Road to the CEO's heart

Chapter Two

I sat there in the dirty puddle looking at the source of the voice, grey eyes staring back at me devoid of any emotion, my heart began to beat heavily under the intimidating gaze of the man, his jaw visibly twitching.

“No, sorry, I.. I'll … ”. I scurry to my feet, clasping my purse as I move to the left, my boots sinking into the wet grassy soil, my blood shot eyes trained to the ground as my heart pounds in my chest.

I feel his eyes still on me but I didn't dare look at him, wanting to avoid any form of altercation with the stranger especially on this lonely night.

After what feels like forever, I hear his heavy footsteps, his shoulder aggressively hits mine as he walks by, the force enough to make me stumble backwards but I catch myself in time.

Without looking back I take wide strides, my eyes scanning the road and my surroundings, my heart still threatening to beat out of my chest as I just now notice how dark and quiet it truly was.

Soon I find myself on the front porch of my shared apartment complex, I dash in, making a mental note to apologize to the cleaner tomorrow for the thick mud trail and the dirty water dripping from my clothes on the tile floor.

I raise my hand to knock but the door swings open before I can and I'm greeted by the concerned look on my roommate's face, she leads me in, shutting the door behind us.

“Go take a warm bath, I'll reheat your dinner, we’ll talk afterwards”. She helps me undress there at the door, slinging my bag on the rack, taking my wet clothes to the laundry basket and coming back with my towel to cover up.

“Are you ready?” She looked at me intently from across the room as I took careful sips of the chicken noodle soup situated on my lap, fresh out of the shower.

I sigh, the memory from a few minutes ago rushing in my mind once more.

“Alex dumped me”.

The room was dead silent.

A light chuckle fills the room, then it stops, “You're serious”. Her tone turns somber upon seeing me aggressively wipe a stray tear off my cheek.

She walks towards me, squatting by my feet, trying to meet my eyes which are trained on my bowl, his words replaying in my head like a mantra.

“Hey”. I look at her, pupils shaking “You're ok, we're ok, you’ll get through this and I’ll be here every step of the way okay?”.

Those words triggered the waterfall, tears dripping into my soup as my body shakes violently, Daisy quickly takes the bowl off my body, carefully placing it on the floor and pulls me into a warm hug as I cry into her pajamas.

“I.. got off work early Daisy, bought a cake, carried a change of clothes so I can look good for him… for his day….. bu… but he … there was another girl.. I… gosh”. I say between sobs, my voice weavering at the end, all the emotions crashing down on me.

“It’s ok, it's ok”. She repeats in reassurance as I bawl my eyes out, hands fisting her shirt as my breathing constricts, it feels like a dagger repeatedly stabbing my heart.

Soon I tire out myself, dozing off on my roommate who hadn't moved an inch.

I managed to get safely to bed, with her help of course. Ignoring the pounding in my head as I drift off.

“Yeah, it's my roommate, I don't think she's doing too good”.

I stir in the bed, my vision still blurry as I try to make out the figure by the door of the bedroom, only to feel a splitting pain as I attempt to sit, my hands flying to my forehead in response, massaging it lightly.

She rushes to my side in seconds, helping me to relax on the headboard. She tried to adjust my head with a pillow, immediately retracted her hands with a hiss.

“Jess you're burning up, but you were fine yesterday”.

I squeeze my eyes shut as I try to suppress the pain. scurrying for her hands and holding it tightly when I find them, forcing her to sit beside me.

“Oh, yeah, you walked under the rain yesterday, you must be coming down with a fever then”. I stay still as she concludes with a sigh, not having the strength to reply, laying on the bed with my eyes still shot as I struggle to muscle my way through the banging in my head.

“I’ll get some pills for the fever later then, but I'll have to go get a wet rag, I won't be long”. She says, tearing my hands off hers as I hear footsteps fade.

I flitch when I feel a cold wet cloth on my forehead, hands roam around the bed for my blanket as a sudden wave of chill hits me causing my teeth to chatter.

“Sorry”. She mutters as she continues to dab the exposed parts of my body with the wet cloth, jerking every time I feel it on my skin.

I begin to feel drowsy once again, the combination of the cold rag and my hot skin creating a cool feeling.

“I’m going to class now, please don't stress yourself and concentrate on recovering”.

Then it clicks in my mind. “Daisy, please can you apply for my absence to be excused”. My frail voice calls out.

“Sure sure”.

“Thank you”. I send a weak smile to her direction as I pry open my eyes a little to see her reply with a curt nod as she dashed through the room to prepare for classes.

The next two days were filled with an ungodly amount of pills and pains. Couldn't afford to add hospital bills to my list of problems so I decided to push through it.

By the end I was strong enough to move and with the hope that I wasn't too far behind I sluggishly made my way to school, almost missing my first class by a millisecond.

I struggled to concentrate, the remnants of the fever still evident in my system. I find my thoughts wandering to the person I dreaded to think about.

The sickness had occupied my mind enough that I hadn't reminisced on that night, but now that I could, I regretted it.

My heart immediately constricted, the heaviness came back like it never left. I couldn't afford to break down here, in the middle of the class and risk making a scene, so I rested my head on the desk, hiding my discomfort.

“Miss Jess Diaz, report to the administrator's office”. I immediately jerk up, eyes darting everywhere as anxiety washes over me. My eyes finally land on the lecturer who has her arms crossed giving me a knowing stare.

I took that as my signal, with the screeching of my chair filling the room, I took careful steps to the office, willing to delay the inevitable for as long as I could, the dread of the unknown washing over me.

With two timid knocks on the wooden door, I let myself in, the bright light from the huge double window almost claimed my eyesight, the cold air hitting my skin a contrast to the humidity of the hallways.

“Take a seat”. An all too familiar voice rings through my ear

With a swift motion I settle in on the office chair, seated upright, my feet quietly tapping the cement floor as my eyes dance around the office, going through the portraits hung on the wall.

Then I look back at the pair of eyes fixed on the laminated screen of her laptop, staring beyond the glasses sitting on the bridge of her nose, hunched over as the clicking sound of the keys fill the room.

“Mrs Goodman might give a pop quiz at the end of her class”. She looks up at me from her work, an indifferent expression on her face.

“I’m aware, but this couldn't wait”.

“Is something wrong?” my heartbeat accelerates, beads of sweat forming on my forehead regardless of the cold atmosphere, I basically hold my breath as she retrieves a paper from the side of her desk and stretches it out to me.

“Unfortunately, I have bad news”.