Chapter 2
1603 Words
Jessica
It’s your fault.
What did I do wrong to him? To us? To myself?
I was the one who found him sleeping with my ex-best friend and he blamed me?
I gatecrashed him in the middle of f*****g Stacey, moaning loud, they didn’t even realize I was there until Stacey opened her hazy and full of lust brown eyes to me, and then she pushed Christian away from her. She remained immobilized, hiding her dignity with the comforter while Christian was in a hurry putting his sweatpants back with his d**k still up straight like steel and more than ready to penetrate any warm hole he wanted.
I didn’t say a word that night, it was Christian who pointed his finger at me. Even Stacey did the same.
That night, my heart broke.
That night, I lost three people.
Christian, my fiancé.
Stacey, my best friend.
And myself.
I didn’t say a word. I got out of his hotel room and headed back to mine. I packed all my stuff and went home with my parents. Immediately canceled our engagement, the day before our marriage. In less than twenty-four hours. Before I vowed my undying love to the man who had cheated on me for two years.
I was sad.
I was disappointed.
But I didn’t cry that night. Not tomorrow. Not the day after. It was like my brain had shut down for the man who never valued me.
I’d always wondered why we had to meet. Why did I fall in love with him? Why he proposed to me if he ended up cheating on me?
“Jess?” The voice broke my mind. Blinking my eyes rapidly as I looked up to find my boss standing in front of my table.
“Oh!” I got panicked immediately, pushing myself from the table, and knocking every document on the floor. I detached myself from the chair in a stampede. “I’m so sorry!” I knelt on the floor to grab the papers and I knocked my forehead on the side of the table. “Ouch!” I screeched, whacking my ass to the floor while rubbing my stung forehead.
“Was I that scary, Miss Jensen?” Ricardo asked jokingly.
“I’m sorry.”
“No, that’s my fault for disturbing your daydreaming session. I called you through the phone but you didn’t pick up.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Hey, come on. Stop apologizing. Here, let me help.” Ricardo squatted and grabbed all the fallen documents and placed them on my table.
“Please, sir. You don’t need to.”
“I was partly responsible for surprising you. Don’t worry about it,” he assured me as I pushed myself up and helped him as well.
I felt embarrassed. Why I always ended up embarrassing myself like this? Most of all, in front of my boss. I was quite lucky because Ricardo wasn’t the type of person that I thought he was going to be. He was laidback and pretty much a softy toward me.
It’d been three years since I started working as his secretary. I must admit, I enjoyed working here and under Ricardo. I thought he would be a scary-looking boss who always had this devil’s horn on his head, but he was not. Or worse, he wouldn’t care that he actually had a secretary and never bothered to get to know me. In fact, he cared about his staff but I had to remind everyone to never poke him or he would poke everyone back and they were not going to like it.
“Were you remembering about your ex again?” he broke the silence. My hands stopped immediately and flicked my eyes to him, toward his dazzling brown eyes. He was still busy collecting the papers but I knew he was waiting.
“Yes,” I confessed. I found myself always unable to lie to him. It was not because Ricardo was my boss, I just couldn’t bring myself to lie to him. Whenever I wanted to, like he had a lie detector, he pressed the off button and I confessed the truth to him instantly. His eyes were directed at me. In an instant, I was paralyzed in place. He was not mad, his eyes spoke everything, pity.
I didn’t deserve that.
“Don’t look away from me, Jess. Never look away because you refused to be pitied for.” I went back to look at him.
“How do you know?”
And he smirked. “How long have you been working under me?”
“Three years.”
“That’s enough time for me to know my secretary like the back of my hands. Don’t ever downgrade yourself to a bastard who broke your heart. You’ve seen what he had done to you. Cheating is the worst action a fiancé could ever do. And he did it for two years. Showed it the night before your marriage. As much as you hated the truth, he never loved you.” Wow, that was brutal. Maybe it was the truth.
“I always wondered why he proposed if his head was filled with another woman.”
“Pity. And a loser because he couldn’t tell you that he couldn’t marry you.”
I giggled. “Ouch.”
“You were lucky because you found out before you got married. Think about it if you found out after you tied the knot with him.” Yeah, I didn’t think I could handle it. “You deserve better, Jess.”
His words just made my day. And made me smile. “Thank you, sir.”
“Come on. If it’s just the two of us, you can call my name. You’re not just my secretary but also my friend.”
“Oh. Well, thank you, Ricardo.” He smiled charmingly and we both stood together. “Um, do you need anything?”
“Oh, I will be having a meeting with James tomorrow. Can you arrange the meeting room and stuff? The meeting will be held after lunch.”
“Sure. I’ll prepare it straight away.”
“Thanks. Oh, add one more drink just for a precaution,” he added. One more drink? For who? I kept looking at him and as he was aware of it, he said, “Just a precaution, Jess.” I only nodded my head. And he confirmed my suspicion when he asked, “You don’t want to give Jason a chance?”
I flustered immediately when that name slipped out of his mouth. “He doesn’t want me, Ricardo.”
“Hm. You mean you don’t want him,” he stated. Not confirming, he was stating. Stating the truth. I couldn’t say anything because somehow, I felt that way.
Jason Ross, Ricardo’s best friend now had turned into his brother-in-law. I met him for the first time back at James’ failed engagement party. I didn’t know what I had done but since that night, Jason always chased me. I easily rejected every single of his offers, except one time at my boss’ wedding party. Um, no, two times. The first one was the introduction party held by Alexander Browning. I didn’t know what’s gotten into me and I accepted. Maybe I was stressed out and unknowingly my mouth took control of me. Or I was desperate for a male companion.
I felt a pat on my shoulder and turned to Ricardo. “I won’t push you if you don’t want to. But you have to move on eventually. Don’t regret your decision, Jess. Do everything for your happiness because you deserve a lot.”
He made me smile again. This was one of my boss’ charms. He was like the big brother I could never have. A male best friend I never had. He just loved taking care of people. “Thank you.” And he strode back inside his office.
Ricardo was right.
I couldn’t dwell in the past forever.
I had to move forward.
There was only one small thing. A wall prevented me to do it.
I was scared. I dated Christian for five years. Everything was so perfect that I couldn’t see the betrayal in our relationship. I never suspected anything. Christian appeared so loving and caring like usual. Almost like nothing happened between us. Or the warning was there but I was too blind to see? I didn’t know. That’s why I didn’t understand what triggered him to cheat on me. Maybe lust? But they had been doing it for two years.
A change of feeling could be the answer.
Silently meeting behind my back.
Fucking behind my back. I wanted to puke thinking that our bed was warmed by Stacy first and then when I came home, he f****d me with the same bed he f****d Stacey. Jesus, Jess.
I shook my head and sat on the chair.
I had to forget about him. Forget our time together. Like Ricardo said, he wasn’t worth it. Not worth my time. Not worth my heart. I deserved better.
My mind struck on Jason. What was he doing now? He usually texted me almost every day but lately, I never received anything from him. Did he get tired and bored of me? Lucky me. Because he was gone before I did something stupid and embarrass myself again.
I was saved.
My heart was safe.
I didn’t want to look for love for a while.
I had to focus on my career.
Or at least, that was what I thought.
- Writer
