Chapter 8: Chapter 8: "And after everything she had done, not once did she atone for it"
As we were walking home, hand in hand, and with a huge smile etched on my face, we recounted our day to each other.
The cold autumn breeze made me shiver as I was only wearing a thin cardigan on top of a shirt and a pair of jeans. I moved closer to Ansel's figure beside me, trying to fight the cool wind with his warmth.
"Are you cold?" Ansel asked, noticing my slight shift towards him.
I nodded in reply. He pulled his hand away from mine and wrapped his arm around my shoulder, pulling me even closer to his body. A blush crept up to my face as some people glanced our way because of his sudden action.
"Hey," I hissed and tried to pull myself away from his arm.
"I don't have a coat to lend you," Ansel said and drew me closer to him, making my little struggle futile. He was only wearing a long-sleeve navy blue knitted sweater with a pair of black pants, and I wondered how he is not cold with his attire. "This should do."
I sighed and let Ansel keep his arm around my shoulder. We were walking very close to each other, with Ansel's arm wrapped around me, and the glances that the people are giving us made me blush with embarrassment. Yet despite the shame, I felt myself melt beside him as I could feel his warmth against our clothes.
I struggled to keep myself from sighing in bliss because of how comfortable I am. With Ansel's arm around my shoulder, keeping me very close to his body, I feel like we were two pieces of a puzzle that perfectly fit each other.
Every nook and cranny fitting each other seamlessly to make a whole piece.
"I'll be having my internship soon," Ansel all but whined beside me, and I chuckled at how endearing he looked. He was almost foot taller than me, yet I find him adorable with the slight frown on his face because he looked like a sulking kid. "I won't be seeing you that much."
I chuckled a little at his expression and spoke, "Well, they said absence makes the heart grow fonder."
"Are you tired of me already?" Ansel said, pretending to be hurt.
"How could I get tired of you?" I nudged his side a bit with my elbow. "If I could, I'd want to see you every day."
"I'd love that," Ansel sighed and continued, "well, once we started living together, we would be able to see each other every day."
My eyes widened a little at how easy he said those words. We haven't been together for long, yet being with him like this makes me feel like we've known each other for eternity, and hearing those words from him, it just felt right.
Warmth spread throughout my chest as happiness surged from deep within me. I never thought he would be the kind of guy who would plan our future like it is a natural thing to do. Although I don't doubt him nor our relationship, I felt a new sense of security between us when he said those words, especially since he is a blunt person and the type who would not say things that he did not mean.
"What are you going to do for your internship in the future?" Ansel spoke, making me snap out of my daydream.
"I'm not yet sure," I frowned a bit. "I still don't know which companies I should send my application to."
"You once said that you dream of starting up a small business, right?"
"Yup," I beamed at him. "Though I probably have to work for a company for a few years to save up money to start my business. I don't want to use my parents' money. I want to build it from my hard work."
Ansel nodded and shifted his gaze towards me, a sparkle evident in his eyes. "That is the perfect attitude for the future Mrs. Chadwick."
I rolled my eyes at his response, trying to mask the blush forming on my face, yet Ansel merely laughed at my reaction.
***
The meeting for the contract with the Chadwick Group was uneventful. We discussed the conditions for the contract and other matters relating to it. We also prepared the rough draft of the timetable for this project, and we would be able to finalize it once the other issues are already considered.
The meeting went for about two hours, and eventually, we were almost finished.
At first, I was extremely nervous to enter the conference room. I thought I would fall over my two-inch heels because of how my knees were trembling. I was anxious to see Ansel inside since the last time I saw him, I promised that he would never see me again. I was quite scared that he would treat me coldly, and the meeting would go awry.
I prepped myself last night even though I was exhausted to the bone after working at the restaurant for the whole day. I spent almost the entire night working on the materials for today's meeting and imagining all kinds of scenarios that may happen today. I even thought of how I would talk to Ansel once I saw him.
'Though I'm afraid that I would get tongue-tied the moment I saw him.'
But the moment I entered the conference room until the meeting ended, he never came.
Relief washed over me as I was able to avoid seeing Ansel today. I am not entirely confident that the meeting would be the same if he was here, and fortunately, he was not included in the attendees. As much as I am prepared for today's meeting when the puzzling variable called Ansel is inserted into the mix, I cannot be certain with the results.
The only ones who attended the meeting were those from the procurement department. Since few people attended the meeting, it went smoothly, and the atmosphere was quite light compared to what I had imagined.
Once the meeting finally ended, everyone stood up from their seats, and one by one walked towards the exit of the conference room. The department head, a man in his mid to late thirties, wearing a crisp black suit and a business smile that looked permanently etched on his face, walked towards me.
"I will be sending personnel from our engineering department to supervise the project, especially during the installation process," I spoke as he stopped right in front of me.
"I forgot to say something regarding that," the head of the procurement department spoke. "We would like to request you to personally supervise the whole project meaning, we want your presence during every agenda in our timetable."
My eyes widened at his request. "Me?"
"Yes," he replied. "Since you are the representative of your company and you were the one who delivered the presentation that convinced us, we would like you to personally supervise the project. Also, it would be better for us to have a single contact person in your company in order to lessen the confusion."
Although I would still be hands-on with this project since our client is a huge company, what he just said made me anxious. It would mean that I would have to be there for every agenda in the timetable, and that would also mean that there are more chances that I might see Ansel.
And as much as I'd like to decline, it was a request from a client hence, I replied, "There would be no problem with that. I would be glad to be of assistance." I forced a smile, hiding my anxiousness behind it.
I have to learn how to properly separate my personal life from my work. This project with the Chadwick Group might just be the boost that our company needed, and I should not put my personal feelings before my work if I wanted our company to succeed.
Once the department head and I finished talking, we finally left the conference room. I shook hands with him before we parted ways in front of the elevator, and I was left with a young woman who was tasked to send me off to the lobby.
The young woman looked like she just graduated from college. She has bright eyes filled with eagerness towards the new environment she is in. She looked pretty with her straight long black hair and her brown eyes filled with innocent sincerity.
I can't help but remember my old self with her. I must have looked like her in the eyes of my seniors – a fresh graduate filled with enthusiasm in finally being a part of the workforce.
'Yet that enthusiasm was easily crushed.'
Once the elevator doors opened, the two of us went in. She pushed the button for the ground floor, and the elevator doors closed a few seconds later. Since it's just me and the young woman inside, the elevator was surrounded by silence, and although I am not fond of small talks, I tried to break the silence by asking, "Are you a fresh graduate?"
The young woman turned to look at me and smiled. "Yes, I am. This is actually my first job."
"It is a great feat to work in a Chadwick owned company as a fresh grad." I smiled at her in return.
"It's actually my dream to work here," she said, and her smile grew wider. "I thought it was a pointless dream since I'm not really an outstanding student, but here I am, finally working for my dream company."
She looked excited, like a kid finally able to go to an amusement park. There is a sparkle in her eyes as she animatedly said those words, and she seemed very pleased to finally be able to achieve her dreams.
"Chadwick Group does not hire just anyone," I trailed off once the elevator doors opened. "They must have seen a potential in you." I smiled at her.
"Thank you," the young woman replied softly, blushing at what I had said.
Once we were out of the elevator, the young woman began talking comfortably with me. She told me stories about her first day at work and how she almost fell because she was a nervous wreck at that time. She seemed like a bubbly person who can initiate a conversation with just anyone.
I stopped on my tracks when I saw a familiar auburn-haired woman walking towards the café located on the opposite side of the building. She still sports her signature waves, her hair just falling right below her lower back. With her white sleeveless halter top and a red pencil skirt combined with a pair of dangerously high red pumps, almost everyone cannot help but glance at her.
I never thought I would see that woman again, and now that she's right in front of me, memories from the past suddenly flashed before my eyes, and I could feel myself tremble with anger.
The last time I saw her, she was shouting at me for ruining Ansel's life and blaming me for what happened to him.
In the end, her hatred towards me, and her obsession with Ansel took away my last string of hope.
And after everything she had done, not once did she atone for it.
Perhaps noticing where my gaze was directed, the young woman beside me spoke, "That is Miss Christina, our CEO's fiancé."
When I didn't reply, she took it as a sign to continue, "She's really beautiful, but I find her pretty intimidating."
"I heard that the CEO and Miss Christina have been engaged for so many years, but we don't know why they haven't gotten married yet."
"There are rumors that the CEO was once married, and because of his previous marriage, he is having trouble marrying Miss Christina."
"I also heard that there is a problem with the CEO's ex-wife because she is after his money. Some say that that is the reason why Miss Christina and the CEO haven't gotten married yet."
When I heard those words come out of her mouth, I felt like the anger inside me would burst anytime. Although no one probably knew my identity as his ex-wife, how could anyone just spread groundless rumors like that?
I was about to open my mouth and probably say something that I would regret forever when I was interrupted by the young woman again.
"Look! She's with our CEO right now, Mr. Caesar Ansel Chadwick." The young woman sighed almost as if she is dreaming. "He's eye candy for almost all the employees."
And there he was, in his full glory, standing in front of Christina and conversing rather cozily with her. He was not looking at her directly as if he was searching for something, but when Christina wrapped her arm around his, he suddenly turned his gaze towards her.
Unconsciously, I felt my hand curl into a tight fist at the sight in front of me.
"He is so handsome I could never get tired of his face, but as infuriating as it is, Miss Christina and the CEO looked perfect for each other."
I turned my gaze away from the two. "I don't think I got your name miss?" I spoke, forcing myself to smile at the young woman in front of me.
I guess I was right in my impression of her. She was the type of person who would talk without limit to a person she's comfortable with, yet what I did not expect was for her to immediately feel at ease around me to gossip about her superior's life.
'I somewhat feel irritated.'
"I'm Sheila Mills," she replied, smiling widely at me. "It was a pleasure talking to you Miss Morgan."
"You can call me Alina," I said, inwardly sighing at myself. As much as I hate people who gossip about another person's life, I could not hate this young woman's genuineness.
She smiled widely at me, and we bid our farewells. I was hoping to leave the building as fast as I can in order not to be noticed by the people who I'd rather not meet.
Once I was out of the building, I sighed in relief. I was just standing in the same building as Ansel and Christina a few moments ago, and who knows what might happen if the three of us ever meet. I doubt Christina would take seeing me lightly, and surely, she would instantly report my return to that family.
Right now, I just want to go home and sleep. I haven't been sleeping well the past few days, and my body would soon complain if I don't take a short rest right now. I could report to Luke regarding today's meeting once I've taken that long-awaited nap.
I took out my phone from my leather messenger bag to book for a taxi. Since it's not rush hour right now, I hope I could book one immediately and go straight at home.
As I was fumbling around my phone, I was taken by surprise when a person spoke beside me. "It's dangerous to use your phone while standing along the sidewalk."
I snapped my head towards the familiar deep voice, and my eyes almost fell out of its socket when I saw Ansel standing beside me.
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