She Lied to Me!

Maia's jaw dropped. She waited for Josephine to say that she was kidding, that this was all a joke and that they are in some kind of prank.

But Josephine's eyes grew wide, as if her eyeballs would pop out of their sockets any time. She was motioning for the group to greet Mandy.

"Uhm, g-good afternoon, M-Miss Enriquez," Maia could hardly get the words out of her mouth.

Everyone was looking at each other — all except Josh. He was looking at Mandy straight in her eyes. And Mandy was looking at him, too.

At that moment, Josh felt his heart drop to the floor, and it broke into a thousand pieces.

Mandy wanted to go to Josh, to explain herself. She wanted to hug him and never let go. But at that moment, they were two different people from two different worlds.

Mandy saw Josh's expression change from confused to angry. His face was starting to redden. Mandy felt the pain in his piercing glare at her. She was the boss of the company but she felt so little, like a child who was being reprimanded by her parent.

Josh put down the stack of papers he was holding onto the table without taking his eyes off Mandy. He unconsciously crossed his arms across his chest. His heart was beating so fast but it wasn't because he was excited to see Mandy. It was because he felt betrayed. He hated being lied to.

Josephine was saying something but Mandy and Josh didn't hear it. Whatever Josephine said was drowned out by the emotions each one felt.

Mandy couldn't bear the guilt Josh's eyes were giving her. She finally broke his glare by looking away.

"Isn't that right, Josh?" Maia was saying something but Josh obviously wasn't listening.

Josh glanced at Maia when he heard his name but he didn't reply. He thought it would be better to keep his mouth shut. He was afraid that if he opened his mouth, he would say something directed to Mandy.

Maia noticed that Josh's cheeks were flushed.

"Josh? Are you okay?"

"Excuse me," Josh finally spoke.

"What?" Maia asked.

"Excuse me," he repeated, "I need to go out and do an errand."

"Wait, Josh," Maia tried to stop him.

He walked towards Mandy, ignoring Maia. He stopped right in front of Mandy. He towered over her.

"It is an honor to meet you, Miss Enriquez. But I really must go. May I be excused?"

Mandy looked him in the eye. This Josh wasn't the Josh she knew. His eyes were different, full of anger. His voice was also different. He talked so softly to her. But now, he seemed to be possessed by something that completely changed him and how he looked at her.

Mandy didn't answer but she stepped aside.

"Josh!" Maia called out again but Josh had gone out. And with his long legs, he walked fast.

"What was that all about?" Josephine asked but it was obviously a rhetorical question. "Maia, it will do your department well if you teach your staff manners."

"It's alright. Just let it go," said Mandy, though it wasn't clear if she was talking to Josephine or to Maia.

"I will talk to him when he comes back," Maia said to Josephine. She then turns to Mandy.

"It is an honor to meet you, Miss Enriquez. Rest assured our department is here to give the company our full support and service," Maia finished with a big smile on her face.

"Thank you," answered Mandy. "I know there are a lot of questions going on in your minds right now but… well honestly, I have questions myself but…"

"Miss Enriquez," Josephine cut her off. "I would like to remind you that we need to go now. We still have other departments to see. Shall we?"

"Of course," Mandy said without arguing.

. . .

Josh pressed on the elevator button many times. He just had to get out of that room. He felt like he was suffocating, like somebody was choking the life out of him.

"I can't believe she lied to us, to me!" He slammed his closed fist on the wall. Some people who were passing by looked at him but when he noticed them staring, he glanced at them and they quickly looked away.

If he was in his room, he would have punched a hole in the wall.

"I don't care what her reason was for lying. I will never forgive her," he said to himself.

Just then the elevator door opened.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't my favorite guy! Hello, Josh! Have you met the heiress of this beautiful company?"

"This is not a good time, Lee," Josh said as he tried to pass Lee to get in the elevator but Lee wouldn't let him.

"What's the matter? Were you taken by surprise? Feeling backstabbed? Feeling LIED TO?"

Josh's face was starting to turn red.

"How does it feel, Josh? How does it feel to be betrayed by the people you trusted? How does it feel when your friend lied to you?" Lee continued to mock Josh.

Josh wasn't looking at Lee. If he did, he would have punched all his teeth out. He clenched his fist so tight it hurt.

Josh began to breathe heavily.

"Why Josh? Did you think you and Amanda - or should I say Miss Mandy Enriquez - would be… How do I say this… together?" Lee chuckled.

Josh couldn't hold his temper any longer. With his right hand, he grabbed Lee by his shirt collar and pinned him against the wall. He raised his left fist, ready to plant a punch on his smooth, smug face.

"What is going on here?" Josephine yelled. "Do you think this is high school where you can pin somebody on the wall and start a fight?" Mandy and the people she was with had seen and heard everything. They had just gone from Maia's department to the other department on the opposite wing of the building.

Josh let go of Lee. Lee straightened his shirt as Josh backed off.

"I cannot believe that something like this happens inside EGC!"

Josh looked down on the floor, avoiding everyone's eyes, especially Mandy's.

"I believe we are all under stress right now, Josephine. Let us let this incident go for now. Like you said, there are many things we still need to do. Let us not tarry."

"But Miss Mandy…" Josephine began to protest. She wanted to reprimand both men for their conduct. But Mandy was determined to put her foot down on this one.

"I SAID, let it go, and let US go," Mandy stressed every word, making sure Josephine got what she meant to say.

Mandy didn't wait for Josephine's reply. She walked on, passing Josh and Lee, without looking back.

Josh didn't even look at her as she passed him. But she smelled her scent, the same one she wore the first day they met at the lobby, when she almost knocked off the vase.

Josh shook his head. He doesn't want those memories. He bumped Lee by his shoulder as he passed him. He pressed the elevator button. This time, the door opened immediately. He went in, pressed the button for ground floor.

Lee was left there standing in front of the elevator where he smiled mockingly at Josh.

. . .

"Can you believe that? Somebody tell me I'm dreaming," Jane said.

"I know, right," Carla agreed. "Who would have thought we were rubbing elbows with the heiress of EGC?"

"I wonder why she worked with us and didn't tell us who she really was," said Rae.

"Isn't it obvious? President Enriquez clearly wanted to keep her identity a secret so that she won't be treated any different from us," said Jane.

"Or," Carla said, "she's undercover trying to find out something that her dad wanted to investigate. Maybe someone is robbing the company of money and it's one of us!"

"You've been watching too many movies, Carla," Jane said as she poked Carla's arm.

"I was sure glad I didn't reprimand her too much when those papers had gone missing. Or else she might have fired me today," Maia said thoughtfully.

"Oh, yeah, you're right. It's a good thing we treated her really nice when she was here, didn't we?" Jane asked.

Rae rolled her eyes.

"Josh, on the other hand, doesn't seem to take this lightly. He walked out while Amanda - I mean Miss Enriquez - was still here," observed Carla.

"Yeah, what's up with that? Isn't he glad he's friends with the owner of EGC? I mean, I'm glad I'm friends with her," Jane smiled as she finished her sentence.

At this point, Rae shook her head in disbelief, rolled her eyes again, and turned her back on the girls and went back to work.

"Where did Josh go, anyway?" Maia asked.

"Beats me," replied Jane. "He looked angry, to be honest. I couldn't see much of his face but his ears were all red when he walked out. And did you see Amanda's - I mean, Miss Enriquez's face? She looked like she was holding back her tears or something."

"Maybe she feels bad about lying to us, especially to Josh," said Jane.

Everyone looked at her in amazement.

"What? She did lie to us, you have to admit," Jane said as a matter of fact.

And whether they like it or not, Jane was right.