Hello There, Stranger

Part 16

Maagang umalis si Francis patungong opisina sa araw na iyon kaya minabuti na ni Erika na kumuha ng taxi upang hindi niya makasabayan ang rush hour. When she arrived at the building and moved her way to the elevator she felt piercing glances towards her, she could feel the murmurs of gossip around the vicinity, and at that moment she knew the news about what happened the other day broke the intended outlets and now everyone in the company feasted on the hot topic. She wondered what label they had given her.

When she reached her floor, she was greeted by contempt from other employees while some had curious gazes, whispering in the wind.

"Siya ba yan? Di ba bago lang siya dito?" She heard them say.

"Baka pinikot niya si Sir Francis bakit naman ang isang CEO eh, magkakagusto sa isang hamak na empleyado lamang?" Another person commented.

"Maganda siya kaya baka ginamit ang katawan para makuha si Sir Francis" saad ng isa pa.

Erika walked with her chin up though she felt being scrutinized inside. They don't know the whole truth; they can speculate but they don't know the truth. She tried to pacify herself.

"Good morning..." She greeted the team, and she could see the awkwardness from Rocel, Val, and Tina. Noel was equally distant towards her while Rolly remained diplomatic from all the mess.

"Good morning, Erika" Rolly greeted. "Team meeting in 10 minutes, let's use the board room" saad ni Rolly.

Everyone nodded but proceeded to ignore her. She breathed. This was expected, she couldn't blame her teammates for being distant from her, in a bird's eye view it looked like she had fooled them, truly, but she never imagined that her momentary weakness would turn into a full-blown life-changing event. Who would have thought that the man who took her virginity away was Francis Gutierrez, it was so random that even she, couldn't help but be astonished to see how fate played them out big time.

This only happens in the movies. What are the odds? And now she was paying that price. 

Erika stared at Noel, and she knew he hurt him the most. If there was someone who had the right to be mad at her it would be him. One of these days she needed to apologize sincerely.

Everyone gathered around the boardroom and the usual chitchats and noisy conversation had now diminished and silence fell inside the small space. Rolly immediately stood up and opened the meeting.

"What is going on with the team? Let's talk about it now because we cannot continue to act like this. This impacts morale and how the team works and our dynamic." panimulang saad nito. "Does anyone have something to say?"

"I do..." Erika uttered softly.

All eyes were on her, and she clasped her hands tightly trying to ease her nervousness.

"I understand how you guys feel, I wasn't expecting that kind of announcement too, but I would like to apologize if you think I have been fooling you. I cannot give you the details, but I didn't get this job because of Sir Francis, I applied the same way everyone did and went through a vigorous screening test just to be qualified. I did not seduce him or go behind your back to blackmail him or anything, the rumors were false and unwarranted. I didn't do all those."

"So, what happened Erika?" Noel dared to ask.

"Uhmm..." she answered unsure how she could explain the circumstance.

The door in the boardroom swung open and Francis ushered himself in. "Rolly, sorry for barging in your meeting but it was me who made that pre-mature announcement and I think I owe everyone an explanation. Though I strongly believe that our personal lives are nobody's business, I'd like to make it clear. I was the one who pursued Erika, it was not long after the team building that things started to feel different, we talked it out, and just like any budding relationship we cautiously navigated this because we knew how people would perceive this if, out in the open but don't nail her on the cross for dealing with me. It was not her fault, if you want to blame someone blame me instead" " saad nito.