Cainan goes silent as he reads through the documents while Shawn stands and thinks about everything that just happened in the last five minutes he’s been here.
“What would you be wanting in return for rehiring me?”
“Pardon?” Cainan says, looking up at him and dropping his pen.
He doesn’t repeat the question, instead; he put out the word plainly so he’ll understand. “You didn’t hire me from the goodness of your heart, Mr Inferno, I don’t have to be told to know that.”
“Someone here told you something, right?” He asks although certainty is obvious in his voice.
“No, that’s not what I mean.” Shawn shakes his head, but he knows Cainan knows he’s lying. “That’s not what I’m getting at.”
“It was Jacob, wasn’t it? I knew I should have fired that dumb ass a long time ago.” He mumbles to himself, though there is a great deal of anger in his voice and his hand balls into a fist.
“You’re not answering my question.” Shawn snaps.
Cainan slams his hands on his desk, his eyes blazing with fury. “Because your question is stupid and annoying just as you are being now.” He draws a sharp breath, and briefly rubs his forehead in constraint, “If I didn’t want you around I wouldn’t have rehired you and if I want something from you we both know that I don’t have to rehire you to get it.”
“I’m sorry then, I’ll be in my office if you need me.” He says before walking out of his office.
.
“How is your day going?” Neriah asks as Shawn returns to his seat after sorting some drafted work into his shelf at the corner of the room.
“It going weird.” He says, following a deep sigh. He goes to the other files on his table and he places the phone between his ear and shoulder for support. And picks one up and glances through it.
“How do you mean?“
He shrugs mildly but realises she’s on the phone and really can’t see him. “Everyone giving me weird looks and staring at me strangely. And it’s the same look they gave Amy three years ago.“
“What look? And who’s Amy?” There’s a curiosity in her voice and Shawn knows too well not to fall for it.
His cheeks heat with embarrassment. “The ‘are you sleeping with the boss?’ look. Everyone gave it to her because she got promoted without doing a thing to merit it. Long story short, we later found out she was sleeping with Cainan. And now it feels weird cause that’s not what I’m doing.”
Neriah laughs aloud, “Really?! Poor you.”
“Haha real funny, Ria. They have ever rehired no one before, so I get why it is causing a lot of stirs, but we will not need the attention.” He says with a full voice.
“Well, your priority is your job and boss, not your colleagues. We both know you’re not sleeping with him, that should keep you on track.”
He nods in agreement and he knew he just wanted someone who’d say those words to him and he’s happy he’s got Neriah in his corner, “Thanks for saying that, I miss you so much already.”
He feels a smile on Neriah’s face as she responds, “I miss you too, big guy.”
“How did it go?” He quickly asks before he would forget and hang up.
“It went great. I’ll be making the payment tomorrow and if all goes well, I’ll be moving in as well.”
He smiles widely, “That’s my girl, I’m so proud of you—” he hasn’t finished his word when Cainan walked to his desk.
“I’ve got an assignment for you.”
“I got to go, kisses.” He tells Neriah before hanging up. “What do you want?”
“This sorted through, and returned to me before the end of the day.” he drops the file in his hand down on his desk before walking away.
....
Neriah drops the phone and moves to her sewing machine and sits down, bringing her already cut-out clothing materials and putting them on the table. She picks the white pieces and fold them and straightens them on the machine.
She bows her head to put in the thread when she felt something drop from her nose. She looks down and there’s a drop of blood on the white pieces on the sewing machine. Her hand races to touch her nose and finds it bleeding; she wipes it off and cleans up the material.
The doctor gave her a year’s worth of time and she has lived through the sixth month, but now her body is giving up faster than she thought she would.
She can’t stop worrying about her family, and how they are going to accept the news of her illness. The migraine gets worse with every day and the dizziness, and how she’s held it all together around Shawn is still a wonder.
She thinks about her mom and the hope she had on her face when she last talked to them on Skype about coming to visit. Her greatest fear is Shawn. He does not know what’s happening and has been through so much with his mom and her health issues and battles, and the last thing she wants is to add more to his plate. She is the only thing giving him joy, and she doesn’t hope to rip it away from him.
She wipes the tears that roll down her cheeks away, sniffs and continues with her sewing.