Chapter 47 Chapter 47
Selena
“Did you see Valeria’s face? Why did she come to work with that?”
“Who knows, maybe she is trying to gain sympathy. Valeria is sly, whatever she must have been involved in must have backfired on her.”
I looked up at the workers because of the two familiar voices.
As I imagined, it was Sarah and Janet. They stopped talking as I reached them
How could they speak about Valeria like that? I thought they were friends.
“Oh, who do we have here?” Sarah spoke, her voice loud and clear. “What are you doing here on this lowered floor? Don't tell me you were hoping to see my boyfriend here.”
I couldn't help, but roll my eyes at her words. I was on my way to the marketing department. There was a new project Anastasia had sent the cost for me and they needed to see it. And besides it had been long since I saw Stephen.
“This is a workplace not a relationship centre or a gossip home. Why would I look for Stephen ?” What even gives them the impression?
As far as I was concerned, Stephen and I were just friends.
But then, it was better to let them be. I started walking but stopped. I take that back. A little piece of my mind won’t hurt.
“If you are less busy, why don't you help other departments sort out their work instead of speaking ill of your friend? How dare you be happy over another person's misery?” I glared, then turned to walk away, my back to them.
“You…. How dare you!” From the voice, it was Sarah. Always agitated.
I didn't have to look back to know her face was spitting fire.
Valerie was mean to me, yes. But that was because she was interested in the boss. I’ve seen her all smiling with other workers.
Maybe it was karma that she had hurt her face so badly after hitting mine, but it was too severe, and any good person should have sympathy.
After stopping at the department, I would ask her to follow me to the clinic, maybe even visit the hospital, then I would speak to Mrs Anastasia to ask Theodora for a break for her. If two people plead to him, he might let her go.
The sounds of my phone ringing jerked my ears. I picked it quickly, startled. It was supposed to be silent.
It was Josh.
What could be the issues? He was supposed to be in class now, not calling me. I picked it, moving to the side to avoid hitting anyone.
“Hello Josh, why are you calling now, I’m at work,” I murmured, my eyes following the people who moved around.
“It's Dad, Selena.”
I felt my heart drop.
“Dad found my school. Someone posted him waiting in front of the school’s entrance this morning. He seems to know I was in.”
My eyes widened, anger leveling up. I clenched my hand in a fist.
How did he find out about Josh's school? We have moved from the old apartment.
Apart from Noah and Halley, there wasn't anyone who had given him that information.
“Where are you? You didn't go to school right?”
“I went, but I avoided him. Father doesn't look so good this time, so I asked someone to give him some money, and also forced him to leave.”
I nodded, licking my lips. That was the best way to go about it.
“You did well. No matter what, make sure you avoid meeting Father. Don't let him see you. I’ll speak to your school later today to avoid him com—”
“Don't. I’ll just avoid him.”
I bit my lip at being cut off.
Whenever Josh used that tone, I knew not to pursue the matter. But that wasn't going to stop me from intervening secretly.
That reminds me, Halley spoke about his mood yesterday.
“Is everything alright? Halley said you didn't look good.”
The line went silent and then, “Everything is fine. I just have so much work to do in school. I won’t be coming home in a few days from now.”
Oh. What can I say? I couldn't refuse him now when I knew it was for his school. I’ll just have to get used to not seeing him at home.
“Just be careful, you know how the country is. Avoid anything that brings Ab—”
“I know Selena, stop being a mother hen. You should worry about yourself instead.”
There he goes again. But his tone this time seemed a bit serious.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Theodeeo Mateo, your boss. I don't care if he likes you, you shouldn't give in to him, spend the night with him, or even have an affair of any kind.”
My face flushed red.
“What…what are you saying? He is only my boss, and I just ended up staying at his place because he helped me. He may like me, but I promise I have nothing in mind.”
Silences filled the line again, and then, “I know what I am saying. When you play with evil, you become one or become a victim of it. I’ll be leaving now. Take care.” With that, the call ended and I took a deep breath.
It was normal for him to be alarmed by my involvement with Theodore. But why was he acting all older? I rolled my eyes.
I needed to do something about our father. Last time, I had promised never to meet him again, no matter what.
We weren't kids for him to keep exploiting. He was never going to stop.
Growing up, there was never a time Father didn't neglect us. He came home very late and left very early in the morning.
But it was bearable as we had everything at home. I could cook, clean, and take care of Josh as there was never a mom. But Father has always said we lived off her money, making me wonder if she was dead.
We were never shown her pictures, and for some reason, I never bothered to ask.
It was bearable until one night, father took some of our things, with us to a new smaller space. I just clocked twelve, and Josh was seven then.
Soon after he stopped coming home. But we still had little money, our education was paid for to a point, and at fourteen, I took on the role to work part-time.
Father only appeared after things started getting better. Then, Noah was already my boyfriend.
At first, he lied about being imprisoned, making him keep away from us, but I found out the truth later after he purchased our new home using stolen money, and when he was caught, he had placed it on Josh who had just clocked eighteen, but thanks to Noah, and Josh’s teachers, Josh wasn't jailed.
I inhaled deeply. I needed to find a solution to prevent him from finding us forever.
My phone rang again and I frowned at the foreign number.
I picked.
“Ms Selena, a man is at the company’s reception, he said he is your father and wants to speak to you. But I asked him to leave since it's work hour, now he is causing issues here. Please come down immediately.”