Tangled Hearts, Bound by Fate

Chapter 5

When the alarm rang, the clock showed 6:am. I felt a sting of tears in my eyelids but I reminded myself of the need to stay strong. A couple of hours ago, I was at the hospital receiving treatment after passing out at the office. And now, I was back in my room, getting ready for work. This was certainly ridiculous! The doctor had told me that someone brought me into the hospital in my unconscious state and judging from the description he gave, I could tell that it was Daniel. He also added that he told him I needed to rest since stress was a major cause of what happened to me. Shockingly, I got a call around 9 pm from Daniel who told me that I had to be available today for the meeting. I almost exploded in rage when I heard that from him. At first, I couldn’t believe it but after some hours, it dawned on me that he was dead serious. He wanted me at work today, even if I wasn’t feeling so strong. I walked out of the bathroom and just as I dabbed my body dry, more tears threatened to pour out of my eyes. This was a job I’ve always wanted, and I shouldn’t jeopardize it for any reason, including my health…My body felt weak and numb as all I wanted to do was jump on my soft bed and snuggle myself until I dozed off. But then, that was only a wish that wouldn’t come true. Finally, I grabbed my bag and walked out of my room, wearing an unpleasant stare and barely replying to greetings that came from neighbors. My head pounded with tension and my lips grew thin and firm as I tookslow and unsteady strides towards my office. Just then, a deep coarse voice made me stop in my tracks.“On an important day, you came late again”.Cold shivers ran down my spine, and a heavy gulp went down my throat. Itried so hard to steady my breaths as I swirled around to stare at him. Daniel was standing before me, clad in a black tuxedo and looking as attractive as ever. A wave of his cologne flushed past my nostrils, and abruptly, I stiffened. My stomach erupted with butterflies as I tried to maintain my stance and appear aplomb. Not only did he have an intimidating aura, but his manly appearance was enough to make anyone have wild thoughts…I jolted out of my mind immediately and retained the small frown I had on my face. I wasn’t anything close to being excited, and the scent of his cologne wasn’t going to make me think otherwise.“I’m sorry…sir”, I stuttered, wiping off the beads of tears that already formed on my forehead. He let out a scoff and studied me for a while, after which a slight smirkappeared on his face.“At least you showed up. That is very commendable. Go through the documents for the presentation and get ready. We can’t afford to flop at anypoint”, he ordered and walked away, heading straight into his office thatwas a couple of steps away from mine. It clenched my fist in rage and nodded my head in defeat. He was the boss after all, and there was nothing I could do. After settling in for a while, I grabbed the documents and did a final rehearsal for the presentation. Some minutes later, it was time for the meeting. I forced a smile to my face as I walked into the boardroom for the meeting. I could see the eagerness in the expression of every other colleague, and I couldn’t help but question why my situation was different. I wasn’t close to being eager for this meeting. As a matter of fact, I was exhausted! Every one of the board members got into the room, with their faces beaming with great determination and elation. They took their seats behind the deep brown polished long table while arranging their laptops before them. We waited for a couple of minutes, after which Daniel walked in, bringing the noisy room to absolute tranquility. With charisma and authority, he started addressing the topics he had already mapped out for the meeting. I felt great aversion for him just as I watched him talk. Most times, he turned his gaze to me and waited for a while before darting his eyes away again. He did that consistently, slightly getting me uncomfortable. He spoke at length about the company’s progress so far and the growth plans for the future. Afterward, he gestured for me to proceed with the presentation I had prepared. I almost rolled my eyes at him at that point, but I summoned up the courage to remain respectful.

“We hope to create subsections that would focus on generating other web designs that would be accessible for every single person in the country”, I said as everyone’s attention focused on the projector that beamed with images of what the plan looked like. At intervals, I shifted my eyes to Daniel and watched how he was gazing at me with an interesting smile on his face.“This way, there won’t be any form of segmentation. As part of our vision is creating a platform not limited to any group of people, this particular idea, if properly implemented, would bring that vision to reality”, I said in conclusion as applause filled the air. Again, I forced another smile to my face and finally settled into my chair. There were fierce eyes on me. Even if I wasn’t staring at the person, I could feel it in my soul, and it made me quite restless. Again, I shifted my eyes toDaniel and observed how he stared at me in contentment.

I hissed silently and returned my gaze to the other people in the room. The board meeting ended in no time and Daniel walked over to me.“You did so well. We should prepare for the next meeting with the Oasis company. Most and ”, he said and walked away. My eyes turned red in rage as I stormed out of the boardroom and back to my office.