LIANA The two of us turned to look, only to find it was Jordan. “Oh, I didn't know Liana was here.” Jordan walked to us and gave me a greeting smile. “I hope you are doing well.” I gave a small smile to him. “Yes, I am.” I was about to ask him how he was as well, but a thought occurred to me, “Wait, why did you say this to me just now?” He usually started by asking how I was, today it was as if he knew I was having a hard time. “Oh,” Jordan glanced at Zaylen and said, “Zay told me what James and Lara were up to last night.” “I see,” I mumbled. “Wait, Zay? Are you two actually close?” “See, I was not lying when I said I was friends with the boss. But none of you ever believe me.” Jordan shook his head in disappointment. “I believe you now.” I chuckled. “Now that I know what Zaylen is really like, I can see why it's not impossible to befriend him.” “See, he's not the monster you all claim him to be,” Jordan said, grinning proudly. “Excuse me? You all talk behind my back like
LIANA Zaylen and I decided to go out for dinner tonight — obviously to discuss our revenge plan. Nothing more than that, no matter what Jordan said. It wasn’t a date. Once, I got out of Zaylen’s office, Jordan called me from behind. “Liana, wait.” “Yes?” “Actually, Zay texted me this morning and told me to change your desk. I forgot to mention this just now. Anyway, so your new desk is near Sara and Kiara,” Jordan told me, while I arched an eyebrow. “Yeah, I know, they are in a different department.” “Wouldn't I be far away from my team?” I asked in concern. “Close enough to the others on the marketing team but far away from those two cheaters,” Jordan clarified. “Thank you for that. Really, I mean it.” I was so relieved, and it must have shown on my face as Jordan talked further. “Yeah, I can imagine what a nightmare it must be to work on that table where—you know what? Let's not talk about trash and let me guide you to your new desk.” I laughed lightly as he started walking
LIANA Zaylen’s eyes lingered on mine for a minute before he turned to James. “Stop bothering somebody hard at work, James, and get back to work, unless you want me to start docking your pay, or worse, fire you.” James dashed away, and I giggled at that scene. “Thank you,” I whispered almost in an inaudible tone. Zaylen twitched his lips and handsomely put his hands in his pocket. “Listen. I won’t come back to the office today after lunch.” “Huh?” Disappointment flushed all over me. Did it mean our dinner da—discussion for revenge was canceled today? “But don’t worry,” his words brought me out of my trance. “I will come pick you up when you are done, okay?”I could feel the heat surge into my cheeks as I nodded. Sparing one last glance at me, he left. I was about to touch my cheek, but I looked around to find everyone curiously staring at me, probably wondering what Zaylen said as we were whispering. I saw Lara squinting her eyes while James had his fists clenched. Oh, so t
LIANA After my conversation with Sara and Kiara, I realized how much fun it was just to idly gossip with girls. It reminded me of my fun high school. After that, everything went downhill. Even though I tried to be happy with just Lara as my friend, it obviously hurt to think nobody else wanted to be my friend. It took a burden off my chest to know that I wasn't the problem. It had always been Lara, who created trouble for me. Sara and Kiara were helping me realize that. After work, Zaylen actually came to pick me up from the office. I didn't know why I doubted he wouldn't. I was low-key expecting him to drop me a text like “Sorry, can't make it,” like James used to do. So my heart fluttered when I received the text from Zaylen. Zaylen: Come to the parking lot. I am here. I took my purse and made my way to the elevator. James never really used to pick me up after work. The few times he said he would, he disappointed me every time, and he was an expert at coming up with plausible
LIANA I arched an eyebrow. Sorry? How can Lara be apologetic within a day? Didn't she just taunt me about shifting to Zayden earlier? “Please forgive me. I made a mistake, I know,” she started speaking. “It’s just that I liked James so much and… I also couldn’t give up on our friendship. So I ended up doing that. I am so sorry…” she burst into tears. “Please give me one more chance. I won't fuck it up anymore.” “You can even have James back. I told you, right? I won't go within ten meter radius of us ever again, even if I like him so much. I will give up on the man I love for your sake. Let's just be friends again, please. I can't imagine my life without you in it,” she cried. Her tears weren't fooling anybody, and I was the last person to be fooled by her anymore. I found her tears to be crocodile tears. However, even I can play the game. So I pretended to be heartbroken as I said, “I know, Lara. I know you… and I am so sorry to have been rude to you earlier. I know in the dee
LIANA We reached a really nice restaurant. After placing our orders, we began eating our starters with light conversations. “I don’t understand one thing,” Zaylen started, “Why didn’t James break up with you if he liked Lara?” “Apparently, he claims to love me and Lara, both of us,” I let out. Zaylen had a look of disgust for a moment before rolling his eyes. “How stupid can one be?” he murmured. I continued eating as I said, “You know, James’s dad left his family in a huge debt. He told me he had a really hard time growing up with his mother and sister. There were days where his family had to starve and he couldn't afford to buy nice clothes. So he worked really hard to get into a good university and land a good job. When I got to know about it, I felt so sad. So I ended up offering to help him out.” Zaylen’s eyes lingered at me in amusement. “You decided to help him financially? That guy really lost a gem.” “Well, I told him there was no need for interest and he could pay me
LIANA “You still didn’t tell me what we should do with Lara,” Zaylen pointed out. “Right. We need to find more information on her because Lara isn’t the type to be hurt so easily. Even if she lost her job, she would manage to survive that somehow. She has ways.” “Then how about we target her family like James’s?” he suggested. “Lara doesn’t even have a family. She grew up with a distant relative and left that house when she became eighteen. That’s how she always garnered sympathy from others,” I informed him, and he nodded, understanding the scenario. “In that case, I know a good private investigator. I will ask that person to do a background check on Lara. And just to be safe, James as well,” he stated. “Okay, thank you. I don't know how I would have managed to dig information on Lara, otherwise.” “I told you that I would help you. This is the least I can do for you since you have already taken it upon yourself to handle James.” “I would still like some help if James bothers
LIANA My phone chimed in. When I checked, it was a text from Zaylen. Zaylen: Are you okay? It’s been a long time. I stared at the text momentarily. I sighed, realizing I had no option. Zaylen was my last resort. Now I have to deal with such a day where I have to inform my boss that I got my period but no tampons. Liana: Zaylen, I am stuck in the restroom. I got my period and I have no tampons. I finally typed and sent the message after sucking in a deep breath, trying to digest my embarrassment. Zaylen left my message on seen. Probably he was dumbstruck, not knowing what to reply to this text? Was it a bad decision? After some time, I saw he was typing something. Zaylen: Don’t worry. Just wait. I rolled my eyes at his text. Saying ‘Don’t worry’ wouldn’t magically disappear my worries. That’s so stupid! How will he understand what I am going through? What is he even gonna do? Did he think if I waited a few minutes, my periods would be gone? I tried to wait patiently,