Chapter 2

"Did you know, Rachel, that our boss is going back to New York soon?"

"The boss in the office here?" Rachel, who was brewing hot chocolate, glanced at Nancy while frowning. "Isn't the boss here, Mr. Albert, right? When did he go abroad? I still saw him yesterday when he visited our division."

"Not Mr. Albert, this is his grandson!" Nancy shouted softly, how could Rachel not know the young boss who was always a hot topic in the office. "His name is Mr. Alexandre. Just from the name, you can imagine how handsome Mr. Alexandre is, right?"

Rachel just shrugged with a nonchalant face, then pulled out a chair and put her cup of hot chocolate on the pantry table. "I've only been here a week, I don't know about rumors like that," she said while sipping the hot chocolate slowly.

"But, Rachel, he's always the women's top topic of conversation with here. I mean, haven't you heard of him?" This time it was Nancy's turn to sip the steaming coffee in her hands. "Xavier Alexandre. He's so handsome, kind, humble, and never angry. Mr. Young is far behind him! How can he not make the women almost hysterical every time they see him?"

Rachel's body stiffened for a moment. Her throat went dry, hearing the long name of the man Nancy told him about.

Xavier Alexandre.

Xavier...

X...

Rachel closed for a moment, trying to shake off some of the possibilities that were starting to swirl in her mind.

Is it possible?

Impossible!

The chances of that happening are very small.

Among hundreds of men who live in America, they can't be the same man, right?

They must be two different people. Nancy said Mr. Xavier Alexandre, who was their boss, was warm, friendly, and never scolded his employees.

Meanwhile, Xavier, whom she knows, tends to be casual. His words are always absolute. Absolute without ever wanting to be refuted. Even Xavier, whom she knew, was often reckless and difficult to control when his anger exploded.

After all, if the Xavier Alexandre that Nancy was talking about was indeed the Leonardo she knew, then that man was here in this city, that man must have been looking for and trying to find her, right?

"Rachel!" Nancy waved her hand in front of Rachel's face, causing the woman to blink slowly. "You keep daydreaming."

"Sorry," Rachel grimaced softly because she felt bad. Nancy had been raving about their young boss all this while, while she was busy daydreaming about someone who had been appearing in her dreams a lot lately.

"What happened? I noticed that from the first time you came to work you keep daydreaming. Are you don't feel at home here? Just tell me, if you think I'm your friend."

"No, it's not about that. I just feel at home working here." Rachel smiled a little, then slowly stirred the brewed chocolate which was now getting cold. "This is just a personal matter, Nancy, it has nothing to do with work."

"Mr. Dimitri Young?" Guess Nancy.

But what she found was a shaking head from Rachel in response. "No," she argued. "It's about my boyfriend— Uhm, ex? I don't know what the exact relationship status is right now."

"What's wrong with your boyfriend?" For some reason, Nancy chose the first status option, even though she didn't know anything about her friend's problem.

Rachel took a deep breath. It's very hard to tell everything. Her chest was even throbbing with pain before she could say a word about the figure.

"I can't tell you much. What is clear, I dated him from the beginning of high school even to college, then suddenly he just left my life. Disappeared without the slightest trace...." Rachel rubbed her nose for a moment, then said again, "It's been ten years, and I'm still waiting for him. Someone who will never come back. I'm such an idiot, aren't I?"

Nancy saw the invisible wound in Rachel's eyes. She was sure, it was not easy for Rachel to be trapped in the past for ten years.

She looked at her with pity, one hand reached out to gently caress the back of Rachel's hand. "Love always makes people stupid, Rachel. I can't judge anything, because I don't know what sweet things you've been through with him. Also what bitterness have you been through without him by your side. Look how much he means to you."

"He ... he means a lot to me." Rachel nodded slowly. "He was the one who helped me through my difficult times first. Do you know? it's difficult to survive in America for Asian people like me. He was even very close to my late mother."

Rachel felt her eyes heat up as she recalled the figure whose face had begun to fade in memory.

"Don't you try to move on?" Nancy asked carefully. "Who knows he's already happy with his life without remembering you're here waiting for him. It's been ten years, you know, Rachel. Not a short time."

Rachel suddenly felt her breath catch in her throat. What Nancy said made perfect sense. Could it be the fact that happened like that right? If someone she had been waiting for all this time, turned out to have moved on with his life without any intention of returning.

"No." Rachel shook her head, her heart refusing to believe that this was even possible. "For some reason, I'm sure that his heart still belongs to me."

Meanwhile, behind the pantry door that was not closed tightly, Dimitri was standing while leaning his back against the wall.

At first, when he came out of the toilet and heard Nancy's shrill voice, Dimitri turned towards the pantry because he was sure Rachel would be there too.

However, hearing this interesting conversation made him stop wanting to greet the two women. Dimirtri looked down at the packet of brown bread in his hand which he unconsciously squeezed tightly, he had intended to give the bread to Rachel. One little habit that he always did even when they were still working at the branch office.

Dimitri smiled bitterly. Now he found the answer he had been looking for. Why had Dimitri felt that she had put an invisible line that prevented him from getting any closer to her?

Turns out... Rachel isn't done with her past yet.

He wants to believe he can make Rachel forget the past and accept him, but ten years of waiting for someone with no certainty? It was predictable how deep the feelings Rachel had for her past lover were.

The man walked away from the place with a sour face. He didn't pay attention to the greetings of several employees who passed him.

Finally, the sound of the phone ringing from his pants pocket forced Dimitri to divert his attention. While waiting for the elevator door to open, he reached into the flat object and found his cousin's contact name on the screen of his cellphone.

"Yes, Boss?" Dimitri greeted the caller. "When did you arrive in New York?"