Chapter 27

Scarlet's POV.

The kid feels betrayed by his favorite person. I can feel him. His eyes are already teary, as if he would start crying any minute, and I don't want that. I am terrible when it comes to consoling, so it's going to be a hell of a lot of trouble to stop this fella if he decides to explode in front of me.

“He didn't even listen to me and just hung up on me. When I became his student, he promised to never make me feel alone or left out, that he would support and be with me in any kind of situation. But today, he left me alone.” What I feared came true; he started bawling his eyes out.

I pulled him closed, placed his head on my shoulder, and started caressing his head gently. “Fine, you win. Cry your heart out. Corporate people have countless affairs to attend. They can't possibly be at your beck and call 24/7. He couldn't come, but I came in his place. Since he has transferred his responsibilities to me, shouldn't you expect me to attend to you all?” Instead of consoling him with sweet words, I chose to spit facts.

There was a time when I told them I wouldn't take responsibility since they didn't want me. I chose to act cold and heartless to let them know they couldn't bully me. But now that I look back, I realize how cruel and wrong I was to them.

These are young people. They need to be molded in a certain shape to grow. I acted way too cocky at our first meeting.

I kept on patting him until he stopped crying and almost fell asleep. But I had to wake him as we reached the hospital.

He's still stifling. His eyes are fluffy from all the teardrops that fell from his almond-shaped eyes.

I took him to the doctor and got him treated; after that, I dropped him home. And he was silent the whole way. Maybe he was embarrassed after what happened today and wanted to leave immediately from my side.

Instead of coming back home, as I had told Lyla I would work from home, I went to the company. Lyla surely didn't expect me to be here.

“Weren't you going to work from home today? Why did you come to the company?” She asked.

“You look surprised to see me here. Well! I take back my words. Since there's still four hours before the clock time, I should go back to my work. By the way, you came back way too early as well. Did you deliver the outfit to the crew?” I walked in front of Lyla while she followed me from behind.

“I safely delivered the outfit, and they personally sent me back. I had to return early since we had to schedule the interview session. You have dropped all the responsibilities on me; I am so dead tired right now.” Lyla joked.

“Should I give you half a day's leave then?” I asked her.

“Well! I am burnt out right now, but I can definitely keep on going. It's no hustle for me since I have worked way more hours before. So you can rest assured.” She smiled politely.

“I knew I could depend on you. You will definitely get paid for your hard work. Now I should get busy. You should also go now.” I walked to my seat and then signaled her to go back to her desk, which is just around the corner in my office.

Work surely took that burden off my mind; it made me forget this morning's fight with Raymond. But before I could realize it, it was almost clock time. Everyone was leaving.

The employees were happy today. How can they not be when it's Saturday? They will enjoy a beautiful weekend tomorrow while I am afraid to go back.

Well! I have all the reasons to not go back today. Since the work is still incomplete, I decided to stay in the office and just focus on it.

“Ms. Scarlet, I am done with my work. I am going back now. Should I wait for you? How much time do you need?” Lyla came to me.

“No! Don't wait for me. I still have plenty of work to complete. It might take a while. So you should go back.” I said.

“I can wait...really.” Lyla stood there upright.

I just smiled at her and hinted at the door. “It's already late. Don't wait for me and go back. Be careful on the way.”

“Alright! Please don't stress yourself and leave early. Have a lovely weekend.” Lyla left.

The sound of her high heels faded in the silence, and the lights turned off one by one until it was completely dark.

The sound of my fingers smashing the keyboard filled the surroundings. No one was in sight. I stretched out my hand for the glass of water, only to find it empty.

I stopped midway and got up to get some water from the office kitchen station on the first floor.

When I arrived in the kitchen, I heard some weird noises. Someone's tapping on the table, and with the coffee machine on, the sound of coffee being strained was clear.

But there's no one besides me in the office right now. All the lights were off, and not a single soul could be heard. So who's in the kitchen now? Did I overhear or is the story about the ghost real?

“Ghosts aren't real. It's just an illusion, a superstition to scare oneself.” I slowly walked into the kitchen with my hand on my chest.

I am scared but still trying to calm myself. If it's not a human, then who is it in there right now? Is it really a ghost?

It's really dark in the kitchen, and my heart is beating fast. The light of the coffee machine is on. And I saw a figure emerging from the dark. My heart stopped beating for a second. I immediately took the mop from the corner of the door with one hand and turned on the light with another.

And marched forward to beat whatever's in front of me, absolutely thinking it's a ghost. And I smack the mop on it.

“AHH!”

And it screamed. Huh? It screamed? I immediately opened my eyes. And to my surprise, it was none other than him.

“Ms. Scarlet, what sin have I committed to get beaten by you?” Michelle Travis winced in pain as he looked at me with disappointment.

“Oh! Mr. Michelle. I thought you were a ghost. So I smacked you since I was scared. Did I...hit you hard?” I am embarrassed and immediately went to his side to see if I hit him way too hard.

“What made you think I am a ghost? I am a fricking human being.” He asked curiously.

“I am sorry. But why were you brewing coffee in the dark? You almost scared the sh*t out of me.” Well! Am I finding ways to shift the blame on him? Of yes! I am.

“I thought I was the only one in the office, so it didn't matter to me. But why are you here at this hour? Shouldn't you be home, having dinner with your family?” He asked, unhinged.

“I have taken much pressure on me right now. As you see, I have to prove myself before this month ends. And there's so much incomplete work left. So instead of going home and having dinner with my family, I preferred staying in the office and working my ass off in order to enjoy my time in the near future.” I also answered him, unhinged.

I filled my glass with filtered water while he finished brewing his coffee. We sat there on the marble table for a little while. I drank my water while he took a sip of his coffee.

“Why are you in the office so late? It's the weekend tomorrow. So shouldn't you go back and sleep early to enjoy your weekend?” I asked him.

And he looked at me weirdly, as if I spelled some weird words out.

“The young actor signed under me is going through some hardship right now. He's made some mistakes. And as his agent, I have to take all the responsibilities. I am preparing a project for him, and it needs lots of attention and small details. The other party will arrive in this city tomorrow, and they are the only ones who can save him. It's not our last chance, but I need to hurry to clear his image.” Michelle spoke in a calm tone.

I have always seen Michelle in serious mode, but his seriousness always came with anger. However, this is the first time I am seeing him so calm. He looks tired. The dark circles under his eyes are already apparent, so one can tell he's working way too hard.

I have to say, this side of his is both sexy and charming. If he behaves this way, many girls will be attracted to him. He won't even need to woo them; they will automatically fall for him.

And I just remembered something.

“Your ex-student Kyle, he called today, didn't he?” I asked to confirm.

“Hmm! He called me today. I was so frustrated today that I didn't hear him well. I hung up on him and forgot to call him back. I don't know why you called. I guess I should call him to ask what the matter was.” He looked genuinely worried.

Now I understand what must have happened. Michelle didn't purposely avoid or ignore Kyle. He was just too busy in his work that he barely had any time to react or give attention to others.

“Your student Kyle, he almost got into huge trouble. He would have died because of a stupid lady. He was seriously injured. And that lady was about to sue him and defame him, trapping him to get money. You hung up on him, and later this matter came to my hands. Good thing I arrived in time.” I told him everything.

But as I expected, he was surprised or shocked. In fact, he didn't react at all, as if nothing mattered to him. Was I expecting him to get worried? I was. But he disappointed me completely.

“I am sure it wasn't a big deal.”