BOUND BY SECRETS

《4》

Coraline's POV

I start to walk away but Lyla dashes towards me and clings to my arm. She leads me out of the office. I release a heavy sigh because I know things are about to get a little rough in there. But why is the President hellbent on firing me?

"Hey. Don't mind Jace, he is in an awful mood today," Lyla says.

That explains why. What I mean is that me and Mr President have not exactly been on good terms, but we relate so well when it comes to work and, like he said, I have been very hardworking for the past few years.

"Today makes it six years since we lost our mum, so he is usually cranky on a day like this," Lyla explains.

"He was supposed to visit her grave this morning, but the urgent meeting came up, and he had to postpone visiting her grave till noon. I guess he is just really pissed that you missed such an important meeting even when he had to postpone an important visitation. You get what I mean, right?" Lyla asks, raising her brows at me. I nod my head slowly. Oh.

A wave of guilt washes over me, sinking deep into my chest. No wonder he was so bitter today. No wonder he snapped so easily. I thought he was just being his usual unbearable self, but instead, he was dealing with something much heavier—something personal.

For the first time since this whole disaster started, I stop thinking about my own frustration and start wondering what kind of pain he must be hiding.

Would it have changed anything if I had known earlier? Probably not. But still... I wish I hadn't made things worse.

"I'm sorry about your loss, Lyla," I say. "Oh, thank you, Caroline." Lyla smiles at me.

"I should be thanking you instead. I almost lost my job because of my stupidity. Thank you, Lyla. I hope your brother is not going to be pissed at you." I say, releasing a heavy sigh.

"It's nothing. What is the worst Jace can do to me?" Lyla waves it off. "I have to get back to work." She bids me goodbye and walks away.

Phew, what happens next? I try to peep into the glass doors of Mr President's office, but the curtains are down, and the door is soundproof.

I sigh and go back to my desk which is only a few inches away from Mr President's office. Okay Caroline, let us get to work.

I spend the rest of the day at work trying so hard to avoid Mr President, but it does not work. I mean I am his secretary. There is no possible way for me to avoid him.

Surprisingly though, he does not snap at me, he just acts like nothing even happened at all. It sort of made me uncomfortable around him at first, but then I realized it was the right thing to do, we both should act mature and forget about the whole situation. After all, we are adults, there is no need to dwell on one thing.

After working hours, I stop by Lorraine's house to clear my head a little. I rant to her about everything that happened at work, and it leaves her mouth hanging wide open.

"Okay first off Caroline, why would you watch TVD without me?" Lorraine yells at me. I frown. Is that the only thing she grabbed from my story? I just told her I could have lost my job today and all she cares about is The Vampire Diaries. Sometimes I wonder how I and Lorraine are still best friends.

"Girl, I was literally on the verge of losing my job. The vampire diaries should be the last thing on your mind." I snapped at her. She nods her head at me, looking remorseful.

"Fine, I'm sorry." She rolls her eyes at me.

"But you should be grateful to Lyla and Mr Rogers for putting some sense into Mr Jace. I think his hotness is making him lose some sense." Lorraine says. I scoff at the mention of his hotness.

It makes me remember five years ago when I first came for an interview to be his secretary. I can vividly remember seeing a lot of ladies there. They all just wanted to be his secretary so they could get a closer look at his pretty face. He seemed very uncomfortable about it. I think that was why I got the job in the first place.

I mean, like every other lady, I actually did appreciate his gorgeousness, but one thing I did not do was gush over him. I was just a really young girl who needed a job to save her family from debt.

"I wonder why he isn't married though. I hear he is 28 years old. Does he even have a girlfriend?" Lorraine blurts out with a curious look on her face. No, Jace does not have a girlfriend, not because he can not get one, but he just does not want one. I guess he still enjoys the free time he dedicates to clubbing and partying with a few of his other wealthy CEOs.

"That is his private life, Lorraine. It is none of our business, he probably has some really valid reason or who knows? He might actually have a girlfriend." I add the last statement with a shrug.

"You're his secretary Caroline. How would you not know if he had a girlfriend? You literally follow him everywhere. It is how you know he goes clubbing with his friends during his free time." Lorraine rolls her eyes at me. I knew it! I shouldn't have told her about the clubbing and partying with his friends part.

"Well, whatever. I think everyone should just let him be." I say, taking a sip of the lemonade juice Lorraine had offered me when I got here.

She stares at me with utter shock and shakes her head at me. What is it this time?

"You were literally talking about how your boss was going to fire you in the worst way, I mean in a brown envelope and all of a sudden you're supporting him?" Lorraine snaps at me.

"Jeez, it is not that serious, Lorraine, plus, did you miss the part where I said today makes it six years since he lost his mum?"

Lorraine sighs, she scoots close to me.

"My dear friend, a boss should never transfer aggression to his co-workers." She stares.

"It's not aggression. You're exaggerating." I frown at her.

"You know what? You look bored, and I think what you need right now is a little clubbing " Lorraine jumps off her feet and wriggles her brows at me playfully.

I choke out a peal of laughter and shake my head in disagreement, no! I am not going clubbing. That is seriously the last thing I want to do at the moment. I'm exhausted, I need sleep.

"Come on Caroline, don't be a sour wolf." Lorraine nudges my shoulder, she drags me up and pulls me close.

"Just a few drinks and dancing, and then we'll call it a night." Lorraine winks at me. I sigh, to be honest, it is utterly pointless arguing with Lorraine because the moment you choose to argue with her, you've lost the argument already.

"Fine! Just a few drinks and no dancing!" I say to her.

Lorraine does this silly mini dance and blows me a kiss.