat of her car, "The end of an era, the beginning of another."

I couldn't help myself from chuckling at her statement.

"Let's go, I want you to meet someone,"  Rina added, giving me a mysterious smile as she started the car.

Rina brought me to a high end restaurant, one I always wanted to pay a visit to.

She made me get off first while she went to park the car and I walked in ahead of her to secure us a seat as well.

I had barely walked past the door when my gaze fell on a group of very familiar people- Derek, Alyssa and...Daniella.

They looked the very image of a loving, perfect family.

My stomach churned almost immediately, the air grew colder and I found myself unable to take another step forward.

"Mommy Alyssa, this is for you," Daniella's chirpy voice reached me, her eyes shining so brightly there seemed to be stars embedded in them. "I had it made specially for you."

"Oh darling," Alyssa held a hand to her chest, accepting the gift with a warm, brilliant smile, "It's so beautiful."

The gift was a bracelet, studded with different sizes and shapes of colorful gemstones that caught the light so radiantly it stung my eyes.

I wouldn't have remained so frozen, I would have bravely forged ahead without paying them any more attention but one particular gemstone caught my attention.

Instant tears welled in my eyes.

That gemstone, I recognized it...It was a charm from the necklace I had given Daniella last year and now she was handing it over to Alyssa without any iota of regret on her face.

It was like it...meant nothing.