~3rd Jan, 2003~
Stephanie got to work despite the fact that she wasn’t in the mood to work. She didn’t have a choice but to go. Since Sebastian left her and said absolutely nothing to her, she had not been herself since then. Danielle and Robbie took time to console her, and they even invited her out, but she refused to go. She cried herself to sleep every night. Everything around her reminded her of Sebastian. Her couch and duvet refused to stop smelling him. It was nothing but torture.
She sat behind her desk and switched on her laptop. She waited for it to load, while she buried her sick face in her hands. Thomas sat behind his desk and kept his gaze on her. Since she arrived he had noticed something strange about her. He wasn’t sure what it was, but he knew for sure she wasn’t happy. He heaved a sigh and got up from his chair. He walked out of the office, and headed to the elevator.
Danielle stormed out of the elevator before Thomas could get in. Her shoulders brushed his arm, and she stopped abruptly. “I’m sorry! I’m trying to be early when I’m fully aware that I’m late,” She said, and Thomas chuckled. “I understand, Danielle. Good morning,” He greeted, and she gave him a slight bow. “Good morning. Sorry, but I have to go now.” She turned to walk away, and Thomas quickly grabbed her hand.
“One thing before you go,” He said. She looked at his hand and bounced her head slowly. “Okay, but you need to be fast about it. Remember, I’m late already.” She gritted her teeth, and he nodded. “It’s about Stephanie. She resumed the office with a moody face. She seems dull and pretty pale. Do you know what is wrong with her? I’m yet to approach her because I’m scared I’ll get on her nerves,” He uttered.
Danielle heaved a sigh and placed her other hand on his hand. “She is going through a tough time, Thomas. That’s all I can say. But trust me, she will be fine. She just needs time.” She slowly got his hand off hers, and he bobbed. “Okay. I hope she gets well soon,” He said, and Danielle hurried into the office. Thomas exhaled loudly and punched the elevator button.
As Danielle hurried to her chair, her gaze fell on Stephanie, and she saw that she buried her face in her hands. “Not again, baby girl,” She mumbled, walking to her desk. Stephanie raised her head after hearing Danielle’s voice. She forced on a feeble smile, and Danielle shook her head. “Oh please… you can’t deceive me with that fake smile of yours. You are at work, can you please try to put him behind you? At least try to concentrate,” she said, and Stephanie nodded slowly.
“Girl, your eye bags are as large as my middle finger. Did you sleep at all?” Danielle asked, turning on her PC. Stephanie bobbed and looked at her laptop. It had finished booting but she was lost and didn’t know what to do next. She ran her finger on the Touch Bar, throwing the cursor from right to left on her screen. After Danielle refreshed her PC windows, she clicked on her emails and waited for it to load.
“I almost forgot… Have you submitted the report? The one the boss asked us to send this morning before 10 am?” Danielle asked, looking at Stephanie. Stephanie’s eyes popped wide open, and her jaw dropped. “We are to submit today?” She asked in shock. “Of course! I told you yesterday when I and Robbie visited. You promised me that you would do it and that I didn’t have to bother doing it for you.”
Stephanie threw her head backward and closed her eyes. “I forgot,” She mumbled, and Danielle exhaled. Well, thank God I didn’t rely on what you said. I knew you wouldn’t do it, so I helped you write the report. I’ll send it to you now. Cross check and submit it before 10am.” Danielle kept her eyes on her screen as she spoke. Stephanie stared at her in amusement, happiness, and relief. All she could think of saying was ‘Thank you’. “Thank you so much, Danielle. I didn’t mean to trouble you this way,” She said, and Danielle shook her head.
“C’mon, Stephanie, you have done the same thing for me before. We are friends, and we should help each other.” She looked at Stephanie with a bright smile. “Check your email. I forwarded it to you already. Make the necessary edits and send it to him.” Stephanie consented and got to work immediately.
As she read through the report, Thomas walked into the office with three disposable bags in his hands. He approached Stephanie’s desk and placed one of the bags on it. Without saying any words, he did the same thing when he got to Danielle’s desk. They both raised their heads and looked at him. He smiled and walked to his desk. “I noticed everyone was tense, so I wanted to help out,” He said, after he sat down. They both smiled and picked up the bags on their desk, they peered into the bag and realized he had gotten them breakfast.
“Wow…” Danielle giggled happily. “Thank you so much, Thomas. You are a nice person,” Stephanie uttered softly, and he lowered his head shyly. “You should eat before you continue. You look kinda pale,” He said, and she bobbed slowly. “He even got coffee! You are so sweet, Thomas. Thank you.” Danielle blew him a kiss. He caught the air in his hand and chuckled.
Dr. Peter walked into the office where they sat and immediately they saw him, they all kept shut and concentrated on their PCs. “Good morning, everyone,” He greeted, and they all raised their heads to look at him. “Dr. Peter, good morning sir.” They responded like they didn’t see him walk in initially. He walked up to Stephanie’s desk with a smile on his face.
“How are you today, Dr. Peter?” Stephanie forced herself to keep smiling. She couldn’t let her boss know that something was wrong with her. “I’m fine. And how are you?” He narrowed his eyes on her. He noticed her puffy eyes and pale skin. “I’m very fine, thank you sir.” She bowed after speaking. “Are you sure? You seem sick,” He stated, and she gulped. “It’s nothing, sir.”
“Okay then. I need a letter from the marketing department, I need to update one of our clients with that. Can you quickly do that for me? Please, I need it to be perfect, okay?” He told her, and she bobbed. “Very well, sir. I will start working on it immediately,” she responded. He took one last look around the office before finally walking out.
Danielle looked at Stephanie and whispered to her. “Hey… are you sure you can write the letter?” She asked, and Stephanie scoffed. “Of course, I can. Don’t worry about me,” She responded and got to work immediately.
*
It was lunch time and Stephanie was busy surfing the web about automobiles to keep her mind off Sebastian. Danielle had left a few minutes to get lunch, when she suddenly stormed into the office. Thomas and Stephanie were startled and they looked at her in confusion. “What’s wrong?” Thomas asked, and she turned to look at Stephanie.
“Dr. Peter needs you in his office, right now.” Stephanie’s heart stopped beating, and Danielle gritted her teeth.