Chocolate

Lillian was half way through delivering the current round of gifts when she felt her phone buzz a few times. She finished all her stops on the floor, then took out her phone while waiting for the elevator to arrive. The normal lunch hour had just started, so she had to wait a while longer for a free elevator to come.

She opened her phone screen to see 3 new messages from Jacky. The first was a message starting off with a smug emoji - 'Guess which hottie just came to drop off some time sensitive mail...' The text was followed by a couple pictures. The first was a picture of a children's cartoon Valentine's Day card with a piece of chocolate candy taped on the side. The second was of Mason, the postman, smiling and waving at the camera in front of him.

"Oh My Gosh!" Lillian squealed, garnering the attention of those around her. She quickly apologized for the sudden outburst and went back to the pictures on her phone.

Aww, he's so sweet. The cartoon Valentine's card is definitely cheesy, but I can't deny its cuteness! And that chocolate is the same kind I was snacking on last week when he came by with the mail, I can't believe he remembered and got the same one.

The elevator came and Lillian pressed the button for the ground floor, hopeful she could catch Mason before he left. But, to her disappointment only Jacky was there waiting for her with a smug smile. "Looks like Geldan Group's very own Lillian Grace, forever single despite being in her prime, has finally found herself a lover boy."

Lillian was too excited to respond to Jacky's tease, and ran over to their desk to find her Valentine. She looked around, not able to find the card she'd seen in the picture. She walked the whole way around the desk one more time, looking up and down before she turned to Jacky. "Huh, where is it? What happened to the card?"

"Oh that little thing. I locked it in this drawer for you for safe keeping. But, before I hand it over, I want you to admit that this holiday isn't that bad after all." Jacky sat there with her legs crossed, swirling a small key around her finger.

"Ok, yes yes, I know Valentine's can be fun. I was just tired from all the packages earlier. Now, hurry up, pass me the card."

Jacky took her time, building suspense, as she finally opened the drawer and passed Lillian the small card. Without any time to waste, she turned over the card, smiling wide as she noted the cute cartoon cat with a bow on its head holding a sign that read 'Happy Valentine's day to the cutest cat in the world!' After taking a couple minutes to look at it, she taped it up on the inside of the desk next to the card Jacky got from her boyfriend earlier. She then put the chocolate in her bag, saving it for later.

She carried out her duties for the rest of the day in a much better mood, no longer complaining about the numerous trips she had to make upstairs to drop off chocolates and flowers. She made sure to tell Jacky about what had happened with the CEO earlier, so they set aside all the new deliveries coming in with his name on it. It seemed Lillian had been right to be so suspicious of how few came in that morning, as by 3pm nearly 20 gifts were already piled up for him beside their desk.

An array of extravagant bouquets, expensive wines, and beautifully wrapped chocolates made up the ever growing pile. Jacky and Lillian were not quite sure what to do, thinking it a shame to throw out such nice gifts.

"Maybe we can just take them, if he doesn't want them," Jacky thought aloud after yet another box of chocolates was dropped off addressed for their cold CEO. It was an expensive brand that had recently been trending all over social media for its smooth a rich taste. Even if it was within the price range for her to afford it, the popular chocolates had been sold out quicker than you could say chocolate, after the chocolatier announced he'd be going on an extended trip to find inspiration for his new line of delectable sweets.

"Uh, I'm not sure if-," Lillian froze when she saw Jacky open up the box. She picked a milk chocolate raspberry truffle and popped it in her mouth, grinning with delight.

"Lil, you've got to try one of these. They're unbelievable good!" She grabbed a random chocolate from the box and handed it to Lillian on a tissue, then popped another one into her mouth.

Well, I guess no one will notice if one box goes missing. She picked up the dark chocolate square that had been placed in front of her and slowly brought it up to her lips. She was mid-way through her bite when she saw the CEO's personal secretary, Peter, from the corner of her eye.

"Lillian, was it?" That familiar deep and cold voice shocked Lillian, causing her to nearly choke on the sweet truffle inside her mouth. She quickly spat out the remaining contents back onto the tissue in front of her then rolled it up into a discreet ball.

The hairs on the back of her neck began to stand up, anxiety over the fate of her job as she slowly swiveled her chair around to face the owner of the voice behind her. Andrew Geldan stood there with his intimidating aura, narrowing his eyes as he observed the open box of chocolates on her desk.

It's alright Lillian, you did nothing wrong. She tried to convince herself everything would be alright, it was just unfortunate timing that their cold-hearted CEO happened to be passing through the lobby at that exact moment.

"You said you didn't want the 'rubbish', so I'm just helping you by taking out the trash," she said her internal thought out loud, shocking herself and everyone around them. She quickly covered her mouth with her hands, internally yelling at herself for making such a horrendous slip of the tongue.

"Hahahaha," Andrew Geldan let out a loud laugh, catching Lillian by surprise. "Peter, I wasn't aware we were hiring trash cans now. Make sure miss Lillian here becomes well acquainted with our new hires, the mop and broom, next week."

Once Andrew and Peter exited the building. Lillian shot Jacky an annoyed look. "Well, that could've been much worse," Jacky casually responded, taking another chocolate from the box. "Here, for the most gorgeous trash can in the building," she chuckled as she popped the sweet treat into Lillian's mouth. Begrudgingly, she chewed and swallowed the chocolate, savoring each bite. It really was impossibly delicious, she thought to herself.

Her good mood, now squashed, Lillian finished the rest of her tasks for the day. As she rode the train home, she mulled over the mop and broom comment the CEO had made. Lillian you idiot, what have you gotten yourself into. She dropped her face in her hands and nervously thought about the week to come.