Tragically Yours

| 15 |

"I can't believe you'd survived an entire day in the office without doing any work-related stuff." Ethan praises me as we head to the elevator. His hand pressed a button to lower the elevator shaft to our floor, and we stood in front of the elevator door waiting for the shaft to arrive. "I made a bet to myself that you'll grow bored within 2 hours of not being able to do stuff."

I was just standing beside him, waiting for another praise from him. But when no words had come next, I let out a sigh before turning towards him. "You'd underestimate my ability to hold my patience for a long time." I basically just walk around the office floor, trying my best to poke my nose anywhere I find interesting. Like that one time I'd found out one of our co-workers has a pregnant wife, and he was excited to become a father. The joy in his voice when he's talking about his wife and future child sends something to my heart that makes it crack a little. Perhaps it's the thought of me having my own happy family with the person I love. I have no idea why that certain information I've learned around the office is the one I'd reminisce about.

"Yeah, I didn't realize saying, 'beep boop' over and over again while walking around the office floor can help with boredom." A snicker came out of his mouth, and I immediately turned my head away from him. I don't want Ethan, of all people around here, to notice my red cheeks. Ethan will not let me hear the end of it. I didn't realize I've been muttering those two words aloud. I thought I was saying it in a low voice so that other people wouldn't be able to hear it. But judging by what Ethan had said to me, I had failed on that one. "You were acting like a robot walking around the office, and it was both adorable and hilarious."

I'll be fine with the complement of adorable, but saying that I was hilarious while doing it, sends another heat straight to my cheeks. Thank God the office had gone darker during the evening, Ethan wouldn't notice my red cheeks on the elevator reflection. "Why not try muttering those words to yourself? It'll be helpful maintaining your sanity for hours." I have to say something to make it look like I wasn't embarrassed by him knowing that.

"Okay then, I might try it next time." He sounds so deep in thought, as if he's trying to imagine a scenario where he'll mutter those two words. Before I could open my mouth to ask him what he's thinking, the elevator door in front of us slid open, welcoming us with an empty elevator shaft. Once inside, Ethan presses the button that will take us to the first floor of the building. "I can't believe both Favian and Stella hadn't called at the office even once."

Oh yeah, our boss and his wife. I've completely forgotten that they weren't present in the office. All those roaming around can make a person forget certain things. "Now that you've mentioned it... Yeah, they hadn't even tried to call to check what's going on in the office." It's not like the entire company is in a crisis. But if it was in a crisis, Favian would be furious at both himself and the entire company. I don't know the history on why Favian wants to create a multimedia company, but whatever it is, I think it's something to do with him being ambitious.

Ethan shrugs his shoulders while his head stares at the numbers flashing on top of the elevator door. "Maybe they're having a lot of fun wherever they are to even bother to check up on the office."

It's so weird not knowing where those two are. Whenever they wanted to go somewhere, they'll always give everyone in the office a heads-up on where they're going. But this time, they kept it a secret. What's going on with those two? My exaggerated imagination just threw an image of both Favian and Stella doing a secret spy mission. It's not farfetched since Stella is a private investigator anyway.

That seems to be the end of our conversation. Both Ethan and I stood inside the elevator shaft in silence, waiting for it to bring us to the first floor. I sneak a quick glance at Ethan and I notice his weary expression. Well, he'd been working hard earlier, but if only I could help him, he wouldn't be this weary. After assessing his weary expression, I glance at my reflection to check if I have the same weary mask on my face. To my surprise, I can see a hint of the weary expression on my face. Must be the effect of walking around the office without stopping.