It was 3am in the morning and Ash kept shifting and turning in her bed, she turned the lamp on and looked at the ring on her finger, she shook her head and blinked her eyes a few times, but the ring was still there.
"how much does this cost..?" she asked herself as she took it off and examined it carefully, "are these real diamonds..?"
She put the ring on her finger again, "what is this..what just happened.." she got out of her bed and held her head in her hands, she took her phone out and called her mom but the call wasn't going through.
She walked to the balcony and looked at the cars moving beneath, there were no stars in the sky, it was cloudy. She took a deep breath, sitting down on the cold floor, thinking about everything that had happened to her in less than 24 hours. She held her head in her hands again, eyes shut tightly as she tried processing everything, when her phone started ringing. Hoping to see her mom's name flash on the screen, she quickly took the phone out of her pocket but it wasn't her mom. It was her boss, "Haneul sir..why is he calling so late!?" she exclaimed as she rejected the call, but being as stubborn as he is, he called her again and again and again until she finally gave in and attended his call, "WHAT!" Ash covered her mouth right after, "uh..Hello? Haneul sir..I was talking to my neighbours..hehe they were making a lot of noise..ha ha ha.." Ash tried covering up herself but Haneul didn't say anything, he remained quiet
"Haneul sir..?" Ash asked
"oh..uh yea Ash, I uh..you're still up?" he asked
Ash took a sigh of relief for not being scolded for her impulsive 'what', "hm..I just woke up to attend the call, why have you called sir?" she asked
"hm? oh right, I called to tell you that I will be evaluating you.." he went quiet and cleared his throat
"evaluating me? why?" Ash asked
"I am planning to restructure the company..if..your work score is low and your performance is poor, you will be..fired.." Haneul spoke
"..oh..and everybody knows that?" she asked
"no, not everybody, only you and I.." Haneul replied, "incase you're wondering why I'm telling this to you..well, I was reviewing your report and..your score is the lowest..and so I wanted to give you a heads up, plus if I do fire you, you won't be affected by it much, right? you are a well paid doctor, you own a car, a house..and you lack experience and knowledge in this field anyways..I want to give this position to someone who knows about this stuff and is more familiar with this kind of work..giving you this position just means snatching away someone else's opportunity.." Haneul explained
"..so you've already made up your mind to drop me?" Ash asked
"no, I won't be telling you the final decision now..after the trip, I'll be announcing the results.." Haneul replied
"Haneul sir..isn't a secretary just supposed to take care of the boss? Make calls, arrange the schedule, call everyone for the meeting when the boss wants..what kind of knowledge do you need to do all that?" Ash asked
there was silence on the other side of the phone, but after a few seconds Haneul finally spoke up, "that's why I don't think you're fit for the job.."
"sorry?" Ash asked,
"you didn't study your butt off for 19 years to take care of me or to arrange meetings or to be ridiculed by other people! I can't stand it and I won't stand it either!" Haneul exclaimed
"I.." Ash scratched her head not understanding why he was getting all worked up, "then why did you hire me in the first place, I was a doctor back then as well..?" she asked
"I don't know..but after the trip, I don't want you to continue coming to the office.."
Ash looked at her ring, "Haneul sir..evaluate me justly..I'll leave without saying anything then.." she said softly
"don't think about it much right now, we have to go to the celebratory trip tomorrow..try to enjoy that!"
"..about that..I uh.." Ash bit her lip,
"you what?" Haneul asked impatiently
"someone sent me a message telling me to not go to the trip tomorrow because I didn't do anything for this project and so I have no right to celebrate.." she told
"what? someone from the office?" Haneul asked,
"I don't know, it was an unknown number..I'm not really interested in knowing who it was or why he or she sent me that text but I think that person has a point..hence, I won't be coming, pl-"
"fine, send me the number and it's your choice, you can come if you want to, or you can send me an application for leave..goodnight." Haneul said firmly
"wait! Haneul sir!" Ash said, she waited a few seconds before saying anything, "people in the office don't know about it right?" she asked shyly
"hm? it? the restructuring? no like I said before only you and i kn-"
"no no, about the..thing that happened yesterday..the.." she looked at the ring again
"..oh that? no one knows..I don't want to tell anyone yet..I still need to accept it myself.." Haneul said lightly
"me too..I don't want anyone to know, because I don't think I'll be able to bear more of Tania ma'ams bullying..she likes you a lot and she'll do anything to be with you..like the elevator..how she clinged to you.." Ash said nonchalantly
"hm? she was scared..I think she's generally afraid of elevators.." Haneul replied
"I was scared too..I am generally afraid of being stuck in small dark places..but who cares..you should worry about your favourite person, according to you, whatever she does is right..I'm the one who makes mistakes..and it's easy for you to get angry at me and scold me, but it's always hard for you to say something to her.." Ash took a deep breath and got up from the floor, "I know you're more upset with this engagement than I am, and I'm sorry if I'm getting in your way, I will talk to my parents and my grandparents to call it off..they're only looking at the time we were friends, what they don't see is how much you hate me now..goodbye Haneul sir." with that Ash dropped the call and switched her phone off.
She wiped the tears on her face and went to bed, it was almost 6 am now, the sun was out.
~
"alright everyone we leave in 15 minutes, SH will be taking his car as he has to go somewhere else as well, the rest of you will be taking the coaster we've booked.." Tania announced
Haneul came out of his office while skimming through a file, "uh.." he looked up, "I hope you'll forgive me for taking my own car, I need to stop somewhere in between to meet someone and so I will be a little late, once you guys reach, Jung has already got the rooms booked, freshen up, change and have a nice lunch and enjoy at the beach..I'll be joining you guys for dinner.." he said and smiled looking at everyones bright faces,
"the office is full of happy vibes and energy today..that's great! you worked hard and deserve this trip! Fighting!" Jung said, Haneul looked at him and gave him a single nod and a smile of approval.
"the coaster is here.." someone announced and everyone took their bags and boarded the coaster, Haneul made sure everyone was inside and well seated.
"Tania aren't you coming?" Jung asked, sticking his head out of the window
Haneul looked at her with the same questioning look
"I have some work left here at the office, I'll take the next bus.." she explained
Haneul narrowed his eyes and nodded, "Jung make sure to call me when you guys reach, okay?" Haneul said as the coaster started moving.
~
"SH, isn't Ash going to the join us?" Tania asked, following Haneul into the elevator
"she's not here so she's probably not planning to join us, um, you said you still have work to do, what is it?" he asked, quickly changing the topic
"nothing special, I just didn't want you to travel all alone.." she said
The elevator door opened but there was no one to get in, "you pressed all the buttons?" Tania asked
"yes, force of habit.." he said nervously
"SH I've never seen you do this before..what are you afraid of?" she asked stepping closer
"I thought you were afraid of elevators so if you feel stuffy you can get off on any floor..without having to wait.." Haneul answered
"I'm not afraid of elevators SH, I'm not Ash..I get over my fears quickly, unlike her who uses the stairs to come to the 7th floor.." she said getting more close
Haneul stepped away, "that's more healthy, she's a doctor after all.." Haneul replied
"why are you defending her? I personally don't like her, she's a doctor has a house, a car, rich family, but unfortunately no confidence and no looks..even if someone dates her, it would be for her money.." Tania said, annoyed
Haneul frowned, "a house, a car and a rich family that's not what matters, what matters is that despite all that she's working here as a secretary..because she has a bigger purpose, it's to learn and to do what she likes..what she wants..yes, she lacks confidence that's because she's far away from her family and there's no one to encourage her everyday, looks.." Haneul let out a small laugh, "I think she's beautiful.." the elevator door opened and Haneul got off and turned to look at Tania, who had a shocked expression plastered on her face, "and one last thing Tania, she's my fiancee, so kindly keep your remarks to yourself, they upset me..and I wish to see you keeping distance from me from now on, try not to throw yourself at me again" the elevator door closed and realization dawned upon Haneul, he just told the loudspeaker of the company that Ash was his fiancee, "I did the right thing, I..did the right thing..right? yes..yes..oh no.." Haneul facepalmed himself
"what have I done.."
