MY BEST ADDICTION

Chapter 15

“Penny wait”, Marcus said as the elevator door closed before he could reach me.
I held on to the bar tightly the whole ride feeling pathetic about not getting over my fear of elevators and before I knew it, the ride was over. I got out shakily and tried to steady my breathe when I saw the security walking towards me. I assured him I was fine and left the building not even bothering to order a ride home.
I contemplated on whether to end my internship myself rather than being kicked out but neither Seth nor Marcus spoke about that night the whole week at work, heck they even avoided me as though I was a plague.
“What happened to you?”, Haven asked as I joined her in the office after my dance. Even I saw that the dance wasn’t from my heart. The usual thrill I got on the stage was missing and I felt disheartened the whole time but I managed to be professional enough to get more tips for the night. I wanted nothing more than to just sink myself in the softness of my bed.
“I’m just tired. Don’t worry I’m going to make up for it after my internship, okay”, I assured her but she still looked worried. I bet she could see the tiredness all over my face when I took off my mask.
“Fine but you better be okay. I’m worried about you, you changed after your trip….”, she said and I knew she wanted to say more but just sighed and left me alone. She even tried to get me to stay home and not report the next evening but I declined insisting I was fine and could still dance.
That day ‘he’ didn’t come and neither did he come the next day too. I called my mom and promised to visit her before I went back to school. Just talking to her brought a smile on my face and I knew everything was going to be okay once again.
The rest of the internship passed in a blur with me juggling between my two jobs and before I knew it, it was the last day at the company. Since that fateful night, Seth didn’t pay that much attention to me and had Marcus accompany him to all his meetings. I was just like a trophy he was hiding in his office and that upset me but all my complains fell on deaf ears. I was still grateful for his decision because it gave me enough time to bond with some of my colleagues at work and even those who used to isolate me became close to me.
“Wow time sure does run fast. It was just like yesterday you started here and now it has come to an end. I believe you learned a lot and had fun during your stay here”, Marcus addressed us earning a lot of yes’s from us.
“The doors of S&S Corporation are always open to you”, he said this and many more and dismissed us to continue our work for the day. He later called me to his office leaving me to wonder what trouble I was in since it had been awhile we spoke to each other.
“Come in”, he said when I knocked.
“Good afternoon sir, you called for me”, I said not sparing him a glance.
“Sit Penny and please drop the formalities”
“Thank you”
“How was your stay here? Did you enjoy your work? I hope Seth didn’t hurt you”, he said all at once not giving me the chance to answer him.
“I’m good and everything was good too. Working in the company was educative and fun like you said earlier”
“Penny you know what I’m talking about. Are you really okay?”, he asked sounding worried. I almost thought he cared but what I heard that night strengthened my resolve and I avoided his gaze.
“What is there for me to be worried about. Today is my last day of waking up early and sleeping late. Why would I not be okay?”, I said shrugging his question off.
“He’s decided to compensate you for every harm caused during this time”, he said causing me to frown.
“Compensate me? Harm caused?”, I asked upset.
“Yeah and……”, he said but I interrupted him.
“What the hell Marcus? You owe me nothing except the contracted amount. Why do you make it look like I sold myself whiles working?”, I asked and I could feel the tears welling up but fought against them.
“Penny it’s not like that we……”
“Please stop it. I know what you are trying to do but please stop it. We all agreed on having no relationship apart from the contracted relationship so there is no need to feel guilty about it”, I said feeling pain in my chest.
“I know but please just take it and use it for yourself”, he said feeling conflicted about the whole thing.
“Mr. Spears I said no and that’s it. If there is nothing else, then you will have to excuse me since I have a lot of work to do”
“Okay you can leave”, he said sighing.
I left and went straight to the washroom to compose myself before going to my office to avoid the stares and concern from the others. Seth still avoided me and refused to acknowledge my presence throughout the day and it hurt. I wanted him to make it clear to me that he didn’t consider everything a mistake and I meant something to him.
“Are you still going to ignore me even on my last day? Don’t you have anything to say to me?”, I asked when I was leaving the office at the end of the day.
“There is nothing to talk about, I made everything clear through Marcus. If you are smart you will listen to him and do as he said”, he said not bothering to even spare me a glance.
“If that’s what you want. After this we won’t be meeting again and I’m sorry for any trouble I caused during my stay. Goodbye Seth”, I said downhearted and left his office without looking back.
“I will be seeing you at the party, right?”, Amber asked when I reached the ground floor. She was one of the good friends I made here and I was sad that I wouldn’t be meeting her again after that day.
“I guess I have to at least show my face since it’s our party”, I said smiling at her.
For some unknown reason we had the party at Haven’s Nest. I didn’t even know we had a party room at the Nest, I only knew of the dancing and private rooms.
“I thought you weren’t coming”, I heard from behind and turned to see Haven standing behind me causing me to jump.
“Ah, you scared me”, I said and she laughed at me. “Hey Haven how come I didn’t know we had a party room”, I asked after hugging her.
“You never asked and how come you also never thought we would have a party room, we’re a bar after all. Why are you late to your own party?”
“Maybe because I didn’t want to come. By the way how did they about this place and who booked it. I know booking here isn’t cheap and interns don’t really earn a lot”, I asked curiously.
“My place is popular you know, and I reduced the price knowing they were your friends”, she said looking away from me. She was hiding something from me but I wasn’t in the mood to find out so I excused myself and left to find the rest.
“You finally came. I thought you weren’t coming”, someone yelled to me. I looked at the person to find an already drunk Amber dancing away to the music. I walked to the sofa and sat watching the others have the time of their lives. The setting reminded me of the time in Paris that my mood turned sullen immediately.
‘It took just a month for whatever we built to go crumbling down. It was good neither Marcus nor Seth was attending this party else it would be uncomfortable for either of us.’, I thought sighing.
The door opened and I turned to see Marcus entering with Seth trailing behind him leaving me confused. They walked to the sofa beside my sofa and sat not noticing me.
“Penny, you came?”, Marcus asked shocked to see me there.
“Yeah I was asked to come seeing this was our party”, I said looking at Seth to see that he was avoiding me entirely.
“Oh yeah I almost forgot”
“I thought you guys weren’t coming”, I was confused because no one was expecting them there.
Marcus mumbled something under his breathe but before I could ask what he said a guy approached me to ask for a dance. I looked at Seth to see his reaction but he still looked away from me. I looked away from him and smiled at the new guy.
“Sure”, I said and he pulled me. Not being ready for the pull I staggered and held on to him tightly to steady myself. I could feel eyes boring into my back but ignored it and went to the dance floor with the guy.