Hey, not me!

Chapter fourteen: chocolate.

It was Wednesday and the weekly conference meeting was to happen later. With our company constantly trying to come up with an edge over its competitors, we had to put in our best. For me it meant coming up with ways to make our whole organisation more efficient and effective since my department dealt with internal affairs. I could barely remember when I used to be just some subordinate and not a major team player.

These past few months had been great and I was happy. My career was taking off and I had a new bestie. The rumors about the CEO had died down but had also left men more hesitant to bombard me at the office. Outside the office I often had Sheila with me and this served to dissuade most guys from going after me. Life was good. A great job for me and a lot of peace to have. I couldn't have asked for better.

I woke up with a feeling. Today was going to end bad and I just couldn't wait for it to be over. I put on my best suit and styled my hair into a cute hairdo. I wasn't going to face whatever I had coming without looking good. Simply because life was out to get me didn't mean I was just going to roll over and let things go south. I would face whatever was coming with a killer smile and a winner attitude.

I sat in the conference room at my assigned seat. I was playing candy crush on my phone to pass time as we waited for the big boss to come in. The guy hadn't so much as acknowledged my existence since I turned down his attentions. I was glad for this. It was, however, unusual that he would be this late for the meeting and some of the other department heads and the board were getting antsy. I didn't mind either way since I was far ahead in my schedule.

"Good morning ladies and gentlemen, sorry to keep you waiting." He swept into the room. Right at his heels was a middle aged man that I was sure didn't work anywhere in this company. "Meet the CEO of Diamond ltd with whom we are hoping to do business with. He has requested to sit in and get a feel of how we conduct business here. Please lets make a good impression," he said causing several chuckles around the room.

I put my phone away and began to actually pay attention to the meeting. I didn't get to say anything and I didn't mind much. I never liked to have too much attention on myself, especially not when we had company. Also, I didn't want whatever was waiting to happen to be in front of all these people. Best to be embarrassed in front of few people and not the top-notch personnel of the company.

I speed walked back to my office to escape the casual chitchat that usually followed such meetings. I didn't exactly fancy having to talk about my personal life with these superficial colleagues of mine. I had better things to do which included getting to my best friend for lunch. I took with me the food I'd brought and went to meet up with her at our spot. I'd missed that crazy girl.

It was to my great disappointment that I found her with someone else. She was seated on the grass and right next to her was the visiting CEO. (Okay, before you say it; I know the way these things keep happening you'd think this is a movie.) The two of them happened to be in deep conversation and didn't notice me. She was giggling. I mean the girl never giggled, instead she always flat out laughed but there she was.

I didn't know whether to interrupt or leave. We had a code that we'd rescue each other from having nasty conversations with guys we didn't like but Sheila seemed to be enjoying herself. She actually looked like she was having a lot of fun. I wondered what was up with her as I watched their exchange. Was this daddy issues in real life?

"Hey sweetie," I greeted as I proceeded to interrupt. Maybe I was being a little selfish but I wasn't about to lose the best part of my day to some man. I pecked Sheila on the cheek in our usual greeting.

"Hey babes," she replied. "Meet Titus. He is the CEO of Diamond ltd," she introduced.

"I know dear. He was at the meeting," I said and shot a glare towards him for emphasis. Sheila noticed even though I'd intended her not to.

"Be nice," she teased and giggled some more.

"I am always nice," I answered sarcastically. "Anyway how do you know each other?"

"Oh, we just met. He was coming out here to pick a call and decided to keep me company as I waited for you. You have no idea how funny he is," she gushed.

"Okay. Am sure he is but am here now and we need some girl time," I said. It wasn't hard to decipher that I wanted him to leave. However, my two companions didn't seem to get it and Sheila just laughed and reached for the food. She divided it into three portions and welcomed us to eat. I was burning with an ugly feeling of jealousy. My situation didn't get any better when they started telling inside jokes as if they had known each other all their lives.

I just sat there feeling like an outsider wondering how I had got back to this point. I hadn't felt like an outsider in so long mostly because I had avoided situations like this. I had thought I'd won the lottery with Sheila but even good things come to an end I guess. I was utterly frustrated by the time I was done with my food. I packed up my things and got up to leave.

"There's dessert," Sheila said.

I forced a smile and sat back down. She got out a creamy chocolate cake, my favourite actually. I smiled as she once more managed to surprise me in a good way. I reached forward to take the slice she offered me. As I wrapped my hand around it, Titus jerked forward to swat a fly away. Unfortunately, he hit the piece of cake instead and it landed square on my chest. I watched in horror as chocolate smeared all over my white suit, my best suit.

"I can't believe this," I said. I could feel tears forming in my eyes as I ran off.