Chapter 7: Meeting Ashley again

The voice staff was too familiar for Isaac to mistake it. introducing was that possible? He wondered as two figures approached him.

His eyes widened with shock. "John!? Jackson!?"

Everyone watched in confusion. They didn't understand what was going on. Isaac clarified their misunderstanding when he turned to face Mr. Aldon and said, "These are the men who were driving the black car that got into an accident."

Everyone gasped in astonishment. "But how come?" They murmured. From the way Mr Aldon had described the accident scene, they knew it had to be fatal, so how did both of them escape to safety?

John explained to them how they'd jumped out of the car while it was still in motion and before it crashed into the trucks. They had held tight to the bridge railings and that was how they survived.

Mr Aldon left and the hall fell silent again as John and Isaac climbed the podium, with Jackson standing firmly behind them.

"Good morning, everyone. I thank you all for waiting patiently. I've called you here to introduce our newest tech developer and designer, Mr John O'Connor."

The hall reverberated with applause. "Welcome!" They said in unison.

John bowed to them, wearing a warm smile. Then out of the corner of his eyes, he saw a figure staring intently at him, with a menacing look on his face. For a split second, he felt like he had seen the person before. The face was so familiar but he couldn't place where he had seen the man or who he was.

His first instinct was to walk up to the man, but it was like the man could read his thoughts. The man scoffed in derision and made a gesture that meant "I'm watching you!" before he slipped out through the door.

"Mr O'Connor?" He almost jumped out of his clothes when Isaac said his name. He had let his mind drift from the whole hall and to who the man might be. And now he realized that everyone in the hall was waiting for him to say something, but he had no idea what the question was, or even if it was a question.

Good going, dude. He chided himself. Nothing like first impressions.

"Well," he began, clearing his throat awkwardly. "I'm very happy to be allowed to join this prestigious company. I promise to bring in innovations and enable the rapid development of the company!"

The hall roared with applause and John heaved a sigh of relief. "Whew! That was so close!" He whispered to himself.

The different staff took turns shaking hands with him and introducing themselves. Also, other outsiders that were present congratulated him too. He had to keep an unnatural smile plastered on his face throughout. Finally, it was over.

But just when he thought he could finally leave the hall and check his new office, he heard a voice behind him.

"Congratulations, Mr O'Connor."

There was something about the voice that made him turn on impulse.

Ashley? What was she doing here? He wondered, keeping a straight face even so. A man was standing beside her, holding her waist and he felt a slight surge of jealousy shoot through his veins, but his face didn't show any of his emotions. She was with yet another man again, he thought with contempt.

"Oh, thanks." His voice was clipped.

He shot a glance at the man next to her and smiled coolly. He frowned as the man's face appeared to be familiar. More familiar than normal that he felt a flash of recognition in his brain. His head reeled and he had to struggle not to grab his head with his hand as he contained the pain, biting hard into his lips. Who might he be? He wondered.

"Congratulations, Mr O'Connor." The man said. "I'm Tyler Wood."

Subconsciously, he cringed as he shook hands with Tyler. Beads of sweat settled on his forehead and he felt so suffocated suddenly. What was going on? Why was this man making him feel that way?

His insides were getting all heated up. He had to get out of here real quick. Throwing an equal glance of warmth at both of them, he turned to leave. He hadn't gotten past the door when Ashley rushed to him.

"John, please wait. I need to speak to you."

Once outside, he shot her a hard look. "How may I help you?" His voice sounded so cold even to his own ears. Well, she deserved it. After everything she did to him, she still had the guts to show her face. What does she have to say?

"Well, I --- uhm.. I wanted to ask if you----- damn it!" Her voice broke off.

Everything she was doing was getting on John's nerves and no matter how hard he tried to contain his irritation, he just couldn't succeed.

"Look here, Ashley," he began with that same cold tone. "I have things I need to get on with, you should know that by now. Or do you still think you control the rings?"

She flinched, then squeezed her eyes shut. She knew that no matter how pitiful she tried to sound or sorry and everything. He would never change his opinion about her. She had fucked up really bad and he hated her for it now.

"I'm sorry!" She blurted the words out, looking away immediately.

A thick silence lay between both of them. A very awkward one at that. None of them spoke for a while. John just kept staring at her, not knowing what to do or say. Suddenly he erupted into laughter.

She must be joking right? He thought. So, now he had gotten a high-paying job at one of the biggest companies in Chicago, she was sorry? And because she was sorry, he should naturally forgive her or what the hell does she mean by sorry?

"You're sorry, huh?" He scoffed. "I don't need your damn sorry, okay? Just keep it to yourself. I don't even know what you're doing here, but then I don't care. You told me to get as far away from you as I can and I did as you asked. Now, it's your turn to do so. I don't want to ever see your face around me, ever!"

He started to turn away but Ashley caught his arm. "John-----"

His expression hardened as he faced her and jerked her hands away from his arm. "What more do you have to say!? He asked angrily. "I can see that you have a new boyfriend now. It's really impressive how you change boyfriends like clothes nowadays. I'm happy you're having the most of your life."

Ashley could clearly see the hatred that laced his eyes and she forgot everything that she wanted to say. "John, I'm so sorry. I've been trying to contact you since that day, but I haven't been able to reach you. I'm sorry for everything I did. I've never been at peace with myself. I know you can't forgive me, I'm not asking you to do so. I just want you to know that I'm sorry and that I regret ever breaking up with you."

She swallowed hard before she found her voice again and quickly added, "And this isn't about you getting this job. Even without this job, I'll still love you."

Disbelief flashed in his features. What the hell was she on about? Love? She still loved him when she made him homeless? Love? When did she choose another man over him? Was that her own definition of love?

Before he could open his mouth to speak, a voice came from behind him. "What's going on here, Ashley?" The voice sounded accusatory.

John turned to face the owner of the voice. Tyler Wood? He could still remember his name. He had guessed that he was Ashley's new boyfriend. And if he was, he thought with an evil amusement, then, Ashley was in for a deep trouble.

She had just said she loved another man in front of her boyfriend. And he wasn't about to feel sorry for her.

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