Bed Sheets II

68. I Haven't Forgiven You Yet

"Hey everyone," Draven was surprised of the forty-nine people that had made an appearance. They had rounded as many as they could from the old editors, and only eight had refused to show. He cleared his throat as he stared at all the familiar eyes standing around the desks that had been untouched since the last time they had been here. He was quite nervous, his moist palm clamped together as he grinned at all of them, and he was attempting to ignore the way his stomach growled from the anxiety he felt.

Luckily, he had prepared and rehearsed for this moment countlessly, and he cleared his throat, "I'm delighted and feel grateful that you all decided to show up today. I went through a rough patch in life, as you may have heard. I want to be really straight with you all, since this entire job is you guys being completely honest with me. So, let me be as transparent as I can be."

He lowered his eyes for a moment before sighing, "I went through a really bad depression. I was drinking every day, I lost my family," he point to the senior editors standing behind him, "I lost the man that I thought I liked at the time, I was a monster to someone I loved...a few people that I loved," he added, recalling the way Sophie had stormed away from his office. "It was not long until the Chancellor kicked me out of here, and it took a while before he forgave me. But I'm grateful for these hardships I had to face since it made me recognize the awful man I had become."

He paused for a moment, and continued, "I think I started taking advantage of many of you. Countless of you put unimaginable effort into refining my work, pulling all-nighters to make deadlines, repeatedly editing when I said it was not good enough, and I never even said thank you. I never even bat an eye at you, and to be honest, I never knew your names."

After glancing behind him, receiving a grin from Miranda, he nodded his head, "This experience humbled me. I will forever be grateful for all the work and effort you put here on this floor. I want to sincerely apologize for treating you all poorly. You all had my back numerous times through bad news reportage, drunken days at the office, and days I didn't even have any work. I really am sorry, and I understand if this apology isn't what you wanted to hear. I wholeheartedly appreciate you all simply coming, and I really hope you can forgive me one day."

It fell quiet for a moment, barely could hear their breathing. Draven had no words left to say, and was uncertain what to do when neither of them moved or spoke for about a minute.

Until one of the editors, Ryan, shoved through them towards one of the desks near Draven's office, "I get front desks, called it!"

"That's unfair," Annie, another editor, complained. "Just grab the old desks that you had."

"No, first come first serve, that's how it should work," Hunter, an editor spoke.

All the editors started shoving to grab their favourite seats, and it became quite chaotic that Miranda stepped forward and whistled loudly, a few of them covering their ears. When it returned to silence, Miranda yelled, "Stop whining! Just grab the old seats that you had."

"Who said you're the boss?" Ryan laughed, to which he received a glare. "I'm kidding."

"Looks like they are staying," Eric whispered in Draven's ear.

To which he replied with a smile, "I guess they are."

During the time the chaos began settling and everyone was assorting their belongings on their desks, Draven approached each of them to thank them personally. He was shocked to receive numerous embraces and return of thanks for rehiring them. It was when he was near the back desks that he frowned when he heard the elevator doors open.

He glanced towards them, and he was certain his heart had stopped beating.

Sophie slowly stepped onto his floor, tightly holding a purse against her chest as she glanced around, her eyes widening as she noticed the number of people that had appeared to return under Draven's title. The instance their gaze met, Sophie forced a smile, suddenly uncertain if she had made the right decision.

Draven stepped towards her, feeling his throat run dry. It felt as if words were stuck on his tongue, and it was Sophie that took the lead, bouncing from her heels back to her tippy-toes.

"I haven't forgiven you yet, and I'm not sure I ever will," her voice was cold and distant, and she was avoiding meeting his gaze. Until he noticed her face softened and she finally met his navy eyes, "But I love you too and I care about you so...I'm not letting you ruin yourself again."

Draven resisted the urge to reach around her and tightly squeeze her into his arms. He simply nodded his head and whispered, "Okay."