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After texting and calling me for a week straight, Shane left me alone and I used the entire month to process everything that had happened. I often think about the conversation my dad and I had, taking his advice to heart so that I could focus on healing and it was... no, it is difficult, but I chose to distance myself from Shane while I sorted through my feelings.
And I'm afraid of what my feelings say and what it says is that I should call him.
But what if after our time apart he doesn't feel the same anymore? I expected him at some point to come knocking on my door, begging for forgiveness and a chance to make things right.
But as the days turned into weeks, and the weeks into a month, there was still no sign of Shane. Another slap in the face, It felt as if he had disappeared from my life completely.
But It's not like I won't see him eventually. After all, he's got an active account with us and two whole cafes in the area so I'm bound to cross paths with him again at some point. But I feel conflicted, torn between trying to move on and hoping that he'll suddenly show up, ready to fight for us.
On top of it all, the media frenzy around the upcoming trial has intensified. Reporters were camping outside the ALT9 building and my apartment complex, even driving past my daddy's home a few times, hoping to catch a glimpse of my family, trying to scoop up any bit of information they could use to create a catch-worthy headline.
But I digress.
In the ALT9 conference room, the entire staff sits for a meeting, getting ready to go over the details of an ongoing project that would take longer than most typically do. To start off the New Year, this was our biggest project so far and our client and owner of the Hemsworth Industries, Russell Hemsworth wanted to make sure all hands were on deck for his rebranding campaign.
He was a high profile tycoon with a net worth that I don't even want to utter out loud again, so it was pointless to say that the stakes were high and this project could make or break our reputation as a digital solutions agency.
I would think that Tony and Sandra wanted to be present, to oversee everything but when I got the memo this morning from Mia that they were taking care of "other things", I assumed the role of project lead for the time being.
"Alright, everyone. I hope you guys had a big lunch," I stood up, trying to regain control of my thoughts. The individual chatting groups came to a halt and everyone redirected their attention to me as I switched on the large projector screen. "Because I have a lot of ground to cover today with you all. Let's start by discussing the latest updates on our user experience design."
I went right into the presentation, outlining our timeline, creative concepts, and target audience. Samyra and Ralph chimed in heavily with ideas, suggestions, and questions and the rest of the team listened attentively, taking notes and providing input when necessary.
We stayed in the conference room for two hours, needing to all be on the same page so that we could finalize the design elements and move forward with the development phase. However, Olivera remained unusually quiet throughout the meeting, her eyes narrowed and her lips pursed tightly.
