Chapter 4

BASH I feel the instant coldness of the stainless door handle on my office as I push it open. As I enter, there is a sudden unsettling feeling in the pit of my stomach when a familiar flowery scent hits my nostrils. A gasp has my head snap, and my eyes are transfixed on the woman in front of me.  Everything stops.  My surrounding blurs.  The beating of my heart races.  My eyes widen in shock, and I am surprised that my jaw is still attached to my head. A whole lot of raw emotions all at once rush through me. I'm not expecting to see her here in this building, let alone in my office. I wasn't thinking about her when Dad told me to be nice to my new assistant. What's this supposed to mean? I shut my gaping mouth close and cough awkwardly. "Trinity." Her name comes out in a whisper, and it feels foreign in my ears. She blinks many times before she clears her throat. She smiles at me—a tight smile, just a plain smile and a forceful one.  "Mr. Hughes, good Morning, and welcome to your new office," she greets me with courtesy. Mr. Hughes? I try hard not to raise my brow. "I hope the interior fits your liking, but we can still request and change—" I raise my sweaty hand for her to stop. My heart beats faster than before. My lungs expand even more, and my ribcage can crack at any moment, making me hard to breathe.  I look at her for seconds. Trinity meets my gaze before she breaks it quickly. "You didn't come to the party my family threw out two days ago," I said almost silently. She grabs some files on top of my desk, putting the iPad on top. She hugs them to her chest gracefully. "I sent Lizzy a message that I couldn't come. So, as you know, I'm your new assistant. Temporarily. And my office is just adjacent to yours." She puts a little emphasis on the temporarily while pointing at the door on my left.  Her stares alone give me a shiver.  Her green eyes are shooting an icy glare at me. She changed a lot. Her hair is cut short just above her shoulders. The color is still the same, though. Her face still has freckles, but they're lesser, maybe from the makeup she applies. Her lips are still full, painted with red lipstick. She taps on her iPad. "You have a meeting in less than ten minutes." I take a deep breath. "Trinity, just leave the meeting for a while, can you?" I move closer to her because I badly want to pull her into a hug and feel her warm welcome. She swallows hard. "Okay, you're the boss. I placed all the paper works that were left by Mr. Peter Williams." She gestures to the file on top of my desk. "I'm not interested in that either." I snap. "What happened to you, Trinity?" She looks taken aback. "What happened to me?" she asks back, pointing her well-manicured finger at herself. "Nothing bad happened to me, Mr. Hughes. Thank you very much. If you don't want me as your temporary assistant, by all means, please, just ask HR for my replacement." "That's not what I meant." Why is she acting as if she doesn't know me? "And stop calling me Mr. Hughes. You're my best friend, for God's sake—" "Were," she cuts me off. "Ex-best friend, Mr. Hughes. You are my boss now, so it's only proper to address you as—" "I am your boss, so do as I say," I tell her in an authoritative tone. "Sure." She looks down at the empty chair in front of my desk.  She places back down the file she took a while ago. She then smoothens her dark blue pencil-cut skirt that ends just above her knees. She wears a white blouse with a dark blue blazer. She looks beautiful, elegant, and very professional. "I came to see you before my flight to the U.K, but you were not there. You went to your grandparents in Boston." She doesn't say anything. I guess she's listening. I continue, "I wanted to apologize that day and take back our friendship, Trinity, but you didn't even answer my calls nor reply to my messages." "It doesn't matter. That was four years ago," she says coolly. I snort. "That's it? I mean, you just wasted our friendship for years with just one mistake I made, and you made mistakes too, Trinity." "I don't want to be your friend, Bash. Can't you understand that? Your friends, classmates, and girlfriends thought I was just your slave. I'm a dog under your leash. Your personal maid!"  "Did I listen to them even once? How many times did I fight for you against them? How many times did I choose you over my girlfriends? How many times did I defend you against those freaking losers, Trinity? How many times?" My voice fills in the room. Before I came, I did not exactly expect to fight early in the morning. It ruins my mood to have an early argument with anyone. "I don't care. I have friends now. I'm sure you made friends with Brits." She doesn't look affected. She's so cold that it makes shivers crawl down my spine. "You're such an immature." "You're an asshole!" I narrow my gaze on her. "Watch your tone and your language when you're in my office, Trinity. I'm still your boss." "My apology, Mr. Hughes."  "Don't I get a welcome back hug?" I ask, hoping she gives in now that we finally talk about the elephant in the room. She rolls her eyes. "That's inappropriate. Meeting in less than four minutes. Mr. Seb Hughes will introduce you to the new CFO." I grab the iPad from her hand and scroll down what she jotted down. I stop with brows furrow to the second note. "Dinner with Luke; to discuss the engagement?" I read it slowly, and I almost drop the iPad from my hand.  My heart just bleeds in my chest. "You're engaged?" I grab her hand a bit stronger, and there you go. The fucking engagement ring on her finger. My life is doomed. Fuck me.