Aria couldn't believe what she had just heard about Darlings closing down soon. Her heart palpitated as her hands flew to her chest, clutching it."Sorry, you said-"A sad smile crossed his face. "Yes, you heard me correctly, Darlings may be closing down soon.""I'm sorry about that." Aria sympathise with him, Darlings closing down meant he was losing his job too."Thank you, it just had to happen," he said, opening his car. "And I hope everything is going well with you? I'll see you some other time." He said then entered into his car with a smile.Aria nodded, unable to decipher what step to take. She just stood there, thinking about the words she had heard. Aria tried to understand why the information dampened her mood the way he did because she wasn't even earning her main income from Darlings. She just missed the warmness and comfort she used to get from there. Darlings served as solace for her which was why she found it extremely difficult to stop working there even after Robert
At work today, Aria got notified about a meeting at the conference room. They had already had a full house meeting a few times since she resumed work at RL enterprises. What they mostly did was get divided into section and then they get a word from the boss - Robert.She palpitated at the thought that she was going to see all the workers present. Which means the place was going to be full and she didn't like that. She wishes they could just do it the former but since Robert had insisted on this she could tell that it was necessary.2pm sharp, that was the stipulated time of the meeting. It was necessary that she had to be there because she was the secretary and she'd have to take minutes. Arghh, she complained softly, trying to not alert any attention and then it dawned on her. It she was going to be taking minutes while the meeting was going on, she could use that to distract herself and not have to contribute or talk or stare into the eyes of anyone. Yes, that was a great idea. She
Aria heard a ping on her phone and she hastily checked out who had sent her the message. When she saw that it was a message from Robert, her shoulders loosened. She blushed at the tender love that emanated from the message and then laughed.A: same here, but you didn't hear me say that.He replied almost immediately.R: *laughing emoji* but you didn't have to add the last partAria smiled and then looked at her sides to check if anyone had noticed her smiling. Then she brought her gaze back to her phone.A: Aren't you supposed to be preparing to address your employees instead of flirting with your staff?R: not when this so called unnamed staff is my wife. I'll flirt with her whenever.A: *blushey emoji* thank you but your wife has to work else her boss will query her.R: not when the boss is your husband.She shook her head before typing in another message. A: I'm not responding to you anymore dear husband, I can you are less busy but I'm not.Robert was typing before pressed the po
"But sir," it was Elanne speaking and Aria's ears stood, geniuely interested what she was about to say. "I don't think I'm a good fit for this role. Queensley here has offered, it won't be bad for you to consider her.""Yeah I know but I chose you which isn't bad as well or isn't it?""No," every other person except Robert, Aria and Elanne chorused. Aria's eyes darted towards Queensley. She had that bright smile on her face as she urged Elanne to take the role. Still standing, she shook her head, dissatisfied. Knowing Elanne, Aria knew she wasn't going to give up just yet."But wouldn't it be nice to work with your friend? It's what most people wish for in situations like this." Peter, the head of the tech department shrugged. Aria wondered it wasn't noticeable that they weren't close friends anymore."Exactly, it's actually not a bad idea." Queensley interjected and Elanne rolled her eyes."Sir I don't think I'm the perfect fit to plan and organise an event like this, I wouldn't want
On Aria's way to the Ladies, she saw Elanne walking over there too in an unhurried gait probably to fix her braids. Aria hastened her footsteps so she could catch up with her."Hey," she blurted out when she had caught up with her. Her heart palpitating because Elanne's eyes were cold and held no atom of friendliness."Hey." Elanne said and opened the door. They both walked in. Elanne stood in front of the mirror, repacking her braids as Aria had guessed.Aria rehearsed what she was going to tell her before she cleared her throat and spoke."so Elanne, about the task we've been paired to-"Elanne paused her activity, interrupting Aria's speech. "Look I don know what you and your boyfriend are up to but I'm certainly not in for all these. Could you kindly tell him I have no idea about handling something like this and he should pair you with someone else?"Aria swallowed a gulp. "He's not my boyfriend and he's your boss at work and he has the right to delegate any duty to you."Elanne sc
Aria slowly walked out of the bathroom, her legs weakened at the realization she had just come up with it. Pain slashed through her as she made her way back to the staff quarters. Aria glanced at her wristwatch, it was just few minutes before 4pm when she and Elanne were supposed to plan for the open day. Her stomach twisted at the thought that Queensley might be there. She didn't even know how she felt about Queensley, she knew that she didn't hate her but she just didn't like how she had taken space in Elanne's life. She could chalk up her slight discomfort in her presence to that and Anna had encouraged her that she wasn't a bad person for feeling like that. Any other person would have the same reaction towards Queensley because of the circumstances surrounding everything.Aria tried her best to draw her mind towards the task at hand, editing the final report and sending it back to Robert. The words on her screen scattered in front of her as she tried to mentally place them by the s
Aria still couldn't find it possible to erase the thoughts of Elanne finally leaving her from her mind. Each time she'd try to scrub the thought off, but it would come back ten times worse, each thought worse than the former. She reclined on the sofa when her phone lit up with a text from Robert. She angrily shook her head, not wanting to read the text from him. As far as she was concerned, he had a hand in this. Why did he pair with her, Elanne, when he already knew the friendship wouldn't work and that someone had already taken her space? Did he do that to set her up or to make her pain more intense? Did he do that so she could see how ruined the friendship was already, so she could move on with her life? She scratched her head; she knew it wasn't his fault, and he was just trying to make her happy. But she freaking wanted her friend back! And not getting what she wanted, she was getting more angrier and miserable, and she needed someone to pass it on! With all of these, Aria's ne
Aria made her way into the kitchen, preparing pasta, steak and lobster. It was her favourite and Robert loved it as well. In her books, Pasta was one of the best dish and it's such a delight to prepare and feed it to anyone. When she was done, she placed her hands on her hips, thinking about what other desert she could prepare to top it up. And finally she settled for cake. Aria still had some of the ingredients, little of them from the last one Anna bought. Anna loved baking, they had both learnt it from their mother. She loved baking and each time she did, the would hang out, teasing her and picking up her strategies. So when she became bedridden, sometimes Aria and Anna would bake, because it reminded them of their mother and her warmth and everything she was and was not. Aria thought about telling Anna what she up to and she placed a call to her. Anna picked up at the second ring."Hey ma'am," Anna said into the phone, "How are you doing?""Fine," Aria slurred, balancing the phone