Tainted Desires | 18+

14 - Cup of Tea

Mirabelle Morrison

It was lunch break, and I was more than exhausted from the work I was engrossed in. I did not expect that being a consultant would be so tasking. However, I just think Jane was overloading me with work so I could quit my position. She still hadn't come to terms with the fact that I was a business consultant, even if it had been two weeks since I'd started working at the business department.

I made sure to sign out of my official account on the system that was assigned to me to prevent anyone from accessing my files that were supposed to be confidential. I grabbed my phone and purse before making my way out of the cubicle that I had moved into two days after I started working.

I quickened my steps the moment my stomach grumbled. I pressed the elevator button, and it opened almost immediately. Inside was the famous ACESPACE couple, Terrence and Eloise. I hadn't seen Eloise since the dinner night, but Terrence, on the other hand, had been at my neck. It had been weeks since our encounter in the elevator, and ever since, he had been acting like nothing ever happened.

One would think I would be able to breathe and relax from not seeing him much now that I wasn't working directly with him. That wasn't the case. Terrence took it upon himself to call me at any chance he had to his floor to dish out tasks. Even if the fact remained that I wasn't his assistant anymore, I wasn't going to refuse to carry out a task dished out to me by my boss but I would have appreciated him emailing me whatever tasks he wanted me to work on.

If that was the only issue I had, I would be grateful. However, Terrence had also taken an interest in me following him out of the office whenever he had out-of-office businesses to deal with. When I had lashed out at him about how I wasn't his assistant anymore and wasn't obligated to follow him on most of his trips, he had the audacity of opening up my employment descriptions on his phone to read out what my employment entailed.

"Hello, Mirabelle." Eloise moved closer to Terrence and linked her left arm with his right arm while her right hand moved to rest on his bicep.

"Hello," I sent a small smile her way before walking into the elevator and pressing the button that takes the elevator to the ground floor.

"Say hello, Terrence." From the corner of my eye, I see Eloise nudge him with her elbow.

"Hello, Miss Morrison." I almost turned my head at the sudden use of my last name. He had been so comfortable calling me out by my first name for the past weeks. What caused the change?

"He-" Before I could greet him back, my stomach let out a loud growl, and I felt my face flush with embarrassment.

I had been so busy with work that I had forgotten to snack on the granola bar that was in my bag, and now my hunger was making itself known in the most awkward way possible.

For a moment, I tried to ignore the fact that the sound came from my stomach. However, when another rumble made itself known, I wanted to yank the door of the elevator open and run away from the embarrassment. But it was too late.

Eloise chuckled, "Hungry much?"

"I'm sorry," I said, my voice small. "I guess I forgot to eat breakfast today." Lie.

I ate breakfast, in a large portion even, but I was someone who got hungry quickly. But I didn't want Eloise to think I was someone that ate a lot. It was already obvious from the size of my body, I didn't need to voice out the rate at which I eat.

She giggled again. "Don't worry about it," she said kindly. "I'm pretty hungry, too."

And with that, I felt a slight sense of relief wash over me. My embarrassment had turned into a brief, shared moment of vulnerability, and I realized that it wasn't the end of the world. It might have even brought Eloise and me a bit closer. Although she still intimidated me in other ways, we shared one thing in common in the presence of Terrence.