" Argh! leave me alone." Clara was exasperated as the employees kept bugging her with questions. ' hehe, lucky to be with him?' She was sure they were going to have a mental breakdown if they stayed even a few minutes with him. and what was with losing her job? were they praying for her to get fired? Why had everyone become her enemy because of the CEO?.
Derek looked at her angry expression and stood up with a sigh then chased all of them outside and turned to her. " It's almost closing time, I have to take care of some things about finalizing the game app. see you tomorrow, please take care, " he muttered softly.
" Mmm, thank you, bye." Clara nodded with a smile and also stood up then went to the elevator.
She stood at the company's entrance while wondering what she would do as she can't board the bus without her money. she sighed and walked toward the bus stop then sighed again. ' I can't believe I had fallen for a jerk.' and he doesn't even know how to treat women.
She sighed and wondered if he was the same person she had first met and looked down gloomily. But the worse thing was that her heart was still beating for him. " Argh, damn you, Carl!." She grimaced and gazed at the empty street whose lights shone brightly above her head.
'If I trek back to the apartment now it would take an hour and if I decided to stay here and wait for the bus, I don't have any money, urgh what do I do?'. She looked at her wristwatch and sighed for the umpteenth time. She was still lost in her thoughts when a voice jerked her up after some minutes, and she looked up ahead then her eyes lit up.
" Oh, Jack, you're a lifesaver. when did you come back?" she said as she excitedly sat inside the car while buckling her seatbelt.
" Hehe, did you miss me that much.?" Jack chuckled as he watched her happy expression. He had missed her so much since he went back to country H, two days ago.
He watched her side profile and thought about his parent's usual words then sighed inside. If only she wasn't in love with someone else, then maybe they would have been engaged by now.
" Jack? Let's go." Clara glanced at the guy who had spaced out and excitedly looked ahead again. She couldn't believe her luck.
Jack chuckled then started driving and they reached her apartment building some minutes later.
" Thanks a lot, Jack. . . good night," Clara said cheerfully while removing her seatbelt.
" Don't mention it..." he nodded with a smile and bid her goodnight then drove off after she went inside the apartment building.
_____
Clara stood in front of her apartment and stared at the door for some time then sighed. She slowly trudged toward Lara's apartment gloomily.
" Clara, what is wrong? why are you looking like this?" Lara frowned when she opened the door after hearing the doorbell ring.
" I forgot my apartment's key in the company. . . So..." she sighed again.
" Oh no, please come inside " Lara gasped and she opened the door wide then turned back while shouting, " Mia, Lea aunty is here."
Clara followed her inside and laughed as the two kids embraced her.
" Mummy, are you gonna sleep with us tonight, ?" Lea asked excitedly.
" Mmm, mummy lost her keys." Clara nodded and kissed their cheeks.
" Yay, Mummy come see my dream house." Mia jumped up and down excitedly and she laughed.
" Awwn my babies are the cutest." She pinched their cheeks which made them giggle, then they both held her hands and walked inside.
" Babies, aunty has work to do tomorrow. now don't tire her out." Lara followed behind. She knew it was going to be a long night if she didn't stop the over-energetic kids now.
" Okay, Mama."
" Okay, Mama."
They both nodded gloomily and Clara laughed lightly. " It's okay Lara, my babies comes first."
Lara watched them for a while and sighed. " Thank you, Clara, " she muttered softly and quickly walked away with a small smile.
" Huh? " Clara turned back confusedly and noticed that she had entered the kitchen then shrugged and continued playing with the kids.
After playing with the kids for some minutes, Lara called her inside the bedroom and gave her a new set of one of her sleeping gowns.
" What are you doing, Lara? please let me sleep on the couch." Clara rushed toward her after coming out of the bathroom and tried to grab the blanket from her hand. By that time, the kids were already sleeping in the bedroom.
" It's alright, go sleep on the bed. I have a lot of work to do, so I'll sleep late," Lara said while putting the blanket on the couch, then went and carry her laptop from the desk.
After seeing that it was futile to convince her, Clara slowly nodded and went to the bedroom. besides, she was very tired from the roller coaster of events that had happened today. She yawned and lay between the twins, snuggling them close to herself, and instantly fell asleep.
********
__ The Next Morning __
Carl woke up and took his bath, finally relieved that the stomach ache had already subsided. He went inside the kitchen and surveyed the place with a dark expression. Why didn't she wash the dishes?
He sighed while staring at the ingredients left on the counter and the fridge that was not fully closed and wondered if she had even cooked before. he was thankful that she did not forget to switch off the cooker.
After washing the dishes, he made himself a breakfast which he ate on the kitchen counter then went back and changed into a business suit before leaving the room.
When he walked inside the office, his eyes darted to the dirtied plates on the table and sighed again.' Clara! '.
He removed his coat and rolled up his sleeves then went inside again with the plates and after coming back, his gaze shifted to the door and he dialed David's number.