Even Millie was looking at me differently after my interaction with Michael.
She was the only person in the whole office who was nice to me. I panicked at the thought of losing her trust.
“I’ll go get lunch.”
I did not know what else to say. So, I blurted out whatever came to mind and excused myself.
My heart was still unsettled even after I came back to the office. Michael’s action was really suspicious. He could well text me or send me an email, but he chose to talk to me in close proximity in front of everybody.
I went to his office to deliver him the food before going back to my place for the fear of him nitpicking on me. Once again, all my colleagues’ stares trailed my movement as I walked into Michael’s office.
I feigned composure and walked in as if I had real business to talk to him about.
To ensure people outside did not second-guess our relationship, I dropped his lunch on his table and turned to leave.
“Have you eaten?”
Michael called out to me before I walked past the door.
I stopped and looked back at him. “I will go in a bit.”
I thought I was smart by thinking he would let me off the hook if I told him I had not eaten.
“Then just stay and eat together. I don’t think I can finish everything.”
What’s wrong with him? I could not believe he said that.
“It’s okay. I’ll just eat on my own. You’re the CEO here and I’m the employee. It’s best if we keep our distance before everyone else senses something fishy.”
I had already incurred public wrath when he asked me to buy him lunch and even offered me help with work. If I stayed and ate with him, everyone at the office would wage war against me.
“Do you want me to repeat myself? Don’t test my patience.”
He was fixed on not letting me leave. He knew I was afraid of him, so he went ahead and threatened me.
I tried suppressing the anger in my heart and walked toward him.
He passed me a pair of cutlery and started eating himself.
He knew people would have their doubts if I lingered too long in his office, but he asked me to stay nonetheless.
He was doing this on purpose. I lost my appetite, thinking about what others would say. It was not until Michael finished lunch that he let me out.
As expected, I was met with hostile glares the moment I stepped out of his office.
I lowered my head and walked back to my own table to prevent any eye contact.
Millie came over and looked at me with surmising eyes.
“Anna, what’s with you and Mr. Shaw? Don’t tell me you guys are…”
Sleeping together? I finished Millie’s sentence off for her in my mind.
We slept together a lot of times, but I could not tell her that.
I looked at Millie guiltily. “I don’t know what’s wrong with Mr. Shaw today.”
I saw nothing wrong with blaming everything on Michael. After all, he was the reason why I was getting so much hate from everyone.
“Really? The way he talked to you is as if you guys know each other really well. You know how all the women here see him as their prince charming. You’ll be good as dead if there’s really something going on.”
“What are you talking about, Millie? I’m just a normal employee like everyone else. There’s no way I will know someone like Mr. Shaw personally.”
Millie’s words only confirmed my fear. I was still traumatized by what happened last time when I was locked in the toilet. Everyone would kill me if Michael continued giving me special treatment.
The suspicion on Millie’s face disappeared after I assured her. “That makes sense. We’re all just his employees. He’d probably pick a woman from a good family if he had a girlfriend.”
My heart eased when Millie finally believed me. Although I had successfully diverted her doubt, I was still irked by what Michael did to me.
Millie was a trusting person, so I was able to persuade her, but that did not mean other people at work would take me for my word.
I left work earlier in the evening because I was afraid something would happen to me, but before I could get out of the building, a gush of cold water came pouring on my body out of nowhere.
When I wiped my face and looked upward, the culprit was nowhere in sight.
I was infuriated. I knew someone must have done this to me deliberately. How I wished I could run upstairs and catch the person red-handed, yet I knew it would be best to not make a huge fuss out of this, else everyone would be bitter toward me.
I could only bear this silently.
I walked out of the company building, wet and cold. Even the cab driver was looking at me intermittently throughout the journey home.
I took a hot shower after I arrived, but I could not stop sneezing.
I just got out of the shower when Michael reached home. When he saw me shivering in my thick towel, he came over.
“Why are you all wrapped up like this? It’s so warm today,” he jeered.
“Can you please stop being so snarky? Can’t you see I’m sick?”
