Chapter 13
1436 Words
Clarissa pushed her salad around the plate, appetite nowhere to be found. The office cafeteria buzzed with the animated chatter of employees savoring their lunch break—a symphony of normalcy that felt alien to her current state of mind.
Maya sat across from her, sipping coffee with casual contentment, while Dina from marketing and Reza from IT had just joined their table, settling in with the easy familiarity of workplace friendships.
"What's wrong with you today, Clar? You've been torturing that poor salad for ten minutes," Maya observed, taking another bite of her sandwich.
"Just tired," Clarissa replied curtly, her gaze drifting toward the window. Behind her deflection, her mind was calculating—searching for a way to extract information about David without raising suspicion.
"Being tired makes sense, considering you've become our gorgeous boss's favorite target," Dina grinned, her tone dancing somewhere between jest and genuine concern. "I've been here three years, and I've never seen William hand a project that demanding to a new hire."
Clarissa's pulse quickened. This was the opening she'd been waiting for.
"How demanding, exactly?" she asked, manufacturing casual curiosity.
"International market research across three countries simultaneously? That's usually a team effort, not a one-person marathon," Reza shook his head in disbelief. "Honestly, I thought you'd quit by the end of your first week."
"But you survived," Maya added with genuine admiration. "Hell, you finished a day early. That's nothing short of impressive."
The praise warmed something in Clarissa's chest, but her curiosity about David burned stronger than her need for validation.
"What's William really like? I mean, outside of work?"
Her three colleagues exchanged glances—a silent communication that spoke volumes. A code of shared understanding.
"David William is a complete enigma," Maya finally said, pausing to sip her coffee. "He became CEO at twenty-eight, built this company from nothing in five years. But his personal life? Completely locked down. No one knows about his family, he's never been seen with a woman, never shows up to company parties."
"Word is he's a total workaholic," Dina continued. "Always here before dawn, last to leave. Even the building security guards know his routine by heart."
"I saw him here at eleven PM once when I came back for my laptop," Reza recounted. "His office was still lit up, him still hunched over his computer. Like some kind of machine that doesn't need rest."
Clarissa absorbed every detail, filing away each piece of the puzzle that was David's transformation.
"But he's not cruel, is he?" she asked carefully.
"No," Maya answered definitively. "He's fair as a boss. Demanding, but fair. Never loses his temper without cause, never intimidates employees, and he's incredibly generous with bonuses when we deliver quality work."
"But don't be fooled," Dina added, studying Clarissa with sparkling eyes full of curiosity. "With you, he's different—like there's some kind of personal vendetta."
"Personal vendetta?" Clarissa managed to sound surprised.
"Exactly," Reza nodded. "I've been here long enough to know William doesn't give special treatment to specific employees. But with you, he's so... focused. Like..."
All eyes turned to Clarissa with intense curiosity, but she maintained her innocent expression.
"Like what?" she pressed.
"Like this," Maya gestured with her hands. "He gives you an impossible project, but then personally monitors your progress. Usually he just receives final reports from division heads. But with you, he actually comes to your desk."
"And the way he looks at you..." Dina let her sentence hang, her eyes narrowing with analytical precision. "So intense. Like there's history."
"History?" Clarissa nearly choked on her water.
"Did you know him before?" Reza asked bluntly.
"No," she answered too quickly, her voice pitching slightly higher. "Never met him before. Maybe he's just strict with new employees."
"Hmm," Maya looked unconvinced, one eyebrow arched skeptically.
"But if it were just about being strict, why isn't he treating the other new hires the same way? Marcus and Santi started last month too, but they're only doing data entry and filing."
Clarissa felt the walls closing in. She needed to redirect this conversation before their suspicions solidified further. Control—she had to regain control.
"Anyway," she said, glancing at her watch, "maybe I'm just unlucky. But speaking of William, do you know if he has social media?"
"None," Maya, Dina, and Reza answered in unison.
"Seriously?" Clarissa couldn't hide her surprise.
"Dead serious," Maya confirmed. "I've stalked every platform imaginable—nothing. His LinkedIn only has company information, zero personal content."
"He's like a ghost," Dina added with a shrug. "Only exists in the business world. No private life, no visible hobbies, no close friends anyone knows about."
"Isn't that kind of creepy?" Reza commented. "A twenty-eight-year-old guy living like a monk."
"Or maybe he has a dark secret," Dina smirked, her eyes gleaming with mischief. "Maybe he was devastated by some woman in the past, so now he's become this cold-hearted businessman."
Dina's words hit Clarissa like a physical blow, straight to her solar plexus. Her eyes widened momentarily before she managed to control her expression, forcing herself to remain composed.
"Devastated?" she whispered, drawn in despite herself.
"Just my theory," Dina shrugged. "I mean, it's not normal for a guy that wealthy and attractive to be completely single. Unless he's deliberately closed himself off."
"Or he's gay," Reza added casually, earning immediate protests from Maya and Dina.
"Don't talk nonsense!" Maya scolded, though laughter colored her voice.
"I'm kidding," Reza laughed. "But seriously, he is incredibly mysterious. Like he has two personalities—professional William who's perfect, and private William who doesn't exist to anyone."
Clarissa listened with increasingly complex emotions. Each piece of information painted a clearer, more painful picture of David's transformation. A puzzle slowly revealing itself, piece by cruel piece.
David had become completely closed off. As if he'd deliberately built impenetrable walls around himself, a fortress of ice encasing his heart.
"But one thing's certain," Maya continued.
"William is incredibly loyal to people he trusts. Dina made a huge mistake during a client presentation once, but he didn't fire her immediately. He gave her a second chance, even personally mentored her until she improved."
"True," Dina nodded. "He's demanding, but supportive if we genuinely try. It's just that with you, he's completely different."
"Like there's something he wants to prove," Reza added. "Or something he wants to... punish."
The word "punish" struck Clarissa like cold lightning. She stared at her three colleagues with slightly widened eyes.
"Punish?" she repeated.
"Maybe he wants to test your limits," Maya explained, her tone more rational. "See how strong you are, how committed to the job."
"Or," Dina grinned with sparkling eyes, mischief dancing in her voice, "he's actually interested in you but doesn't know how to express it, so he becomes super demanding instead."
"Dina!" Maya protested.
"What? It's possible!" Dina defended herself. "Guys can be weird when they have crushes. Especially if they're inexperienced with relationships."
Clarissa felt her head spinning. Dina's suggestion seemed absurd, but a tiny part of her heart clung to the possibility. A hope so fragile it was barely there, but undeniably present.
"That's impossible," she replied weakly, forcing a smile. "He doesn't seem to like me at all."
"Or he likes you so much he's become defensive," Maya added teasingly. "You know there's a thin line between love and hate."
"Guys, please," Clarissa felt overwhelmed. "We've been talking about my boss for way too long. What if he finds out?"
"He won't," Reza assured her. "Besides, it's normal to be curious about our boss. Especially one as mysterious as William."
"Just be careful, Clar," Maya said more seriously, looking directly into her eyes. "Whatever's going on between you and William, don't let it affect your performance. He might be an enigma, but he's still a powerful boss."
"I know," Clarissa nodded, making a promise to herself.
"Good," Maya smiled. "Now finish your salad. You've been getting too thin lately."
Clarissa forced herself to eat a few bites, but her mind continued spinning, processing all the information she'd just absorbed.
After lunch break ended, Clarissa returned to her desk with thoughts still in chaos. She opened her laptop and tried to focus on work, but the earlier conversation echoed relentlessly in her head, like a song she couldn't stop hearing.
"There's a thin line between love and hate," Maya's words repeated endlessly.
Was it possible that William still had feelings for Clarissa? Or had his hatred grown too deep to leave room for anything else? Or were both emotions simply two sides of the same devastating coin?
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