Surprise Me Maybe

19. The Shift

Despite being an employee in the same group, moving to the headquarters gives the same hassle as moving to a totally different company. New faces, new workspace, new key performance indicators, and new stress. I never experienced this rapid change in my career before, and I'm not sure how to feel about this. But there's no point in pondering about it right now since the bigger drama requires more attention.

The talk I had with Diandra last Saturday still hangs heavy in my head. Despite my determination in making my relationship with Ashton work, there are nagging thoughts in the corner of my mind. How long will it take until Diandra swings back with full ammunition? What is she planning right now? What do I need to do to prepare myself? I just hope that she doesn't drag Chloe into this and creates unnecessary tension.

I know Diandra thinks she's lending me her boy toy so that I can have fun until my time is up, but she forgets that this toy has a brain, a heart, and free will. Has she even talked to Ashton about this lately? Does she know what he wants? From what I gather from her perspective and how Ashton sees things are like day and night. It leaves me hanging in the grey area when I try to mix them.

I believe it's Ashton who is telling the truth, otherwise, I wouldn't want to go this far with him. But he needs to start talking to Diandra about this situation before it gets even uglier than it already is. But again, what do I want him to tell her? To re-break up with her when they aren't even in a relationship right now? Or ask her to stop wanting him? Can we even do that when we still love someone?

After Dickson fetched Diandra from the restroom that afternoon, we went on with the rest of the party plan. Ashton was trying to give all his attention to Chloe but I know that he wasn't fully there, and it didn't take a genius to guess what distracted him. I was not doing better either since the emotional rush from the talk with his ex was still freshly pumping in my veins. Yeah, talk about a party pooper.

"Have you tried to talk to her?" I ask Ashton when we have a chance to chat on the phone during lunch today.

I eat my lunch at my desk to avoid those scrutinizing eyes on me ever since the news about Ashton and Chloe was out. I'm sure that there are plenty of speculations about me going around right now, and I'm just not in the mood to deal with them just yet. Maybe never.

"No, not yet. Haven't found the time to do it and I don't think I can in the next few days. My schedules are too tight. And I still don't see the relevance of why I should talk to her." He pauses a bit, seemingly busy doing something judging from the shuffling sound in the background. "I ended things with her. Why do I need to reopen the closed case?"

"The case has never been properly closed. You're still talking to her. Maybe that's how she gets the wrong signals from you."

He sighs. "What signals? I don't understand why women love to complicate themselves by looking for something that is not there. Why not focus on what is spoken?"

"Because action speaks louder than words, Ashton." I glance at my not-fully-closed door, checking if someone is accidentally standing within hearing distance. I shouldn't have mentioned his name out loud.

"And what action did I do that spoke louder than my breakup line?"

I shrug while pouring the dressing into my salad. "I don't know. Maybe responding to her every time she texted you? Showing her a friendly gesture when you met her?"

"I don't see the need of turning our exes into our eternal enemies," he replies, followed by the sound of his fingers dancing on the keyboard buttons. He must be replying to emails while talking to me. "And considering Diandra's mom and my mother have become friends, you will see her around my family for a while."