Chapter Fifteen: Debut Of The Villainess

Eveline's POV

The cafe was as packed as ever, probably the busiest in my few years working under this company. Everywhere I looked, there were people. It was evident that there were no seats reserved or empty for me to occupy. Don't get me started on the queues, each end of the queue reaches the edge of the cafe.

"I don't remember there being so many people in this company." I overheard another person sigh as she stared at the crowd of people in defeat. "I should've come earlier." She heaved another sigh as she scolded herself for not being there earlier.

"The cafe is quite crowded today, do you want to share a table with me?" A familiar voice chimed in from behind.

I turned around, pleased and glad that my saviour had arrived to whisk me away from this problem. My happiness immediately got replaced with awkwardness as one of my colleagues, Claire, strolled up to me. A sweet smile plastered across her face but I knew, none so well, that behind that innocent grin hid an atrocious personality that I could not describe using mere words. Oh dear me, that woman was a horrid being, the true embodiment of a devil. All the negativity I felt toward her poured out into the glare I shot at her, my eyes determined to make her feel uncomfortable.

To my dismay, the girl only smiled wider as she forcefully shook my hands, not letting go, and then dragged me across the marble flooring to the corner of the cafe, where there are lesser people. Making it an ideal place to talk about confidential topics or sensitive discussions.

She rested both of her hands on my shoulders, and that is when I noticed how ridiculously long her nails were, each finger nicely polished with glimmering nail polish neatly spread out on each of her nails. Claire pushed me down onto my seat and sat opposite me in a similar chair. The soft leather couch failed to consol my unhappiness with my current position, an awkward situation it was.

"I heard about what had happened when you came back to work," Claire began, smiling menacingly at me as she rested her chin on her palm with her elbow supporting the weight. "It must've been frightful, having to engage in such activities right after holidays - I do hope that you're doing fine now." Claire finished, leaning back and resting against her chair.

"I'm thankful for that." I forced a smile as I tilted my head slightly.

"Good."

That signalled the end of our conversation and a long period of uncomfortable silence, each second prolonging. My pupils darted around impatiently, longing to just get up and leave.

"I'll go buy us some food, what would you like, Eveline?" Claire smiled as she got up and took out her designer purse.

"Just coffee will do."

"Got it, wait here for me alright."

Claire trotted away into the crowd. I had to turn around to ensure that she was completely out of sight before I could lower my guard and relax. I whipped out my phone and quickly shot a text message to Abigail.

'Abigail! Help! Claire dragged me with her and now I'm sitting at the same table as Claire! Save me!'

Although I knew that I would not be getting any responses from my fellow friend until after her school ended, I think that it is better I informed her of my whereabouts beforehand so that at least there will be a witness when I die from unknown sources or disappear without a trace.

My hatred towards her was beyond the maximum amount of hate a person could contain. Why is that so? Well, to begin with, Claire used to work in the same department as me. Whenever I was tasked to do anything, anything at all, she will sabotage me in any way she could. I knew that every time something went wrong, it had something to do with Claire. The way her pupils darted around suspiciously and the way she coaxed her words with venom before spitting them out on my face was more than enough a reason for me to suspect her. Furthermore, she would make it such that every time she carried out a disgraceful act I had to be there to witness it all. I could not count the number of times I had 'caught' her sabotaging everything. Worst of all, there was nothing I could do or say that would put her in her place. Although we're from the same department, she was several ranks higher than me albeit we are around the same age. This shows that she had more influence and was superior compared to me, resulting in injustice lurking around our department. Exploiting and overworking employees who are of lower status is her forte. She was capable of pushing us to the limits, yet putting on a graceful act in front of others. It is either to please the higher-ups or to mock us. The smirks she shoots me send chills down my spine, it was her iconic way of saying, "Look, everyone else does not believe you. Do you see the difference between us now?"

Compared to how she treated me before, she was acting nicer and friendlier to me.

I furrowed my eyebrows as I tried to recall when she suddenly showed such a drastic behaviour change. No, she was still rude to me on Friday, so that can only mean that she changed her attitude today, but why? That was a question I desired to know.

Speak of the devil, she was back from her excursion.

"Sorry I took so long! The queues reached the end of the cafe and I was busy lining up. Here, your coffee." Claire gasped as she placed a cup of coffee in front of me. "Careful, it's hot. Also, I decided to get you a cake! No need to pay me back, just treating you." Claire rested a plate with a mini chocolate cupcake decorated with rainbow-coloured sprinkles on the glass table between us. The smile on her face was wider than before as if anticipating my praise for what she did. I almost did not bother putting on my fake facade to please my former co-worker.

"It's been a while since we talked to each other, hm? Why don't you tell me more about what happened during the commotion this morning." It was not a friendly conversation between friends who rarely meet, it was a demand. An order issued by someone who thinks she was better than me in every aspect. The true intent behind her high-pitched voice was obvious, so obvious I had questioned whether she even intended to hide it in the first place.

"Why are you silent Eveline?" Claire cooed as she took a sip of her drink. I'm starting to suspect that she spiked my drink while I was not looking.

My pupils turned away from Claire as I tried to come up with a solution to my current problem. I should have known better than to allow her to drag me around for only then had I realized that I walked into a lion's den.

It was too late to get up and run, my reputation would be in shambles and I doubt I would be able to continue with the act after that. For the sake of Axel and me, I had to handle this on my own. If Axel were to step in and interfere, rumours would spread and that would not do us any good. Solving this issue myself is a good way to show those who looked down on me that I had reborned, that I was not the same person I was before.

"I'm not sure what you mean, I don't know what had caused the commotion earlier. However, through this incident, I realized that someone like you would waste time on such worthless events. Never knew you were so interested in the private life of another individual." I smiled as I picked up the small table spoon used to stir drinks and insert it into my cup of coffee, twisting and turning the spoon to dissolve the residues left at the bottom of the cup before lifting the cup to my mouth, and slowly pouring the substance into my mouth, and licking my lips slightly.

A taunting grin danced on my face as I watched Claire's expression change from a smile to a frown, a very ugly frown.

"How dare you? Just because Mr Draven showed interest in you does not mean that you had the right to treat me that way! Who knows, perhaps you were the one who seduced him and he'll lose interest soon!" Claire yelled, standing up and pointing her index finger at me accusingly.

I continued to sip on my drink as I glanced around, luckily Claire brought me to a rural area else someone would witness Claire's outburst which may result in another rumour lurking around the corridors of the building.

Claire was still fuming with anger as she began to show her true colours. Screams and shrills and shouts of pure profanities and insults were thrown at me so easily as if this was not the first time Claire had said something like this. Her eyebrows furrowed with so much force and her frown the shape of the letter 'n'. Her expensive-looking nails dug into her flesh as she clenched her fist in hatred, if she was not careful enough with her strength, we would be able to see blood spilling today.

The Claire I knew who would constantly carry out extra movements to stand out, like what others would call a 'pick me'. However today, that all changes as all those dramatic arm swings Claire demonstrates is used to emphasize on her hatred towards me and her anger. This was a refreshing sight indeed.

Not wanting to miss an opportunity like this, my fingertips slowly trailed the outline of the cushion and clinged onto my phone. Terrific, now I just need to record her unpleasant voice without getting caught successfully. Having frequently use my phone, I practically memorized the format and function of my phone, making it easy to record her voice. The inaudible sound of the beginning of the recording was enough to assure me that the blueprint to my phone stored inside my brain was correct and that my fingertips had followed the blueprint carefully and succeeded.

After approximately ten minutes, Claire stopped. It was as if she was tired and had to pause to take a breath before continuing her one-sided argument. I took the chance to attempt to leave.

"If that's all, I'll be leaving. Here's the money for the cupcake and coffee. Thank you for your time and goodbye." I simply said as I got up from my seat.

From anger to desperation, Claire tried to stop me from leaving, in hopes that she could dig out some information from me or use me to acquire higher status.

"Wait stop, don't leave yet-"

Before Claire could finish her sentence, I had already stopped the recording and left the scene, leaving the woman alone there. Fear on her face as she finally came to realize that I saw her true colours.