It has been two days and Jade hasn't returned to Disora. Taylor tried calling her but the number in their records isn't working.
"How can she be so unprofessional?" Perrie asks, her lips twist into a snarl. "If she doesn't want to work here, she could've at least sent us an email! Even a simple text would do."
"We have enough people on our list, Perrie," Taylor reminds her. "Just let Jade go. Besides, she's not an official employee here anyway."
That seemed to have calmed Perrie a bit as she and Taylor continued their discussion. Even as they were talking about Perrie's plans in expanding Disora, she's still trying her best to ensure that Perrie remains calm for the entire duration of their meeting.
Taylor knows her boss very well. Perrie tends to get angry and frustrated real quick especially when certain situations are out of her control. That says a lot about being a control freak.
Just then, Jade finally arrives at the office with her resignation letter in hand. She's planning to bid her farewell to Taylor and tell her that she won't be able to complete her internship at Disora.
She was shocked, however, when she saw that almost half of the employees on the 10th floor were gone. Their desks were clean. While the remaining ones were busy packing their stuff and putting it in a cardboard box. Then, someone touched Jade's arm.
"Where have you been?" Jesy asks. Jade was startled when Jesy dragged her to her desk.
"What's going on? Why are people cleaning up their desks?"
"The boss decided to change the company–long story. Anyway, where were you? They've been looking for you for two days now. Why didn't you send them an email that you were taking a leave or something."
"Them?" Jade asks, confused as to who could be looking for her aside from Taylor.
"Yes, the boss and the assistant boss."
With furrowed brows, Jade asks, "Oh, I didn't know that my absence was that important to them?"
"It appears so, otherwise, they wouldn't be looking for you. Just...go! Report to the boss right away!" Jesy gently pushes her to the CEO's office when Jade rebuts.
"Okay! I'm only here because I'm quitting. I won't be able to complete my internship anymore."
Jesy stopped in her tracks, "But...wh-why?"
"I'll talk to you later." Jade simply answered. Jesy wasn't able to counter because Jade was quick to walk away and head straight to Perrie's office.
When Jade got in, the two women were in the middle of a discussion and didn't notice her.
"We're supposed to have a meeting with the people who will stay and work for me as we pivot the business, and Jade is delaying it." Perrie taps her pen repeatedly on her journal.
"I haven't talked to her about that either," Taylor admitted. "I'm not even sure if she'll stay or not."
Jade sensed that they were talking about her as she looked at the two women who still weren't aware of her presence. When she finally clears her throat, it's enough to get the attention of Perrie and Taylor.
"I'm here. What's going on?" Jade takes a step forward.
Taylor glances at Perrie before collecting her things and stands up. "I'll leave you two alone. Call me if you need anything." When she passed by Jade as she was heading out, she whispered, "Good luck."
Jade doesn't give a damn about luck. Her job was getting boring and all she wanted was to leave the company. She wanted out.
Perrie, on the other hand, sat wordless behind her desk. This made Jade take the initiative to speak first even if Taylor had warned her to never talk first. But Jade isn't in the mood to follow some stupid rule right now that her gorgeous boss made up.
"I'm quitting my internship," Jade says. "Sorry if two days of not being around caused you this much stress. I didn't think I had that much contribution to this company anyway. I'm just an intern."
"Why are you quitting?" Perrie narrows her eyes at her. She watches the blonde way too intensely. "To get away from me? Is that it?"
Jade scoffs, "Please...not everything I do is because of you. Quit thinking that you're the center of everything."
Perrie sighs. Her demeanor changes. "Jade...when are you gonna stop hating me?"
"When are you gonna stop following me?" Jade retorts.
"I'm not following you–"
"Oh, really? Why did you buy Disora in the first place, then?"
This time, Perrie scoffs. "Quit thinking that you're the center of everything." Perrie shoots back what Jade said earlier. "It was my father who asked me to buy the company–not because I'm following you."
"Oh? And did he also ask you to buy the bar where I used to serve drinks in? The coffee shop? What about the grocery store, huh? I was working peacefully there until you showed up as the new owner. Last time I checked, those were not even listed under the e-commerce industry."
They were having an intense stare-down, but Jade's gaze was stronger than the blonde's. Perrie was the first to avert her gaze. Her expression has also softened.
"Jade...please, let me–"
"I'm done here, Perrie. I came to quit my internship." Jade didn't wait for Perrie to answer. She immediately walked out of the blonde's office. What she doesn't know is that Perrie followed her out of her office.
"Jade! I just want to talk!" Perrie blurts out a little too loudly.
Jade stopped and spun around to face Perrie, not knowing that they were in the middle of the 10th floor where the remaining employees sat on their desks, freely witnessing their intense conversation. What's good about it is that neither of them seem to care!
"There is nothing to talk about, Perrie. You know that. It was your decision to stop talking about what happened."
"Well...then, what I've said to you before–I'm taking it back! I have so many things to tell you, if you could just give me a chance. Just...listen to me."
"Too late. I've got no time for your bullshit and drama," Jade spat out the words like lava. "When you decided that we should both move on with our lives, it took me a while to recover. And now that I'm better off without you, you have the audacity to suddenly show up! I am not something that you can throw and take back whenever you change your mind or whenever it pleases you!"
"I am still your wife! We're still married, Jade."
Jade was taken aback. It felt like she was punched in the gut by some invisible force. Even the employees around them were shocked at what Perrie said. Some of them gasped.
"What?!"
Perrie cautiously took a few steps toward Jade. "The divorce paper that I sent you..."
"We both signed it." Jade recalls as she looks at Perrie in the eyes.
Perrie nods. "But I didn't forward it to my lawyer. I burned it." Jade broke from the trance she was in and shook her head. She noticed that a lot of people were staring at them, so she raised her hand and clenched her fists to stop time. Everyone else in the building was frozen in time except for Jade...and Perrie. "I couldn't do it, Jade, I just can't afford to lose you."
Jade didn't answer right away. But when she opens her mouth to say the next few words, it'll leave Perrie more broken and devastated than ever before.
"Well, I guess you're a bit late for that. You already lost me." She turned her back on Perrie one more time before walking towards the nearest window and jumped out from the 10th floor. She landed on her feet like a nimble feline before she returned the flow of time again.
Perrie was left in the middle of the office with her employees gaping at her and what they had witnessed two seconds ago. When she realized this, she composed herself like nothing ever happened.
She lifts her left hand to check her wrist watch. "Meeting starts in ten minutes." She then returned inside her office while her employees who were still shaken by what they saw started to get up from their seats. While the others followed her immediately to her office.
It was not a surprise that there were whispers amongst employees about their new boss.
"Duuuude...we're screwed," Jordan admits.
"I know." Niall agrees, raking his hand through his mane. A habit he does a lot whenever he's stressed out.
"We've been asking her to buy us coffee when she's the wife of the owner!" Jordan was more nervous than him.
"I told you not to trust a gorgeous brunette," Niall reminds him.
Jordan nods, "Yeah...next time, I'm gonna listen to you."
Almost all of the employees couldn't fathom what just happened. It's kind of hard to believe that your new boss and the intern are wives!
A lot of them were scared for their lives and their career knowing that they abused Jade a lot as an intern; grabbing coffee, doing unnecessary things for them that they can simply do themselves, literally making her go up and down the building doing their work. After all this, for sure, most of the employees will choose to leave the company instead.
Even Jesy was left surprised and just mumbled to herself, "I did not see that coming."
☆
Jade was walking down the street after jumping off the building of Disora, trying to calm herself down. After all these years, she thought that she's successfully erased Perrie from her life – from her mind. Apparently, she's wrong because the blonde still has this effect on her that she hates to feel to begin with.
When she first saw Perrie enter Disora, she managed to contain her emotions and managed to show a not-giving-a-shit look. When she knows too well that her insides churn like some throng of honey bees are swarming inside her, and her heart races undeniably fast whenever she catches a glimpse of the blonde.
Even when she stepped in as Perrie's part-time driver, they were casual and their conversations were limited. They never talked about their past. Neither of them made an effort to start the conversation, until today. But she just couldn't shake what happened a while ago, it hit a delicate nerve she never knew existed.
She went to a mini-grocery store and decided to buy some cold drinks to somewhat put out the fire within her. She was minding her own business going from freezer to freezer when she heard someone from the entrance.
"EVERYBODY, GET DOWN!!" A man shouts. There were two men, one holding a gun while the other held a dagger against the cashier's throat.
Jade didn't pay them attention and continued searching for her drink. When one of the men saw her, he was confused why she wasn't even showing the slightest bit of fear. She just carried on choosing between a strawberry or chocolate drink. The other man barked harsh orders at the cashier to fill his bag with money from the cash register.
Whether the man is suicidal or he's just really brave because he approached Jade with a gun in his hand. "Hey! I said, get down!"
Jade acted as if she didn't hear him at all.
The guy came closer and aimed the gun behind her. Jade could only roll her eyes and spun around to face the guy. She looked really pissed that she was interrupted while contemplating between two drinks.
"You know...if you're going to aim your gun at me, aim it here..." Jade points to her left chest. "Don't aim it on parts where I get the chance to survive."
The man was baffled by Jade's behaviour. He's thinking this woman in front of him is crazy or something! "What?!"
"Here...let me help you out," Jade puts down the strawberry and chocolate drink, and guides the muzzle of the gun to her chest. "This is how you properly aim your gun, or..." She guides it again to her forehead, all while the guy is still holding onto his gun. "Here...yeah, classic way to kill. Splat my brain. It's messy, but it works all the time. Dead within seconds."
The other guy who was collecting the money saw this and called out to his accomplice, "What the hell, man?! What are you doing?"
"This woman is crazy, dude!" The guy aiming at Jade responds, his hand slightly shaking.
"Then, shoot her!"
"Yeah! Shoot me! C'mon! It shouldn't be so hard! Don't let me do this to myself!" Jade chimes into their conversation, which surprised the guy aiming the gun at her. He's finding it very hard to pull the trigger. "Shoot me! Shoot–" And with one swift move, Jade was able to unarm the man and punched him, causing him to fall to the floor.
Jade drops the gun as she looks at the man lying on the floor. "You're wasting my time." The other guy who held the dagger charged at her and tried to stab her, but with Jade's quick reflexes, she was able to dodge his attack and without much effort, she was able to knock him out, too.
"I'm really not in the mood right now. I just want to get my cold drinks in peace!" Jade yells at them while the two men wince in pain on the ground.
She saw the bag where one of the thieves put the money in. She grabbed it along with the strawberry drink.
Jade gave back the money the men stole and paid for her drink. The cashier was shocked at what happened but he was nevertheless thankful.
"Keep the change," Jade said as she left the convenience store gracefully with her strawberry drink in hand.
☆
Meanwhile, Perrie was still in the office with her employees. Half the time, her head wasn't on the meeting. Taylor took charge while Perrie would just nod at certain things that Taylor talked about. She was sitting on the far end of the long table, trying to listen, but she just couldn't focus after her conversation with Jade.
Taylor made sure the meeting wasn't that long and dismissed the employees. The conference room became quiet when she and Perrie were left alone.
She arranged the papers and closed her laptop while glancing at Perrie from time to time. "Can I get you anything? Coffee? Tea?"
Perrie shakes her head. Taylor nods and continues cleaning up the table from their meeting.
"She hates me." Perrie suddenly said. Taylor stopped what she was doing, pulled a chair and sat next to her boss. "She doesn't love me anymore. She gave me her world and I...I just threw it away. Now, I won't be able to get her back. I could see it in her eyes how much she hates me." Perrie's tear started to roll down her cheek, but she remained stoic as she looked past Taylor, and through the glass windows. But Taylor could see through her eyes the hurt and grief that she was feeling.
"Hate isn't the opposite of love," Taylor began. "Because with hate, there's still this passion. The person who hates you is still thinking about you. You're still on her mind, Perrie. She's still affected by your presence. From what I've witnessed, Jade is still hurting because she still loves you."
When Perrie heard the last words Taylor said, she looked at her assistant for the first time. Taylor offered her a small smile.
"The opposite of love is nothing. If she feels nothing for you, like...she doesn't care anymore; doesn't give a shit about the things you do – then that's the sure sign that she really doesn't love you anymore."
"I did everything I know to get her back, but it didn't turn out the way I wanted it to be," Perrie admitted.
"Perrie, You need to understand that both of you are going through a struggle that's the same as someone going through rehabilitation, trying to beat addiction. It's not just one habit that you're breaking, it's every single minute of the day you're breaking a habit, and it's exhausting. You are both exhausted from trying to get away with the pain that you both are feeling."
"Tell me, Tay...what am I gonna do?"
"Stop controlling everything."
"What?"
"You have to learn that you cannot control everything around you, Perrie. That will only give you so much pressure, so much anger, and it could leave you into a depressing state when you realize that you have no control over anything," Taylor added. "The only thing that you can control in life is your mind and your heart. What you feel on the inside will translate on the outside. You cannot change the environment you're in, but you can change the world that's going on inside of you."
"I still don't understand what you're saying."
"You should just stop controlling...Perrie. Stop analyzing, stop over-thinking...stop buying businesses just because Jade works there–just STOP. And start to listen, okay? Be aware of what's around you. Be aware of what Jade feels, and then start to listen. You'll probably realize one day that your relationship with Jade didn't work out because you rarely listen to her. Just try it. Quit asking Jade to listen to you, because when you talk, you're only repeating what you already know – what she already knows! But when you listen...you'll learn something new. You may not realize this but whether you admit it or not, you are not really listening...you're just waiting for your turn to talk. But if you'll just really listen, you'll be able to understand what Jade wants you to know."
Perrie was speechless for the first time since she and Taylor talked.
"You see? That's how you listen. If you can listen to me, your assistant, without having the urge to tell me to stop so you could talk, how hard can it be when you try it with Jade? She's the love of your life! You lost her once, don't screw up again."
Communication – the heart of every relationship. Without it, it's like a pizza without the dough – missing the most important ingredient that holds it all together!
Relationships can be many things, but for a lot of people, they're actually all about communication. That's why you got together in the first place: because what happened when you connected, sent you swooning over the other person.
So whether it be verbal, physical, or spiritual – the connection between you and what you create in that connection – is where the magic happens. This means when you struggle to communicate, the magic quickly disappears.
Sometimes, you're the one who isn't communicating, and other times, your significant other is the one who has checked out. But more often than not, the lack of communication is caused by both parties. Over time, if neither acknowledges the fact that one of them has to listen, it can lead to shutting down on both sides.
The person who wants to talk doesn't feel seen, and the person whose hugs once said more than a thousand words – say nothing. Instead of seeing each other and connecting about things you used to do, you only see yourself and your own point of view.
Luckily, lack of communication is solvable. As with most things, it's better to bite the bullet early and work on things proactively, then to let negative patterns set in stone. By turning the conversation around and focusing on what the two of you can solve, as opposed to what's going wrong – then, the magic is– just around the corner.
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♫ Forget Me - Lewis Capaldi