Hate To Want You (18+)

17| she knows

A S T R I D

I was dreading waking up this morning. Three days of trying to come up with a perfect way to break the news to Blaire who has become like a friend to her. I would rehearse many different ways from sun up to sun down and neither sounded like a good enough way to tell her. In the end, I decided to just go with the flow because the thought was weighing down my conscience.

The Marketing Department was a pain in my ass. To show that they were truly the brains of the company, they were throwing a lot of workload my way and demanding my best work. I could see that it was also an effort to test my capabilities if I was worthy of being Mr. Pierce's Personal Assistant.

Too bad for them, I've had practice, so I know how to hold my own. Speaking of the Marketing Department, Margaret Benjamin, the HOD, showed up at my cubicle, tapping her foot impatiently.

"Is there something I can help you with, Maggie?" I ask, reading through the file about a project the R&D Department submitted months ago.

"How is it coming along?" she ask and I could hear the bitterness in her voice.

"It would go a lot faster if you didn't ask me that every fifteen minutes," I answered, snarkily, still not looking at her.

Her foot stopped tapping which was a relief. I was a second away from breaking it. "Just because you're technically the right hand to Mr. Pierce, doesn't mean you get to treat everyone like we're below you."

"No, because that's your job, right? If I were treating everyone the way you say I am then explain to me why I'm putting my work on hold to try and understand and lend a hand to every department in the company? I didn't have to do that but I did. Yet, instead of doing your job, you're looking over my shoulder and undermining me," I asserted, maintaining eye contact with her to show her just how serious I was. I noticed her foot shift and I mentally smiled and went back to work.

She was still standing there, probably trying to find something to say to have the last word and one up me. I looked up at her and arched an eyebrow as if to ask what are you still doing here?

"It was about time someone put that bitch in her place," Blaire applauded, smiling as she stood by my desk. "Too bad she's too good at her job or Gio would've fired her a long time ago."

"I hope this doesn't make my work harder because I'm planning on staying another week to help choose the best projects for the company," I told her.

She told me that she was taking a break. She gave her new intern things to do in an attempt to teach her. While she spoke, I couldn't avoid the gnawing in my chest. My brain felt like it would explode if I didn't tell her any time soon.

"Blaire, I need to tell you something important. And I need you to listen very carefully because even though it may hurt, I promise I am looking out for you." I was trying to lay the foundation before revealing what I knew.

With furrowed eyebrows, she turned to me in concern, "What's going on, Astrid?"

I sighed in despair, "Noah is cheating on you. I'm sorry but I saw him."

She stepped back as if I slapped her. She stared at me with such despondent eyes. I pushed my chair out and stood to my feet to comfort her. She was zoned out, I could almost see the many thoughts going through her mind. But there was something in her eyes that was not hard to distinguish. It was almost hard to believe; I had to be wrong.

"You know," I theorized, praying to every Supreme Being there is, that I may be wrong. She looked at me with red eyes but the tears refused to fall. "Blaire, how long-"

"No, you're wrong. Noah would never do that to me. He loves me. We're getting married for God sakes," she almost shouted. It was the first stage of grief. It may not be death but it might as well be because she was in denial and angry.

She knows she was losing her fiancé but she doesn't want to admit it because that makes it real.

I'm sorry, Blaire.

He may be my boss but he was the best person to go to about this. He is her family after all and she's going to need someone to be there for her.

"Mr. Pierce, I told her." His eye made contact with mine as soon as the words left my lips. "She knows but she's... you know, in denial."

"How are you?"

I shook my head, "I'm fine, it's Blaire I'm worried about. She's going to need you."

15/01/22

Au revoir...

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