Broken Pieces

Chapter 27

Carl was sitting in his office. In front of him was a whole bunch of paperwork in front of him waiting for his attention. But he just kept staring at the one-way glass wall which gave him a view of the hustle-bustle of the busy city. His attention was captured by the thoughts of a certain brunette. He just couldn't get her out of her mind. It had been more than a week when they had met but it was difficult for him to get her out of his thoughts. 

"Sir, are you alright?" Janet, his assistant came in front of him and brought him out of his reverie. She put his coffee in front of him. Carl had known Janet for a long time. She was a beautiful woman in her mid-forties but still looked a decade younger. She had always given him advice in times of distress. 

"Janet, can you please take a seat?" Carl asked her. Janet looked at him then sat in front of him observing him closely.

"It's a girl, isn't it?" she spoke abruptly. 

"Huh? What?" Carl asked as he lifted his head to look at her. 

"Don't give me that shocked expression. I've known you long enough to sense that the cause behind your loss of focus is a girl." Janet said with a smile. Janet could be blunt when needed. 

"Yeah. You're right." Carl said sheepishly with a shy smile. 

"Don't let her go if you want her in your life. Life's too short to let go of good people." She said with a comforting smile. 

"I want to pursue her but I don't know what to do. I'm just afraid if she'll run away," Carl said as he stirred his leftover coffee. Suddenly, the swirls in the coffee looked better than the present situation. 

"Take her out. What's there to worry about? Don't worry, she won't run away from you. Now I have some work to sort out. Not everyone can daydream about girls." Janet said as she got up and took his coffee cup.

"But Janet.."Carl was left hanging in the middle of his sentence as Janet strode out of his office. 

Sofia was sitting in her room, sprawled on her bed, eating a slice of apple as she scrolled up and down her Instagram feed when suddenly her phone rang. Carl's name flashed on the screen. Sofia smiled and picked up the call. 

"Hello, Sofia. How are you?" He said smiling. 

"I'm good, Carl. How are you?" She said as she tucked a strand of her hair at the back of her ear and sat up straight. 

"Can we FaceTime?" Carl asked nervously.

"Okay, give me a minute," Sofia said as she hung up the call and ran towards the mirror to straighten up her wrinkled clothes. She brushed her hair and pulled a chair in front of the study table to set up her phone. The phone rang again with Carl's name as she turned on the video call. 

"Hey..." Carl said a little nervously as he smiled and scratched the back of his neck. 

"Hi, Carl," Sofia said with a smile and a small wave. 

"What have you been up to?" He asked as he sat back straighter in his chair as he observed Sofia. Her shirt collar was turned a little upwards. Overall, she looked worn out. 

"I had a tiring day at the office today.  I had lunch with Dad after work and now here I am in front of you talking to you." Sofia said moving her neck side to side to remove the fatigue. Her actions didn't go unnoticed by Carl whose eyes were fixated on her. 

"Oh, I'm sure you must be very tired. I just wanted to ask you something if you'd agree to it." He said as he said straighter. 

"Okay, go ahead. Whatever you ask, just make sure you're not asking me to be your fake girlfriend. I don't want to do that again." she said with a small smile. Carl was just looking at her mouth forming words like a lovestruck fool.