I woke up again before dawn. After a quick shower<b>, </b>I saw Josh’s message, reminding me to take the breakfast he
had left at the door.
He didn’t question why I hadn’t eaten the breakfast earlier; he just kept preparing it for me.
I didn’t want to disappoint him, so I ate the breakfast before heading to the office.
Since I was early, most of the team hadn’t arrived yet. I prepared the day’s n and reviewed everyone’s recent performance updates. It wasn’t time to start the workday when I was done.
I pulled out my phone and started scrolling through Instagram. I thought, ‘I knew it was a waste of time, but I had
few friends. Through their posts on Instagram, I could still see how they were doing, <i>even </i>without calling or reaching out.‘
Oscar posted about an uing pool challenge, while Jasmine shared a post about the number of babies she had helped deliver–today’s count was 5,566. She had weed 5,566 little lives into the world, and if she hadn’t
kept track, she probably wouldn’t have realized how many there were.
I liked the post and sent a thumbs–up emoji, then continued scrolling, stopping at Alvin’stest post: “For the rest
of our lives<i>, </i>I’ll take care of you.”
The picture was a cartoon of a mother and child.
In that instant, my heart tightened. I knew what it meant.
He had chosen Thea.
Alvin posted in the middle of the night, and already, there were dozens of likes and congrattoryments- some even from people who had no idea we’d broken up, congratting Alvin and me.
I let out a mockingugh and replied with ament: “Congrattions, wishing you happiness.”
After posting, I closed Instagram and didn’t scroll any further.
I set my phone down and stared at the screen of myputer, my mindpletely nk.
At that moment, my heart wasn’t in pain–it just felt weighed down. The feeling was hard to put into words.
The phone rang, and I saw it was Bryson calling. I nced at his office; he wasn’t there yet.
I picked up the phone. “Mr. Skinner?
“Zoe, don’te to the office for the next couple of days,” Bryson’s voice was still thick with sleep as if he’d just
woken up.
I wondered, ‘He’s probably still in bed.’
13:03 Thu, 21 Aug 0
“What do you mean, Mr. Skinner?” I asked, confused.
32%
“Don’t take it the wrong way,” Bryson replied. “You’ve been working so hardtely, so I’m giving you two paid days.
off.”
I thought, ‘Hard work? Have I been working that hard? Lately, I’ve taken more time off than I’ve actually worked. Is
he trying to make a point?‘
“Mr. Skinner, I’ll try to take fewer days off in the future,” I said, rifying my position.
He quickly responded, “You’re overthinking it. I didn’t mean anything by it. I’m genuinely giving you time off to rest. If any of our beauties need a little pampering, especially someone as stunning as you, of course, we make
sure they get it.”
I thought, ‘I’m not a child, and I’m definitely not some naive young girl. There’s no way he’s going <i>to </i>fool me with just one sentence.‘
Recalling some recent events, I asked directly, “Is this another order from the CEO?”
There was a brief pause, followed by a cough. “Do you think the CEO has that much free time?” Bryson replied.
I thought, ‘He denied it. But it was strange–I had no reason to be given time off.”
“Zoe, I’m officially granting you time off. If you don’t take it, it’ll be considered disobedience to the CEO’s orders, and you know what that means–pay deduction,” Bryson said, using his authority to pressure me.
After years of working, this was my first time encountering something like this.
Since I had already wrapped up everything for the day, taking a couple of days off wouldn’t be an issue. “Fine,” I
agreed.
After hanging up, I went to see the department head, reviewed the n I’d prepared, and pointed out the issues with each person. <i>Before </i>I left, I asked him to supervise the execution.
Once in the car, I texted Oscar: “Oscar, can you look up some information on the CEO of thepany I’m working
for?”