Mike entered the office like a storm.
He tried to contact Izzy several times in the past two days. She had not responded to any of his calls, or Ruby's. Today, he was at her office. He stormed towards her desk and threw a bunch of photographs and papers on her desk.
"What are these?" he roared. Izzy calmly took the photographs in her hands, browsed through them, and then checked the printouts of the bank statements. Finally, there was the Post-It note where she had written her last message, "It's time to break up."
"I think they are self-explanatory. Why do you look so confused?" she asked maintaining her calm tone.
"You think you can break up with me just like that? With a Post-It? What do you think of me?"
The office was already alert because of the commotion. Everybody around her desk was peering through their cubicles. Izzy should have known Mike would create a mess. At the lowest point of her life she could not think of reasons, she had just done what her heart told her to. She mustered some courage and stood up. If the office was going to witness this drama, and Mike was okay with it, then let it be.
"Did you want me to meet you and tell you in person? I am sorry, after learning about your romantic getaways with my best friend, I did not feel like seeing your face again."
The whispers started right away. Most of her coworkers knew Mike as Izzy's boyfriend. What Izzy said confirmed their suspicions. It was going to be the gossip of the month now, Izzy thought.
"Did you send a private detective after me?"
"Were you going to tell me about it anytime soon?"
"How dare you? You were orphaned. I gave you a place to live, I gave you everything. You were nothing. Now that you have your position, this is how you treat me?" Mike was shouting, forgetting about the place he was in. Izzy felt lightheaded. She was not prepared for this. The tears Izzy had kept hidden until now threatened to come out.
But she would not give him the satisfaction of winning. "Thank you for giving me a family when I was orphaned. Should I also thank you for sleeping behind my back with my best friend for god knows how long? I will not even bring up the house that you bought with my inheritance. Don't you think the price I am paying for your favors is too expensive?"
Tears fell down her cheeks, each droplet a silent testament to the ache within her heart. She thought she would get over him, now that she had support from Clara and Sebastian. Mike was still able to tug the strings of her heart in the most ruthless way possible. She tried to stifle the sobs that threatened to escape her trembling lips, but they spilt forth uncontrollably, wracking her body with their intensity.
"Is there a problem here?" The deep masculine voice belonged to Marcus Spec, her boss. Nobody noticed when he had come into the office, or how much he had heard, but his commanding tone suddenly brought back the usual calm of the office on a Monday morning.
"It's a personal matter between Izzy and I, please stay out of it."
Izzy stared at Mike in disbelief. Where was his sense of dignity and respect? Did he disregard her to that extent? Her chest heaved with the force of her despair, her breaths coming in ragged gasps as she struggled to compose herself. But the tears kept coming, a relentless flood washing away any semblance of composure she once held.
"If it is a personal matter, I suggest you keep it out of my office." Marcus made it very clear with his towering presence and cold countenance, that he wouldn't allow the melodrama in the office for any longer.
"Excuse me, who are you and with what rights are you interfering in somebody else's business?"
'I think you are not in the state of understanding basic courtesies, so I will make it clearer. You will not bring your nuisance to this office. Leave, before I call the security to escort you."
The security had already arrived, and with the confirmation from Marcus, they surrounded Mike with cold faces. Mike looked around himself and stomped his feet.
'This is not over between you and me," he said pointing his finger towards Izzy.
Between her sobs, Izzy replied, "It is over between you and me. I have moved on, so stop bothering me."
Once Mike was gone, everybody was back to their routine, although the discussions and gossip remained under the surface. The phones vibrated frequently, and being a part of this office culture, Izzy knew how the news was spreading like wildfire.
"Izzy, a word please," Marcus said and left the space in a hurry towards his cabin. Izzy wiped her eyes and followed him. Once she entered his office, the familiarity of this cabin made her feel calmer. Marcus had been a great boss to all of them. What very few people knew was that Marcus could be a great and dependable friend too. Izzy discovered it a year ago, and since then they had been maintaining a beautiful and cordial relationship, that was not restricted to just business.
"I recently found out about his affair with my best friend. They have been seeing each other for a while, and I was in the dark." It started with one small sentence but as soon as she started, she couldn't stop herself from telling Marcus everything. She trusted Marcus.
"What I don't get is his behaviour. He should be happy that I have left him. He practically won."
Marcus gave him a box of tissue and said, "He doesn't see it as a win. He would have won if he had dumped you. You dumped him, and it has hurt his ego."
Izzy nodded. She understood what Marcus meant. She lowered her head to hide the overwhelming tide of emotions. She felt raw and vulnerable, stripped bare by the humiliation. "I am sorry, Marcus. I didn't think he would come here. In the past, whenever I asked him to come to my office, he made excuses."
"It's okay, but you have to be careful now. If he can treat you like that in the office, he can definitely hurt you when you are alone. Do you have somebody with whom you can live?"
"I am living with Clara nowadays. Until I find a new place to live, I will stay with her." It was in her mind to talk to Marcus about Sebastian. This was the perfect time. She asked Marcus, "Do you know Sebastian Bishop?"
"Yes, we are close firends. Why?"
"He is also Mike's boss. What kind of person is he?"
Marcus took a moment to observe her, and then smiled. "It depends on what kind of person you are. He is a great friend to me. He has helped me many times, even when I was stuck with James last year. He can be a terrible person to the ones who try to hurt him or his family and friends. I think he can gauge a person's character easily, and that is one of the reasons why is so successful. You know, I have seen him when he started Bastins, and how hard he worked to get Bastins where it is now."
Izzy tried to match this description with the man she had met. The handsome young man whom she was going to marry in three weeks.
"It's funny that you brought him up."
Startled, Izzy looked at Marcus. 'Why?"
"He'd been asking a lot about you recently. He remembered you from some office party, and I think he knew about Mike's indiscretions too. He was asking me if you are doing alright, even."
"He did?" Izzy felt scared. The one relationship she depended on was completely ruined. Would she be able to maintain another? It was a fake relationship, yet she felt the same kind of nervousness she felt when she entered into the live-in relationship with Mike.
"He is a good man, Izzy. Whoever ends up with him will be a happy woman."