Surprise-1

　　BASH

　　I feel the instant coldness of the stainless door handle on my office as I push it open. As I enter, I feel a sudden unsettling in the pit of my stomach when a familiar flowery scent hits my nostrils.

　　A gasp has my head snap, and my eyes are transfixed on the woman in front of me. Everything stops. My surrounding blurs. The beating of my heart races. My eyes widen in shock, and I am surprised that my jaw is still attached to my head.

　　I’m not expecting to see her here in this building, let alone in my office. I wasn’t thinking about her when Dad told me to be nice to my assistant. What’s this supposed to mean?

　　I shut my gaping mouth close and cough awkwardly. “Trinity.” Her name comes out a whisper, and it feels foreign in my ears.

　　She blinks many times before she clears her throat. She smiles at me—a tight smile; just a plain smile; a forceful one. “Mr. Hughes, good Morning, and welcome to your new office,” she greets with courtesy. Mr. Hughes? “I hope the interior fits your liking, but we can still request and change—”

　　I raise my sweaty hand for her to stop. My heart beats faster than before. My lungs expand further, that my ribcage can crack any moment, and it makes me difficult to breathe.

　　I look at her for seconds, and she meets my gaze then breaks it quickly.

　　“You didn’t come to the party my family threw out two days ago,” I said almost silently.

　　She grabs some files on top of my desk with the iPad on top. She hugs them to her chest gracefully. “I sent Lizzy a message that I couldn’t come. So, as you know, I’m your new assistant temporarily, and my office is just adjacent to yours.” She puts a little emphasis on the temporarily while pointing at the door on my left.

　　Her stares give me shiver; her green eyes are shooting an icy glare on me.

　　She changed a lot. Her hair is cut short just above her shoulders. The color is still the same, though. Her face still has freckles, but they’re lesser, maybe from the makeup she applies on. Her lips are still full, painted with red lipstick.

　　She taps on her iPad. “You have a meeting in less than ten minutes.”

　　I take a deep breath. “Trinity, just leave the meeting for a while, can you?” I move closer to her because I badly want to pull her into a hug and feel her warm welcome.

　　She swallows hard. “Okay, you’re the boss. I placed all the paper works that were left by Mr. Peter Williams.” She gestures to the file on top of my desk.

　　“I’m not interested in that either.” I snap. “What happened to you, Trinity?”

　　She looks taken aback. “What happened to me?” she asks back, pointing her finger to herself. “Nothing bad happened to me, Mr. Hughes. If you don’t want me as your temporary assistant, by all means, please, just ask HR for my replacement,” she adds sternly.

　　“That’s not what I mean.” Why is she acting like she doesn’t know me? “Stop calling me Mr. Hughes. You’re my best friend for God’s sake—”

　　“Were,” she cuts me off. “Ex-best friend, Mr. Hughes. You are my boss now, so only it’s proper to address you as—”

　　“I am your boss, so do as I say,” I tell her in an authoritative tone.

　　“Sure.” She looks down at the empty chair in front of my desk.

　　She places back down the file she took a while ago and smoothens her dark blue pencil-cut skirt that ends just above her knees. She wears a white blouse with a dark blue blazer. She looks beautiful, elegant, and very professional.

　　“I came to see you before my flight to the U.K, but you were not there. You went to your grandparents in Boston.”

　　She doesn’t say anything. I guess she’s listening.

　　I continue, “I wanted to apologize that day and take back our friendship, Trinity, but you didn’t even answer my calls nor replied to my messages.”

　　“It doesn’t matter. That was four years ago,” she says coolly.

　　I snort. “That’s it? I mean, you just wasted our friendship for years with just one mistake I made, and you made mistakes too, Trinity.”

　　“I don’t want to be your friend, Bash. Can’t you understand that? Your friends, classmates, and girlfriends thought I was just your slave. I’m a dog under your leash. Your personal maid!”

　　“Did I listen to them even once? How many times did I fight for you against them? How many times did I choose you against my girlfriends? How many times did I defend you against those freaking losers, Trinity? How many times?” My voice fills in the room. Before I came, I did not exactly expect to fight early in the morning. It ruins my mood to have an early argument with anyone.