A Stern Reprimand

Simon’s face darkened. “What did you just say?”

“You heard me right!” Adrian said nonchalantly. “You were disrespectful to the female employees of this company. And we will no longer be collaborating with you. There are thousands of piano compositions in the world. It should be easy to find another pianist.”

As Clara gazed at Adrian’s broad back, her eyes sparkled with gratitude.

He was so classy. His wife was a lucky woman.

Simon’s mouth gaped open, and he looked utterly embarrassed. The next second, he lost his temper. He jumped to his feet, stormed out, and slammed the door shut.

The other employees left their desks and craned their necks to look at the meeting room door.

As Adrian walked out, he reprimanded Sheina in front of the others. “Don’t you know that you should have conducted a background check on Simon Alexander before offering to work with him? As a PR professional, you should know that every wrong step can lead to disaster and can come back to haunt this company.”

With her head bowed, Sheina apologized repeatedly. “I’m so sorry, Mr. Halle. I promise that this won’t happen again. Next time, I’ll make sure to do a thorough investigation.”

The last thing Sheina expected was for her cunning trap to backfire on her. She almost shed tears as she wondered how Clara had managed to get her out of this mess.

After looking at her for a long time, Adrian looked at all the faces in the office and said, “Let this be a warning to all of you. Your job is to enhance the brand image and resolve crises, not create chaos. If you can’t do your job properly, resign and go to the finance department for your severance pay!”

Adrian’s voice wasn’t loud, but it was firm and intimidating. It made everyone tremble. No one dared to raise their head or speak.

Sheina felt that Adrian’s warning was directed at her. She clenched her fists and killed Clara with her gaze.

Adrian had never reprimanded her before, let alone in public. Everything had changed after Clara started working here. Sheina was sure Clara must have slandered her in the meeting room.

At this moment, Sheina’s hatred for Clara quadrupled, and her anger pulsed through her veins.

Adrian left after giving his warning. In the heavy silence, the other employees felt shaken and continued their day cautiously.

A few hours later, there were only a few minutes left before closing time. Clara took out her phone and clicked on the chat box between her and Jordan.

Her fingers hovered over the keyboard as she pondered. Finally, she decided to invite him to dinner. Although their marriage wasn’t based on love, and she didn’t want to marry him, she felt that she might as well get to know him since there was no turning back. She was about to press send when her phone suddenly rang. It was a call from Raffaele.

Clara answered it.

As soon as she pressed the phone to her ear, Raffaele told her his plan. “Lara, I’ve booked a table for us at Darklight Restaurant. See you at nine tonight.”

“But I already—“ Raffaele cut her off, “No excuses, Clara. You’ve been gone for so long. We have to celebrate your return. Don’t put up any resistance. If you refuse, I’ll drive to your company and drag you there myself!”

Raffaele wasn’t a man who liked to pretend. His tone indicated that he would carry out his threat.

Clara agreed. “Alright, I’ll bring Jordan too.” Raffaele didn’t like Clara’s husband, and he never hid it.

“Calm down.”

After hanging up, Clara cleared the text she had typed and created a new message.

She read the message a few times. After making sure that there were no mistakes in the location and time, she pressed the send icon.

The reply came a few moments later.

“Okay, see you there.”

After receiving the message, Clara checked the time. It was time to go home from work.

She hurried to the restaurant.

***

At Darklight Restaurant, Clara saw someone waving at her as soon as she entered. It was Raffaele. He was sitting with his girlfriend, Selena, at a large table.

Raffaele was leaning in very close to Selena as he gazed at her lovingly. Clara wasn’t even surprised to see this.

As she sat down opposite them, she placed her bag on the table and joked, “Can you two stop making other people envious with your intense PDA?”

Selena played with her long straight hair that resembled Clara’s. She raised her eyebrow and teased, “Two can play, so do this with your husband.”

After saying so, she looked behind Clara and asked, “You’re supposed to come with your husband? Where is he? Is he ashamed to meet us for the first time?”

Clara took the menu and said, “He’s on his way.”

“He better come!” Raffaele snorted. “He seems to like making promises and then disappearing.”

Raffaele’s disappointment with Jordan was clear and undisguised.

Clara gave him a sharp look and placed her index finger over her lips. “Quiet!” She put down the menu and glared at him more intensely. “You better behave when he gets here. Don’t start any fights, okay?”

Raffaele pursed his lips and said nothing.

***

It was half past eight in the evening when Adrian arrived at Darklight Restaurant.

Earlier, his wife had texted him saying that they needed to talk face-to-face.

Thinking about how she was with another man at the airport, he typed a harsh refusal. But he deleted it after thinking that it was better to hear her explanation first.

Thinking about how she was with another man at the airport, he typed a harsh refusal. But he deleted it after thinking that it was better to hear her explanation first.

Adrian entered the restaurant with mixed feelings. He found the table his wife had mentioned in her text message to him. To his greatest surprise, he saw the same man he had seen at the airport earlier that morning. The man was kissing a woman.

The woman’s face wasn’t visible from where Adrian stood because of her long curly hair.

His face flushed red, and the veins in his forehead throbbed.

Was his wife planning this?

Did she want to show him her lover to make him angry, didn’t she?

His heart burned as he clenched his hand into a fist, almost crushing his phone. As he was about to confront the couple, he heard his new employee’s voice from behind.

"What a coincidence, Mr. Halle! What are you doing here?”