"No matter what my life is shadowed with a cloud of sorrow, guilt and sadness,"

Six years later.

Bree's pov.

"Mr. Callaway I'm sorry but I've already told you that we're not interested in the deal with your company," I say over the phone and get off my seat.

I walk out of my office. I see Olivia and close the mouth piece of the phone with my palm.

"I told you guys not to forward Mr. Callaway's calls to me!" I whisper shout at my manager.

"I'm so sorry. Give the phone to me, I'll take over the call," she says with an apologetic smile and I give her the phone.

How do I answer nearly fifty calls a day from different companies without my manger helping me? I sigh and walk towards Jackson's office. I enter without knocking.

Ricky was there too. Ricky is one of the directors of our company along with me and Jackson.

"Why the fuck do they keep connecting Callaway's phone to me?" I mumble as I take a seat with my legs crossed.

"I'm going to sue the guy if he calls again," I say trying to cool down.

"Why don't you go to the boutique and relax for the rest of the day?" Jackson asks me.

"Nah, I'll be fine," I say and sip on some water.

"We're getting new deals with a few good companies but none of them seem good enough," Ricky says.

"Rick it's better we wait till we get a company good enough to increase the status of our company than compromise on the small deals," I say.

"She's right," Jackson tells Ricky and and he nods his head in agreement.

Jackson's landline starts ringing and we go silent. Jackson picks the call and talks.

Our company is in the top ten list of UK. I'll not do anything to let down my father's company nor will I give up on my mom's boutique that I took over after college.

"We're having our final meeting with the B&B group tomorrow," Jackson says hanging up on the phone.

"What time?" Ricky asks.

"Ten a.m, in our building," Jackson replies.

"Great, I can't wait to get rid of them," I say resting my forehead against my palm.

"The feeling is mutual," Jackson and Ricky say letting out a laugh but stopped. Of course they did because I'm here. I stand up and set my skirt.

"I've got some work to do," I say and walk out of the room.

I hated pity and that definitely is not what they were showing but I just want them to act normal around me.

Yes, I stopped smiling years ago but that doesn't mean that they shouldn't laugh or smile around me. Maybe the guilt and the sadness just made me forget how to smile after all. It's nothing new for Jackson nor for Ricky but they just mange to stay conscious while smiling or laughing when I'm around.

I don't bother to greet anyone in the front office and walk straight into my office. I take a seat on the desk chair and opened a new file that had been placed on my desk while I scanned through it’s contents, my fingers filing through the papers at a rapid speed.

Someone knocks on my door, "Come in," I say and sit down.

Olivia enters, closing the door behind her. "They're here," she says.

Every year I give employment to two people without any interview rounds. These people are selected on the grounds of their need. It's just like offering a job for those in need of money for different reasons.

"How many of them?" I ask Olivia.

"It's three of them and all of them are women in their twenties," she informs and I nod taking the the files of each person.

"Let the first person in," I say and Olivia nods before leaving the room.

Natalie Simpson.

Let me see how good she is.

A woman enters my office. She's dressed up in a cream colour formal dress with blonde curls.

"Please take a seat and introduce yourself, " I say leaning back in my seat.

"It's nice to meet you, I'm Natalie Simpson," she says with a small smile and I return it with the best smile I could muster up which looks more realistic to new people.

"So why did you lose your previous job?" I ask her.

"My brother was sick and our parents died when I was sixteen. I took a leave to take him to the hospital and they said no but I took it for which I had to lose my job," she says looking down at her hands.

"You don't have to be ashamed of losing your job since you have a valid reason Ms. Simpson," I say trying to make her feel better.

She smiles at me and I fake smile back. "Could you wait outside till I get done with all the interviews?" I ask her and she nods before leaving.

I sigh and drink some water. So I give jobs to such people in need. The next person enters the room. I don't bother looking at the files anymore.

"Take a seat," I say and she sits down.

"I'm Valery Summer," she says and I could sense the attitude in her voice which ticked me off.

"Why do you need this job?" I ask her with authority in my voice.

"I need the job for paying my bills," she says simply.

"Please wait outside," I say and she leaves.

She needs this job for paying her bills? I'm sure that's why everyone needs a job but with that attitude, no shit sherlock, I'm not here to offer jobs to such people.

Valery is striked out the list.

"Come in," I say and roll my eyes at the number of times I say 'come in' in a day.

"Please take a seat," I say not looking at her who it was but the woman doesn't sit.

I look up to see who this weird person was. My eyes widen as I see who it was. I open the file and check if she's here for an interview. Hell yeah she's here for an interview.

"Stacey..."I trail off with wide eyes.

"I think it's better I leave," she says and I could see the sadness in her eyes.

"No wait," I say and she stops in her tracks.

"Bree I understand if you don't want to give me this job..." She starts but I cut her off.

"Take a seat Stacey Williams," I say with a tight-lipped smile. She take a seat and let's out a nervous smile.

"Stacey relax, I never said you won't get this job," I say and give her some water.

She drinks it and smiles, she looks different. It felt weird to see Stacey in search of a job.

"Are you fine now?" I ask her.

"Yeah," she says nervously.

"So why do you need this job?" I ask her once she relaxes a little.

"My daughter fell off the fist floor of an apartment last year right after her second birthday and she's been undergoing surgeries since then. My husbands doing multiple jobs to cope up with the expenses and my old job wasn't helping so I came out in search of a job that would pay me enough to support my family," she says and I could see her stopping herself from crying.

My heart dropped as I heard her story. I'm going to help her no matter what.

"Stacey can you just give me a second?" I ask her unsure if she was fine.

"Yeah," she says and starts walking out.

I call Olivia in and tell her that Natalie and Stacey are selected.

"Olivia can you call Mrs. Williams in and you may as the others to leave," I say and she nods before leaving.

I had a bad history with Stacey but now she's in need of help and I could see the guilt in her eyes.

Stacey enters the room and closes the door behind her.

"Bree thank you so much for giving me the job," she says and I could see her stopping her tears.

"Stacey sit down and just cry it out . I promise you that I won't judge," I say and she sits down.

She let's the tears flow and I hand her some tissues. I couldn't see someone crying in front of me. After a few minutes she stops crying. I give her some water and she drinks it up.

"I'm sorry," she says looking at me with guilt.

"Sorry for what?" I ask her confused.

"Sorry for everything I did in high school Bree. You didn't have to give me this job but you did," she says with a smile.

"It's okay Stacey. We're no more high schoolers," I say but my voice didn't sound soothing for a broken person.

Well I was broken myself and if I knew how to make a person feel better then I would've tried it on myself first.

"Do you forgive me for what I did to Aiden?" she asks and my eyes widen at his name.

"Let's not talk about him," I say and look away trying to not let my thoughts go down that spiral.

"Is everything alright between you both?" She asks and I take deep breaths.

"Stacey I've got some work. I'll meet you tomorrow," I say standing up and grabbing my car keys before leaving.

She shouldn't have taken his name. Six years and he never bothered to talk to me even once. I never got to tell him how I felt for him but the feelings never changed.

Today was weird since I confronted a different Stacey but yet it ended up worse than expected.

I get into my car and start driving. I knew where I was going.

Aiden broke my heart when he left and I got used to feeling the hollow space in my heart after I lost Jayden.