In Six Years

5: Stay

"So, are you really going to resign today?" Garreth asks as I put his plate of breakfast on the table.

I take a seat across him and look at Caleb enjoying his meal, "Trust me, this is for the best."

"Whatever floats your boat princess. You know I will always have your back." Garreth sighs. 

"Please don't call me that." I whisper. 

When I reached and entered the office with two cups of Americano in my hands, I saw Jerald standing in front of my desk with an expression I cannot fathom. I glance down at his hands and realise he is holding on to my letter which previously sits on the desk. 

He hears my footsteps and whirls around abruptly, "Care to explain?"

"I'm not sure if you still take your coffee the same way." I hand over a cup of Americano to him and ignore the butterfly jitters in my stomach when our hands touch, "You have made your thoughts known and I have made mine to respect your wishes. I have no intention to overstay my welcome. Though I must say Jerald, I have never pinned you as the type to snoop around."

He tosses his cup of coffee along with the letter into the bin, "Pain makes people change with time and I took years to figure Americano is too bland for my liking. I need something stronger and more flavourful." I wince at his hidden meaning. He continues, "You are not the one calling the shots here. I am. Get this through, if you are going to walk out of this place for good, it will only be because I fired you. The choice is not yours to make. Though I must say Emily, I have never expected a shameless person to be able to understand the meaning of respect."

"Don't be ridiculous. You can't force me to stay." I glare at him. 

He takes a step closer and raises his brows. "Are you sure about that? What about your precious little Garreth? I can simply ruin his future with a call. I'm pretty certain you do not want that to happen, don't you?"

Just like his mother. I thought inwardly.

My anger is rising within me, "Leave him out of this! He has nothing to do with it."

He takes another threatening step forward and towers over me, "Funny, because as far as I could recall you were the one who dragged him into the picture. Don't test my patience and do what you are told."

His looming presence suffocates me and I manoeuvre around him to step behind the desk. Two can play his game then. "How may I be at your assistance today, Mr McCadden? Do you need to reschedule any of your appointments or have any special clients that I should take note of?"

Jerald makes a slight flinch at my mention of 'special clients' but he quickly masks his emotions. Is his reflex out of discomfort, embarrassment or guilt of what I saw yesterday? 

Wishful thinking, Emily. I chided myself. 

"Just draw up the draft of the contract by tomorrow. The details you need are in that black folder." With that said, Jerald leaves me standing and isolates himself in his room. 

I flip through the neatly filed papers and work through the technical jargons slowly. The terms are there to taunt me as it is seemingly clear he is out to make my life difficult due to my limited or almost close to zero experience. Besides, since when has the job of the legal management team becomes mine to handle? Regardless, I am unable to go against his orders. It is just then a particular clause comes to my attention, Transfer of share ownership to Leila McCadden. My confusion grows as I begin to wonder why Jerald is parting a portion of his company's shares to his mother. A mother who willingly casts her child aside to gloat at his downfall. 

The incessant vibration from my phone breaks my concentration. "Hey Ems, you are supposed to be back an hour ago. Are you alright there?" Garreth's concerned voice fills the line. 

I look up at the clock on the wall and realise it is way past dinner. Jerald's room has long been vacant and now replaced with the sight of dark clouds and soft glow of the moonlight shining in.

"Sorry, I must have lost track of time. Let me tidy things up a little and I will head home in a bit." I explain while massaging my temples to loosen up. 

I clasp the papers under my arm and make my way down to the car. I certainly have not gone far before my car comes to an abrupt halt in the midst of the rain puddles right after the bend. Before this, I used to be skeptical that all bad things tend to happen at once. And now? I'm not so sure anymore. 

"Oh come on!" I exclaim as I check the slash marks on my tire. The heavy rain continues pelting down and causes me to be drenched from head to toe. 

The sound of the blaring horn coming from the sedan next to me draws my attention. "Get in the car!" 

Jerald. 

Is this what it literally means that every cloud has a silver lining?

"It's fine. I have it under my control."

Jerald repeats himself, "I said get in the car! Stop being so stubborn will you?"

"And I said it's fine! I will just hail a cab or something." I mentally scolded myself as I take in the sight of empty street before me. 

"I'm not going to repeat myself again and I'm telling you one last time to get in!"

Without having any other better alternatives, I nestle into the passenger seat of his car. The drastic temperature change has me shivering and thankfully Jerald turns up the heater. He reaches over to the back and retrieves his suit jacket. The close proximity between us causes my cheeks to colour. 

"Put it on" He instructs. 

"Thank you" I mutter. 

I drape his jacket on me and hug myself to retain any form of heat left. "Why are you doing this?" I ask. 

He tightens his grip on the steering wheel and stares ahead impassively. 

His response is to remain silent. 

I lean against the window and watch the scenery breezes by to drown out the uncomfortable atmosphere. The ride home is filled with only thick silence and the occasional interruptions from the navigation map system. 

He has not spoken a word to me since then. But when we have reached, Jerald surprisingly follows me down and walks with me to the front porch. 

"Thank you again. For everything today." I mutter gratefully. 

He nods curtly. 

Indeed, every special moment is never lasting. The door flings open and Caleb comes running into my arms, "Mummy! You are finally home!"

This is not good at all.