Clara picked a tissue and wiped her wet hands. " hehe, if I tried to seduce CEO why didn't he fire me like all the others?... and what if the CEO and I. . . " she left the remaining words hanging with a smirk. Do they think they can bully her? ' Hmph in their dreams '. she watched their stupified expressions and broke into a grin.
" You.."
" You.."
Both girls were speechless and watched her in disbelief. She could just be saying it to outwit them, they both thought, but she made sense a little.
Clara chuckled and tossed the tissue inside the trash can then left the washroom with a triumphant smile.
Both girls stared at the door and turned to each other with wide eyes.
" What if she's right Ashley," the petite girl whispered.
" Come on Chloe, she was just trying to outsmart us. how would the CEO fall for her, even though she was pretty the CEO's beauty is on another level.".
" I almost got fooled by her, that bitch... In her dreams, but why didn't he fire her."
" Stop thinking about it, the CEO would never look at her..."
_____
Clara strode toward her cubicle feeling exasperated. It was like all the female employees in the company had ganged up against her, as there was no day that passed by without being confronted by one or two of them. " Hmmm, " she sighed and sat down on her chair.
Some hours later, Derek came inside and they both left for the cafeteria.
_____
" Did you hear about the celebratory party?" Derek asked while putting the two plates of food on the table.
" Yeah, Mr. Long told me a while ago." Clara nodded and dropped down the drinks.
" Seems like he was very happy with your work. . . ". He added and sat down on the chair.
" hehehe ". She chuckled and also sat down. Knowing she couldn't have done it without him.
" Hey, guys." They both looked up and saw Harry and Ben walking toward them, holding plates of food.
" Did you hear?." Harry sat down, not quite believing what he had heard from the other employees.
" Well, I'm sure they've heard, everyone in the company is talking about it." Ben also sat down and started eating his food.
" What are you guys talking about?" Clara frowned and looked at Derek who shook his head, implying that he didn't have any idea.
" It's the CEO, they said he's moving to this company. . . I can't believe this," Harry said and shook his head.
" What!!! " Clara jerked up and the three guys looked at her in astonishment. She didn't know he was going to move to the company and only thought that he would just come and go as usual when Mr. Long mentioned it.
" Oh, sorry." She quickly muttered an apology to the astonished guys and sat back down.
" Are you alright?" Derek stared at her worriedly.
" Y..yeah. . . I'm f..fine " She nodded and smiled.
" Mmm Okay." He smiled and they all continued eating their food while chatting about the project's progress.
**********
After work, Clara strolled toward the bus stop, deep in her thoughts. If he moves to the company, then there is no possibility that she couldn't bump into him one day. ' No, I need to avoid him at all cost.'.
She sighed heavily and gloomily entered the bus which had just arrived.
If she could turn back time, then she wished they wouldn't have met again on that day in the amusement park. Then she would keep dreaming about him forever. . . But now, her dreams were shattered, she just hoped her feelings would not be exposed if they bumped into each other again.
After some minutes, the bus came to a stop and she descended then headed to her apartment building.
After going inside her apartment, she took a bath and changed into her pajamas then lay on the bed.
She stared at her phone for some minutes before falling asleep. and just as her eyes closed, the phone's screen lit up with a message notification.
********
__ The Next Morning __
Clara woke up and was startled to see the time. " Oh no, how did I overslept,"?she gasped and quickly prepared then left for work.
When she reached her cubicle while panting heavily due to the Marathon she had just run, her eyes were met with an anxious-looking Mr. Long.
" Oh Mr. Long. . . good morning." she held her chest while trying to catch her breath.
" Clara, what is happening between you and the CEO. . . didn't you see my texts last night?" The man quickly got to the point and followed her inside the cubicle.
Clara felt her whole body tensed as she heard the word CEO. " M..Mr. Long?. Wh..what do you m..mean?... Th..the CEO? ". She stammered while staring at the man wide-eyed.
" Quick, quick follow me. . . He's waiting for you in his office.". he said and strode out again. Finding the whole matter confusing. This felt like a déjà vu.
Clara stilled and she felt like having a nervous breakdown. He wanted to see her,? again,? what had she possibly done?.
" Clara!?." She heard the man's agitated voice then looked up and saw him perspiring.
" Let's go, " he said and continued walking then she quickly followed behind him, almost running.
_____
Carl paced around for some minutes, then sat down on the couch. The expression on his face was between nervousness and excitement.
He heaved a sigh and stared at the papers in his hands again with a smirk.
Coming to terms with the shareholders was very hectic and it took a long process to convince them, but it was worth it. He chuckled and stood up again then went back to his swivel chair.
He knew his workload would increase as he had left his assistant to take care of the hotel project and should only report important pieces of stuff to him, concerning the project and other companies.
' Why are they not here already?.' He frowned and looked at his wristwatch. He had instructed the Programming department's manager yesterday to come to his office together with Clara today, and that was the reason why he had also come early.
He opened his computer and turned on the surveillance which he didn't actually use unless once in a while.