"So what do you want?" Chase asked into the receiver.It had been two weeks since the incident outside the hotel with Patrick and they had gone back to being a normal couple. As normal as they could be at least. Laura's birthday was in a couple of days and she had been hammering on wanting a new laptop for a gift for the longest time but as the date grew nearer, it seemed to Chase that she was no longer as enthusiastic as she was."Nothing. I'll be busy that day so I don't mind you not getting me anything," she replied, which Chase found weird."Are you sure?" He asked."One hundred percent. Gotta go, bye," she rushed out and ended the call. Chase pulled the phone from his ears and stared at the blank screen. Laura was always chatty but recently, she had become more reserved and always in a hurry to end his calls. One time, she even used the excuse of wanting to drink water to end his call. It all seemed weird to him and he had asked her a number of times if she was okay and she woul
"Evelyn," Chase called to get her attention but she wouldn't look up. After calling her a couple more times with no response, he pulled her up by the shoulder so he could see her face. Her eyes were bloodshot and swollen like she had cried all night and didn't get any sleep.Chase was taken aback by her look because she was always cheerful like everything was okay in the world. Although he knew she would have issues for her to be working there and taking all insults but he just thought it was the general problem. Money. But what he didn't know about was her dysfunctional family.Evelyn's mother had cancer and the doctors advised that she gets chemotherapy done in less than a month or she would die. There was no way under the sun that she could get $500,000 in a month. Even if she was given two years, it seemed impossible and her only brother who could have helped her was in prison for a crime he"What's wrong?" Chase crouched down on one knee to be on eye level with her."Nothing," sh
"I'm sorry sir," he rushed out and bent down to pick the papers that now littered everywhere. While he was bent, a kick sent him flying as well. Stunned, he looked up to see whom he had offended and Patrick stood tall over him."You worthless fellow. Not only are you worthless, you're also blind. You're entirely useless. You have the guts to bump into me and stain my expensive suit with your dirty self. This $5,000 Armani tux is worth way more than you life, you worthless piece of shit," he seethed and spat on Chase's face.Chase ignored him, using the sleeve of his shirt to wipe off the spit that now rested on his cheeks and went back to picking the files."How dare you ignore me? I can see you really want to have it from me," he growled."I'm sorry," Chase repeated with his head bowed but Patrick wasn't having none of it. There were a lot of customers in the lobby that came out to enjoy their evening and staff were going home. What better time to show customers that he was a high-r
Chase got to work ealy the next day and he barely managed to walk past his giggling and mocking colleagues as he went to his station."Are you okay? I heard what happened," Evelyn rushed to him as soon as he opened the door, eyeing his body to check for any injuries. She had just finished her rounds the previous night when she heard that there was something going on in the lobby and it involved a cleaner in her unit. On getting there, the drama had ended and the crowd was dispersing."What happened?" She had asked Natty, a chatty girl that worked in laundry department."Oh, just some random dude that got what he deserved," the girl had said and laughed away with her friends.She knew that Theo was the only male in here unit and after more enquiry, the scrawny description that the people gave matched him. Somehow, she felt guilty because if she had allowed him wait for her, he wouldn't have bumped into the man."I'm fine," Theo said, not meeting her eyes. He really didn't want to talk
"Let's go, Theo," Evelyn said as she dropped her cart in the office after the day's work."I'll just wash my hands," he said and walked into the adjoining bathroom to wash his hands. "Let's go," he said when he was done.Evelyn had changed out of her work clothes and she was dressed in a blue skinny jean and a black tee shirt. Chase had never seen her in anything outside her work clothes so he had to blink twice. He knew she was beautiful but seeing her in regular clothes, certified it. She blushed slightly under his gaze and turned her face the other way so he wouldn't see the pink hue that had settled on her cheeks.Chase caught himself staring and quickly cleared his throat and the awkward air. "Let's go," he said and she nodded and they walked outside."The weather is nice. Let's go somewhere nice. Maybe grab dinner? On me," Evelyn said once they stepped out of the lobby. The weather was indeed nice and the sun was just setting into the far west horizon, its warmth slowly being r
They got into the store and were already getting weird glances from the entrance. They went deeper and walked through a varieties of precious stones that were encased in glass and displayed on the wall. One simple jadeite caught Evelyn's attention. It was a simple pendant with a blue Jade stone in form of a teardrop and it had tiny snowflakes around it. She was awed by the masterpiece and her hand unconsciously reached out to touch it. Chase noticed her liking for the piece and he admired it as well. It was simple and beautiful, just like her."Hey, don't touch that," one of the female attendants boomed, which startled Evelyn and she yanked off her hand immediately."Sorry," she said softly but the woman kept shooting daggers at them."Were you trying to steal that?" She asked and her lips curved up in a sneer, she took in their appearance and from attending to the store, she knew what rich looked like and she knew what it didn't and a rich man definitely didn't wear ratty shoes, h
"Ignore her," Chase said as she was about to go back in there and teach the woman a good lesson."Why? Why is it okay for her to say those demeaning words to you, to us? Why do we have to ignore her? Who does she think she is? She's probably no better than us, acting all high and mighty like that," Evelyn couldn't control her anger but more than anything, she couldn't understand why Chase looked calm. Was this a normal thing for him? Being insulted? Degraded?Instead of replying, Chase held a smile on his face. The thought of little Evelyn fighting someone was funny to him although he was happy that she would actually fight someone because the person insulted him."You were just insulted and you're laughing. What's funny huh? Did I miss something?" She didn't understand the man."You're cute," he blurted out and she turned around so he wouldn't see her red her cheeks had gotten."Don't call me cute," she scolded but her anger was now replaced with a smile."Hey, it's true," he insiste
"Don't you like the food?" Chase pointed at her almost untouched food. The thought of her mother always left a bitter taste in her mouth.Seeing his worry, she plastered the biggest smile that she could muster. "I like watching you eat," she said jokingly although it wasn't far from the truth. The fact that he had a girlfriend kept nagging at the back of her mind but she ignored it. It wasn't like they were married or anything right?"Hey, that's cheesy," he scolded but couldn't stop the grin that escaped and spread across his lips."You know, since we're friends, I should invite you to my house for dinner sometime. I can't cook as good as this but trust me, I'm decent," she offered with a smile and Chase rapidly nodded his head.He couldn't say no to home-cooked food, especially when she asked so nicely and besides, he felt safe with her. A sense of security that he didn't even get from being with his supposed girlfriend. "Eat your food," he said sternly this time.Evelyn knew she ha