FEW DAYS LATER…
In the days that came, after what Daniel had told Kathryn, even though she found it very hard to digest, she had no choice. In the end, whether she cried or chose to remain strong, the truth remained the truth, and that was the fact that the man she was starting to consider a best friend didn’t even see her as a friend.
It was hard for her, but what could she do? She just had to take it like that.
She sighed as she took the papers to his table. “Here, Mr. Lopez. These documents need your signature. Could you please sign them so I could pass them on for further evaluation?” She asked him, and he stared at her, confused.
“Mr Lopez? What’s that supposed to mean? What happened to calling me Daniel?” He asked her, and she chuckled.
“Mr Lopez, I’m sorry if at the onset, I had been rather unprofessional. I thought of things that weren’t even there, and honestly, I’m sorry about them. I have noticed that you don’t like it that I call you by your name, so I have decided to address you more professionally. So, Mr Lopez, can you sign these?” She asked him, showing him the places to sign.
He got out of his seat as he held on to her hand, moving her closer to himself. “What is this, Kathryn? Why are you suddenly addressing me as Mr Lopez?” He asked her, and she chuckled slightly.
“What is this? Mr Lopez, I’m only doing what you want, and if I remember, this is what you asked for, or am I wrong?” She asked him, and he chuckled.
“Of course you’re wrong. You’re wrong, Kathryn. I never asked that you would start to address me as Mr. Lopez. I’m fine with Daniel.” He told her, and she took his hands off her.
She moved back, taking the documents off the table. “I’m guessing you’re not in the mood to sign these. It’s fine, Mr. Lopez. You might not want to sign them because you think I’ve altered some of these, and trust me, I haven’t.” She told him as she re arranged the documents on the table. “I have left these here, when you go through these, and you’re ready to sign them, please let me know. In the meantime, please excuse me.” She told him, and with that, walked away.
He stared at her, confused, and just as she was about to take her seat, he held on to her hand. “Say what you have to clearly, Kathryn. What’s the meaning of this? Don’t address me as Mr Lopez. I’m Daniel, call me Daniel.” He told her, and she chuckled slightly.
Tucking her behind her ear, she took his hands off her. She swallowed, smiling, and before she knew it, tears started to well up in her eyes. She took in a deep inhale, forcing the tears back in as she stared at him. “I’m sorry, Mr Lopez, but I can’t. I can’t address you as Daniel, and I’m so sorry about it.” She told him, and he stared at her.
It was hurting, seeing her this way was hurting him. In the last couple days, he thought he could deal with the fact that they weren’t on talking terms, but now, now that she was now addressing him like her boss, he didn’t think he could take it.
“And why can’t you address me as Daniel? Tell me!” He asked her, and she wiped her cheeks slowly.
“What did you tell me a few days ago? I wasn’t your friend, and besides, the only reason I was addressing you by your first name, and not by your professional name like I was supposed to was because of the fact that I thought we were friends, but sadly, we weren’t. Don’t feel bad, sir. It was good you told me the truth, I wasn’t to give myself such high hopes after all.” She told him, and sat back down.
He ran his fingers through his hair, he had really taken things far, how could he not have realized that he had really hurt her? He watched as she completely ignored him, acting like he wasn’t even in the room as she focused on her work, and he went to his table.
He took the documents and started to sign them, but when she saw that he was, she spoke. “Sir, you have to read them. You shouldn’t trust people who are not your friends. Even most friends aren’t to be trusted because in the end, they might just be using you. Please read them.” She told him, and he sighed.
“I’m not reading them. Here you go, get them processed.” He told her, and she nodded as she got up, took the files before walking out of the office.
The moment she left, he buried his face in his hands, he felt awful, what was he doing? He thought he would be able to do it, but in the end, he couldn’t. He took in a deep inhale, what a jerk he was.
After some time, she walked in with the documents and then handed it over to him. “Here you go sir, I’m done with these.” She told him, and dropped it on the table.
For the rest of the day, she didn’t speak to him, and even in the next two days, she kept on addressing him as sir, and he couldn’t take it anymore.
“Excuse me, sir. I need to go use the restroom.” She told him, and with that, left.
In the restroom, she stared at herself in the mirror as tears streamed down her cheeks. She wanted him to feel bad, she wanted him to know how much it hurt her seeing the way he was acting towards her, but what happened in the end? She was just hurting herself.
She opened the door, about to walk out, when Daniel pushed her back in. She stared at him, shocked, and just as she was about to speak, he pinned her to the wall, covering her mouth.
“I’m sorry.” He told her, and she pushed him away.
“I’m so sorry, sir. I didn’t know I wasn’t allowed to come here.” She told him as she walked out, but then as she walked out, he held on to her hand.
“Please listen to me, Kathryn. I know, in the last few days, I’ve being hurting you. I’ve being a jerk to you, but trust me, I really didn’t mean for this to happen.” He told her, and at that moment, tears started to stream down her cheeks.
“Leave me alone, sir. I don’t want to speak to you.” She told him as she turned to leave, but then, he held on to her.
“I lied. When I said we weren’t friends, that was the greatest lie I told, believe me.” He told her, and wiped her tears slowly.
“Then why did you do that? Why did you say that to me when you knew it would hurt me so much?” She asked him, and he held her hand.
“I’m going through a tough phase, Kathryn, trust me. I don’t want to do this, but in the end, I have to. Just give me some time, I’ll sort it out.” He told her, and she wiped her tears.
“Why did it take you so long to tell me this, Daniel? Did you know how much it hurt me?” She asked him, and he smiled.
“Daniel? I really missed that name coming from you.” He told her as he embraced her. “I’m sorry, Kathryn, forgive me. I thought I would be able to stay without talking to you, but sadly, I couldn’t. I couldn’t stay away from you, Kathryn. I couldn’t”
She put her hands around him. “Just don’t do this to me anymore, I won’t be able to take it.” She told him, and he smiled.
“I won’t. Just trust me.” He told her, as he rubbed her back.
As they hugged, a camera suddenly clicked. The moment the camera clicked, the picture was sent. A smirk stayed on the face of the person behind the camera.