As soon as I reached the office, I dumped my bag on the chair and rushed to the elevator. First things first—I needed to find Christina. I took the elevator to the most unpleasant floor of the office.

After our fight that day, we hadn't talked or seen each other since. The following day, Martha came with the dress and forced me to have breakfast before I left. Martha is a sweet and caring woman. In her fifties or sixties, she lives with her grandson, who is in med school. Henry, Eric's driver, insisted on dropping me home, but I declined. I took my shoes from him and called a cab for myself. I didn't see Eric anywhere, which saved us from another fight on a Sunday morning.

As the elevator doors opened, I kept my gaze fixed on the direction of Christina's cabin and headed straight towards it. I didn't bother to knock and went in.

"Hey Christina, sorry for barging in like this, but I have something really important—" I paused when I noticed a third person in the room. Well, now I'm the third wheel. Ryan was already standing near—way too near—Christina, holding her arm. They noticed me and distanced themselves. "I'm sorry for interrupting. I'll wait outside. Let me know when you're done." Saying that, I quickly stepped out, and the door closed behind me.

Gosh! Early in the morning? In the office? How? They really need to pull the brakes. They could get caught. And if Eric knows... God forbid. I don't want to think of the consequences.

The door squeaked, and I hopped backwards. Ryan came out. "Uh... Hi!" Why do I sound so awkward?

"Hey, Evelyn," he said with that infectious smile and glanced at his watch. "You're quite early today."

"Yeah." Because I lied to Kate about Christina, and now I have to inform Christina about my lie so she can play along, and I don't get caught by Kate. "I have some work." I gave a slow nod.

"Alright. See you later." He chuckled and walked away.

I went inside Christina's cabin. "Hey!" we both said in unison.

"You look so stressed. What's wrong?" she asked with concern. I didn't miss the blush still vivid on her cheeks.

"I need your help and... you can't tell this to anyone. Promise me." I'm putting a lot of faith in her.

She nodded. "Okay, I promise. But what is it?" She asked, curiosity dancing in her eyes.

"So..." I inhaled sharply. Let's just do it. "On Friday night, Kate was going to drop me back at the apartment. I asked her to wait and came looking for you. But I couldn't find you." I didn't see her making out with Ryan in her office. "I was drunk, and I don't know what happened or how it happened. But I didn't go back to Kate, neither did I go back to my apartment, and my phone was switched off. The next day when Kate called, I said I was with you." I ranted.

Her mouth hung open. "What?" she screamed.

"Sshhh!" I hushed her. "You promised," I reminded her.

She gulped. "Wait. You told Kate that you stayed with me on Friday night."

"And Saturday night too," I informed.

Her eyes widened. "Holy fucking mother of God!" she shrieked. That's a new one. I'm not very well-versed in the department of cussing. Whatever I've heard to date, that's from Kate and others. "You pawned me. Kate is going to kill me if she finds out."

"That's why I don't want her to find out. Christina, you can't tell this to anyone, and if Kate asks, you will say exactly what I told you. Last Friday and Saturday, I was with you, and I left on Sunday morning. Are we clear?"

She gave a slow nod. "You want me to lie to your best friend. I think I can do that."

"I knew you could. Thanks." A smile rose on my lips.

"Hold on. I will tell Kate that story. But first, you have to tell me where you were actually that night," she demanded.

I saw this coming and was prepared for it. "I was drunk and... I kissed someone."

Her mouth formed an O. "OH. MY. GOD." She chuckled. "That's great news." It won't be great news if you know who I kissed. "So who was the guy? Is he from our office? What's his name? And how was the sex?"

I choked. "What?"

"Come on, was he good or exceptional?"

I couldn't believe she was really asking that. Sex with Eric? I suddenly felt like the temperature of the room had increased drastically. "No... no... we didn't have sex. It was just a kiss. That's all."

She gave me an are-you-serious look. "You kissed a guy and stayed with him for two nights, and you're telling me you didn't have sex? Then what were you doing? What was he doing, exactly? Singing lullabies to you?"

I huffed. "No. He was a very decent guy. He didn't take advantage of my drunken state. We talked... this and that... and that's it."

"Girl, I'm astonished now. Which guy does that? Taking care of a drunk girl? I thought that only happened in movies. I'm telling you, this is the kind of guy you should date. What did he say? Are you two going out or something?"

I scoffed. Are we really talking about Eric? Dating Eric, huh? My boss. CEO of Richmond Inc. The most eligible bachelor in town. Yeah, sure. Over my dead body. "No. That's not possible," I blabbered.

"But why? He seems to be a nice guy," she whined. "Come on, you need to get over that jerk. This is your opportunity."

I don't see Eric as a potential rebound. "I don't want to use him as an opportunity to get over my ex-boyfriend. He took care of me and was kind enough to let me stay at his house, even though I broke a glass, ruined my dress, which he took to the laundry, and treated my wound. But..." I found myself remembering all the things he did for me in those couple of days. "We can't be together." I felt my heart clench simultaneously. Why am I feeling this way?

"But why? What's the problem?"

"Because he was just being nice. It's not like he is into me," I said, the words sounding more agitated than I expected.

"I don't believe it. He surely must have felt something in this whole time. Trust me, he has a thing for you."

Yes. Hatred. "Can we please drop this topic?"

She shook her head. "Tell me, is he from our office? What office? I'll talk to him. I'm an excellent matchmaker." She winked.

Yeah, I saw your skills that night. You’re solely the reason I'm in this mess. "No. He is not from our office."

"Then, where did you find him? Who was he? Did you know him before?"

I sighed. "I didn't. We met at the party."

"What's his name?"

Gosh! What should I answer now? "His name is... Nolan." What a great name I came up with. "He was a guest, probably." I should sound more confident if I'm to make her believe this.

"Aww! I just want you to be happy. Though I'm not in favor of one-night stands. Well, where has that gotten me?" She threw her hands in the air. "Nevermind. I'm the queen of making bad life choices," she frowned.

"What happened?" I asked.

"Well, nothing new." She sighed. "I hooked up with Ryan on the night of the party," she confessed. Okay, now I don't have to pretend like I didn't already know this.

"And?" I nudged her.

"This morning, he made it pretty clear to me that it meant nothing to him. It was just the alcohol mixed with hormones." She broke into tears. "I really wished he felt something for me, but..." she sobbed.

"Aw! Come here." I wrapped my arms around her and caressed her back. I know how that feels—when you love someone, but they break your trust. "It will pass," I coaxed her.

***

I was going through some reports when Ryan popped into my office. "Hope you're not too busy," he chirped.

Well, someone looks quite happy for breaking someone's heart. "Do you need something?" I spoke firmly.

His smile faltered. "You don’t seem to be in a good mood," he commented.

"Because I'm not in a good mood," I maintained a neutral tone.

"Oh! Are you angry at me?"

Yes. "No," I replied.

"Okay. I came by to ask if you want to come to lunch with me."

I looked up from my file and saw him grinning. Kate was right. Why did I think he was a nice guy? He knew how Christina felt about him and still decided to let her down without any remorse. How heartless! "I have plans with Kate and Christina," I replied firmly.

His eyebrows rose, and he opened his mouth. He understood that I knew. "Fine." He turned on his heels with a dejected look.

***

While on our way to the cafeteria, Christina and I rehearsed our story that we would present to Kate. "Calm down. You're worrying way too much. She will believe you," Christina consoled me.

"I hope so."

From the corner of my eye, I saw Eric walking in our direction, accompanied by a blonde woman. I felt like I had seen her before but couldn’t recall where. My gaze shifted to Eric; he didn't look at me and walked away with a straight face. Aha! So you're ignoring me now. Fine! Two can play this game.

"That's Rachel, in case you’re wondering," Christina said.

"No, I was just—" I trailed off.

"You were watching her with a confused look, so I said," she explained.

"Yeah. I felt like I’d seen her before somewhere... can’t remember where." I shrugged.

"She was at the party with Sharon and Eric. Remember?"

Now I recall. "Does she work here?"

"Nope. She works in the Richmond Fragrances unit. She’s the only delivery manager there."

I gave a slow nod. "I see."

"Everyone envies her," she commented.

"Why?"

"You know The Richmond Fragrances was started by Eric's mother, and it's the only department he manages personally. He monitors every day-to-day task and every delivery. You could say it’s very dear to him. And Eric trusts Rachel a lot. Just see the position she holds. Some even say they might have something going on between them." So he is seeing someone after all, and yet he... I shut that memory away. "Girls will go nuts if he marries her. I can clearly visualize it—Rachel versus The Richmonds' female population." She chuckled.

"I'm pretty sure not everyone is head over heels for that Hitler."

"Did you say something?" She nudged me.

I shook my head. "No." I bit my lip.

"Okay." She nodded with a smile. Good, she didn't hear. "Let’s find a table."

Kate glanced between Christina and me with brooding eyes. She kept stirring her cold coffee, dissolving the cream completely. "Why do I feel like you two are hiding something from me?" She hit the nail on my sky-high anxiety level.

"No, we aren’t," Christina and I said in unison.

"Aha!" She crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair. "Two cute best friends." Sarcastic Kate is not a good sign.

I sighed. "What should I do to make you believe that I was with Christina?" I pleaded.

"Hmm," she hummed. "Where did you find Christina?" she asked me.

I glanced at Christina, and she gave me a stiff nod. "I found her in her office," I replied.

"What were you doing in your office in the middle of a party?" Kate inquired of Christina.

These two are sisters, literally. Why do they ask so many questions? Some questions are hard to answer. Christina fidgeted in her seat. I placed a hand on hers. "Christina was—"

"I was hooking up with Ryan," Christina replied first. "In my office," she added.

Kate scrunched her face. "Were you drunk?" she scoffed.

"Kate, please," I tried to stop Kate before she said something worse.

"I don't understand. How could you like that asshole? You know what he did, but you still want to sacrifice your life for that fucking bastard," Kate retorted.

"Kate." I raised my voice at her. "Please stop."

"What?" she shrieked at me. "This is true. You don't know, but Ryan..." She paused, and her lips formed a hard line.

Christina stood up from her chair and ran away, wiping away her tears.

"Ryan what, Kate? I have heard a lot of times from you... Ryan is this, Ryan is that, but why? What has he done that you hate him so much? And whatever it is, right now you’re hurting Christina. She is already hurt, so please don't say these things." I paused and took a deep breath. "We don’t choose who we fall in love with. It's not our fault that they pretend to be nice one time and then break our trust. We become stupid in love and shut our mind and follow our heart, only to have it shattered in the end." My voice wavered. "You will not understand, so please don’t say things like that."

Kate watched me, wide-eyed. She was shocked by my words. I went too far. I didn't mean to say it that way, but it felt personal to me for some reason, and I couldn't hold myself back.

"You're right. I don’t understand anyone's feelings. I'm a self-centered and judgmental person. Thanks for the reality check, Evelyn. I'm sorry for hurting your friend." She gasped.

"Kate—" I started, but she raised her hand and stopped me, then walked away.

I went to look for Christina in the washroom. She came out and wiped the smudged eyeliner from the corners of her eyes. "I'm sorry for leaving the table abruptly," she spoke in a cracked voice.

"Christina, I'm sorry about Kate. She isn't usually like this. I don't know why she dislikes Ryan so much, but—"

"I know," she interrupted me.

"What?"

She made a nasal sound and continued, "Ryan raped a girl from this company."

*****
To be continued...

Hey guys!!
Sorry I couldn't update for a month as I was on hiatus. But I'm back now and there will be weekly updates without fail.

So how do you feel about the story so far? And what do you think of Ryan? I bet none of you have expected this breaking news. Comment down your thoughts.