Office Enemy - III

Few seconds after the manager left, Chloe was still standing, smiling awkwardly at the group of people who still chose to engage in a fierce eye battle with her.

Nobody made a move to approach her not to talk of introducing themselves. As if they were waiting for something or someone to give them the go ahead order.

Chloe's eyes fished out one particular lady that her eyes were glued on her as if she had a personal score to settle with Chloe. Standing behind a bunky guy she has this cunning smile on her face as if satisfied with the situation . Chloe was taken aback for a second wondering what's funny about the awkward welcome they gave her.

Chloe in return gave her a stern look not minding the presence of others and what they might think of her. After a few minutes of eye battle with the mysterious lady , the latter rolled her eyes and walked away with her heels creating a disturbing noise. Immediately she left the gathering; others followed suit as if on cue .

Chloe's eyes widened as saucers . ' These people are surely weird ! Why are they behaving as if they were being remotely controlled '.

She had a dazed look on her face which made her not notice a plain looking man that walked up to her . Adjusting his spectacles to sit on the bridge of his nose comfortably.

" Hi , I'm Darlyn Todd, I am in the same team with you " He said, extending his right hand to Chloe for a handshake. Chloe blinked twice at him and took his hand .

" Chloe Adams , is it only me or , cos your colleagues are sure acting weird " She shakes his hands while voicing out her observation.

He smiled a little after detaching his hand from her " I'm sorry if they startled you , they acted that way because Trisha didn't approve of you " he briefly explained.

" Approve of me ? I thought that had been settled with your manager bringing me here ?"

" You don't understand, She didn't approve of you being one of us here "

" And who is she to do that ! I thought the Ceo is in charge of everything around here"

"You know the thing is this .The Ceo is not concerned about us regular employees for a department to function well there must be a departmental head , those are the people that he knows and the represent us the regular employees.you can't expect the Ceo to pay attention to every detail in his company when he had people he pays for it "

" Bu-"

" I know what you're trying to say but trust me you wouldn't like to be on her bad side,she calls the shot in this department.Not even the manager wants to be on her bad side "

Chloe's mouth opened and closed like a fish that was out of water ,she could only mutter silently ' oh ,wow ' .

" Come let me show you to your desk "

" Yeah ,sure .After you "

They walked through a glass door that housed a compartment with four cubicle's inside . She was not far from the truth because he led her straight to the cubicle. She saw some boxes outside , just that the boxes were no longer there .

' Where did the boxes go ? ' She thought she said so within herself when she heard him reply .

" The boxes are in storage down the corridor, " he said, pointing to a room on the other side of the corridor .

" And here we are , this is your office Chloe . welcome to Team one of the advertising department " he happily announced with the wave of his hands for her to nod.

' This guy seems to be the only normal one among the rest .' Darlyn made it to work after showing Chloe her desk when she called him back.

" Uhm , Excuse me mr Todd "

" Darlyn, just call me Darlyn" he corrected her with barely a whisper.

" Oh , ok Darlyn I've been meaning to ask you this"

" Yes! What is it " he asked, leaning his shoulder on the glass door of her cubicle, folding his arms and resting them on his chest.

Chloe bit her lower lip, she didn't know how to present her question. She doesn't want to sound like an ingrate but being the curious girl that she is voiced it out .

`` I was just wondering why you chose to be nice to me ? Aren't you afraid of being on Trisha's bad side " she said tilting her head to her left, her eyes bored into his , she wanted to figure out if he was going to give her an honest reply . She knew that if he avoided her gaze or blinked at her he was either planning to lie to her or he already is a liar .

That is her own way of analyzing people.

" Trisha knows I am not afraid of her neither can I be bought" .He said with a shrug of his shoulder and closed the distance between them . He bent and whispered in her ears. " I am the rebellious one around her " he said and gave her a wink and exited her cubicle oblivious of the faint blush that crept up on Chloe's cheek because of his hot breaths on her skin .

Shaking her head she gave herself a reminder 'Chloe now is not the time to be deluded ' Her hands stroke the brown teakwood desk that belonged to her now . glancing around the cubicle she figured the previous employee that occupied it must be a man because she couldn't see any fancy decoration inside the office

Clicking her tongue in distaste she mumbled out loud ' Chloe you have some work to do inside here ' dusting her hands she began to arrange the folders of files in a small shelf in the cubicle in an indexical form since it will be easier for her to sort in that manner .

After thoroughly arranging her office, she sat down to call Daisy who told her to call her after she must have settled in properly . Her hands reached for the extension to dial Daisy's number but the wire had been detached from the telephone.

Sigh! She grabbed a piece of paper and pen from the table and began to write down the things she needed in her cubicle when she felt uneasy like someone was watching her. Looking up she saw four pairs of eyes staring at her with pure disdain.