DAWN
I punch the send 'button' on my email, and it sends the folder with the newly designed graphics to the team lead, Fiona's business email. She needs the folder for the afternoon meeting. Just processing the thought of showing up to the business meeting in the back of my mind, knowing that Kyle will be there, sends shivers down my spine.Why did he have to work for my company?Well, scratch that.Why did I have to work for his firm?Why couldn't I have found a better job elsewhere?And why does my new husband also have to be my new boss?As I'm busy formulating these thoughts in my head, Fiona knocks on my door, putting her steely gaze on me. My eyes snap from my computer's screen to meet hers."What's going on, Dawn?" She clears her throat. "Didn't I ask you to go and see the new CEO soon?" Then she shakes her head, looking down at me as she crosses her arms across her chest. "What are you going to do about your bad memory? I had reminded you to see the new CEO in his office for annual appraisals, but here you are, still sitting in your chair, lost in your thoughts."Before I can answer her, she talks again."Well, you should get going before he loses his marbles." She smiles condescendingly at me. "He probably won't take nicely to your lateness for your periodic evaluation in the company."Shaking my head at her words, I announce the new information loudly."I have already seen him in his office." Then I put my eyes back on the screen as I tinker with a new video ad. "And I passed my appraisals. Thank you so much for caring about me, though."She stills in her steps while her eyes widen in realisation. For some reason, she misses the sarcasm in my voice."Oh, right. Great." Fiona puts her hands up defensively when she regains composure. "Good for you!" Then she moves towards the door of the room. "See you at the afternoon meeting. Don't forget to send me the graphics for the meeting."Staring at her, I smile, nodding my head at her parting words. Then I watch her scramble out of our office space as deftly as she can. It's a fun little episode since not much changed when Fiona walked through the door with a ploy to make me feel bad less than three minutes ago. When her plans go awry, it's amusing to watch Fiona walk around with her head all low around the office."Isn't Fiona acting really weird lately?" Julie chimes in from her seat. "Something is off about her.""Yeah? You think so?" I respond without looking up from my computer. "I sure haven't noticed.""Oh well, if you say so."With that, Julie goes back to the document she's working on, and I direct my focus to the advertisement glowing on my screen.***"Are you focusing on what we are discussing about the marketing strategy, Ms Brooks?" Kyle's loud voice bounces around in the conference room. "Or am I just watching you count sheep in your head? Why aren't you taking down any notes about the campaign? Especially after I crossed down the recent adjustments you have made to the marketing campaign?"Fiona softly snickers at his statements which makes Mr Waugh throw a reprimanding look in her direction after he has stared me down enough to make me feel bad."Huh?" I say aloud. Then I pull my tablet closer to my chest, blinking a few times. "Are you speaking to me, Mr Waugh?"He stares at me with a pointed look, unsure what he'll say to my question."Yes, I'm talking to you, Ms Brooks." He puts up a pen from his desk and throws it at me. "That's a pen you can use to take notes or get out of the business meeting and stop wasting everyone's time. I feel sorry for the state of your mind if you can't even pay attention during work hours."Keeping my head down, I nod."I'm sorry, Mr Waugh.""Make sure to pay attention, Ms Brooks." He clears his throat. "You're still working on company hours, and you're on the company's payroll. I won't bear any disrespect to my company or my leadership." And then he throws an angry look towards everyone. "These things won't fly anymore, not under my watch."The workers around the table share uncomfortable looks and exchange nods between themselves. Fiona starts speaking again, diverting Kyle's attention to a different aspect of the marketing campaign while I sigh, realising that she's not utterly useless.Julie tsks under her breath, and I move my gaze to her face to humour her."Are you sure you haven't met Mr Waugh before?" She snorts. "He seems to have some kind of personal vendetta simmering in the background for you."I offer her an embarrassed smile."I can't recall that I have met him somewhere." I scoff, shaking my head. "Anyhow, please focus. I don't want to hear an earful again this afternoon."Julie looks at me with suspicion but takes my lack of vigour to have anything to do with Mr Waugh as confirmation of not being connected to him in any significant way. She quietens down and directs her focus back to the meeting, and I follow her lead.Nobody asks me more questions for the rest of the business meeting.And I couldn't be more thankful for that.DAWNDriving home in my car, I have thoughts spinning in my mind.Was marrying Kyle such a great idea?What kind of husband would he be to me?Have I made some mistake marrying a stranger without knowing much about him?Taking the next U-turn as I pull the car up a deserted lane that connects to the highway, I sigh. Kyle had sent me messages after the meeting to invite me. He wants me to come to see him at his home tonight. Moreover, Kyle's words give me a feeling about him wanting to get to know each other better since, in his messages, he asserted that I should stay the night and give this marriage a shot. And like a fool, I replied to his messages while I saved his home address when he sent it to me and looked it up on the online navigation maps. Then I sulked for another hour at my desk before leaving for the night. Now, I'm taking the highway which leads to the house on the outskirts of our city.Maybe I should follow his lead.And give this thing a try.Even if it irks me that h
DAWN“And I’m sorry.”His words grip me with surprise a third time this evening.“What are you sorry for exactly?” With my harsh words, I put my eyes on the floor because I don’t know how to face him. “I just want to know why you are apologising to me.”“Let’s just say that my harsh attitude and how I go about things have been far from appropriate.” He gazes at me with fierceness in his eyes. “I don’t want you to think I don’t care about you or you aren’t important to me. It’s just that things happen at work, and I can barely control everything.”“I can understand that.”He glances at me expectantly.“Can you?”I bob my head a few times, weighing his words in the back of my mind.In a way, I do understand how he feels.And where he's coming from in this situation since he’s also the head of an organisation?There are so many things at play here.He must be troubled about his private life making the rounds in the company.The legitimate fear of his employees spending their free time te
DAWNAfter the quick but enjoyable hot shower, I put on the pyjamas and tread downstairs to the kitchen. I follow Kyle's cooking noises and the noise of him putting a pan over the fire. The moment I step into the kitchen, I see Kyle perched over an electric stove, stirring some sauce in a big pot.Is he a great cook?Have I randomly lucked into a husband that can cook dinners?Even though I lied and made my intentions for helping him out in the kitchen known, I think I have left out some crucial information from the conversation.The fact is I'm not a great cook.I can barely cook anything more than heating eggs and making the random batch of instant noodles that I can find lying in the back of my cupboard."It smells good.""Does it?" Kyle looks up from the simmering pot in front of him. "I just added some cilantro and thyme to the sauce. I settled on making shrimp pasta." Then he brings the sauce ladle to his lips. "Hmm. . .I think the sauce tastes good.""The dish sounds like a nic
DAWN"How are you finding the pasta?" Kyle pushes the plate of side dishes towards me. I didn't know when he found the time to pickle some fresh vegetables, but he did find time to do that. "Would you like some more of the salad? We have more than enough," he passes me the salad bowl and the pesto dish, "so please help yourself."I wrap another string of pasta around my fork and bring it to my mouth. "It tastes delicious. You were not lying about your cooking skills." My comment earns a scoff that slips easily from Kyle's lips. His reaction makes me chuckle. "And to be honest, I'm eating so well tonight. Usually, I'll munch on any leftovers from the lunch I'll hurriedly cook for myself in the mornings or the night before, and I rarely make salads that look like this." I point to the salad bowl. "My salads are rarely this green or appetising." In my head, the word 'impostor' twinkles in bright neon lights as if it's a beer sign since I'm not talking about the absence of my cooking skil
DAWNI lie there nervously in Kyle's bed with my arms around my head, waiting in anticipation of what's about to happen. I know what he said. But is everything going to be okay between us if we sleep in the same bed?Will we be able to control ourselves?Will he be able to keep his hands off of me?Will I be the person who makes the first move?The question hounds me as I twist and turn under the soft duvet to make myself more comfortable. My nerves flare, and I wonder what spending the night in Kyle's room will be like since I haven't spent a night in a man's bed before. Sleep is still a far-fetched dream since my body feels as if it's on fire with want and expectation.I should have slept in the guest room to avoid feeling like a desperate moron.Tossing again under the duvet to adjust my body to a more comfortable position, I hear footsteps coming towards the room. I abruptly close my eyes to fake falling asleep. Kyle shouldn't know that I haven't had a wink of shuteye since I step
DAWNWhile I hear Kyle take another shower in the morning, I can't help but hide under the duvet. I can't bring myself to get out of bed because that means I have to run into Kyle again.Can my life get any more embarrassing?What have I done?How will I be able to face him today?The icing on the cake is that I work with him, and he's my boss.My husband is my goddamned boss.I still cannot believe it.Should I move to the guest room and hide in there?As I'm thinking these thoughts, Kyle comes out of the washroom with a towel wrapped around his chiselled torso. The moment he steps into the room, he stares confidently at me.The air in the room changes and I feel like I'm around no one other than my boss, and the situation reminds me of yesterday's afternoon meeting. The same boss who's also standing in front of me, half-naked. And I don't know how to feel about this.Is he doing this on purpose?"Aren't you going to shower and get ready for work?" He has a spare towel around his nec
DAWNKyle accepts the brown bag in his palm and holds it carefully against his chest with a confused smile playing on his lips. He peers inside the paper bag for a moment before his facial expression changes."You didn't have to do that for me, Dawn." Kyle stares at me with tender eyes. "This is awfully thoughtful and sweet of you. But you don't have to repay me in one way or another because I'm doing some things for you. After all, I want to do them."Shaking my head, I situate my gaze on his face."That's not what it is." I smile, remembering the breakfast he has just made me. And how it made me feel to be taken care of like that. No one I'm involved with has ever done that for me before. "This is me trying to care for you as you were trying to care for me. Don't think of it as repayment, but think about this gesture as my heartfelt consideration. That's all it is."He roughly shoves a hand in his hair, fixing it around the back of his head."But still. . ."G
DAWN"I can't believe I have so much work I need to accomplish today." I walk into the office room after getting a coffee refill for myself. Julie is still hunkered down at her desk, trying to fix some things on her current undertaking. "Are you making progress on that project, Jules?""Bah! This illustration is bugging me. It's difficult to fix all these dumb lines anyway." She snorts. "Why did I accept this project without a word? Especially when I knew it was going to give me a headache?"Taking a sip of my coffee, I smile at her."Maybe you were trying to impress Fiona with your workaholic tendencies. And I'll side with you on this one. It's hard to impress her.""It's not just that." Julie sighs. "Anyway, when you were gone, the office manager came in and told me Mr Waugh wanted to see you in his office. So yeah, hurry up and finish your coffee. You need to be there on time because he seems scary."My eyes widen at her response."Really?" Rubb