Fourteen

My elbows rested on the brown surface of my office desk, my fingers locked together beneath my jaw.

For the past twenty minutes, my attention had been deeply buried on the bank statement that my account manager had just sent a while ago.

"I can't believe I made these unnecessary expenses," I muttered to myself. "I really have to work on my spending lifestyle."

I drummed my anxious nails on the table, trying hard to make sense of everything I was seeing on the screen.

Every line of the statement was an expense I recognised, but never did I expect it all to amount to this.

The office door suddenly flung open and Zara walked in carrying her iPad.

She was dressed in a lavender, matching the black shoe she wore and the white long-sleeved shirt which had tiny patterns of pink flowers scattered all over it.

I admired the slit that was carefully cut at the left side of her pencil-mouthed skirt. It slightly exposed the light skin of her thigh in a sexy fashion.

I heaved off a sigh of relief, glad that her presence has just distracted me from the mindboggling information on my screen.

"Your designer deserves an oscar." I smiled at her.

She returned the smile, her lips highlighting the details of her beautiful face. "Thanks, Daisy."

Drawing closer, she peered at me and quickly observed the distress I was trying to mask.

"What's troubling you this morning , Daisy?" she asked, concerned.

Whenever I remembered that she was a lot of things in one person, I was always grateful that fate made our paths cross.

Sometimes, I never needed therapy, because I had her by my side.

I chuckled half-heartedly. "It's just… my bank statement looks so unbelievable. Entirely covered with stupid expenses."

She chuckled. "Scary thing, right?"

I tilted my head slightly to the left. "What's on the schedule this morning, Zara?"

"Nothing much," she said. "I just came to inform you about a party I fixed. I've sent invites out and—"

"A party?" My eyes widened.

"Yes," she said, gently dropping the iPad on my desk as she sank into the seat opposite me.

"Since the news has officially been released, it's only normal that we throw a launch party," she added.

I sighed, reclining on my chair. "Oh, Zara, you're such a blessing. Can't believe that this didn't cross my mind at all."

"That's why you have me," she giggled.

"By the way, the partnership picture looks so great," she said, grabbing her iPad and scrolling through it.

She pulled out a picture and handed the iPad over to me to take a look.

My stomach twisted immediately I saw Declan smiling in the picture. I felt like pulling him out of the picture and sounding his cheeks with a hot slap.

"What do you think?" Zara asked me.

"It looks… great," I responded, my voice covered with uncertainty that my own ears didn't fail to notice.

I returned her iPad and she closed the picture.

"The hall is almost ready for the party," Zara suddenly announced and my eyes flew wide with shock.

She has always been hardworking. Sometimes, to an unbelievable extent.

"So fast?" My brows refused to come down.

She chuckled. "I'm only making sure things are done at the time they're supposed to."

I scrolled through my laptop and checked the CCTV footages of the office compartments.

She wasn't joking when she said the hall was almost ready. In fact, it already was.

Seats had been areanged, and a light decoration gave the hall a pleasant touch.

"Zara…" Her name fell of my lips for no reason. Maybe, because she deserved a good pat in the back.

I really had a reliable backbone when it came to her. Even though I was her boss, she motivated me most of the times.

I stood up and pushed my chair back, then I walked over to her.

"Is this okay for the party?" I asked her, spreading my arms out for her to examine my outfit thoroughly.

"You're always dressed right," she said from where she sat. "Let's go."

About thirty minutes later, the hall was swarming with guests who were eager to hear what I had to say.

The stage was set, every communication equipment in perfect form.

Zara helped me connect the pocket microphone to the collar of my dress, then I climbed onto the stage, ready to deliver my speech.

I welcomed all the guests to the FuturaLabs launch party, then I began my speech.

Zara had already drafted a speech for me, and coupled with a few things that popped up in my head on stage, I delivered an excellent speech.

A rain of handclaps followed the conclusion of my speech. I swore withing myself that I was going to raise Zara's salary for what she did today.

The press came forward immediately I concluded my speech. I knew I had said something that had piqued their interest. Well, they always found a reason to bombard me with questions.

"Miss Daisy, could you explain your reason for choosing to partner with SparkNode, the giant tech company owned by Declan Ellington?"

If I wasn't already used to annoying questions like this, I'd have simply walked off. Plus, the joy from the comments about my well-delivered speech was still there.

With a smile, I answered, "The goal of my my team is to take Artificial Intelligence to the next level. After much consideration and examination of SparkNode tech limited, my team and I have come to the conclusion that they're the one of the companies we have to work with in order to further develop Artificial Intelligence."

More questions followed and I answered as much as I could before I called it quits for the press session.

I went down the stage and found my way out of the hall.

The natural air from outside hit me immediately I stepped out of the hall. I wipe a few beads of sweat on my cleavage, letting out a sigh.

"What a morning?" I muttered to myself.

"Daisy," someone called my name from the corner.

I turned and clashed eyes with two people I wasn't expecting to see this morning. Stella and Lily.

Seeing Stella, my stomach ached as the hurtful memory of that day she walked down the red carpet with Declan flooded back.

I wondered how far they'd gone in their relationship since she was already close with Declan's younger sister.

They looked like they were the best of pals now.

"Hey, Lily. You came here," I said, trying to force an excited tone. "How are you doing, by the way?"

But the defiant look on her face was already a give away that she wasn't here to tell me how she was faring.

"Give me a break," she said with a sigh, rolling her eyes. "Why wouldn't I come here?"

I shot her a questioning brow. Even though her bad blood was evident, I wanted to know why.

"What are you doing here, Daisy? What games did you come to play?"