Alibi

23 | Hell Hath No Fury Like a Woman Scorned

After the frantic day Tilly had worked, she messaged Tom on the drive home to tell him that she was taking a day of sick leave. It was rare for Tilly to ever call in sick, even if she was coughing up a lung she'd figure out a way to still work from home. This time was different though, this time she was far too drained. Tom was quick to send back a thumbs up emoji, which instantly struck him with a pang of worry. Would she find that too sarcastic? What if she thought he was mad at her? Quickly, he sent another text message and told her to rest up and try to relax, followed by a third and final message: Proud of you today.

When she got home, she saw Roman's ridiculously oversized bouquet of flowers and instantly burst into tears at the sheer sight of them. She was exhausted. Overwhelmed. Completely run down. She felt as though she was constantly working in the background to keep the ATN ship afloat, whilst everybody else was smooth sailing. So seeing such an act of appreciation made her emotions run rampant. The floodgates were open. The waterworks were on.

It had been a long time since she felt like she was being taken care of rather than caring for everyone else all the time. She sent a heartfelt thank you text, wished Roman good night and turned her work phone off. Due to the size of the bouquet, she didn't see the Tiffany and Co box until the next morning and instantly called him when she opened it.

"Are you fucking kidding me Roman?! This is fucking insane!" She exclaimed, holding her phone in one hand and stirring her coffee in the other.

"Good morning to you too... Did you just wake up? It's like, 11am Tilly... Also, you look puffy," He chuckled as he sat in the backseat of his chauffeur driven car, on the way to the Waystar offices. Roman tapped the small view of his own camera, using it as a mirror to fix his hair. He had to rush his post-workout routine at the gym after seeing the myriad of missed calls and texts from Kerry once he finished with his personal trainer.

Shit was going down at Waystar.
A lot of shit. Big shit.

"Fuck you, I'm allowed to sleep in on my days off. And fuck you, I cried before bed so yeah, I'm puffy. Sue me," she huffed back, sticking her middle finger up at the camera before steering the conversation back. "Be honest with me Rome. Did you actually choose what you bought me or did you give your Amex to one of the family assistants?"

"Oh fuck you! I went down to 5th Avenue myself, as a matter of fact," He said tapping his finger against his temple. "Hey uh, do you know what's going on at the office? There's like, a fucking army of Libtards out the front and they look pissed. Holding their little signs and everything," Roman said looking out the back window as they descended into the underground car park.

The entrance to Waystar was barricaded off to the general public with security guards fending off the hoard of protesters. Staff were urged to use the more secure entrances via the parking garages underneath the buildings, as they needed employee passes to gain access. Roman hadn't seen this many enraged people since the cruise scandal first leaked, so he knew there must have been a recent development to the shit show. A bigger and more controversial development.

"I don't know, I haven't turned my work phone on. But Roman, seriously you have to take it back," She pleaded.

"Why?"

"Why?! Because it's a fucking engagement ring Roman!"

"What? No it's not... It's just like, a normal fucking ring. But Til... Til?" Roman tried interrupting, though Matilda was excessively rambling about the expensive gift. "Oh my fucking god, Tilly! I'm about to head upstairs so my phone is gonna cut out in the elevator," he interrupted as a security guard opened the car door for him and spoke quietly into his earpiece.