Chapter 8 — A Spark

A spark igniting between us seemed impossible the way I see it. There was no way I would allow him to seduce me into staying nor kiss me so passionately as what happened last time. Professionalism is the key to a peaceful and efficient working atmosphere. That occurrence alone was already shocking and gave me a migraine afterward, so it was best to avoid it. Plus, with how Cedric Dixon is my superior and the very person I have to devote my time to for him to keep up with his occupation, I figured erecting a barrier in the name of professionalism was the way to go for us to co-exist together in one room.

And yet, my first day was anything but professional.

“I’m tired…” Cedric groaned out for what seemed to be the thirtieth time of today since we started going through his schedule for this Monday. I was not expecting such a light load for him, seeing how important his role was to keep the company together. But in the case of Cedric Dixon, he was akin to a child taking his first baby steps from how he kept groaning at his paperwork every few seconds. I was thrown off at how he could easily dismiss work as unimportant. “Hey, Reese…Are you not tired? You’ve been staring at my schedule and trying to sort it out for almost an hour now. You would get cross-eyed!”

I feel sorry for those who imagined him as an efficient worker and an unapparelled superior.

“Then quit and die.”

“How can you tell your own boss to die?”

Being the secretary of this type of employer would definitely not be best for those who take the occupation of secretary quite seriously. How much more if you were forced into a job you didn’t want but had to take to save some dignity and to learn more about your forgotten self. Truth be told, he is the only person whom I encountered so far who knew who I was and my parents. Bizarrely enough, he claimed to be my boyfriend. Whether it is real or not, I decided to humor him than have him resort to other reckless options for me to notice him.

And from what I garnered since knowing the man, I can’t fight off the instinct of seeing him as a madman. Yet, he captivated me to a point he wasn’t going to let me go anytime soon and it is my fault.

Glancing up from the laptop, I smiled at him as sincerely as I could. “I apologize, Sir. However, you forced me to be your secretary so don’t expect me to act one when you’re whining like a child. I’ve been doing my best to live up to the expectations given to me, so you should set an example of a good boss in return.” Lifting the notebook that I bought, I flipped through the notes I made for the past few hours. “Sir, may I remind you that we still have a meeting this afternoon. At four, in boardroom six.”

“Cancel it.” Rising from his seat, Cedric stalked towards me like a predator to its prey. “How about we spend the rest of your first day together and get some dinner at a fancy restaurant?” Remaining silent, I watched him from my peripheral view warily. Once he stood in front of my desk, I blinked twice. “How do you like that?”

“And why should we?”

It’s still three in the afternoon, yet here he is thinking about dinner now. How carefree…

“Because I want to.” Bending down to my eye level, he grinned at me slyly. “And I don’t know if you want to relive our moments back when I was courting you. Don’t you want to know how you and I became lovers? Ever asked yourself if we ever kissed during that time? Or possibly, even more?”

“Not interested.”

I lied. I was very curious to know how we ended up dating each other and if we ever did anything other than handholding. And yet, my pride won’t let me. The last thing I want is to give him the satisfaction of having the upper hand and giving me the information I could still have if it weren’t for the incident. For him to start tempting me, dangling it above my head, made my resolution shake. But I was not going to tell him that.

“Not interested? Isn’t that one of the reasons why you agreed to take the job? Aren’t you curious about those good old days?” Cedric coaxed, a vicious smirk on his lips as he peered down on me akin to a Cheshire cat, plotting something in the shadows. “Oh, don’t lie to me, Reese. I know you want to peek into the past and make sense of it all. Unless, you don’t want to come down and be seen by whoever remains in that department of yours, eyes filled with resentment as their colleagues left the building.”

Closing my eyes at the vivid memory, I felt sick to my stomach at how easily he fired everyone who looked at me the wrong way to the employees who harassed me in broad daylight. Even Manager Keith was demoted to a smaller rank. He didn’t have a choice; it was either to resign or accept the second chance he was given. However, this did not diminish how he stared at me in spite. Everyone who was friends with the fallen was careful enough not to sneer in my direction, gossiping and blaming me in secret. I did not expect Cedric to pass down judgment on his own employees in the name of keeping me comfortable and safe in the company.

However, this only silenced them but did not eliminate their hate towards me. It just made them despise me even more.

“Do you, by any chance, hate me, Sir?” Anger and frustration, I may have felt them all the whole time, but this man was no ordinary human as he merely chuckled at the inquiry. “Do you like seeing them look at me as if they want to kill me? Is that what sets you off?”

Cedric shook his head playfully, still grinning. “Contrary to that, my dear, I love you to bits. I don’t care what they may say nor what they think about my decision. They are merely insects, Reese. You shouldn’t care about what the—”

“Easy for you to say, Sir,” I interjected at how silly his words sounded. “You’re not the one who is receiving deadly glares and the object of gossip like I’m made for the newspaper. And insects? With all due respect, this company wouldn’t have been successful if they didn’t exist. You could be finished in this town if anyone caught you saying that.”

Cedric shrugged, still sporting a grin. “Then, I’ll just have to not get caught. Simple as that.” A wave of annoyance washed over me once more and was about to stand up to give him a piece of my mind when a knock resonated from the wooden door. Prompting him to appear all serious while I tried to look unfrazzled by the enigma in front of me. In came the same man who ushered me into Cedric’s office during the signing of my contract. He greeted us with a small smile, fixing the glasses he wore.

“Mr. Dixon, boardroom six is all clear and ready for the meeting with the other executives. Shall I prepare refreshments or coffee?”

“I won’t be attending the meeting, so please tell the other executives it’s canceled.” Cedric walked back to his seat and waved the man dismissively. “I have another occasion to attend to, more urgent than the meeting. Tell them it’s rescheduled for tomorrow.”

The man nodded in understanding. “Very well, Sir. I’ll deliver the news to them pronto.” And with that said, he left the office quickly as he came. Envy crept up into my heart at how he could leave the office while I was stuck here, only leaving when I’m ordered to or when Cedric leaves the room. Frankly, it sucked.

“Who was that man?” I asked softly, glancing at the laptop to review what I have written so far to guide me. I have my work cut out for me and it would probably take me a month to settle as a secretary to such a unique boss. Still, I have to admit, the pay is indeed great. My dream to travel will soon come true, and it better will. I estimated I may need a long vacation away from Cedric Dixon with how he stresses me out despite it being the first day alone. “I saw him when I came to sign the contract.”

“My secretary.”

I swore my eyes almost bulged out of its sockets at the revelation of the century, hands shaking slightly as I rose from my seat to confront him. “Okay, care to tell me why you needed me when you already have a secretary here? Is this your way of torturing me by not telling me anything relevant?”

I’m his secretary! I should have known than to look like a fool in front of others.

“Why do you look so angry? You and he are different, even if you share the same job. He’s a secretary of the company and works according to what is expected of him. You, on the other hand, are my private secretary. My word, your law. Plus, he isn’t here due to a special case such as yours. Where he can’t go, you go. What he can’t do, you oversee it. That’s the nature of your job. I can’t believe you’re getting angry at me when it’s you who didn’t pay any attention.” He answered without a care or a hint of shame for not informing me. However, when he saw that I did not budge from my place, he pointed a finger at me. “Don’t tell me…Oh no. If you’re bewitched by his looks, I advise you not to get ahead of yourself. Lawrence is only interested in men.”

“Sir, how could you assume that I’m interested in him?” I gritted my teeth, trying to quell down my boiling blood. “And no one is crazy enough to fall in love based on appearance alone. What frustrates me is that you never told me that you already have a secretary.”

“I don’t understand. What is the importance of knowing another person shares the same occupation as you? Why? So you could gossip or talk ill about me? Lawrence is not the type of person to gossip, which is why he’s still here.”

Sighing, I took a step back and lowered my gaze to my hands. Feeling helpless is never a good thing to experience. Therefore, receiving guidance could reassure me that I’m doing the right thing. However, this man couldn’t seem to understand. “Forgive me, Sir. But I’m only new…It would have been nice if I could learn from someone who is experienced. And, you told me before I would be able to learn firsthand. I don’t want to make any mistakes that might affect us both, Sir.”

“But you’re already doing so wonderful, Reese!” He exclaimed gleefully, gesturing at me with a sparkle in his eyes. It did not make sense for I was doing badly according to my standards alone. Compared to Lawrence, who looked the part, I am merely an echo. An attempt to become a professional such as he. In the back of my mind, the regret of ever accepting a job here in Dixon Enterprises creeps up when I least expect it. “I don’t get why you still want to learn or get advice from another person. It’s a waste of time.”

“Sir, please give it another thought. I am doing this so I can serve you better.” I reasoned, not wanting to pass up the opportunity. It was suddenly quiet between us, eyes doing the talking as we stared at each other with an equal amount of stubbornness. Cedric sighed, folding his hands on top of his desk as he shook his head in disbelief at what he was seeing. “Are you going to be this stubborn until the end of the day? Don’t. It’ll spoil the mood and our appetites for later.”

“Why are you like this?” I mumbled as I fought the urge to roll my eyes, heading back to my desk. “No employer will turn down any employee who wishes to do better—heck, no one will if their aim is to provide better services. But you, you wouldn’t let me. How come you’re still the CEO of this company? You keep complaining how you have a lot of things to do!”

“Because I’ll get richer and buy all the things I want.”

“So, money is the reason why you’re still in this career?”

“That and power.”

It was a curt and blunt response, straight to the point. Disappointment etched itself all over my face at such a shallow reply, but it did make sense. Not every businessman you see in the magazines or news is noble. For how could a saint survive in a world where money does the talking? A noble cause always has a hidden agenda.

“I see…”

“You know, I still can’t believe you’ve changed this much due to one accident.” He laughed lowly; eyes trained on the glass windows on his left. The afternoon light is blocked by the tinted color. My ears and attention were all peaked, listening to what he had to say intently. This was the second time he opened up about my past self even when I begged him after I signed the contract. “Even now, I can’t comprehend how fate has brought us together once more when we were parted due to unforeseen circumstances—I just had to take a chance. When you didn’t recognize me, I figured we had to start anew…Yet, it’s unfair that only I had the memories and you didn’t, so that’s why I wanted you close to me. And yet, to see you this obedient is so strange, almost like I didn’t know you. But I’ll welcome it any day than to have you glaring down at me in hopes of…” Cedric trailed off, covering his face. “Sorry, perhaps I said too much.”

“No!” My voice was raised an octave higher, eager to know more. It shocked him. Cheeks red with embarrassment, I mumbled. “Please continue. I want to hear more about myself.”

I want to know who I was before the incident took a part of me along with my parents.

“Well, this may come to you as a shock…but you and I were the same.” Cedric’s hand went to the drawer on his desk, rummaging through the papers he kept there. Searching for something. “Two peas in a pod. No one else fits us well other than each other.”

“Me? The same as you?” A giggle bubbled out of my lips at the audacious accusation, wondering how he came to that conclusion. “I’m sorry, Sir. But you and I are not the same.”

He glanced up momentarily to stare at me that made me question my own words. “Then, how did you think we got along if we weren’t? Don’t dismiss it so easily, Reese. You’ll have a harder time accepting the truth if you keep denying something you don’t remember. And for you to feel reassured that you’re not wasting your time with me, here…” He pulled out a picture, the white paper facing me as he held it out for me to take.

Swallowing my anxiety, I went and reached out to take it with my trembling hands and sweaty palms. And there I was, with Cedric, wearing a white dress with a small smile as we stood next to what seemed like an arrangement of flowers. Even when I saw myself, it seemed as if I was staring at someone else’s picture rather than my own.

“Where…”

“This was taken by my mother, the first time we met…Three years before the accident.”

Caressing the photo, something inside me ached at the memory that was once mine. However, it didn’t feel right seeing Cedric, youthful and boyishly handsome, standing next to me with a wide smile on. As if all I ever knew was him regarding me coldly and with spite even when he said we got along well.

Somehow, it feels like a lie.