"Please sign it." A finger pushed the piece of A4 paper across the table.
The finger was retrieved, hand placed on the lap to reveal a lady who looked to be in her early forties. She had a grim face, as her gaze would occasionally shift from the piece of the paper on the oak table to someone who was seated across the table from her.
There was a man dressed in a simple suit seated on the other end of the table. There was a wave of shock that had finished sweeping across his face. The corners of his face still retained the residual of the shock.
His busy eyes moved from the paper to meet the solemn gaze of the woman. He pushed a lump down his throat as he adjusted his frame in the seat.
He still wasn't feeling comfortable, so he pushed his body forward, leaning towards the paper in front of him.
His pulpils zoomed across the letters to get a grasp of what it was. The first word his brain registered was,
DIVORCE.
He shook his head lightly and blinked his eyes. He wanted to be sure that his eyes were not playing some tricks on him.
About twenty minutes ago, he was at the market picking up some foodstuff for dinner. Then he had received a call from his wife to come to the company. Getting here, he had hardly settled down, not even offered a bottle of water as usual, when the woman had shoved the paper in his face.
And now what? Divorce?
"What is this, please?" He asked carefully, his brows furrowing.
When he looked up at the woman, he saw a smile idling in the corner of her mouth.
"It's not my place to be rude to you, Mr Harvy. But even though you didn't go to college, at least you went to middle school and should be able to tell that this is a divorce paper." The woman said wryly and casually as though it meant nothing to her.
Harvy's breath suddenly became hot. His eyes turned red, too, and his left hand was fisted instinctively.
When last he checked, this woman sitting in front of him was the secretary of his wife, who was the manager of Autrix Firm. She has no right whatsoever to be rude to him, but then he knew he would be dumb to say he didn't see that attitude coming.
Without saying any other word, Harvy reached into his pocket and brought out his phone. He dialed a number.
"Hello, babe. Where are you? I just got to the company. Miss Linda is acting really funny. Why are you not here? I just finished buying ---"
"I'm in the building. You'll see me soon." A soft voice answered over the phone.
Then the call dropped. He wasn't surprised. This wouldn't be the first time she would hang the call when he was in the middle of a conversation. There was no reason to be mad. It had grown on him.
"I don't think there is a reason to stress my boss." Linda randomly interrupted his thoughts.
Harvy's gaze shifted to her.
"Let's face the reality, Mr Harvy. You have not been of any use to my boss. You've only been a leech. What has she ever gained from you? Please sign the paper and stop making a fuss over nothing. In fact, my boss is very generous. She'll be giving you three million alimony." Linda expressed with vigor and pride.
Harvy was very irritated by her guts. He always knew that she never liked him, but he never thought of it twice. Why would he? After all, he married her boss and not her.
"I really don't have anything to say to you. You don't know what you are talking about." Harvy snapped at her.
Truly, he had no reason to indulge her rude behavior. If it wasn't because of him, Autrix would not have attained the height it did today. Answering Linda would seem like making a fool of himself.
Suddenly, the lock of the door clicked, and the door was pushed open. Harvy jumped on his feet at the same instant. He spun around to the door.
Walking through the door was a very tall, long-legged, beautiful lady who seemed to have walked out of a mythical book. Her skin was so clean and clear. Her flowing hair was carefully tucked behind her left ear.
Her smell filled the whole place, and Harvy could think of nothing else but going to hug her. But it was an illusion. He couldn't remember the last time he hugged her. He wasn't allowed to.
"Charlotte." Harvy stepped off the seat and walked into the open. "I just came back from the market, about to go home and prepare your best meal. Not only is today our birthdays, but also our anniversary. I also have -" Harvy stopped talking.
Charlotte walked into the room, hardly taking note of him. She walked straight to Linda and placed her bag carefully on the neat table.
"Has he signed it yet?" Charlotte addressed Linda.
"It's just as you said, boss. He's been obstinate." Linda answered.
Charlotte rolled her eyes and then sighed.
"You can leave now. I'll take it from here." Charlotte said dismissively.
Linda nodded and then headed out of the office. She stopped for a while and took a wryly gaze at Harvy before stepping out.
Before Harvy could look away from her,
"Please, let's not drag this out, Harvy. Sign this paper, take the money, and leave. I'm done." Charlotte's words drove him back to reality.
"Babe, you don't mean -"
"Please don't call me that again. Sign the paper, I'm already too stressed today." Charlotte snapped.
Harvy's heart almost burst open from the constant tugging of her sharp words.
"Charlotte." Harvy walked closer to her. " Do you even remember what today is?" He asked with urgency.
"What does it matter? I'm expecting someone soon, please. Let's make this snappy." She snubbed, walking to the view.
The office had a very pretty view. It faced the center of the city. There were several opulent buildings in the background.
Harvy walked even closer to her. He realised that she had made up her mind, so it would be of no use forcing her.
"At least, look at the gift I bought for you. We can do this some other day." Harvy defied his own promise.
"Don't you get it?!" Charlotte suddenly spun around in rage.
She looked down at the small box in Harvy's hand. She shook her head in pity.
"For home long will you gift me things like this? Have you ever thought about what I want?! Do you know what my friends say about you? You make deliveries to them at lunchtime! My own husband? Me, the manager of Autrix? I've had enough of this! Just sign the paper and leave. We are class apart!" There was a blade in her words, and they cut him deeply.
"Is this about Richard?" Harvy swallowed the pain as those words flowed out.
"You really don't have to -"
"Answer me! Are you going to throw all this away because of him?!" Harvy didn't know when he raised his voice.
"He's beyond your class, Harvy. The three million is for the idea you gave the company when it almost sank. But we can't have anything to do together again." There was finality in her tone at those last words.
After those words of hers, without any further addition, Harvy turned around and walked to the table. He picked up a pen and signed the paper.
"I hope you're able to differentiate between happiness and frenzy." Harvy's last words to her.
Then he walked towards the door.