Alpha East: Contrition (Unedited Version)

Chapter 3: Unnerving

*Antonia

The day the CEO left for a business trip was one of the best days of her life.

Her confidence grew and her skills developed in the cutthroat corporate world. Her circle of friends, mostly men, acted like overprotective big brothers. And the ladies and their husbands, also working in the same building, treated her in the same respect. She became the baby of the group.

Even Mr. Thompson warmed to her. More tolerant of her stupid mistakes, making sure to point them out with gentle criticisms. Most of the time, she was still not invited to the bosses' meetings but Toni was okay with it. Surmising it was above her pay grade.

After a few weeks, she could truly say she made the right decision in sticking to AEP Corp. Life became a tad easier with her slowly paying off her staggering stagnant debts.

Dating was still impossible with her heavy workload but she was not opposed to the idea. If the right man presented himself on a silver platter then maybe. Who knows?

"Hey, Toni. How's mom?" Rick asked as soon as she stepped out of the elevator. She stayed with her patient the entire weekend to help her mother gain her strength back, for the next therapy.

Yeah. Wonder of wonders.

After a month of nonstop haranguing, she had finally introduced the fetching lot -the men and five women were really impressive, to say the least- to the only family she had. They had been visiting the hospice with or without her anytime they felt like it, cheering up her frail mother.

Toni's lips twisted in a grimace at the thought. "Cobalt on Friday."

"Oh. Do you need us there?" Jolene asked. Her voice was soft and commiserating. Almost everyone stopped what they were doing, waiting for her response.

"Yes. If you don't have any other plans?" Toni glanced around her.

They nodded eagerly, murmuring their support.

Understanding where they were coming from, she smiled. Based on the stories they shared with her, all of her new friends were orphans. They have the utmost respect for Toni's commitment to her mother.

"Is Mr. Thompson in?" She shuffled the organized reports on her desk,  expecting her boss to be waiting for her since she was about to submit her quarterly audit.

"Yup. But he requested, most strictly, not to be disturbed." There was a strange gleam in Rick's eyes she couldn't place. Plus, her colleagues were snickering while they returned their attention to their work.

"Okay. I will submit my report when he is available." Weird. She was usually in a meeting with her boss at this hour. On the dot.

Shrugging, she settled on her computer to tackle another task, keeping herself busy before she was called.

A few hours later, it was lunch break, and still no sign of him. He would usually herd them to their favorite restaurant.

As if reading her thoughts, her boss's office at the end of the hallway opened. What she saw made her chestnut brown eyes widen in pleasant surprise. Flabbergasted, utterly speechless, she could only gape at the scene before her. Wow.

A blushing lady, a familiar one, the nice barista at Antonia's favorite cafe, was possessively attached to his side, by her tiny waist. Mr. Thompson was grinning from ear to ear while he led the shy girl to the reception area.

Again, everyone stopped what they were doing. She could feel the excitement in the air.

"Everyone," their boss called out, though his eyes never left the woman in his arms, he was fully aware he got everyone's attention. "This is Annie. My girlfriend." There was a collective sharp intake of breaths then deafening cheers followed. Everyone seemed to be in party mode by his unexpected statement. "Let's go to lunch. My treat."