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[Hearts got involved]
GENRE: Office Romance
Written by; Racheal A.
DON’T COPY OR REPOST ⚠️
DON’T GHOST❗
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Chapter 11
“Mind if I join?”Lex asked
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Kiara?”Emily called “Is it okay if he joins us? He’s your friend, right?”
“No he’s not”Kiara shook her head
“But,he told me he was your friend”Emily said
Lex cleared his throat “Um… we’re not on good terms right now”He said. “But, that’s not a reason for her to say no to me joining you guys. It’s just lunch, right? No hard feelings”He faced Kiara “And,you already have a guy with you”He glanced at Ken
“It’s Ken” Ken said
“Let’s just make it a group lunch. We’ll have lunch alone some other time”Emily said to Kiara with a smile. “We can get to know each other then”She said.
The four sat in pairs facing each other.
Ken sat beside Kiara while Emily sat beside Ken.
“You’re friends with Kiara?”Lex asked Ken
“Yeah,we work in the same office”Ken answered
“Same office”Lex said “You’re Mr Erik’s Secretary and if you both work in the same office, that means…”He faced Kiara with a smile “You’re the new assistant”
Kiara rolled her eyes.
Two waiters soon brought their foods and they began eating.
Lex kept staring at Kiara as she ate while Emily glanced at Ken.
Lex released a sigh
“This is getting boring already”He said “I know it’s bad table manners to talk while eating but come on, it’s the like the most ignored rule, right?”He said
“No one forced you to join us”Kiara said
“Exactly how long have you two not been on good terms?”Emily asked Lex
“It’s uh… it’s been a while”Lex said
“And… From the way you two have been speaking to each other, I’m guessing you’re the one at fault” Emily said again to Lex.
“I wouldn’t say it’s my fault entirely…”Lex said
“You’re saying that I’m also to be blamed?”Kiara asked in disbelief.
“I didn’t mean it that way. I just…”
“Okay guys”Emily said “If you tell me the reason you’re not on good terms with each other, I’ll assess it and say whose fault it is. I’m a good judge,trust me”She said “Or…is it not something you’re comfortable talking about?”She asked seeing the look on Kiara’s face.
Kiara swallowed while Lex stared at her.
Ken also stared at Kiara. The look on her face tells him the reason she’s not on good terms with Lex wasn’t mere friendship issues.
“Um…”Emily cleared her throat seeing as the atmosphere was getting tense.
“Do you guys already know each other before?” Kiara asked, referring to Ken and Emily.
Ken and Emily exchanged glances.
“I’m just curious, seeing that you guys made no attempt to introduce yourselves,say your names to each other”
“I’ve seen him visit the lab a few times. He’s Ken, Mr Erik’s Secretary. He’s also seen me in the lab on one of his few visits. Right,Ken?”She asked
“Yeah”Ken muttered
“I’m Emily”She said “Incase you don’t know my name” She stared at him intently but later lowered her eyes to look at her food when he raised his head to look at her
Kiara phone beeped after a few minutes
She glanced at the screen
“Mr Erik needs me to run an errand for him”She said to Ken and Emily “I have to go, I’m sorry”She said to Emily
Emily gave an understanding nod and smile
“I’ll help you pack up your food and bring it to you at the office”Ken said
“Thanks”She smiled at him before leaving
“I’ll help her pack it and give it to her”Lex said.
“I’ll do it and I don’t think Kiara wants you helping her”Ken said and picked up Kiara’s food tray.
He left to get it packed up.
“Kiara and I would have gotten to know each other better if you guys hadn’t tagged along”Emily said to Lex “She seems like a really nice girl and I don’t know what you did to make her really upset with you but I can tell she’s hurt by wh@ťěver as*hole thing it was that you did. I’m sure you don’t need to be told that you have make it up to her”She said
Lex sighed.
Ken returned with a paper bag in his hand.
“I’ll be on my now”He said to them before leaving.
Emily took the last bite of her food and stood.
“I’ll also be on my way”She said and patted Lex on the shoulder before leaving.
Lex sighed thinking about what Emily said.
He knew she was right and he’s also been looking for ways to make things up to Kiara ever since he met her again.
Seeing her again made him realize how stupid it was to have allowed his relationship with Kiara to get ruined
He had to make things up to her. He wanted them to be together again.
••••
The restaurant was just a few blocks away from Tech Builders so it didn’t take Emily up to ten minutes to get there.
Ken was just arriving at the company also and was about to get to the elevator.
She caught up with him.
“Hey there”She said to him “Stranger”She added and he turned to face her.
“I’m sure you didn’t know Kiara was having lunch with me and that was the reason you came with her”She said. “You would have avoided it if you knew”She said “Just like you’ve always avoided me since we graduated college”
Ken bit his lower lip.
“I’m not the one avoiding you”He said
She glanced at the paper bag in his hand
“You seem to be really close to Kiara”
“It’s not what you’re thinking”He said
“Kiara is a really sweet girl”She nodded “Just know that, regardless of who you choose to be with, I’ll always support you and be happy for you”
Ken swallowed a lump that seemed to form in his throat as he stared at her.
“You’ve never really given me a chance to have a conversation with you ever since we graduated and began working here so, looking at it,this is like…the first conversation we’ve had in almost two years”She gave a short smile “I’m sorry if I was the reason we stopped being friends. I’ve always wanted to tell you that”
She walked to the already opened elevator and got in.
She felt tears form in her eyes and she tried her best to blink it away.
Ken stood still on his spot as everything Emily said replayed in his head.
What did she mean by he was the one avoiding her? She was the one who stopped talking to him for almost a week after he confessed his feelings to her and then they graduated.
He had thought it was her way of telling him that she didn’t want them to be friends again and that was the reason he didn’t make any attempt to talk to her when they began working in Tech Builders.
Kiara placed a cup of coffee on Erik’s desk and waited for him to give her his consent to leave his office.
Erik placed his hand on the handle of the cup and raised his head to look at Kiara.
“You suddenly grew tired of smiling?”He asked
“Uh…”
“I don’t really need your answer,you can leave. Make sure the document for today’s meeting is ready”He said.
Kiara turned to leave, wondering why he asked her why she stopped smiling.
Wasn’t he the one who enjoyed saying harsh words to her to make her smile drop? Giving her a reason not to smile again whenever she was with him.
He probably loved seeing her smile drop. What a sadist.
She met Ken coming into the office just as she came out of Erik’s office.
“Here you go”He handed her the paper bag
“Thanks”She smiled, collecting it.
“What was the errand Mr Erik texted you for?”Ken asked as they sat.
“Coffee”She rolled her eyes.
He laughed.
“By the way,um…”He said “You and Lex,the reason you’re not on good terms is not a result of some silly friendship issue, right? I can tell it’s more than that”
Kiara sighed.
“Lex is… My ex boyfriend”
“Oh”
“We broke up almost a year ago”
“Why did you two break up?”
“He… Was trying to change me,to turn me into something I wasn’t. Always nagged me to dress in a classy way and compared me to other girls who did”She made an air quote around the word ‘classy’ “You may have noticed how I dress and I only started dressing this way because of this job”She said “He tried to get me do some other things that just aren’t my thing and our dates consisted of family dinners,friend reunions…”
“Ouch”Ken muttered.
“All of that,it just wasn’t me and before I would begin to lose sense of who I really was, I spoke to him about it,try to get him to understand that for almost a million times and when he wouldn’t listen,I suggested we break up and he happily welcomed the idea”
“I’m sorry”
“I’m not”She said
He chuckled lightly.
“Are you ever going to forgive him,he seems like he’s sorry”
“I already forgave him,I just don’t want to have anything to do with him”
“It doesn’t seem like you’ve forgiven him”Ken said “Whenever you speak to him or about him like you just did, your eyes and tone… there’s this feeling of hurt and anger in it. I think you guys should sit and talk things out”Ken said,also remembering the conversation he and Emily had in the lobby.
The advice applied to him also.
Kiara went mute.
A part of her felt Ken was right but she didn’t want to accept it.
••••
Kiara exhaled as she got in but soon released a gasp and held her chest when saw someone lying faced down on her bed.
The ‘someone’ turned out to be Daphne
“Oh my gosh,you scared me”Kiara muttered.
“Relax, I’m not Natasha”Daphne said, sitting up
Kiara rolled her eyes.
“How did you get in?”She asked
“The key was under the doormat, Natasha must have left it there. She’s not home, why? She left the supermarket an hour ago”
“I don’t know why she’s not home. I’ll call and ask her. Why are you here by the way?”
“I need a reason before I can come to visit my best friend?”Daphne asked disappointedly.
“You’re here for more novels?”Kiara asked
“Yes please”Daphne’s tone went from being disappointed to pleading.
“I’ll only give you if you brought the ones you borrowed the last time”
“I did”Daphne pointed at a bag on the floor.
Kiara smiled and walked to it.
“By the way…”Daphne brought out a photo from her pocket. “I found this in one of the novels”She showed it to Kiara.
Kiara went to collect it from her and stared at it.
In the photo,her late mum and dad stood in front of a beautiful tower holding hands with smiles on their faces.
“A pic of your mum and dad”Daphne smiled
Kiara smiled also as she traced the photo with her finger.
“We should visit that place,it looks amazing” Daphne said
Kiara’s phone rang.
She brought it out of her bag and checked the caller.
The caller was Natasha.She picked up the call
“Hey sweetheart”Natasha said sweetly
Daphne rolled her eyes and walked to Kiara’s closet.
“Are you home yet?”Natasha asked
“Yeah”Kiara asked
“That’s good,I wanted to check up on you. I won’t be coming home tonight”
“Why? Where are you?”
“I’m at a family’s reunion”She answered
“Oh”Kiara muttered.
“I’ll call you later”She hung up the call
Natasha rolled her eyes as she dropped her phone on the couch.
It hasn’t been really easy for her acting all nice to Kiara.
Thomas walked to her with two glasses of wine in his hands.
He handed one to her and kissed her before sitting beside her.
TBC…✍️