Alexandra didn't know why, but all those feelings she buried long ago came rushing back all at once, drowning her. And all of a sudden, it felt as though she was transported back in time to more than 8 years ago when he had just broken up with her.
"I'm gonna go," she muttered under her breath. She didn't want to stay there, she wanted to be alone with herself and her own thoughts for a bit while she processed the newfound information that was kept from her for years.
She stood up and started walking down the beach, her heels sinking into the soft white sand with each step. She hastily took them off as she continued to walk, further and further away. She was too consumed with everything that was going in that head of hers to notice that Caleb was following right behind her, only about an arm's length away.
That was until a soft crack reached her ears. He had stepped on a branch that was lying in the sand. She whipped her head around to see Caleb looking back into her eyes, with that same nonchalant look on his face.
"Go away, I just want to be alone for a while."
He looked down at his watch. "You have been alone for more than a while now."
She scoffed, ignoring him.
"It's late. Let me drive you home," he said, his voice unwavering as he reached his hand out to grab her by her wrist.
"No," she replied curtly, without wasting another second, she roughly yanked her arm out of his tight grasp.
"Come on, Al," he said this time as he took another step closer to her. She immediately backed up, and of course, there was a fallen branch on the floor right behind her and she tripped.
A soft yelp of surprise emerged from her parted lips and her eyes widened as she stumbled and fell. But before she hit the ground, she felt his hand brushed past her skin. His arm swiftly reached around her back, wrapping around her waist and grabbing her.
His dark eyes held hers captive and their faces were now merely inches apart, their breaths mingling together. Silence stretched between them briefly and she saw the way his eyes flickered down to glance at her lips momentarily before his voice broke the silence.
"Got you," he said as a smirk morphed itself onto his lips.
Before she knew it, he had already scooped her up effortlessly and she was now in his strong arms, with both her feet dangling in the air. "Put me down!" She protested, as she kicked her legs and wiggled in his arms.
An amused smile graced his lips as he looked down at her. "You know, that's not going to stop me right?" He teased with a raised brow as he continued to saunter over to his car.
Soon, she found herself sitting in the passenger seat next to Caleb. She had her arms folded across her chest and a small frown etched between her brows while she stared out of the window, still refusing to look into his eyes.
"Still angry?" Caleb's voice reached her ears and she simply nodded without sparing him a glance. "Ok, how about this? I help you get revenge on your loser husband and you don't stay mad at me. Deal?"
Now she was interested. Slowly, she turned to look at him, matching his gaze as a slight smirk appeared on her face. "What do you have in mind?"
In a blink of an eye, the day had finally arrived.
"Everyone, this is Alexandra, and she will be joining us as our new marketing associate," Jessica, her supervisor, introduced to the small team. Their eyes which were fixed on the brightly lit computer screen in front of them were now looking up, their heads peeking over the screen. She could feel all eyes on her.
They thought she looked familiar but yet no one could pinpoint exactly where they had seen her, failing to realise that they probably saw her at the company dinner just last week. They simply smiled and waved.
Caleb had given her a marketing role in the office at NextGen Technologies, all in the name of her revenge plan on Ethan.
Word traveled fast here. Soon almost every single person in the office knew that there was a new girl who just joined, and Ethan was no exception.
He was only sitting by his desk, talking amongst his colleagues when he heard her name being brought up in a random conversation. "Alexandra?" He muttered under his breath.
There was no way. He couldn't believe his ears, he thought that maybe this was just pure coincidence. There was no reason for her to be here, at NextGen Technologies. But he soon knew that it was now his new reality as he found himself standing in the corner of the printing room, face to face with his soon to be ex-wife.
He was standing dangerously close to her, clearly agitated and annoyed. He had one arm propped up on the wall behind her with her back flat against the wall. His face was barely a few inches away from hers as he looked down at her, his eyes boring into hers.
"What are you doing here?" He spat, as if those words were poison in his mouth.