Forgotten Souls

Chapter 13: Jealousy And New Friendships

After that the nurses and the doctor came in and spent some time with Zaylee, asking her how she was feeling amongst other things. Time passed quickly once Zaylee was awake. She finally met my parents and she spent most of her time with my family and I once she was released from the hospital. I am still shocked that she forgave me as easily as she did with no questions asked.

She was almost fully recovered now and she was slowly returning back to the old Zaylee I knew, the one that always had a smile on her beautiful face. Much to my dismay, Zaylee returned to work and caught up on everything she missed.

I was sitting in my office when I heard her laughter. Since her office was right next to mine, I could hear any loudish noise coming from her office. Frowning, I wondered what she could be laughing about. Without thinking twice, I strode out of my office over to hers. When I entered, I saw her sitting at her desk with a guy sitting on a chair close to hers and a girl standing at the dustbin. Since when did she have friends?

I vaguely recognized the guy from the I.T. department downstairs, Jeremy I think was his name, but what I couldn’t figure out, was why she would be spending time in her office with him  instead of being with me. The three of them stared up at me, all laughter suddenly gone.

“Zaylee, can I see you in my office please. Now.”

I walked out without seeing whether she was following or not. I knew that I was acting immaturely but I couldn’t help the jealousy that I felt when I saw her laughing with the guy. Things had been too tensed between us since the accident and I knew that it was my own fault because I didn’t know how to react around her without hurting her but I still felt uncomfortable with being comfortable with other people.

She silently entered my office and looked up at me confused. I cleared my throat and said the one sentence I knew wasn’t true. “Are you at work to entertain other guys now or what? I pay you to work, not to sit in your office and play best friends with some guy you don’t even know. Get it?”

I was being harsh. Too harsh. But at that moment I just couldn’t care less because at that moment, the only thing I could think about was when Angelique started cheating on me, or rather when I found out. She looked shocked and for a second it looked like she was about to burst out into tears but then she simply nodded and said, “I’m sorry sir. I’ll get right back to work.  Next time, I’ll ask you if I’m allowed to have a lunch break to have my medicine.”

She turned around and walked out of my office. I messed up. I knew it, but why did I not want to just chase after her to fix what I had done? That night she left work without saying a word to me.

    Good Night Braydon. I love you.

I lost count of the amount of minutes I spent just staring at her text message. I wanted to reply, but I was being stubborn. You would think, after almost losing the love of your life things like this won’t bother me as much. That I would make up with her and put my pride behind me, but I just couldn’t.

I ended up going to bed that night without replying to her message. I wanted to tell her that I loved her too, so why didn’t I? The next morning I got up and poured myself some cereal and milk into a bowl. I hated the taste of the cereal. I wanted my baby girl’s pancakes, but there was no way I would show up on her door step just to have a good breakfast. Especially not after yesterday.

As I was walking past her office, I heard her speaking to someone. Against my  better judgement I leaned against the door to listen who she was speaking with.

“Thank you so much Jer! I love it, it’s beautiful. I couldn’t ask for anything better than this.”

“It’s a pleasure Zay Zay, I saw this one and immediately knew that you would love it. It suits yours perfectly and goes perfectly with what you requested.”

Hearing enough, I stomped into my office and slammed my door shut. So now Jeremy is buying her presents? Really? I thought she wasn’t that kind of girl. I threw myself into my work that day. I had a meeting at 3P.M. The meeting was dragging along slowly and each minute that passed made me more agitated about what could be happening between Jeremy and Zaylee while I’m stuck in this meeting.

After the meeting ended I went to my office only to be shocked with my favourite coffee and meal placed on a plate on my desk. I was about to throw it away when something caught my eye.  Beside the food was a note scribbled by none other than Zaylee herself

Bray, I know you haven’t eaten yet. Please eat this sweetheart. My business man can’t focus on an empty stomach, you and I both know that. By the way, I have a treat in my office for you. I had to run to do an errand quickly, but I’ll be back soon. I love you my sweet Braydon

I ate the food and immediately afterwards went to her office to see what my treat could be. I was shocked when I noticed the stack of pancakes and chocolate syrup on her desk. Beside it was another note alongside a tiny wrapped box. I read the note before I even realized it.

I’m glad you decided to check out what your treat might have been. Enjoy the pancakes sweetheart, I know how much you love them. In this box is a present for you. I decided that it would only be fair for you to have one too.

P.S. I still love you Braydon.

I opened the box and was met by a beautiful sterling silver ring with the words “Forever, I promise.” engraved on it. My heart swelled at the thought that she went through trouble to find me something like this while I was too busy being a jerk. I knew I needed to make up with her. Cautiously I slid the ring on my finger. It suited me perfectly. I grabbed my pancakes and returned to my office feeling slightly better than I did before the meeting.

When I heard her gentle voice speaking on her office, I was more than ready to thank her and apologize, but what I saw in front of me made me stop dead in my tracks.