Mafia's Mate

Cheer up

>>Clio

The atmosphere in the office was weird.

I could tell the people were stealing glances at me left and right as I went to do the trivial office chores. I could feel their eyes on me even when I was sitting on my desk.

It was as if they all wanted to say something to me but couldn't bring themselves to start it.

Oh God...

I'm sure a boss wouldn't go around telling his employees that one of them was crying but there were three other people who saw my tear-stained face at the station.

I glanced at Bizy and Imani and they both looked away in a panic.

Caught red-handed..

I guess they're both guilty. Office gossip spreads like wildfire after all. It was the same in NLN too. If anyone found any juicy gossip, a few hours later everyone knew about it.

I sighed and did my best to ignore it and the first half of work passed like this. But as we all were about to scatter for lunch break Lizzo couldn't keep his mouth shut anymore.

"Clio," As soon as he called my name I stopped in my path but along with me, the rest of the office stopped as well. And while I turned to look at Lizzo, everyone else turned to look at me.

Oh God...

"Yes?"

"This is going to sound rude," He started speaking, "And I tried to ignore it too." The atmosphere got tense with anticipation, "But looking at your face I don't think it's right not to ask." He looked directly at my face, "I heard you were crying last night." He walked towards me, "Is something wrong?" He came and stood a few steps away from me, "Why would you be crying in the middle of the night at a train station?"

...

I knew at some point someone was going to ask me about it. I knew it and I was preparing myself mentally for it as well. But still, now that the question has been asked, I can't help but feel sad.

"Oh," I looked away in shame. I wonder if everyone knows now that I was crying in my boss's arms. Lizzo didn't mention it, but does everyone know? "It's just," I looked down, "My lover's cheating on me..." I couldn't really hide it. Not after I was seen like that.

A mixture of loud gasps erupted in the office.

"WHAT!?" There was a unified question.

"Oh! MY! God!"

"Who would cheat on you!!"

"That bitch must be out of her mind." They all started swarming around me to console me and they practically just group-hugged me and took me to the cafeteria where they stuffed me with food.

"So how did you find out?" I was drinking the bottled milk when I was asked the question. And I knew full well they were all just asking because they were curious, the world loves gossip.

I sighed, then told them what I saw.

Of course, I changed our genders according to the story and made Nolan a woman and Cherelle the guy, but the thing is I wasn't expecting much out of it, yet as I told everyone the story, and they all listened keenly, I found my heart getting a little lighter.

So even when I choked up, and a few tears slipped down my cheeks, they all remained patient with me.

Imani kept wiping my tears away while Jacob kept giving me the tissues. I didn't think I'd feel better but somehow I did.

"You know what," Lizzo said, "This calls for a drinking break." Everyone looked at him in disbelief.

"You're at work," Dave gave him a disgusted look.