Chapter Sixty Six; New Rules
Amanda was at work the next day drowned by thoughts. She had to admit, the night before was overwhelming, but what about the morning that follows? She sat in her office chair a little embarrassed. She could have sworn with her family's like if someone dared her to not be able to resist Ray.
Ray definitely had a great night because after their exchange of energy slept off immediately. She had to sneak out of bed this morning because he was still sound asleep and facing him that morning would cause her a bit of embarrassment.
She let out a breath and concluded not to speak about anything that had to do with last night. What happened last night was to remain there.
She had gone to Ray's office to get a file and she stumbled into the gifts delivered to his office the day before. Her eyes caught a package that had Becca on it.
She didn't want to consider unwrapping it, that would be wrong, and too prying.
Anyway, she didn't want to didn't mean that she won't go against her wants. She reached for the package, it was a box, half the size of an average shoe box.
Why was she still getting him a gift?
They were on the verge of a messy divorce and she was asking for a tremendous settlement, so why she the gift? Why did she still care?
She rolled her eyes at the thoughts before carefully unwrapping it. It was a thick nice package box. she took off the box cover as she saw another box which had a label on it.
It was a scent from Fredric male, a top class perfume, but one from about five to ten years ago, which was no longer on sale.
Where did she get this?! This must cost a fortune.
Jealousy and spite took over but she just went ahead and continued to check the box.
She reached for a paper that was in the package, it was rolled like a scroll, then tied with a tiny blue ribbon.
She untied it and read what it said.
"This scent might have gone out of market,
But I went as far as I could get to have this specially made for you.
Just to remind you of what we once shared,
and what we could once again reignite.
Our love for each other will never die
We don't have to keep fighting.
yours,
Becca💙"
The letter was handwritten, and the heart was drawn and painted with a blue crayon. At this point, Amanda realized that this woman was infatuated with Raymond.
She loved him and for a second she felt she somehow stood between them.
She loved him and even if she wanted to fight with this woman, even if she wanted to fight for Ray's love, this woman might always be a step ahead.
But the real question was, what does Ray want?
Ray had made it clear that he didn't want Rebecca, but he had never made it very clear that he wanted her either. She knew she loved Ray even though she would want to deny it. She knew how strongly she felt about Ray, but does Ray feel the same?
It might be a little too obvious that Ray liked her, enjoyed their company together, and they had great sex, but what about Love?
Did Raymond love her? Would he ever love her?
Ray had never confessed Love to her though he had agreed to once loved Rebecca, so how long does it take for him to love her?
He was capable of loving someone, and maybe it wasn't just her. Maybe he and Rebecca belonged together and he just needed to realize that.
Amanda won't deny that this whole thought had left her broken, her heart heavy.
She hated to think that Ray couldn't love her. She was not enough, or perhaps she was not in his class and will never be.
She managed to carefully put the package back together. She got the file she was there for and went back to her desk.
She would prefer taking the day off but going back to the house, she might still have to face Raymond.
Raymond who she had just made a new resolution to stay away from.
Her affections for him only kept multiplying and loving him felt like it took something away from her, so she needed herself back.
She needed to put a hold on this constant feeling of feeling little and if staying away from Raymond would bring her back to her feet again, she will.
She wished to talk to Lang, but she didn't want what happened the night before getting to anyone's ear, especially Langs. Since she was bad at lying and would be caught even if she attempted, she just decided to wallow in her misery.
She had gone home that day, but Ray wasn't at home. The empty spot at the garage made it obvious.
She had dinner, retired to her room and then someone came knocking.
Yes! It was Raymond. She had for once followed her advice and told him she wanted to sleep, that whatever he had to tell her could wait.
Ray didn't hesitate or push further, just as she expected.
He left, she wasn't quite sure if she felt fulfilled or even more shallow but she knew she would come around. She only needed to keep up with dismissing him and she might be able to put him out of her mind.
The next day, she noticed that Ray's car wasn't home too, but she guessed that was good for her since the last thing she needed at that moment was to see him.
She had gone to work the next day only to see the latest news about Raymond's activities.
He was captured during dinner with Rebecca. He didn't look like he had an ongoing divorce settlement with her. There was also a picture of the two of them leaving the place and Raymond had his hand on her waist.
It looked more like he was directing her to lead the way and not putting his hands on her waist, but if they were going through a bad divorce, he won't be assisting her or lead the way or even having dinner with her.
To crown it all, the caption of the post said "CEO Blazzers and his wife Rebecca were seen in good term having dinner, could they have settled their differences? or are they back together?"
Amanda didn't want to fault herself for feeling jealous. She loved this man, still loved him, so her heart would only respond with jealousy if she was to see him as a couple with another woman. Especially when she was somehow convinced that he might never love her like he once loved Rebecca.
Maybe what she needed was a distraction. Maybe she needed something to always keep busy with at every point in time or something that would occupy her mind aside from Ray.
She rested on her chair, heart slightly broken but she knew it was a matter of time.
She would work on opening herself up to meeting new people and going out with other people.
She sighed, brushed herself up, and went back to work. Well, she had half her mind at work and the other half at Ray's affairs.
It was a new week, Ray had managed to be at work more often and punctual these days. He had occasionally tried getting through to her, but she didn't ease up. It was for the best. This time around, she wasn't going back and forth with her words, and she was proud of that.
Today being Monday, she was in full work mood, dressed appropriately, and also anxious about the staff meeting that was scheduled that day.
She wondered what they wanted to discuss. If it was just a business meeting, it would have been just the managers, board of trustees, and Raymond. But when it was just the top floor staff, then an adjustment was always made.
Normally as Raymond's secretary, she would have known this, but for some reasons best known to him, he didn't inform her.
Ray arrived by 11 pm, she served him his coffee and also reminded him of the meeting which was scheduled for 1 pm.
All the top floor staff was now gathered in their meeting hall. They all sat and they waited for Raymond and Tyler.
Amanda and Lang sat together. Amanda had asked lang if she knew what the meeting was about, and surprisingly, even Lang who always got first-hand information didn't know. She so said that Tyler wouldn't tell her.
So what was it?
What was it that even Tyler who told Lang everything didn't inform her this time around?
What is it that the Assistant to the CEO didn't even get to find out since almost all information passed through her?
Did this simply mean that whatever it was didn't pass through her desk and maybe was arranged outside Blazzer?