31. Is it a love triangle though?

Sandra suggested I confess my feelings to Walter, and she didn't understand why I was worried about Rachel.

"The relationship between him and her looks complex and messy. She is his shadow", I was very worried about the two of them getting back together, and what if they were in a situationship of their own? these were the thoughts that flooded my head.

"So...?", She asked, "It just sounds like excuses to me," she elaborated while getting comfortable on the carpet. Shirley was right, I was making excuses; rejection was a big deal to me and there was a possibility that I was misreading Walter's actions. 

"Okay, at least let me confess after he's explained ....", I glanced over the carpet to see Shirley soundly sleeping, at that moment, I did feel like she was being rude because we were in the middle of solving my undefined relationship problems, but I know her and alcohol don't get along. 

Sandra was lightweight, one glass of wine was enough to knock out, but I suspect that she was still exhausted from her flight, I covered her with a light blanket to let her rest.

"I guess I have to finish the rest of the bottle of wine alone", I said to myself pouring the second glass. I hadn't called Walter after the event from that early morning, and the flowers on the counter kept nagging me to call him, so I did,

"Hey", Walter answered the phone quickly, as if I was waiting for my call, there was a sense of relief in his tone

"Hi, I just wanted to say thank you for the flowers", I said trying to sound indifferent 

"Do you feel better now?", he asked

"Yeah," I don't know if it was the wine or Sandra's words but what I said next was not planned, "Walter, if I were to suggest that we be exclusive, what would you say?," I said it playfully

He sounded surprised by my question, "Where is the coming from?", 

"It's just a thought...please humor me", I was trying not to be emotional about it, after all, I was not asking him out, but just picking his brain

"Honestly I would say not at the moment, it's not a rejection but the timing is not good. I would ask you to give me some time to figure this Rachel thing out once and for all...", I was not surprised by this response, I had already suspected as much

"Hypothetically, how much time would you require?",

Walter paused for a second, as he was about to respond, I heard a woman's voice in the background,

"I called you at a bad time I see", 'I figured that it was Rachel, and so I hung up the phone. He tried calling back but I couldn't bring myself to pick up, he then sent a text,

"It is not what you think, I promise, one day I will explain everything to you"

I replied with a thumbs-up emoji. The next two weeks the conversation between Walter and I was dry, it felt mandatory. I had so much to tell him yet I couldn't allow myself to say it. If I was being honest with myself, this thing between him and Rachel was getting uncomfortable. However, since Walter was patient with me when I said I could not date, I decided to also give him a similar chance. Every day I found myself falling deeper and deeper, as if that was not enough, Rachel was becoming a common face in the company building. It's like she was flaunting the idea of being Walter's first love in my face and my heart would sink every time. I had to fight the urge to ask her what her intentions were because it was becoming clear that they were not pure, however, that was not my business, so I knew I had to stay out of it. But one thing was for sure, while Walter was still the same Walter from 3 months back, I was no longer the same Thandie, the rules were no longer benefiting me.

"Thandie, are you okay?", my manager asked with a concerned look. I was pacing out thinking about this Walter saga, this man was taking up more and more space in my mind.

"Yes, ma'am, I am. Just th-", I was cut off by an unfamiliar face entering our office. Rachel waltzed into the office and straight to my manager., "Hi my forever sister-in-law, I brought these flowers for you". I don't know why I initially thought she was there to see me and the flowers she had looked awfully similar to the ones Walter bought me. 

"Oh, Rachel, what brings you? Are you tired of playing hide and seek with Walter? and why did you bring me your favorite flowers, you know I prefer lilies, not mixed-color roses", she said nonchalantly while taking off her glasses to wipe them, but I caught Rachel's message and I thought she played nasty, to be honest. 

"Oh sister-in-law, always a straight talker and sorry about the flowers, I will bring you the correct ones tomorrow", she had a conceited smile while my manager looked at her with a straight face. The tension between the two of them was suffocating and so I decided to excuse myself, "Uhm, excuse m-",

"My name is Rachel Baker, it's a pleasure to meet you", she reached out her hand to shake mine while sizing me up from head to toe with a smirk, "Anyway, I will take my leave", she said headed for the door.

"Oh, done checking out the competition I see?", my manager said laying back on her chair with her arms folded

"Oh cousin-in-law, you think too much. And also, what competition? Has there ever been one? I have yet to see it, You know I love a good challenge. Toodles", with that she closed the door.

Despite what Rachel said, what stuck with me was what my manager said, she called me her competition. Was she aware of what was happening between Walter and me? How did she figure it out? I didn't know what to say except panic, but it was like she knew what I was thinking, she calmly looked at me and said:

"I am not blind Thandie. Yes my cousin likes me, but not enough to come to my office every day. Besides, I am the president of this company, ofcourse I am aware of everything that is happening around here, how else do you think I became president?", she had a proud look on her face and it made sense, it was her company after all. 

"Anyway, please save Walter from that witch.", she said with a stern look

Now I was really curious about who Rachel Baker was, and was I really going to war with her?