A One Night Stand With My Boss

no idea of where to start from

/Embers POV/

I stay rooted in the spot I was waiting for Dianne looking around the neighborhood as a stray cat because there was nothing for me to do with my leisure time, then it occurred to me that today is not a weekend........ it's Friday and I am supposed to be at work right now.

What am I supposed to tell my supervisor?

I have not even taken my bath, nor have I changed from the clothing I wore yesterday to celebrate the conclusion of our marketing department's week at work.

I dressed to work looking a bit different yesterday because I went out of the scope of what I will call my normal dressing style.

instead, I decided to take my bestie's advice to dress the way my sister Olive and I used to dress while we were still at Jade University.

The theme of the whole celebration was to look different in a nice way so I added a few streaks of caramel highlight to my chocolate brown hair as olive does,moreso yesterday was olives death anniversary so I thought of doing it in her memory.

I got a lot of compliments from my colleagues because of how I dressed because without being told, I knew I was looking beautiful.

It got to a point where I stopped saying ' thank you' and started smiling in reply because the compliments seemed never-ending.

it got to a point that I started feeling uncomfortable so I went to the rooftop terrace instead of the terrace on the floor of my department on the 10th floor.

I chose to go to the terrace on the last floor because the view from the place is breathtaking, more so unlike the terrace on the other floors that is without a place to lounge, the rooftop terrace has white sectional sofas arranged in a rectangular manner with pillows of different sizes....... it's a cool relaxation spot.

I got to the sectional sofa, I saw a tall figure standing and resting on the terrace railing that turned to look at me briefly possibly when he noticed my presence before averting his gaze almost immediately.

That familiar Mohican cut and scythe-shaped eyebrows, above his close-set dark hazel eyes, with His Roman nose and half-dome cheekbones sitting above his oaken jaw.

His dark hazel eyes that gleam with delight are now cold and emotionless, his dashing personality and cosmic smile are now replaced with a devil-may-care outlook and a stellar smile.

I thought of leaving is that I won't inconvenience him but on second thought, I felt that the terrace was spacious enough to accommodate both of us so I decided against It.

I thought that it will be fine as long as I didn't make any sound, till I looked up and noticed him walking towards me with a tiger-like tread and his eyes examining my every move, making me feel so strange and uncomfortable.

"You look different," he said as he approached me and my brow creased in confusion because I didn't know if he meant it as a compliment just like the others did.

"...in a nice way " he continued and I smiled shyly.

"Do you mind joining me at my house to celebrate Olives death anniversary?" He asked and all I could do was to nod eagerly because such a request coming from the same person who has not had a proper conversation with me since he joined the company, neither does he reply to my greetings.

At a point, I felt that he has probably forgotten me or kept me in the past since Olive is no more.

"I will pick you up after work...," he said moving past me with a leopard-like grace.

Both Adrian and I were close to my sister, and Olive was not just my sister but my best friend in the whole world, so when we lost her, it felt like an important part of me died.

it was really difficult for me to continue living my life without her because out of my two sisters, she is the one that I am closest to, but I still had to put the pain behind me and move on even though it wasn't as easy as those motivational speakers make moving on from grieve look like.

Some days, I felt like I was getting better and felt like I can live my life happily in the same way that Olive asked me to in the last letter she wrote to me.

She told me to cherish the gift of life that I have and enjoy it to the fullest on her behalf otherwise she won't be happy on the other side of the world if she sees me miserable because of her death.

She concluded her letter by saying that I should consider moving on from the pain and grief that her death must have caused me as the last favour I can do for her, so I just had to put in a conscious effort to gather myself together and it got better and better.

My moving on didn't necessarily mean that I forgot completely about the pain that Olive's death caused me, instead I accepted what happened and continued living because there was nothing I could do to change what happened.

In Adrian's case, I doubt if he has been able to move past the pain that Olive's death caused him.

no doubt, her death hurt him and up till now, it is still visible to someone like me that knew him very well that her death changed him a lot.

After Olives burial, we all returned to college to start living our normal life but I never saw Adrian In our Emerald house again like he used to frequent it when he was still dating my sister.

For a moment, I thought he traveled out of the country away from the same environment that caused him pain and he had no plans of returning until I graduated from Jade University and started working in the marketing department of E-shine jewelry.

The week I joined, the CEO announced that he will be handing over the leadership and decision making of the company to his son which I assumed will be Derek since I haven't laid my eyes on Adrian for two years till he was introduced to us all as the new CEO of E-shine jewelry.

Within a week that he took over his father's position, most of the employees nicknamed him as 'ice cube', and every time I heard them address him like that, it broke my heart.

the nickname he was given is the representation of the kind of person he is now.......he has gone from the playful and nice person that I was used to seeing in our emerald house to a strict, withdrawn, and cold person.

When he complimented my dressing, I was shocked because he has never really acknowledged me in the office since I joined so hearing him call my name was so much of a big deal to me before the real shocker landed and he asked me if I want to come over to his house to celebrate Olive's death anniversary which I happily agreed to.

I think dressing like Olive and I used to dress in our college days because if I didn't dress like that Aiden wouldn't have noticed me and we won't be in this kind of situation.

"As it is, I doubt if I will be able to face my boss so why not call in sick at work first and decide on what to do later?" I thought and immediately called the HR department so that I don't end up forgetting.

Since today is a Friday, I can just take a chill pill and also prepare myself for the awkwardness that will accompany me resuming work on Monday.........you never can tell, I may have forgotten about what happened.

"I seriously need to take my mind off this" I chanted like a mantra.

I know my girls and I don't keep secrets from each other considering how much we drifted apart in our 3rd year in the university due to Olive's death and each of us having different family problems we needed to sort out and we have tried our best since we graduated not to allow such a thing to happen again, but this Is a major slip up and I will need time to come out clean to them.

I saw Dianne's white convertible car and I sighed in relief as I saw my best friend pop her oval face and a burnished skin complexion out of the window.

a set of shinning halo white teeth gleamed as she smiles brightly at me enhancing, her enticing russet brown hooded eyes that grazed over her velvety eyelashes only for her smile to turn into groaning as the wind blows her crushed garnet hair that she left tumbling over her shoulders to her face

"Thanks for picking Me up I appreciate it"I thank Dianne for going close to her side as her cinnamon and meadow fresh mint scent kept captive by her gothic style evades my nostrils

"Is that the way you are supposed to apologize for not coming home yesterday night knowing fully well that you have a concerned housemate that will be worried sick about you?" Dianne asks laying back the hair covering her face so that I can see her raised eyebrow.

"Did it occur to you that I am supposed to be at work right now?" Dianne scolds and I know that this is just the start

"the same applies to you, instead of you being at work, you are stepping out of somebody's house that I am very sure is not a lady because if she is you won't be looking so disoriented and looking for somebody to save your ass" Dianne puffed out in one breath.

"I know I messed up and I won't try to justify my actions right now, but can you please get me out of here?"I pleaded.

that is one thing about my best friend, she won't ask you what is going on but that doesn't mean that she won't give an overall assessment of the situation you are in, but at the same time, she is a very sensitive person that knows when it's time to stop scolding.

"Get in the car" Dianne instructs.

"thank your stars you have a best friend like me" she compliments herself after I entered the car and I just shake my head.

I forgot to add, Dianne is the type of best friend that complements herself every step of the way and I think I have gotten used to that over the years.

Deep down, I know that I have disappointed a lot of people.........myself, my sister, my girls, and my family and I have no idea of where I am to start from.