Tragically Yours

| 19 |

Once my elevator reached my designated floor, I'm immediately surprised at the difference between the day I've been here without Favian and now. Apparently, when Favian is in the building, countless people come out and begin working around the office. There are more people in the office than before, and that just surprised me. It's clear that Favian is the reason for this.

Speaking of Favian, as I'm sauntering my way to Ethan's office space, I see Favian talking to him. Judging by Favian's face, he seems calm, while Ethan seems worried. The image of Favian firing Ethan out of the office flashes in my head and I have to shake the thought away since that's highly unlikely. Ethan had been one of the best journalists in this company—so there's no way Favian is letting go of Ethan. When I get closer, both of them immediately turn their heads in my direction. While Favian's expression remains the same, the worried expression Ethan is wearing has become even more apparent. Whatever they were talking about earlier was about me.

For some reason, there's a chill crawling up my spine as I get closer to them. Something is about to happen, and my brain immediately thinks that I'm in trouble. Maybe it's nothing and Ethan's acting skill and pretending to be worried is just him messing with me. Perhaps I'm safe and Favian is just telling Ethan something tragic about his trip. In the corner of my eye, I see Stella sauntering behind Favian, and she immediately flashes me a sympathetic smile. Okay, what's going on here?

"Good, you're finally here. Meet me in my office." Favian said that as if it's an urgent matter. What other things are urgent apart from getting fired?

I tried my best to see some other explanation about what's going to happen, but I came back to reality without anything in my mind. Turning to face Ethan—who is still sporting the worried expression, and asked, "What was that all about?"

He just flashes me a tentative smile as he shrugs both his shoulders. "I wish I knew what's going on, Vy. But Favian didn't tell me anything, and he just asked me where you were, and he needed to talk to you in person."

I hid my wincing expression, hoping that my worry didn't show on my face. Fuck, am I really in trouble? That's the only rational explanation on why Favian seems so composed while urging me to talk to him in his office. Before I could walk my way to Favian's office, I see Stella still walking around, monitoring each employee. "Hey, Stella. Can I ask a question?" If anyone knows what Favian is planning to do, it's his wife.

When she faces me, she flashes me that same sympathetic smile as before. "What's up, Vy?" At least there's a hint of a cheerful tone in her voice, that's something, right? Or maybe she's just trying to lighten the mood after finding out that her husband is firing one of his employees.

"So, uh," I begin as I rub both my sweaty hands together to at least try to keep from freaking out. "What happened and why is Favian asking me to meet him in his office?" I attempt to ignore the fact that I sound nervous, but that only makes everything worse in my head.

She stared at me for a moment, I can see in her hazel eyes that she's taking a moment to see whether to tell me the truth or not. I'm hoping she'll just tell me the actual truth and not a cryptic version of it. Usually, Stella says something cryptic whenever she has the chance, and it was fun, but in this situation, it'll bother me. After what feels like a minute, that ever-growing chill on my spine became stronger knowing that I'm making Favian wait even longer in his office. Years of working for him had taught me that he doesn't have the best track record when it comes to having patience.

Finally, Stella sighed and placed a hand on one of my shoulders. I can't figure out whether this is a sign that I should stop worrying or this is another sympathy from her. "I really wish I can tell you what's up, Vy. But Favian and I had talked about this and had agreed that he'll be the one telling you." After that statement, she'd pulled her hand away from my shoulder as she shrugged hers. "It's for the best, Vy. Favian seems to be understanding the situation better than I."