Danre

"Mrs. Brian, Marcus is here" one of my 4 employees, Sarah tells me as I press the answer button from my office intercom.

"Who?" I ask, rubbing my forehead. God, I think I have a headache.

"Your new secretary, Ms. Wiggins appointment him before leaving. I thought she informed you ma'am" Sarah replies hesitantly.

I sigh.

"She did, thank you Sarah. Do send him in" I reply and cut the line. It wasn't even two whole days of Andrea being gone and I had already started forgetting things.

A knock comes on my office door and I tell them to come in. A man, looking in his early thirties comes inside my office wearing a pair of professional trousers, a button down shirt with loafers on. His physique making him look like he belonged in the army more than a publishing book studio.

He smiles at me,

"Hello Mrs. Brian, I am Marcus, Ms. Wiggins took my interview a few days ago and told me to come on Wednesday to start but I wanted to be familiar with my workspace so I came a day before. I hope that is okay?" He tells me, nervousness clear in his voice.

"That is definitely okay, Ms.Wiggins informed me about you. Take a seat" I tell him, already liking his determination. I open my side drawer to take out his file that Andrea told me she had left for me to check over if I wanted to.

"I realize that this was an early interview and an early acceptance notice for you but I do hope you do well here, Ms. Aaron will show you the studio. As Ms. Wiggins must have already informed you, this office is more of a studio with only 4 employees. My team is here to help whenever you need them, don't hesitate to ask for help either from me or my team"

His eyes brighten, tension leaving his body upon my smile and lightness of my tone. I wasn't really a bad boss but I did wonder at that moment if I was a little intimidating for some?

If I asked my husband this question he would definitely answer with a no, but I knew that I scared him sometimes with my unexpected doings and words.

"Ma'am, if you don't mind I just wanted to say something..." he tells me, a bit jumpy.

"Yes ofcourse, do tell" I tell him, curious.

"I have read all three of your books and whispers of screams is my most favorite then love in black is one of the most heart touching and heart breaking books I have ever read. I think I cried a bucket reading that one" he tells me and I think I blush. Even after being used to these feedbacks, it still felt amazing to be appreciated. I definitely took pride in my work.

"Thank you so much Marcus, I see you did your research way before even knowing you were joining us" I joke and his body stiffens as if I hit it on point.

"Just your fan Mrs. Brian" he chuckles.

We both laugh and I call in Sarah to show him the studio and his place. After they leave my office I close my eyes and rest my head on the table, suddenly too tired to keep up with the editing.

My phone rings indicating that a message has been sent to me and I bring my phone to my face, too tired to sit properly and check.

How does it feel living with someone who isn't even what you think?
-N

My whole body on alert, my mind awake. I reread the message twice, then thrice.

What does that mean?

It wasn't really common but I did get hate comments, reviews and sometimes even threats upon my writing and books. The person not liking my style and hating my existence and that's why I always tried to look on the positive side when it came to writing, thinking what I have accomplished.

But this message was not about me and by reading it, it looked more like it was about my husband.

A knock on the door interrupts my thoughts, bringing me back to my office and I see Marcus.

"Mrs. Brian? Do I have any work today? Something that I can do? I have been shown my table. Can you tell me your daily routine? Ms. Wiggins told me you prefer black coffee at 11 am, to write in your schedule for the day and everything. I have it all noted it down but if there is anything else, then do let me know" he says as he waves his small notebook towards me showing me that he has it all written down.

"That's great, glad to see you already know most of the things. Do get your stuff tomorrow for your cabin. You will be provided an office laptop and a mobile phone tomorrow but for now, there is nothing that I have for you" I tell him and a sudden pain shoots to my head, I groan holding it in my hands.

"Are you okay ma'am?" Marcus asks, looking me with concern.

"Yeah, just a headache" I tell him as I try to smile which I am sure looks more like a grimace to him.

"Can I atleast get you any medicine for your headache or anything?"

"That would be great Marcus, thank you so much" I tell him as I open my hand bag, taking out the paper that had the recommended medicine written handing it to him. I sometimes had bad headaches due to stress, writing and sitting infront of my laptop for hours so I took up the medicine that was recommended to me by one of my friends who was a doctor.

Shade had panicked so bad once when I had fainted because of the pain, I had to calm him down before telling him that it wasn't anything serious.

After Marcus leaves my office, I open my phone again, the message in front of me.

Was it about my husband or someone else?

Not being able to think anymore because of my headache, I call Shade. I knew it was his working hours as well especially when he was a prosecutor and a great one too, his name was known for being harsh but fair. I couldn't be more proud of him, he had grown so much since the day I met him.
We both have grown so much together and individually. One of the reasons that I didn't believe this message was related to him, he has shown me his pain, his love and his tears, a side of him that was and is only reserved for me. Usually I didn't disturb him during work, both of us too focused and only messaged each other but today was different.

I wanted to know he was safe and okay.

He picks up after three rings.

"Re? Is everything okay? We don't call each other during working hours" he says, his concern clear in his voice.

Most of the tension leaves my body because now I knew that he was okay and most of my thoughts about doubting him leave my mind.

"Hey...I just called to say that I love you" I tell him, not wanting to tell him about some false message because hateful messages were common, I just needed to add this one to the bunch.

"I love you too Re, are you okay?" He says, his voice soft.

"Yes, just didn't have a good feeling about today. Anyways, how about a take out today?" I ask him, trying to get any tension or doubts out of our talking options. There wasn't anything to talk about that message because I knew that it was false.

I felt it that it was wrong,

wasn't it?

"It's okay. Everything is okay and ofcourse. How about chinese?" He asks and I smile, loving how he mentioned the kind of food that I liked.

"Let's have Indian today, you like the flavors" I whisper to him on the phone. Jesus, we were too cheesy sometimes.

He chuckles and I close my eyes, loving the sound.

"You are the best, thank you for loving me. Let's order Indian then" he says and I hear his name being called in the background and let him go.

Everything was okay, just like how it has always been with us.

This message was nothing, just someone who didn't appreciate my work.

But then why did somewhere in my heart, something didn't feel so right?