Greg's text

Chapter one hundred and sixty-three

The next couple of days were like hell for Xander. He became even colder to all his employees, Anna inclusive. He'd snap at any opportunity he got. He'd complain about nearly everything, make her work double time for the littlest mistake and rant about how incompetent she is. He'd become even more particular about perfection. To say the least, he'd turned out to be an extreme perfectionist. Anna couldn't help the thoughts that lingered in her head, about being the cause of the version of Mr Williams she was seeing now. She remembered that it all started back in his house the previous week. 

She'd felt so guilty that she had to ask him if he was angry at her, adding that she noticed that he'd been acting this way since the day she last came to his house. His reply had however left her in petrification. She'd frozen from the crown of her head to the sole of her foot, as a result of his harsh words. He'd been fondling some papers which were on his desk when she'd raised the question and he'd slowly dropped the papers and lifted his head, matching her gaze. When her eyes locked with his, at that moment, she could swear that her heart had never throbbed the way it did.

"Excuse me? Who the fuck do you think that you are? I'd always thought that you were smart and intelligent, but I thought wrong. Get it into your air-headed skull that you are just a pissant employee, nothing more. So, the next time that you try to think that you're so important to cause a change in my mood, remember that."

It was there and then that she'd thought of herself as a fool for believing Vanessa's words that he was in love with her. She'd been deluding herself. If she were to be honest, she preferred his usual self to what she was seeing. 

Today was however different, instead of his usual grumpiness, he'd been unusually silent. He'd barely even noticed her, well not like he'd paid her any attention for the past few days. But it was different this time, he acted like she was non-existent, and she couldn't help but feel more hurt. She felt like the prong of a fork was used to stab her right in her already aching and bleeding heart. 

Jaden seemed to notice that there was something wrong with her because she found him gracing her presence just after she reclined back on her chair after returning from Xander's office to drop some certain files.

"Anna, you don't look good today. Are you alright? I noticed that you haven't been your best the past few days. Is it something that you would like to share?" 

Anna didn't even have the strength to tell him anything at all. She answered by telling him that she was fine and was just fatigued because work had taken its toll on her. Jaden didn't buy her response, but he knew better than to probe further, so he told her to take care of herself instead, and left back for his seat. Anna didn't have much work to do also, she finished her task for the day sooner than usual. She reclined back on her chair and flexed her muscles to relax them, it was then that her cellphone buzzed. It was a message, and it was from Greg. 

He'd been visiting Vanessa more often since the day he had dinner with Anna and her, and Anna had been seeing more of him lately, she'd grown accustomed to seeing him around, and from observing him, she could decipher that he had only good intentions for Vanessa.

The message that Greg sent to her read;

"Hi Anna, how are you doing? How is the weekend going? I trust that everything is going pretty well. I sort of need your help with something. 

Thing is, Vanessa's birthday is fast approaching and I have no idea what she'd like for a birthday present.

 Could we meet up maybe in a restaurant to talk about this? I don't know if you're free now, kindly reply to this. 

Thanks a bunch, 

Greg."

It had completely slipped her mind that Vanessa's birthday was coming up, she'd been so preoccupied with thoughts of Xander that she'd completely forgotten about it. Greg probably thought that she was at home because it was a Saturday. He had no idea that she worked on Saturdays as well. Well, she wasn't doing anything at all, she was done with her tasks for the day. She was about to reply to his message when his call came in.

"Hi, Vanessa. Did you receive the text?" He asked, his deep masculine voice echoing in her ears. 

"Sure, I did, Greg. Uhm...I'm at work now but I'm done with the day's tasks, so I think I-" Greg didn't let her finish before bombarding her with "thank you". 

She'd wanted to tell him that she was done with her job but would have to ask her boss first if she could leave the office. He'd been so giddy that he didn't wait to listen to what she had to say. Now, she'd have to convince Xander to release her for a few hours, maybe two, at least. She didn't know how she'd do that, however, she'd do it.