5

I gasped and let go of Cole's penis. Rebecca's eyes followed the motion and her mouth dropped open. My hands flew up to my mouth with their own mind at work.

"What is going on in here?" She crossed her arms across her chest and did her stylish cat walk towards us.

"This is not what it seems like, I promise." I gasped, hoping to protect Chad from getting in trouble with Rebecca because of me. That was the last thing on my mind. It was not even a part of anything on mind.

"It was an unconscious action, I-" I trailed off and turned to look at Chad to see if he had anything to say to defend himself, and I. He looked blank, not phased even. He wasn't making any moves to correct things. He only stood there, looking as emotionless as he always did.

Rebecca stopped right in front of me. I stepped back a few inches, gulping as I so did. I expected her to give me some sort of breathing space and then yell my head off. Her action took me by surprise, not expected at all. She raised her hand and hit me hard across the face. 

I stood still in shock, my hands having gone against my volition to feel my face. It felt warm and it seemed like that part of my face was vibrating. 

"Rebecca!" Chad's voice held as much astonishment as I thought I felt. He could not hide the grief in his voice as he stepped in between us and stared down at her like she had suddenly sprouted a new head. He seemed angered. I knew Chad constantly got his anger because of me but never had I witnessed him angry on my behalf. 

"How could you? Why would you even think it right to hit her?" He slightly raised his voice. 

The heat of uncomfortability grew in me and all of a sudden, I felt myself seeming choked just by standing there and so without warning, my legs carried themselves out of there on full speed and without pausing to look back for a second, I was on my way back home.

*

Waking up the next morning seemed like such hard work. I found it stressful and unnecessary. Low key, I'd hoped for a sleep never to wake up. I scoffed at my phone lying beside me and lazily picked it up. I went through my email to see if there was anything left to edit on what Chad had requested. I already had edited both files before going over to his place the day before.

I groaned and reluctantly hit the share button. I knew staying in bed would change nothing and so I stood up and decided to get ready for work. Events of last night kept on playing in my head and I wondered if there was a way I could get it to evacuate my memory.

I walked over to my mirror to check on my face. My forehead looked prominent than previously and my left cheek had a red line drawn oblique to my jaw. I knew I would have to use way more makeup today.

I hit the showers after setting aside my outfit for today. My face burned from the intense slap when the water came in contact with my face. It was indefinable.

I stepped out of the bathroom and dried myself up. 

I had missed two calls from Tom by the time I was out and ready. I picked my phone up and texted him a what's up.

Following a 'delivered' notification, my phone began to ring. 

"Good morning baby!" He called, his voice was obviously laced with deep excitement and I only rolled my eyes whilst I placed my phone between my ear and shoulder and then walked towards the mirror. 

I shook my head at my image and then left the bedroom to put an ice pack over it, certain that not using one earlier was responsible for its further deformity.

"So guess what major shit happened to me today?" He continued to speak like I was particularly interested.

I opened the refrigerator and pulled out an ice pack and a tiny milk box. "What? Tell me what it is?"

"So I woke up pretty early, nightmare driven. I knew I had nothing else to do and so I reluctantly got ready to leave for school." He began.

With the ice pack still on my head, I made my way back for my bedroom and sitting in front of my mirror, I put my phone on loud speaker and placed it beside me, getting ready to do my make up.

I knew I should have gotten a new concealer, six months ago when I ran out. I scoffed and added a little more than extra foundation on my face.

"... and then, he asked me to be his personal help, how fucking exciting is that?!" That was Tom. I had totally forgotten that he was on the phone neither had I been listening.

"Yes, it is such great news." I gulped. I put a bit of red blush on both sides of my cheeks and aggressively lined my eyes.

After what seemed like time that could not be measured, I finally made my way out of there, hanging up on Tom, knowing that if what he had to say was so important, then he would surely bring it up later.

*

I took deep breaths in and hoped to stay calm. I could not stop thinking about the events that had occured last night. I didn't know what had occured after I'd left, if Chad and Rebecca had been in a fight because of me. 

It felt good too. Sitting there, knowing that Chad had been in my support. Unconsciously, I tucked a bit of my hair behind my ear in reaction to the thought. Was I blushing?

I knew I could not hide in there forever. I decided to begin the day's work by going into his office and judging his reaction. 

I started with my new assignments, sending emails to clients or friends of Chad, letting them know the schedule for their today's appointment. My eyes widened when I saw the one with Rebecca, having to be cancelled.

I didn't question that decision, instead I sent a cancellation email to her. 

It seemed like forever but I managed to get word through to everyone. I went over each assignment that was on my desk on repeat to confirm whether or not I had made any mistakes. Creating another issue was not to be considered, especially during these tender moments.

When I was quite certain that work was finished and everything was error free, I stood to my feet to go inform Chad. I also wanted to confirm if he had managed to get his hands on the edited files. I wondered why he made such a big deal about them.

On my feet, my phone beeped on the table where it had been delicately left. The caller identified as Tom and I wondered what he wanted this time.

"Tom, I would love to chit chat and talk but I'm at work. Respect my restrictions at least once." I rolled my eyes, trying my best to control myself from exploding. Every time I remembered that it all began with Tom's very stupid request, my soul constantly felt aggravated and all I wanted to do was bury his face in a pile of steaming hot dogs.

"I'm sorry but this is important. Remember the deal I told you about earlier today? Yeah, what kind of outfit would go well with that wort of environment." He said. Totally lost on what he was saying, I gulped because I felt trapped, knowing very well that I would be unable to ask him to explain what he was saying without him getting angry at my absent mindedness. 

"Are you there Nikki?" He seemed impatient.

"Tom? I... I have to go." That was the only line I had to back myself up. "My boss needs me real quick, I will make sure to call you right after." I announced softly. I blew him an air kiss and discarded him without waiting for a response from him.

I opened the camera app to see what I looked like, thanks to the absence of a mirror in the room. My head still looked swollen. I sighed and placed my phone back on the desk.

I raised my hand to knock on the door of Chad's side of the office when voices from inside disrupted my movements. I recognized one belonged to Chad but I could not exactly process who owned the foreign voice. 

I leaned my ear towards the door so I could pick the words they were saying. Chad's voice was the first to become audible. 

"... And so you see, I have finally made the decision to get a new secretary." He said. And as if that was not heart freezing, the door came open from the force I was exerting on it, pushing me in against my consent. 

Chad's eyes flew up to access the foreign entry. 

Doom, again.