From hating his boss to fake dating him. What could go wrong?
Secretary Andrew is the perfect secretary. Intelligent, resourceful, and beloved by the employees. While his boss, Sir Allen-the CEO's son, is cold, anti-social, and has the emotional cap...
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The office was quiet. No noise, no interaction, just a stillness that followed Andrew. From the moment he entered from the back entrance of the building and up to the elevator ride to his floor. No one spoke to him. Somehow, he felt a prickling sense of embarrassment.
The doors slid open, and Claire was waiting for him. She was her usual perky self and greeted him with a bright smile.
"Where's everybody?" Andrew asked to fill the silence,
"Allen was in a meeting, and the team's busy running around."
Though the damages were already done. Allen's words held more weight now as compared before. All the hard work and respect he has fought so hard to gain over the years were gone in a single night.
Though Claire kept saying otherwise.
"You already said before that Lopez Co. isn't the company, but it's the people," she said. "And no one is more respected, more loved, than the best secretary in the world."
Andrew chuckled. "Thank you, Claire."
Claire stood by his side as he packed his belongings into a carton box.
"We can drop the rest of your belongings to your apartment," she said. "You can take your time. Do you want to be alone?"
Andrew shook his head.
He cleared out his cabinets and stumbled upon the yellow notes of encouragement he has kept all over the years. Clair noticed them also, she bent down and got surprised by the sheer amount that filled his drawer.
"Wow, how come you have so many of these? Keep up the good work. You did your best today. That's so sweet. Who wrote you these notes? Some of these are already faded."
Andrew took one that read, 'I hope you know how astounding you are'.
It's funny how Andrew only realized that there was only one person in this team stuck up enough to use the word Astounding. He caressed the notes with such care as if it was the hand of the writer.
Claire enveloped her in a hug. "Don't worry," she mumbled. "We'll take care of him while you're away. We don't know what the future holds. Maybe you'll come back as Secretary Andrew, or as restaurant-owner Andrew, or just as our friend, Andrew. And you'll always be welcome here."
Andrew held her tightly in his arms. "Since when did you get so wise and mature?"
Her bright laughter echoed loudly. "We rehearsed our lines before you came. We knew you'd choose today while everyone's preoccupied."
"You guys know me best."
"Someone knows you better." She gave a knowing wink.
"The fuck?"
"Let's get this packing thing over with." She jerked her thumb to his cluttered desk. Andrew nodded with a smile on his lips. They resumed by collecting all the notes together. By the time they were done, they were still alone. There was a part of him that didn't want to leave in this stillness, without the warm embrace of his colleagues.
