Chapter 2: Infuriating day

“ You're going to be late, Tessa!” Her mother yelled from downstairs while she hurriedly put on her corporate heels, panting as she tried smoothing her hair at the same time.

“ I don't even know what she's doing, isn't she supposed to have taken a leave already?” She could hear her mummy grumbling.

Truly, she was supposed to have taken a leave from work for her wedding preparations which is two days away now, but she couldn't risk it, this was a three-month internship program, and top-performing interns would be offered a permanent position upon completion.

Tessa had applied for this program to gain more knowledge and a job to help her parent who are currently facing financial issues due to their company going bankrupt.

She had to support the family, even though her father had protested. Then one evening they sat her down in the sitting room and told her about the marriage that was not just an arranged marriage but also a business collaboration.

She remembered how her heart had sunk, her tremble, and the tears that filled her eyes, but the moment they told her the family she was marrying, Tessa accepted with no second thought, instantly overwhelmed with joy.

She grinned as she stood before the mirror, formally dressed in a black skirt and orange shirt. Her hair was neatly packed in a ponytail.

“ I bet Tyler would be impressed.” She said, staring back at herself. This is the professional version of her, one he hadn't seen and would definitely give him another impression of her.

Deep down, Tessa knew, that she had not only applied to King's corporation because of the company's excellent reputation or for knowledge alone, but because Tyler had told her he owns the company and she'd get to see him enough to impress him with different versions of her.

“ Tessa!!” Her mother shouted again.

“ Shit. I'm coming mum!” She quickly grabbed her bag, hurried out but ran back inside again to quickly spray some perfume before running back outside.

“ I still don't get why you have to go to work today, you're meeting with your in-laws for dinner today, remember?” Mr. Colton, her father said the moment she got to the dining room.

“ I remember, Dad, I'll be back before that.” She assured, panting.

“ Come quick and have something, you're late already.” Mrs. Laura beckoned, dishing out her meal.

As much as the aroma was delicious, she couldn't. “ Sorry mum, I have to go.” She said and bolted out, not waiting for a response.

This is the second day at work and it was said yesterday that the boss would be coming to work today. She doesn't want to be late, that wouldn't do so well with the impression she wants to give him.

She ran to the bus station but the longer she waited for a bus, the more anxious she got. She kept tapping her finger against her bag, chest rising and falling fast, eyes watching and waiting eagerly for the bus that took nearly forever to arrive.

If not for her dad who was eating earlier, she would have pleaded with him to drop her off at work, which would definitely saved her more time.

Soon, a bus arrived, but time seemed to fly by with the bus that seemed to be moving too slow, too slow even though it was at the normal speed.

The moment the bus arrived at the company, Tessa was the first to get out of the bus. She walked hurriedly towards the entrance when her feet tripped and a snap sound echoed in her ear.

Her bewildered eyes moved to her legs. One of the heel shoes had snapped.

“ Seriously?!” She screamed, her eyes filled with frustration.

She quickly grabbed the second shoe and began hitting the heel against the floor to snap the heel off. The longer she did that, the more frustrated she got and the moment it came off, she didn't wait calmly to finish wearing the shoe as she hurried inside.

She was twenty-five minutes late now.

“ The boss is here. You're late.” One of the workers said to her the moment she arrived.

Her heart sank. She wanted to arrive before him..

‘ How could he arrive so early when he was so drunk last night?’ she cried in her mind.

“ You should go get the coffee now, before he comes back for the interns' introduction.”

“ Oh.” Tessa's eyes lit up. She smiled and quickly dropped her bag on the seat before bolting out again.

The interns' introduction has not been done yet.

“ There's still a chance. There's still a chance.” She recited to herself, not minding anyone glancing her way as she hurried off to get the department workers their morning coffee as instructed to be one of her duties the previous day.

Her shoulder slumped upon arriving at the coffee spot to see a long queue.

“ Why are people suddenly interested in coffee this morning?” She groaned bitterly. She looked at the queue one more time and knew there was no way she'd wait for more than ten people before it got to her turn.

She bit her lower lip hard, thinking of what to do when an idea struck. She sneaked to stand beside a man at the front line.

“ Please.” She pouted, whispering. “ Please help me.”

Looking so cute and beautiful, Tessa knew her idea to plead with the stranger would work. She grinned as she headed back, not minding the annoyed voice of the people standing when they realized she had beat them to it even though she just arrived.

She hurriedly headed back to the department, excitement bubbling through her. Her toes tapped against the floor, waiting impatiently for the elevator to arrive on her floor.

The moment it dinged, and opened, she didn't wait a second before storming out.

“ Ah.”

A yelp slipped out of her lips as she bumped hard into someone. Her eyes flew open, her head shook as she watched in horror as two cups flew right to her chest.

And just like that, two cups of coffee splashed on her while some splashed on the floor.

In a slow, unbelievable motion, her widened eyes trailed to her ruined dress and back to the spilled coffee.

“ Are you blind?!” She yelled furiously, glaring up to see the man standing before her.

Some amount of coffee had also spilled on him, but she doesn't care.

She glared with intense anger. “ Can you not watch..” Her voice cracked, her anger filtered as the man glared so dangerously at her, it sent a chill right to her bones.

Standing tall before her, exuding an aura so powerful and intimidating that it instantly made her wonder if he was someone powerful.

But when she looked at her shirt again, anger flared in her once again.

“ You ruined my shirt, my effort!”

She watched his lips curve in disgust.

He didn’t react immediately, his eyes didn't widen, didn't flash, nor blink, they simply lowered to her, slowly, measuring, and assessing. Dark, not loud, the kind of gaze that didn't need to shout to dominate a room.

They dragged over her stained shirt, the coffee dripping down her fingers… and then returned to her face.

Cold.

Not offended.

Not embarrassed.

Just… unimpressed. And then he said indifferently like she was just a minor inconvenience in an otherwise structured morning.“ Step aside.”

His voice, so deep and rigid made her shoulders tense, but his statement made her fume even more.

“ Step.. step aside? You disgusting, arrogant maggot, you spilled my coffee and you can't even say sorry? This company teaches manners but guess you left yours at home.”

The man's lip parted, his eyes darkened with anger she doesn't care about. He opened his mouth to speak but just then, his phone vibrated and without giving her a second glance, he picked up the call and walked away.

“ Hey! Hey you can't just walk away, you have to compensate for my shirt!” She yelled after him but he was gone.

Her shoulder slumped the moment she was left alone, and tears immediately filled her eyes.

All her efforts, everything was gone.

“ I heard the boss is really here, oh God, he's so hot.” She heard one of the ladies that just stepped out of the elevator blush.

“ Tyler?” She quickly straightened, blinked her eyes, and wiped her cheeks.

“ I should go get the coffee.” She said and turned back but the elevator had shut back before she could reach the button.

“ Oh spare me.” She cried out and quickly made use of the stairs, racing down no matter how tired and weak her legs felt.

Just as she was almost to the last step, her foot missed the last step.

For a split second, her body floated, weightless, suspended between balance and disaster.

Then pain exploded.

Her ankle twisted violently beneath her, a sickening pull snapping up her leg as she crashed against the cold stair edge. The sound that left her throat wasn’t graceful or dignified, it was broken.

White-hot agony spread upward, sharp and blinding, forcing tears into her eyes before she could stop them.

She stayed there for a second too long, palm pressed against the floor, breath uneven, humiliation settling heavier than the pain.

Of course.

Of course, she would fall.

Of course, today wouldn’t stop at ruining her shirt.

Her fingers curled around her ankle as it throbbed mercilessly, and, almost crying, she whispered. “ Can this day get any worse?”