20. Back to work
1404 Words
Alice's point of view
As we disembarked the ship along with other people, I kept looking around hoping to catch a glimpse of Chris.
We never got each other's contacts, and I was hoping to at least get to say goodbye.
"Hey, Cade is that way," Rose nudged me, pointing towards Cade who was standing by the car in sunglasses and pressing his phone.
"Cade looks perfect today, don't you think?" Rose asked when I didn't say anything.
"I don't know, I shrugged as we headed towards him. Looks the same as always to me," I shrugged.
Cade looked up and spotted us, rushing forward to take our suitcases and load them into the trunk before going to open the door for Rose.
But instead of getting in, Rose went to the other side, opened the door herself and got in.
Cade went there awkwardly, as I stood there wondering why she did that when she rolled down her window and called through.
"Get in Alice, don't let Cade hang like that."
I couldn't understand the meaning behind that, but I got in any way, and Cade closed the door before going to the driver's side and started to drive.
On our way back, my mind drifted back to Chris once again. Will he be alright with his cousin?
Even if what happened between us was nothing less than a fling, I am allowed to worry about him, right?
"Hey," Rose poked me on the shoulder, bringing my attention to her. "Are you thinking about going back to work yet?"
"Yeah?"
"Well, I was just telling Cade I forgot to bring him back a souvenir," Rose said, and I looked up. We were now waiting in traffic, and when I looked in the rearview mirror, Cade was also looking at me.
"Oh," was all I could let out.
"But I know you bought a lot of gifts," Rose continued with a smile. "You must have bought something for Cade, right?"
"Uhm, right," I nodded. "I must have," I nodded.
Cade must have noticed my confused expression as he went back to focusing on the road.
The surfboard keychain I bought with Chris came to mind and I thought about how I couldn't muster the courage to give it to him. Then would it be right to give it to someone else? Or should I just keep it as a reminder of the trip, although it won't hold much meaning since I didn't get it from the person I wanted to remember.
Soon after, we stopped in the parking lot of Rose's place, and we all got out of the car with Cade immediately going to unload our suitcases.
"I guess I will see you at work tomorrow," Rose said, taking hold of her suitcase and waving at us before leaving.
The whole place kept quiet as the sound of the rolling of her suitcase wheels and clacking of her heels disappeared into the elevator, leaving me alone with Cade.
"I will be on my way home then," I said, starting to take hold of my suitcase from the trunk intending to bring it out, but Cade put his hand on the suitcase, stopping me.
"What?" I looked at him, confused.
"I will take you home. I don't have much to do anyway," Cade said, closing the trunk and heading to the driver's side of the car.
I stood there confused.
Not once have I ever ridden in a car alone with Cade, so why is he suddenly offering to take me home?
And why is he talking to me all of a sudden?
"Are you coming?" Cade said from inside the car, snapping me out of my trance.
"Coming!" As if pulled by a magnetic force, I went and entered shotgun.
"My address is..."
"I know where you live," Cade said, starting the engine.
"Oh," was all I could manage, as Cade started the engine and soon after, we zoomed off.
I kept my eyes on the road the entire time and, true enough, Cade did know my place.
"It's not like it was a secret, but," I turned to look at Cade.
"You didn't get anything for me, do you?"
"What are you talking about..."
I didn't finish my sentence when I realized what he was talking about, and all of a sudden, I felt embarrassed, realizing that in fact, I didn't.
Cade got out of the car and went to the trunk, retrieving my suitcase from him.
"Cade, I," I started to say.
"You are welcome. Enjoy the rest of your day."
Without waiting for me to complete my sentence, Cade said and got into the car, drove away, and I sighed in relief. Not once while buying gifts did I think about Cade or for any moment while I was spending time with Chris.
It's too late to think about that anyway. I held my suitcase and, all of a sudden, my legs felt jelly and all I could think of was soaking my body in a bath filled with rose-scented hot water, then sleep off the rest of the day.
The next day was also a free day, but I spent the rest of the day preparing what to report to Rose. I mean my boss the next day while ordering takeout in between.
I was back to being a fully pledged employee, all sentiments aside.
On Monday, I got dressed in a black suit with a skirt, tied my hair in a ponytail, grabbed my files, got into my car and went straight to work.
When I got there at 8AM, Rose was already there, not that it was unlike her.
I went to my office first, checked a few things along with some reports, proposals and files that needed to be signed and submitted to my desk.
I went through them, arranging them in order of importance.
In thirty minutes, I was done, and I held the files, heading towards Rose's. I mean my boss' office, when I saw Margaret coming out of said office with a coffee tray.
"Good morning Margaret," I greeted Margaret.
"Hi, Alice, how are you doing?" Margaret smiled brightly as she greeted me back.
"The holiday must have done the boss some good. She didn't even need her usual morning coffee," Margaret said passing by me, and true to her word, the coffee mug was untouched.
Managing to hold the heavy files with one hand, I opened the door with the other hand and entered the office, quickly grabbing the files with both hands and closing the door with my leg.
True to Margaret's words, Rose did indeed look extra happy this morning.
"A good morning to you, Miss Jennings," Rose said, her red-tinted lips widening into a bright smile. "Let's get to work right away."
"I fail to believe that work is the only thing getting you happy this morning," I said, going to stand in front of her desk and dropping the heavy files on it.
"Mhmm," Rose shrugged as she started putting away the files one by one, until she got to the middle.
Her eyes brightened as she picked that particular file, seemingly what she was looking for. Rose opened the file and started looking through it while I started explaining it to her.
"Oh, this file is about the new audit team proposed by the Chief technology manager. Everything has been prepared. All it needs is your approval..."
"This." Rose placed the file on her desk and on one particular page, she pointed with her nail. "I need you to change this person to another."
I looked at the name she was pointing at, and it read 'Declan Dean' on the position of the team manager.
"Alright," I took the file with one hand and with the other hand, brought a pen from my suit pocket and drew a line over the name. "Do you have someone in mind?"
"Put Kimberly Wells over it. And as for the assistant, I want it blank. The girl can choose. I am giving her this power, and I am going to watch closely and see what she does."
I looked up from the file at Rose to find her smirking, her eyes glinting with excitement.
Her words on the day of the anniversary came back to mind, and only now I realize what she meant by what she said that night.
- Writer
