"If that's true, then how can you live so calmly and happily? Marrying another man and giving birth to such a big child?" Jeremiah exclaimed.
Jocelin, hearing this, was shocked but remained silent without answering.
"You can't deny it, right? Alright then. I won't be fooled by you anymore, never again. I hope you understand the consequences of your actions back then; regret is something that's not in your vocabulary," Jeremiah said and walked away.
Jocelin could only watch Jeremiah leave again. She wasn't unable to answer; she just didn't want to respond to Jeremiah's questions because she thought it was the best choice for now.
"Do you know that person?" asked Doctor Ronald.
"Yes, an old friend. By the way, where's Kiel?" Jocelin asked.
"I've taken him to his room earlier," said Doctor Ronald.
"Ah, okay. Thank you for looking after him. I have to get back to the office, so I'll head up first," Jocelin said with a smile and left.
Three hours later,
Jocelin had arrived at the office to resume work since this month she had many collaboration offers, which meant she would have to work overtime a lot this month. Without delay, Jocelin turned on her computer and focused on her work.
"You're quite the talk of the town among our colleagues, you know that?" Nancy, Jocelin's work partner, said.
"Oh my, you came in like a ghost! I didn't even hear the sound of your footsteps even though you're clearly wearing heels," Jocelin exclaimed in surprise.
"I've said it many times that our world is incredibly small. Not even a day passes, and your issues are already known by everyone," Nancy said, sitting directly in front of Jocelin's desk.
Jocelin handed her phone over to show some photos of herself taken by people that were circulating online.
"Let them talk; I don't care about the gossip. But...don't these photos make me look fat? While this one was taken nicely," Jocelin said, showing the photos to Nancy.
"Don't focus on those photos, focus on this one," Nancy replied, showing a photo of Jocelin with Jeremiah.
"Don't you owe me an explanation about who this handsome guy holding your hand is?" Nancy teased.
"He's not holding my hand; the photo isn't what you think. He was...he was drunk and happened to come and help me out of that situation," Jocelin explained.
"I don't care if he was drunk or not. What I mean is...did you two go somewhere afterward? Somewhere you could be alone..." Nancy trailed off.
"Hey, hey, don't think like that. I have absolutely no relationship with him for now or in the future," Jocelin said firmly.
"Don't make decisions so quickly; listen to my advice first. Handsome guys like him can't just be let go of easily. We, as women, have to be quick and smart," Nancy advised.
"Enough, this discussion is getting too long. Now, explain to me about the collaboration between IT Solution Win Pro and Changipore Airlines for testing AI systems on aircraft engines," Jocelin said.
"Oh, about that, I just received news that the collaboration seems to be postponed," Nancy explained.
"What? Why is it postponed? Didn't we already sign a contract with them?" Jocelin asked, confused.
Nancy fell silent but immediately pressed a button to make a call, and soon the call was connected.
"Mr. Boby, I heard that our collaboration with Changipore Airlines needs to be postponed. Didn't we already sign a contract with them? If it's postponed, it will delay this collaboration," Jocelin explained.
"I can't act on my own because I received direct news from them that their CEO from the central team requested to postpone the collaboration," Mr. Boby said.
"What does that mean? I've already done some things they asked for," Jocelin said.
"It's precisely because of that. They found out about your behavior from Cindy Harris's birthday party yesterday. Isn't that embarrassing for our partnerships to see? The problem isn't just about you but has brought a joke to IT Solution Win Pro; we are now a laughingstock," Mr. Boby explained.
"I know that my actions that night were a bit overboard, but since when did my personal actions affect Win Pro? I'm not the face of IT Solution Win Pro; it's Nancy," Jocelin said calmly.
"I think because of that reason, they're reconsidering. For now, we can't do anything but wait for news from the CEO of Changipore Airlines," Mr. Boby said.
Several hours later,
Jocelin arrived at a towering building, the headquarters of Changipore Airlines. Nancy got information about Changipore Airlines' new CEO, and Jocelin planned to come in person to discuss with the CEO.
"Are you sure you didn't get the wrong information?" Jocelin confirmed through a phone call with Nancy.
"I'm sure. You can doubt my taste in food, but not my professional abilities. Lately, Changipore Airline has been sought after by many for collaboration, if I'm not mistaken, his name is Jere," Nancy explained.
"What's he like? Do you know anything about him?" Jocelin asked.
"I don't have clear information about him, but what I heard is that he's been living abroad and only recently returned to Singapore," Nancy said.
"Alright, I'll do my best for this collaboration," Jocelin replied.
Jocelin walked in and was immediately greeted by a female assistant.
"Hello, Ms. Jocelin. I've been instructed to escort you directly to the boss's room," the assistant said.
"Does your boss know I'm coming to see him?" Jocelin asked in confusion.
"I'm not sure about that; I was just told to wait and escort you directly," she replied.
"Alright, thank you," Jocelin said.
Jocelin was taken to the highest floor of the building, where she saw a spacious room without any door partitions. From afar, Jocelin could see someone in a suit sitting facing the window, showing the view of Singapore city.
"Sir, the person you're waiting for has arrived," the assistant said and left.
"Hello, good afternoon. I'm Jocelin from Win Pro. You're Mr. Jere, right?" Jocelin greeted.
The man sitting stood up and straightened his suit before turning around to greet her. Seconds later, Jocelin was shocked by the person she met in front of her right now.
"Jeremy..." Jocelin exclaimed in surprise.
"Hello, Ms. Jocelin," Jeremiah replied, extending his hand.
Jocelin wanted to shake Jeremiah's hand back, but Jeremiah's hand immediately withdrew when Jocelin wanted to return the greeting.
"I didn't expect the CEO of Changipore Airlines to be you," Jocelin said, still a bit shocked by the revelation.
"Didn't you know? The special guest invited to yesterday's birthday party was actually who?" Jeremiah retorted.
Jocelin remained silent.
"Your acting skills are getting worse. Because Anton Harris wasn't fooled by your lies, you came to me," Jeremiah
said bluntly.
Jocelin took a deep breath after trying to refocus on her original purpose for meeting him.
"Mr. Jeremy, the reason I came here is to discuss the collaboration between Changipore Airlines and IT Solution Win Pro. Can you spare some time..." Jocelin began but was cut off by Jeremiah.
"I can't," Jeremiah replied and walked away.
Jocelin followed Jeremiah who went to the elevator to go down to the lobby.
"Mr. Jeremy, if you don't have time today, then we can schedule an appointment. I'll adjust to your schedule," Jocelin said.
"No need to bother yourself. As for the collaboration between Changipore Airlines and Win Pro, I will stop it immediately," Jeremiah replied.
"Why? Have you seen the progress of the AI system that has been developed?" Jocelin asked.
"Why? Are you still daring to ask why?" Jeremiah replied with a sardonic laugh.
"Do you forget what I said about making sure you pay for all your actions? This collaboration is just the beginning," Jeremiah continued.
"Jeremy, do we have to be like this? Can't we..." Jocelin started again but was interrupted.
"We can't!" Jeremiah replied firmly.
"I will never forget what you did to me, let alone forgive me. So, if you're smart, it's better to leave my presence," Jeremiah concluded.
---
All names of places, companies, and characters in this story are purely fictional creations by the author.
"Hello, readers. How are you all? Lately, Jakarta has been incredibly hot, feels like dried salted fish every day 😭. I hope this Chapter 3 makes you even more curious about Jocelin and Jeremiah's moments until Jeremiah can be that resentful HAHAHAHA 😝"