Chapter 8
F amily is a funny thing.
You come into the world with people already by your side and then poof, one day they disappear. Not in the existential way, but they go on living their own lives while the youngest (AKA me) stay behind.
“He released the song before he went on his tour.”
“Really?” Nadine’s camera glitches before she starts moving around the kitchen again. She’s making rice for dinner. I wish I was there to help her out because the bump is making it difficult for her to move around. “I’m pretty sure I heard the song after his tour.”
When the three of us moved out of home, I came up with a way to make sure we kept contact with each other no matter what. Every Sunday we called each other and caught up.
Having sisters is my favourite part of life. I can’t imagine what children without siblings do to pass time. I mean, I literally spam Nadine with ugly close ups of my nostrils when I’m bored. That’s something you can’t do with everyone.
Rosa’s currently stuffing her face with noodles and arguing with Nadine about some singer’s music. Out of the camera’s view, I’m folding my clothes and packing.
My flight for Switzerland is in two days and I’m still figuring out how to tell them I won’t be back until the end of summer.
One of them chokes and swallows their water with loud gulps.
Definitely Nadine.
“ Ma said you aren’t picking up her calls, Bubba.”
A neatly folded dress slips through my fingers and adjusts itself to its early state.
My heart falters, tiptoes, completely thrashes itself against the left side of my chest where it is currently now transforming into severe left boob pain.
“You’re still doing that, Nova?”
Great, now both of them are up my butt.
Taking a deep breath, I completely move towards the camera so I’m in their view. “It’s not like I’m doing it on purpose. I’ve been busy and you guys know that.”
“So?” Rosa snorts. “All of us are busy, but we make time for— at least —the people who matter.”
Easy for them to say.
“Yeah, babes. That’s no excuse for not picking up your mother’s calls.” Nadine switches to her adult voice just as fast as her friendly one. “What will you do if one day she stops calling and you find out that she’s no longer around?”
Guilt festers up in my stomach.
When they put it that way, it makes me feel like doodoo .
“If you can make time to talk to us, you can make time for her too.” Rosa stuffs the last bit of noodles in her mouth before throwing the Ramen bowl away. Her scrubs have stains on them and the bags beneath her eyes have gotten worse .
Dammit , I hate this.
When they say stuff like this, I feel like the worst person alive.
One of my sister’s is busy making an income and fighting through everyday because she never gets any rest.
The other is transitioning into becoming a mom.
And they still see me as a brat who won’t grow up and mature.
“Dr. Rivera?” Someone in Rosa’s room says. “You’re needed in the ER. The new doctor’s interns brought the wrong patient up into the room and proceeded to cut into them without him present.”
Rosa curses under her breath. “I’ll be right there.”
Her door shuts and she gets up. Tying her cherry brown, shoulder-length hair into a bun, she spews more profanities. “This new doctor is going to fuck everything up.”
“I’m pretty sure it was the intern’s fault, Rosa.”
She glares at me. “No, I know it was his fault. Since the minute he got here, he thinks he’s in charge.” Another cacophonous curse. “This is what happens when you give men power.”
“Sorry guys, you know how it is.” She gives us a tired smile.
Nadine waves it off, “Don’t even worry about it. We know. Take care, Rosa.”
Her eyes then shift to my side, and I smile wide with an exaggerated hand wave. “I love you, take care of yourself!”
Rosa points a finger at me. “Talk to Ma , Nova.”
Then her square disappears from the screen, leaving me and Nadine alone.
“You want to tell me what it is that you’re doing now?” She asks with a raised brow.
I blink stupidly. “What do you mean?”
“You’ve been folding clothes.”
“Doesn’t everyone? ”
Nadine quirks her head. “ Nova .”
“ Ate ,” I mock her knowing tone.
“You never fold your clothes.”
“That’s not true!”
It’s totally true.
“Where are you going?”
I hate that she can read me so well.
My shoulders fall with a sigh. “Fine, I’m going to Switzerland on Tuesday.”
“Come again?” The end of her voice pitches higher. “Switzerland? Why didn’t you tell us? Who are you going with? How’d you pay for it?”
The same old questions.
I bite back a snarl.
“It’s paid for by the company.”
Nadine looks at me expectantly like she’s waiting for the truth, but then sighs when she realizes I’m not about to tell her anything. I will, eventually.
After she gives birth, just not now.
“Okay, but you promise you’ll text us when you get there?”
“Yes.”
No .
Nadine’s pregnancy hormones make her forget easily and she’ll forget this too.
You mean she’ll forget you?
“What are you going for?” She asks.
I go back to folding the dress but give up when it keeps slipping through my fingers. It looks just fine stuffed next to a bunch of random outfits. Plus, irons exist.
“There’s an author there,” I lie. “She hasn’t been writing or updating us and I’m her editor.”
“You’re being sent to check on her?”
“Something like that,” I fake a bigger smile with a wiggle of my brows. “Plus, they said I get a bonus if I go.”
“Free trip and extra pay,” she hums. “You hit the jackpot.”
“Right?” I exaggerate my tone. “Maybe things will be okay.”
“They will be,” she confirms. “But again, if you need help paying the overdue bills, you know Easton and I can pitch in.”
I shake my head eagerly. “I can’t have you doing that.”
“I’m your sister, Nova.”
“Exactly,” I plead. “Stay that way, don’t try to be a saviour.”
“It’s not easy when I’ve been there for you your whole life.”
Okay?
“No one asked you to, Ate .”
“Seriously?” She scoffs. “You choose now to be ungrateful?”
“You’re the one that brought it up like it’s been some kind of chore to take care of me.”
Nadine’s eyes water and I instantly regret my words.
Dammit, Nova. She’s pregnant. Stop being a brat.
I rub a finger above my brows.
Between Nadine and I, I’ve always learned to empathize because it helped people like me.
It’s also what helped me get closer to my sisters.
“I’m sorry, Ate. ”
She sniffles and slowly pats her chest like she’s getting rid of the burn I buried there. “It’s fine.”
But I can tell it isn’t.
The air becomes thick and toxic, and I know neither of us will say something good if we continue talking.
“I’ll talk to you later?” I ask her and she simply nods .
“Take care of yourself, babes.” She ends the call before I can.
My shoulders sag with the odd lump at the back of my neck. The feeling grows because I can’t live without the tension between Nadine and I vanishing. But I know she needs her space, otherwise she gets annoyed and whatever small problem we have will get worse.
My fingers itch to grab my phone and call her again.
I go back to folding clothes but can’t focus.
There’s unease festering in my stomach and channelling upwards and resting on my chest. It’s heavy and distracting and makes me want to cry.
Dropping the clothes, I lean against my bed and pull my knees up to my chest.
Deep breaths.
Gentle pats.
I wait until she’s ready to talk to me again.
“This is for your granddaughter, Ernie.” I pass him a sunflower wrapped in brown paper.
I don’t usually come to Vuk Securities on Mondays but since I won’t be here for a while and am basically suffering a loss on my business, I have to make it up to the wonderful people who work here.
Even though none of them truly care about your flowers and throw it out the second you leave.
The corners of my smile threaten to eviscerate but I keep up the facade. I’m a professional pretender. I didn’t get this far into the business without acting like I can’t handle small mishaps like side comments or ugly looks.
“Thank you, Miss Rivera.”
By the time I hand out the majority of the flowers, I stop in front of the cubicle I’ve been avoiding.
Except, it’s empty.
There’s no more pictures of Andrew Tate or the scent of misogyny.
Even the cubicle text to him is empty.
“If you’re looking for Michael or Joshua, you won’t find them.” Naimah perches herself onto the empty desk with a pile of papers and a stapler in her hand.
That’s odd.
“Did they go somewhere?”
She nods. “And they’re never coming back.”
Does that mean… It can’t, right? There has to be a logical reason for why they’re not here right now. Maybe they got recruited by one of those companies that help employees get jobs elsewhere and dipped out.
The click of the stapler lures me out of my sudden stupor.
“What’s the reason?” I ask Naimah. My sudden curiosity peaks to a thousand and I can’t let it go until I know exactly why. It can’t be because of me. The person in charge of HR is—well, I think it’s Callahan and he didn’t care much about me. Them getting fir?—
“They were fired.” She shrugs with a lack of sympathy. “For reasons unknown, but I’m glad they’re gone. They loved snickering about women behind their backs.”
Phew, okay. They were fired for misbehaviour at work.
“Right,” I clear my throat and slightly wave the flowers in my hand. “Would you like these?”
“No offence, Nova.” Her eye lines deepen. “As talented as you are with flowers, that looks like the type of flowers my niece tears from the grass in our backyard.”
A contagious laugh blurts out of me. I’m glad that’s what it looks like.
I thought the two men would be here today, which is why I didn’t bother cutting the thorns or even cleaning the daisies.
I forgave them just fine, but they pissed me off and hey, sometimes I have self-respect to guide me in all the rightfully petty ways.
I’m still laughing when Naimah clears her throat and perches off the desk like a needle stabbed her butt. She looks somewhere beyond me, but my breath is currently escaping my lungs and I can’t seem to find a way to stop laughing until…
“Miss Rivera.”
Cue the end of laughing.
Scratch that, cue the end of me .
The rest of the employees look up from the cubicles and my cheeks heat monstrously at the sound of my name.
It reminds me of the time in middle school when I used to get caught reading in class and the teacher would refer to me by my last name.
The shuddering feeling of embarrassment when she’d taunt me in front of the class and the silent snickers from some of the boys and girls at the back of the class.
I’m taken back to that moment temporarily before I whip myself out.
Not the time nor place for reminiscing second hand embarrassment when the first-hand embarrassment is standing right behind you.
Except, screw him.
Dean Vuk does not deserve my attention.
I turn around. “Mr. Vuk.”
He looks like he’s choking on something.
“May I speak with you in my office?” He grunts and doesn’t wait for me to answer before walking away.
“Oh, kill me.” I mutter.
“That’s the first time he’s been out here without it being an emergency,” David mutters from behind his cubicle. “I’m scared. ”
“I thought he was about to fire someone,” another says.
Naimah blows out a breath. “That was terrifying for no reason.”
Lifting the basket up my forearm, I turn around to face the rest of them with a well-rehearsed smile. “You guys know you’re being dramatic, right?”
“No,” David quickly says. “When Dean Vuk leaves his office for something other than a meeting, you know he’s bothered.”
By me, probably.
“Well,” I perch my hip to the side of Michael’s cubicle, and I rest the occupied hand on the opposite hip. “Lucky me, because I’m about to go deal with it.”
Naimah whispers a shallow, “Good luck” before heading back to her desk.
Scraping my teeth against my bottom lip, I think back to Friday night when I overheard him and Azar talking about me. This is what I get for being a good Samaritan—a bunch of mannerless hate from people that don’t know me.
SMH, big time.
Gregory’s not at his desk when I pass by and I’m sad about it because I’m not sure when I’ll see him again.
I knock once and head inside without waiting for his response.
A sense of déjà vu hits me from the last time I was here.
Except then, I liked Dean Vuk. I thought he was nice and caring underneath the hard exterior.
Little did I know how wrong I’ve been about him.
He looks up from his computer with a slightly arched brow and I almost stumble backwards.
Goddamn it, the man needs to tone his attractiveness down a notch. I’m trying to be cold here.
“HR processed your paperwork. ”
HR doesn’t process my paperwork.
“Is that all?” I deadpan.
“Where are you going?”
“It’s all in the paperwork that HR has, sir .” I emphasise with a menacing, twitching, and undeserving smile.
His jaw ticks. “Must’ve skimmed over it.”
“Maybe you should read it carefully then.”
“Amuse me,” he sits up straight. Putting himself on full display.
He’s asking for it. “I’m going on a dating show.”
“Whatever for?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” I raise one brow. “To find love.”
His forehead vein bulges. “What’s the name of the show?”
Tilting my head, “Does it matter?”
“Is there a reason for your change in attitude towards me?”
Other than your ego taking up the space?
“No, sir .”
Dean narrows his eyes. “I need to jot your whereabouts for safety purposes.”
I try to peel away the layers he covers himself in, but they don’t budge. Sighing, “ Love? Check! ”
The silence carries and quite frankly, I’m getting annoyed.
He calls me in here, makes some dumb excuse to ask me personal questions, then goes quiet.
“I decided from here on out that I should take a more professional stance with my business.” I speak with confidence.
“You are my client and requested that I service your employees with personalized flowers every Monday. After reviewing the contract, it doesn’t state anywhere that I’m obligated to do the same for you. ”
His face goes blank.
Locked and guarded .
Two can play at that game.
“It’s a contract you worked hard on drawing up and genuinely,” with my other hand, I set it on my chest. “I don’t want to mess anything up for you, Mr. Vuk.”
His left brow twitches.
Before he says anything, I walk towards his desk. “This was meant to be for Michael and Joshua, but they’re not here and these would simply go into the compost so,” I drop the duo of ungroomed daisies on his desk. “It’s yours now.”