“Did you blush?” Praise asked, as she dropped the last plate of corn dogs she and her husband, Daniel, had just made, on the dining table.
I rolled my eyes, huffed. “Of course not. Why would I blush? He’s my boss, remember? Fine, we spoke for a long time, but I couldn’t possibly fall for him in only a few hours.”
Tracie chuckled as she slurped her burnt ends. “You’re such a weirdo. My husband and I were friends for two years. I fell for him in a second. I mean, it’s a particular moment you discover your love for someone.”
“True,” Praise contributed. She joined us on the dining table, took a deep breath when she settled to sit. I passed the plate of corn dogs over to her, and she grabbed one of them. “Well, my love story is… pretty boring. But, um, Tracie’s right.”
I giggled. “Boring?”
Daniel cleared his throat as he dropped the jug of orange juice on the table, giving her a sideways glance. “You call it boring? Oh great, I didn’t know I was boring,” he said.
“No, no,” she rebuked his words, as she shook her head. “You aren’t boring. I mean, we were both nerds, so we didn’t have much time for outings and all.”
“You’re so…” He just sighed, and walked back to the kitchen.
Tracie chuckled at Praise. “You both still act like children. Anyways, have you told him about your pregnancy?”
“Sh…” Praise whispered. “I’ll surprise him tonight.”
“Congrats though.” I winked at her.
“Thanks.” She grinned.
“So, tell us the truth, Serene. Did you feel something for him last night?”
“No.” I violently shook my head. “I-I really don’t wanna see him that way. He’s just my boss. And, to be honest, I’m not sure I can trust people like him. Most of the rich guys like to use women like us.”
Praise exhaled, batting her eyelashes at me. “But, how could you not have fallen for him? Those muscles, the abs under his shirt, his cute height, his blue eyes, all those things?”
“Ma’am!” Praise flinched when Daniel suddenly appeared. He dropped a jug of water at the center of the table, glaring down at her. “Are you really drooling for another man? You’re married. And what if he’s cute and tall? What am I? Ugly? Short? Dumb? Poor? I’m 6″2, okay?”
She gasped. “No, sweetie! You’re not ugly. I’m just trying to—”
“Nevermind. Just eat. And keep drooling for some hot guy, okay?” He groused.
“No, baby! You’re the most handsome man in the world!” She whined.
He grunted, twirled around, trudged up the staircase, not paying attention to her.
“Baby! Don’t be angry at your sweet wife, huh?!” She cried, yet, he just ignored her. She turned to us, pulled a concerned look.
I giggled. “Your husband’s such a jealous freak.”
“Oh, you call that jealousy?” Tracie laughed weirdly. “That’s not jealousy. Meet my man, then you meet jealousy.”
“This is the reason I need to control how I speak.” Praise slapped her mouth, sighed. “Anyways, it’s not a problem. He doesn’t stay angry for too long. When I tell him about my pregnancy, he’ll stop being angry.”
“Kk,” I said.
“You’re enjoying the food?” She asked.
“Absolutely.” I gave her a thumbs up, and took a sip of my orange juice. “Thanks for having me. I’m really enjoying my day.”
“Good to know that.”
I ate a few burnt ends, enjoying it so much. Daniel and Praise were chefs, and even had their own restaurant, so I guessed that was the reason they cooked such delicious meals. Grabbing the last piece of corn dog on the plate, a small smile formed on my lips.
Well, last night, Ryan had decided to cook for himself, since he hadn’t ordered food. He had asked me to taste the pizza he had made, and I had had no choice but to taunt him. He was such a terrible cook. To be honest, I had had a lot of fun last night. I really couldn’t believe he was the same boss I always worked with.
“You need some more corn dogs?” Praise offered.
“No, no, I’m fine. Thanks.”
“Welcome.”
About taking a sip of my drink, my phone beeped from the pocket of my jacket. Grabbing it, I was surprised to see a text from Natasha. What did she want now?
“Girl, something crazy has happened at work. Mr. Shawn’s asked me to call you over. Come immediately. There’s a quick meeting in the meeting room,” she texted.
I narrowed my eyes, feeling totally confused. What was going on at the office now? Oh goodness, the moment I had to stay off work, an emergency came up.
“Is there a problem?” Tracie asked, probably noticed how uneasy I was.
I nodded, and sighed. “My attention is needed at the office.”
“Thought you’re off work till next week.” Praise took a shot of her juice, wiped her mouth with a serviette. “What happened now?”
“Donno. I think it’s an emergency,” I said.
“Okay. When you’re done eating, you can leave. I’ll drop you there, since I’m going through that route,” Tracie offered.
“Thanks,” I appreciated.
***
Stepping out of Tracie’s car, I shut its door, then waved at her before she drove off. Taking a deep breath, I made my way to Twinkle Stars, heading straight to the meeting room. As I walked towards the elevator, a bunch of people had their eyes on me, for some reason I didn’t know. Was there something wrong with my cloth?
I ignored them, only stepped into the elevator. And, soon, I reached the first floor, where the meeting room was located. Gently, I walked in the hallway, then walked into the meeting room. Closing the door behind me, I turned around, only for me to see a whole bunch of crowd seated on the chairs around the board table.
About fifty workers were in here, including Mr. Shawn and Natasha.
“Good evening, everyone,” I greeted, tugging my purse to my hip, feeling so puzzled.
Natasha seemed quite worried. She shook her head at me, and looked away. What was going on?
Mr. Shawn stood up from the swivel chair he was seated on, put his hands behind him as he sauntered to me. Seeing the smirk on his lips, my heart beated hard against my chest. Something wasn’t right.
Standing in front of me, he leaned close to my ear. “Tell me, does he treat you well in bed, better than I’ll do?” He whispered in my ear. “What makes you think he’s more active than me? Woman, I’m a professional in this.”
“Are you crazy?” I gritted my teeth, tears in my eyes, as rage dashed through me. This man was so disgusting.
He leaned backwards, his eyebrows creased in a deep glare. “You went ahead to sleep with your boss. How shameful is that?”
“What?” I widened my eyes at him. I turned to the crowd in the room, noticed how a couple of them were looking at me with hatred, wrath, irritation in their eyes.
What was going on?
“Don’t act like you’re innocent.” His smirk grew wider.
I blinked away my tears, made a quick decision to be as bold as possible. “Tell me what’s going on. Stop speaking in parables.”
“Sure,” he said.
Snapping his fingers in the air, about two men walked to the big screen which was placed on the wall in front of me. They did a couple of things to the screen. And, as soon as one of them pressed a big red button which had been installed beside the screen, a video began to play on the screen.
Watching the video being played on the screen, my jaw dropped, a tear leaving my eyes. It was a short video of Ryan and I when he had fallen on top of me. But, the thing was, the video really seemed like we were being intimate.
Good Lord, I was being framed. Who could have done this? And now, everyone at the office had seen this video? My reputation had been ruined!
—
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