Cold
~Oh, mirror, mirror, so good at mimicking everything you see. But that's it isn't it, you only mimic what's on the outside, what about what you can't see? Mirror, mirror, what's on the inside?~
The weekend was great with Judy, they went to watch a comedy at the nearby cinema. Thankfully, she didn't live too far, so it was convenient meeting up.
A few weeks had passed by since she started working at SnowCorp. She had already gotten a firm hand on her job and this week she would be receiving her salary. She was excited about that, she really needed to pay her rent.
Fortunately for her, Mr Snow was satisfied with her work so far so there shouldn't be any problem.
Sarah checked her wristwatch, it was already time for her lunch break. She walked over to his door and knocked.
He responded immediately.
"Come in."
She entered and closed the door behind her.
As usual, he was buried neck-deep in his work. As she studied him, she couldn't help but wonder if he ever slept.
"Can I get you anything from the cafeteria sir?"
He raised his head and removed his glasses.
She grimaced, he had bags.
She couldn't help but feel a little worried about him.
She was right, he hadn't been sleeping. Most days he had bags underneath his eyes.
He stared at her but he didn't say anything.
'What was he thinking? Why was he staring at her like that?'
His beautiful yet cold green eyes were intense as they stared right into her dark brown ones, making her uncomfortable.
"Sir?" He blinked.
"I'll have a cup of coffee." He said finally.
"Yes sir." Immediately, she turned but stopped when she heard him call her name.
"Miss Anderson." She turned back to him.
"Yes sir?"
"There's going to be a gathering of important businessmen from all over the continent at the Crimson Villa this evening."
"My appearance there is of utmost importance, would you mind accompanying me?" His eyes remained fixed on hers.
Sarah's own widened considerably, she was surprised he was asking her, to say the least.
'This was a first.'
"Of course sir, I-I mean...no sir" She cringed inwardly. Wow, Sarah...
He nodded.
"Tom will be at your place to pick you up by 7."
"Yes sir. Um sir, may I ask what the dress code is?" She didn't know why she was even asking.
He stared at her with a look that made her uncomfortable.
She quickly cleared her throat to hide her embarrassment.
"It's just a dinner meeting hosted by a very wealthy and powerful businessman who apparently has more than enough money to waste. You can wear anything you want."
"Yes sir." Her eyes caught the bags underneath his eyes once again and she couldn't help but feel a little sorry for him. She took a deep breath and spoke.
"May I say something, sir?" His full attention was on her.
"Of course, what is it?"
"I noticed for the past few days you've seemed stressed out, I just wanted to ask if you were ok sir."
His eyes widened slightly and then lowered and right then, she saw something change in his eyes subtly. They softened a little, she didn't know what it was or what it meant.
He averted his eyes.
"Sir?"
"I..." He paused slightly then continued.
"I've been having some trouble sleeping lately due to these headaches I've been having, but it'll pass." He spoke in a low tone.
"I'm terribly sorry about that sir. I know how it feels."
She continued.
"I've had severe headaches in the past too but whenever I plead the blood of Jesus, it gets better and I know it can work for you too." She said sympathetically.
His eyes snapped up to hers immediately, the softness she had seen in the earlier was long gone and the cold look was back once again.
"I appreciate the sentiment Miss Anderson but I'm not a Christian. Nothing short of a good prescription will make me better."
"There's no such thing as the blood that heals, not in real life anyway, maybe in movies." He said in his usual calm tone.
Her eyes widened in response.
Her heart banged against her ribcage frantically, she was speechless.
She couldn't bear the cold look in his eyes any longer so she focused her gaze elsewhere.
"M-May I leave sir?" She said a little above a whisper.
"Yes, you may. My driver will pick you up by 7pm after work, don't keep him waiting."
"Yes sir." And with that, she walked out of his office with her feeling sapped.
|||•|||
As Sarah laid on her bed she couldn't help but think about what transpired between her and her boss. She felt awful and hurt all at the same time.
She never ever thought he would speak to her that way, but she guessed she still didn't know who he really was.
She was so shocked by his response she couldn't make out words to say but she wouldn't let it bother her anymore or at least she'll try not to let it bother her.
"Speedy, speedy, here boy." She called out to her new pet dog she just got from her elder sister when she visited her, apparently, her shepherd dog just gave birth to five lovely pups.
A few seconds later a little pup came rushing out of the kitchen, no doubt from eating his meal.
When speedy got to the foot of the bed, he started whimpering because the bed was too high for him. So she lifted him up and placed him on her bed.
"Who's a good boy? Who's a good boy? Speedy is!" In response, Speedy gave a happy bark, his tail waging back and forth.
She sighed and laid back on her bed slowly petting him on the head. Sometimes, she gets so lonely here. She was bored out of her mind so she decided to watch some TV.
She carried Speedy and made her way to the living room and put on the TV. She just wanted to watch some Netflix and chill. She decided to watch flash, she wanted to catch up on the season. She was on the first episode of season 4.
Honestly, she was a big fan of Barry, I mean, who wouldn't be, right? Baby faced, doesn't look a day over 23, sometimes could even pass for a senior at high school, you know what I'm saying?
Not even five minutes into the second episode she fell asleep.
|||•|||
"How are you today big brother?" A wide grin was plastered on Juliet's face.
Aaron sighed in frustration.
'Why can't this little girl just leave me alone?'
They were in a very nice expensive restaurant.
Apparently, his sister had wanted to meet up with him today. She had claimed it was an 'emergency'.
If he didn't see an 'emergency' in five minutes, he was leaving.
"What do you want Juliet?"
"I'm fine, how are you too? Oh, I'm just peachy." She rambled under her breath.
"Juliet?"
"Ok, ok, sheesh. What crawled up your bum and laid eggs?" She said the last part quietly so he wouldn't hear.
She knew she had to tell him quickly or he would leave.
"It's about my wedding, we've finally picked a date."
"When is it?"
"A few months from now, on the tenth of December. We've already started making the wedding arrangements, it's gonna be perfect. I wanna ask you for a favour."
"What is it?"
Just then, the waiter came to get their order. Aaron made no move to make his order so she chose for both of them. She selected an exquisite meal with a bottle of white wine for both of them as well.
"Excellent choice." The waiter left to get their order.
"Juliet, what is it?"
She prayed he wouldn't refuse, it would mean a lot to her.
She sucked in a deep breath.
'Here goes nothing.'
"Would you please walk me down the aisle?"
Aaron's eyes widened significantly.
She didn't wait for him to recover from the shock, she continued.
"Ever since mom and dad died, you were the only real family I had left, ever since our so-called uncle threw us out and dumped us, you've been the only one that stood by me, that protected me." Tears started pulling in her eyes.
"You worked so hard so that we could survive so that we could have a future. You didn't care if you got sick as long as I was ok. You were like a father, you were my big brother." She wiped the treacherous tears that had escaped from her eyes.
"It would mean the world to me if you walked me down the aisle Aaron." She waited pensively to hear what he would say but he didn't say anything.
He closed his eyes and stood up. He opened his eyes and stared at her for a few seconds before he spoke.
"I wish you and Eric a happy married life, I won't be coming to your wedding. From this moment forward, don't contact me again outside of work." He dropped the money for the meal and left.
...