Chapter 12 #5
I’m sorry to hear you aren’t having the best morning and I hope this improves throughout the day. Hopefully we can have some good fun tomorrow that’ll counterbalance today. Haha, no, these messages are free of charge, just wanted to check in and see how you’re doing. :)
He was adorable. I closed the app, downed almost half a litre of water and tried to get in a bit of a nap to expedite the healing process.
I’d never had food poisoning before, but from what I’d read online, it seemed to be one of those twenty-four bugs that could pass even sooner provided you got adequate rest and hydration.
Over the course of the next few hours, I slipped in and out of sleep, feeling slightly more energised every time I’d wake up, which was a great sign.
I watched a bit more TV and after being able to muster a bit more strength, did a bit more work on my laptop, which mostly consisted of me forwarding any ‘big’ emails to Kofi and apologising profusely while he kept emailing me back, telling me to rest.
Around 2 p.m., I received an email from Jeff, who I hadn’t seen or spoken to in a little while. Thinking it was a meeting or appointment that needed rearranging, I opened the email, to be met with the following:
Subject: Wishing You a Speedy Recovery
Dear Cassandra,
I hope this message finds you well. Kofi informed me today that you’re currently on sick leave due to food poisoning, and I just wanted to check in to see how you’re feeling and whether there’s anything we can do to support you.
Please don’t worry about today’s itinerary – Kofi has everything well under control.
Wishing you a swift and smooth recovery.
Best regards,
Jeff
I couldn’t quite tell if Jeff’s message came from his ‘Type A’ personality – always diligent and attentive – or if it was a genuine act of kindness.
Maybe it was both. Still, I couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling it left me with.
Did he send thoughtful emails like that to everyone who called in sick …
or was there something different about the way he treated me?
Especially considering that night during the staff drinks.
Sighing, I sent a quick email back, trying to sound as professional as possible:
Dear Jeff,
Thank you so much for your kind message – I really appreciate you checking in. I’m on the mend and hoping to feel back to normal soon.
It’s reassuring to know that everything is under control with today’s itinerary. Please extend my thanks to Kofi as well for stepping in.
Looking forward to getting back to work once I’m fully recovered.
Warm regards,
Cassandra
I hit ‘send’ and stared at my screen, confused.
Was I just looking too deeply into it? Jeff was a nice guy – maybe I was the one who’d been acting strangely around him.
Perhaps I’d been reading too much into the lingering glances and the quiet tension in the elevator, mistaking them for something they weren’t.
In any instance, I decided to cross that bridge when I got to it.
After deciding that was enough laptop screen time for the day, I ran a bubble bath, hoping that could, in turn, help heal my body.
I even threw in some magnesium flakes for good measure.
I sank into the tub, letting the steaming, fragrant water envelop me, soothing and relaxing my aching muscles.
I closed my eyes and lay completely still for a few moments.
It had been quite a while since I’d been able to take time for myself and practice a bit of wellness, so I wanted to drag it out for as long as I could.
With my phone on the side of the bath, I lined up the most recent episode of The Jungle Diaries to see what drama Simi P had cooking up this week, knowing that for the first time, I wouldn’t be able to relate:
‘What’s up, guys? It’s your girl, Simi P, back again this week with The Jungle Diaries podcast, where we talk about the harsh realities of trying to survive what I like to call “The Dating Jungle”, because it really is a jungle out here, guys!
This week I wanna talk about dating scammers, trappers and drug dealers.
I’m seeing so many babes on Instagram living their best lives online with the blurred-out faces of their men who are so obviously criminals, but what I wanna know is, is the glam and glitz of that lifestyle worth the stress of potentially going to prison?
In this day and age, why are so many of us lowering our standards for these temporary lifestyle changes?
Just so you can stunt on the gram? I’m gonna talk more about that, and then we’ll get into our listener letters later! ’
I agreed with Simi in that it felt as if so many women my age were constantly lowering their standards for financial and aesthetic reasons.
With the economy in shambles and the cost of living climbing like it’s trying to win an Olympic medal, I couldn’t really blame those women.
The dating scene was a mess, and good men?
Practically an endangered species. Honestly, I had to respect the hustle – some of us decided to stop waiting around for Prince Charming and go out and snatch what we wanted, even if it meant tossing the rulebook out the window and setting it on fire.