Hello 193

Posted by AdminM, ? Views, Released on October 17, 2024

Chapter 193

L

+25 BONUS

Before dawn, I woke up again. After a quick shower, I noticed a text from Hayden reminding me to grab the breakfast he’d left outside my door.

He never asked why I didn’t eat the last one, but he still kept making it for me anyway.

I didn’t want to waste his effort this time, so I ate the breakfast and headed to work.

When I got there, the place was still empty since I was early. I sketched out my plan for the day, looked over everyone’s recent work, and realized I still had some time to kill before the day officially started.

I pulled out my phone and started scrolling through social media. I mean, yeah, it’s a total time–suck, but I don’t have many friends these days. At least this way, I can keep up with their lives, even if we don’t really talk anymore. It was kind of nice to see how they were doing.

Steve posted about some billiards tournament he entered. Lena, the superstar OB–GYN, posted about delivering another baby–she tracks every single one she helps bring into the world. The total so far? 5,566

Five thousand, five hundred and sixty–six babies. Without her posts, I bet even she’d lose count.

I liked her post and threw in a thumbs–up emoji, then kept scrolling. That’s when I saw his post. Jace.

He’d written: [For the rest of my life, I will take care of you both]

It was paired with a cartoon of a mom and a baby.

My chest tightened. I knew exactly what that meant.

He’d accepted Tanya.

He posted it in the middle of the night, and there were already a ton of likes and comments. People who didn’t know we’d broken up were even congratulating me and Jace, like we were still a thing.

I let out a bitter laugh and left my own comment: [Congrats, wishing you guys all the best.]

As soon as I hit post button, I closed the app and tossed my phone aside. No way was I scrolling anymore..

I just stared blankly at my computer screen. My mind felt… empty.

It didn’t exactly hurt. It was more like this heavy, sinking feeling that I couldn’t quite describe.

Then my phone rang, snapping me out of it. Ron’s name popped up on the screen, and I glanced toward his office. He wasn’t in yet.

I answered. “Mr. Shane?”

“Hey, Ms. Kay, don’t come into the office for the next couple of days.” His voice was all groggy, like he was still half–asleep.

I figured he was probably still lying in bed.

“What do you mean?” I asked, confused.

“Don’t read into it. There’s nothing weird going on, I just think you’ve been working too hard lately, so I’m giving you a couple of paid days off,” Ron said.

+25 BONUS

Chapter 193

Working too hard?

Have I, though?

I’d been taking more days off than actually working lately. Was he trying to hint at something?

“Mr. Shane, I’ll try to take fewer days off from now on,” said, wanting to make sure I wasn’t giving the wrong impression.

He quickly cut in, “You’re overthinking this. I’m not hinting at anything. I’m seriously just giving you a break. You know, at our company, we like to take care of our best employees–especially someone like you.”

Yeah, right. I was not some naive girl who’d fall for a cheap line like that.

Remembering how things had gone down the last few times, I cut to the chase. “Is this another order from the big boss?”

Ron sputtered, coughing a bit before answering, “You think the big boss has that kind of time?”

He denied it, but getting random time off still felt off.

“Ms. Kay, this is an official notice. You’re on leave. If you don’t take it, you’ll be defying orders, and that’ll mean a pay cut,” Ron said, pulling the whole boss card on me.

In all my years working, this was a first–getting a “break” like this.

Since I’d already handled everything for the day and two days off wouldn’t screw anything up, I just said, ” Alright.

After hanging up, I found the department supervisor, walked him through my plans, pointed out a few things he should keep an eye on, and told him to keep everything on track.