Chapter 26: The gossip

" Is she okay? Did she fail to see me because of yesterday?", Christian asked himself as he stood in front of her door, contemplating whether to go in or not but he chose to just leave for work.

Meanwhile, Clarisse was instead, having a moment of herself as she murderously tore the lap of the roasted chicken apart, shoving it into her mouth and reaching out to the bangers and then the fluffy mashed potatoes.

" Hmm..uhh", she moaned as she kept enjoying the meal. At one point, her eyes got teary with her mouth stuffed with food, on her right hand was a wing of chicken and her left hand was a spoon. She got emotional.

"This is the best meal ever", she chuckled as tears rolled down her cheeks, " and I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts", she said and resumed eating very fast like it was going to be snatched away from her soon.

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" He isn't that hardworking or righteous he just like being in the limelight", worker A said with disdain,

" You forgot to add that he's also an attention seeker", Worker B added,

" I know right", Worker C supported,

" Slacking off gossipping about your co-worker, isn't that shameful to you guys", Karine, Christian's secretary said as she looked at the gossipers with disgust.

Worker A cleared his throat awkwardly, " not like we are telling lies",

" Ho, so you're telling the truth while you're supposed to be working?",

" But.. there's not much work to do..and .. there's no need to be so uptight, the boss is on his honeymoon", Worker B said trying not to meet her eyes,

" Ho really? I hope you can say the same thing when the director returns", she eyed them and left and just then some workers ran in,

" He's back! he's back!",

" Who's back?", some of them asked panicking but seeing as everyone started taking and organizing themselves, pretending to be focused on their work only says one thing, the chairman is back, Christian Charles is back.

No one dared look up from their computers while he walked by, with the fear of meeting his eyes, they could only bow greeting him as he passed by with his statuesque figure intimidating them with his authoritarian and cold aura.

He went straight to his office, his secretary looked at the other workers looking surprised but she didn't allow the surprise to settle in as she knew immediately that her tight schedule and work had commenced. She immediately began to pack some files and check the emails as fast as she could before he called for her and she succeeded, of course, she has worked for him for years so she's used to his authority and domineering attitude.

She knocked gently on the door and he permitted her to enter.

" Good morning sir",

" Morning", he replied without sparing her a glance, " anything?",

" Congratulations on your wedding sir",

" Hm",

" Um, there are some meetings on hold and ....",

" Postpone them", he answered as his head was buried in the system,

" Sir?",

" You heard me",

" Yes sir",

" And also sir, the Nand cooperation sent an email about investment and looking forward to a meeting and also...",

" Put it on hold",

" Sir?",

" On hold".

Karine was surprised and confused, "Yes sir. That's all sir",

" Okay",

" Yes sir", she bowed slightly and left.

Some employees rushed to her side the moment she was out of his office.

" What's wrong? Is he pissed?", Employee B asked panicking,

" No actually, but...",

" Isn't he supposed to be on his honeymoon?", Employee A said,

" Yeah? And I'm confused, he placed Nand's email on hold",

" The Nand cooperation?", Employee A asked to be sure,

" Yes", Karine answered walking towards her desk while they followed her,

" Isn't the Nand's cooperation in collaboration with our company already? But seeing how he placed it on hold something is definitely wrong, I mean he's even married to their daughter ", Employee A said,

" Maybe he did not like his wife, seeing the way he's back from his honeymoon already, he definitely does not like her", Employee C pointed,

" That's true", Employees A and B reasoned with her, " that must be why he placed their contract on hold",

" Who wouldn't, I heard some rumors about his wife so I guess there's no he'd like her", Employee B said,

" What rumor?",

" I heard that she was married to Arthur's family but got divorced after a month cause she was caught committing adultery ",

" What?!", they gasped,

" Are you for real?", Employee C asked B,

" Of course, and that's not all, she also got pregnant for her concubine and ....",

" Will you stop spreading rumors ", Karine shut her up, " there are all rumors, I don't think the chairman would get married to that kind of person ",

" Then explain why he's back already from his honeymoon and even placed his inlaw contract on hold, I bet he just found out about her ",

" Does he look like the type who'll jump into a marriage without getting enough findings...",

" I heard it's an arranged marriage ", Employee B attacked her point,

" Even though, but I'll advise you not to spread baseless rumors if you still value your job", she said and left their midst while they eyed her.

" She's so boring ", Employee B murmured,

" And so uptight, not like she knows anything ", Employee A also whispered to his fellow gossipers as they went back to their desks.

Karine was settling back and arranging her desk when she felt someone's presence in front of her and thought it was one of the gossipers so she rolled her eyes and asked,

" What do you want again?",

" Again?".

The voice was different so she looked up to see that it was not any of their employees but someone with high status as that of her boss. She quickly bows apologizing to him.

" I'm sorry, I thought it was someone else",

" Of course, that must be the case", he nodded, " is he around", he pointed with his head so she understood who he was referring to,

" Yes sir, he is",

" That bastard! He's dead today", he frowned and barged right into his office, ready to make his day worse which is one of his jobs.