Forest Edwards is always running. Either literally, because of his dog, Fletch; running to escape his tiring work life; or, well, running away from the possibilities of love.
But when Natalie Dayholt, together with her dog, Bailey, waltzed into his...
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HE GULPED DOWN a glass of water, alongside with three paracetamol pills — as if taking any more medicine would somehow help his throbbing headache in seconds.
"Hey, Forest. Is it a bad morning for you?"
Forest washed the glass in his hand, sighing as he dumped the empty blister packet into the trash can.
Of course it was a bad morning. He had barely managed to make it on time for work today, and had to battle a constant headache, alongside with a runny nose the whole morning. His whole body had been aching the entire day, and he felt extremely tired.
He would have left earlier on yesterday night, but the fluorescent lights that illuminated her house with a soft glow never once flickered off throughout the stormy night. And it made him harbour the hope that she would open the door, perhaps to check if he was still there.
Except she didn't.
Forest turned slightly, facing one of his colleagues. "Oh, hey Brandon." He said, giving him an awkward glance before looking pointedly at the packet he had thrown. "Pretty bad morning indeed." He chuckled tiredly.
Brandon nodded, shooting him a sympathetic glance as he poured himself a glass of water. "Rest well, mate. Don't overexert yourself from working. Or you know, whatever else you are preoccupied with at the moment."
"Oh yeah, Craig asked to see you." Brandon said, shrugging his shoulders, "I'm not sure why though."
"Seriously? Right now?" Forest winced at the mention of Craig, breathing out heavily. Nothing about his boss spelt anything good. Meeting him meant either walking into scolding, or endless demands for reports and statistics.
Brandon scoffed, setting the glass down onto the table. He raised an eyebrow. "You know, that man doesn't know the word wait. You better hurry."
Forest sighed, willing his headache to go away as he rushed out of the office pantry with a wave of a hand. "Alright, thanks mate."
Within a few minutes, there was the slam of the plastic file on the table, all too familiar as it echoed in the cold, silent room. He was sick and tired of everything about this job.
It turned out that Craig didn't only end up scolding him, but also ended up demanding for more in-depth reports on the current sales and finances.
"I'd expect better quality work from you the next time, Forest. There isn't a point for such reports if you're going to continue doing them so sloppily." Craig stated exasperatedly, leaning into his chair as he pushed up his glasses. "Or, you know what? You could leave. There are many others who would want this job."
As a matter of fact, he really did want to leave. But he thought about his parents and held himself back, swallowing thickly as he shut his eyes.
