Chapter 6 An Unfortunate Meeting

"A Bloody Mary" Riele ordered as she plopped down on the bar stool and Tara rose a brow at her bestfriend.

"Happy weekend to you too" she teased and leaned against the counter. "You look like hell"

And she wasn't joking.

Riele hadn't washed her hair in a while, and because of everything going on with Enzo, she had been laying on her bed since Friday night; unable to get a good rest.

Desperate to look presentable without having to wash and comb her hair, she gathered it in a messy and spongy bun.

So now, Tara had before her, a human sized racoon.

"I could fit all these drinks in those eye bags" Tara smirked and Riele let out a groan and dropped her head on the counter.

"Is this about what you told me on the phone?" Tara questioned, and Riele nodded a yes.

"Tara..." she let out in a cry and Tara recoiled from her bestfriends infamous 'what do I do' face. "What am I supposed to do now?"

"Well, first, get on your knees and pray that you still have your job"

"I don't think he'd fire me" she muttered. "He hasn't said a word to me since then. He hasn't even glanced my way"

"So what is it you're so worried about?"

"Tara" Riele called, grabbing unto Tara's arm and looking her straight in the eye. "'Don't make me laugh, you peice of trash'. I said these exact words to my boss, and more"

"I see.." Tara let out in a nervous chuckle. "Do you want a white or black coffin?"

Riele dropped her head on the counter again with a loud 'thud' and a groan.

"You know what? Make that two Bloody Mary's."

Tara chuckled, and just then, the bar door opened and Rose walked in with two other girls.

"Hey" Rose greeted with a toothy smile as she headed over to Tara. "I'll be with you girls in a sec" she said to her friends who both shot Tara smiles before heading to the other side of the counter.

"Here again? And you brought me customers" Tara smirked, and Riele rose her head with a questioning look.

"To repay the kindness you showed me last time" Rose shrugged.

Riele glanced between the two, then narrowed her eyes.

"Well, sometimes all a heartbroken girl needs is a listening ear and alcohol"

Rose chuckled.

"I'll be over there" she smiled, then headed over to her friends who shot ogling eyes at the male bartender.

Riele's eyes narrowed even further, then she shot Tara a 'which poor girl did you seduce this time' look.

"Don't look at me like that" Tara defended, "I just flirted a little"

"Same difference" Riele deadpanned.

"She felt down that night, and she just reminded me of you"

"In what way did that red head beauty remind you of me?"

"The times when you'd come to me sobbing about your ex husband" Tara deadpanned.

"Oh" Riele breathed, then cleared her throat. "By the way, she looks familiar "

"I knew you'd have a hard time recognising her too" Tara breathed in a laugh. "That's 'woman in red'"

Riele snapped her attention to Rose's direction so fast that her neck snapped and she earned a wince from Tara.

"Wait, seriously?! She went from twenty seven to seventeen"

"Actually, she's twenty three"

"She looks so different from that night"

Tara shrugged. "Same thing I said"

She paused when she felt Riele's piercing stare and she let out a sigh.

"Relax. This one's too young for me. She's just a customer I comforted and flirted with once, okay?"

"I didn't say anything"

"You didn't need to" Tara chuckled. "Now, you said you wanted two Bloody Mary's?"

With that statement , memories of her conversation with Enzo came flooding back and she let out a distressed groan.

"Just hand over that bottle of vodka"

☆☆

"The meeting with the Web developers went well. We successfully came up with a design for the online shopping page, and it's set to launch by next week"

"Mmm..." Enzo hummed as he skimmed through the files she brought. He let out a sigh, then handed it back to her.

"Good work. It looks presentable"

Riele gave a curt nod.

"Now then," Enzo said, then took out a white envelope from his drawer. "All matters related to work are suspended for now. So, let's sit and get this over with"

Riele stared at the A4 paper he took out of the envelope, then headed to the sofa situated at the right end of the office and sat down. Enzo plopped down across from her soon after, then placed the divorce papers on the midnight black glass table.

He passed Riele a pen, and she immediately got to work. She didn't utter a single word as she filled the papers, and Enzo just watched her with narrowed eyes.

The way her hands moved with speed; leaving behind traces of the black inked pen, and the way her head remained down and eyes glued to the paper.

He took the opportunity to scrutinize her, paying attention to the way her wavy hair fell over her shoulders, and the way she pursed her lips as she filled the blank spaces in.

He watched her freeze up, then she shot her head up, and he met her big brown eyes that glared straight at him.

"What is this?" She questioned and pointed at some wordings on the paper and Enzo rose a brow at her.

"What? The twenty million? It's your alimony"

*This cocky asshole*

"I thought I made myself clear last week"

"You said what you wanted to and left. I chose not to listen. It's the reason you made such a fuss, is it not?"

"You-" she paused.

*We're in the company, Riele....we're at work right now. Calm down, and try your best not to throw something at this dick.*

She turned the paper back around and crossed that part off with the pen; burying every word so deep under the black ink that the pen almost ripped through the paper.

Enzo rose a brow at her action.

*She's a feisty one.*

"I meant it when I said that I don't need your money" she said, then continued on the the next number.

Enzo watched her again, and as she put down her signature, he leaned his elbows on his legs.

"By the way, is it a trend?"

"What?"

"Talking back to your superior. Even if it's outside of work, it's downright disrespectful, and I don't condone it"

*Is he fucking serious?*

"You disrespected me first, Director. I just defended myself"

"Oh? It's back to 'Director', is it?"

Riele balled her fists and struggled to hold back a glare.

"I could decide to fire you for that little act you pulled"

Riele forced a smile at him.

"You could," She shrugged, "but you would lose a competent manager"

Enzo let out a scoff, and she watched his peach colored lips tug up to a smirk.

"What makes you think I can't hire someone better?" Riele remained quiet. "Well,Lucky for you, I don't mix personal feelings with work."

He grabbed a pen from his blazer pocket and penned down his signature before shoving the paper back into the envelope.

"So with that said, I hope this ends whatever kind of relationship we have. Except for work, we have nothing linking us. Personally, I would prefer you stay out of my sight completely. Your very presence bothers me, and that annoys me"

Riele stared at him, and she felt her eyes sting from his harsh words. She let out a scoff, then blinked the tears away.

"Noted" She confirmed with a small smile and got to her feet.

"Am I dismissed then, Director?"

"Yes" He said without as much as a second glance, and Riele walked out of the office.

*Ah....*

*Gilbert, you fucking asshole.*

*Our meeting was really....an unfortunate one.*