Replacement

‘I can’t do this anymore!’

I abruptly pushed her away when she was about to hug me.

‘What are you talking about? What is it that you can’t do anymore?’

‘I’m sorry, but I have to go. I’m sorry’

I quickly gathered my belongings and headed for the front door.

‘Scott, what are you talking about? Why are you leaving me? Are we breaking up?’

She came running after me, tugging my arm, fearing of letting go.

‘Don’t go. Did I do something wrong? Please, let’s talk about it. Just don’t leave me.’

Her tears were coming. I wanted to cup her face and wipe them off but I knew that I had to go. I can’t do this anymore. I just can’t.

‘Nicole, let go. I need to go.’

‘But..’

I didn’t let her finish her sentence as I quickly broke free of her grip and headed out of the apartment. I quickly made my way down the stairs as I was afraid that she would follow me.

‘Scott!!’

I was right. She did come after me. If I had taken the elevator instead, she would’ve caught up with me.

‘Wait..ack!’

I heard a thud as she trip and fell while chasing me in the parking lot. I wanted so badly to turn around and pick her up but I knew I couldn’t.

I’m sorry, Nicole. I love you, I really do. But I can’t do this anymore. I can’t love you for money anymore.

***

Flashback

Nicole’s POV

It’s been almost a month since you left. Almost a month since I was alone again in this world. The one person which I loved, the one person who I wanted to spend the rest of my life with, had disappeared from this world. Our apartment became empty, hollow and cold. The warmth it use to have disappeared with you. You left me, how could you? Why didn’t you tell me about that at all? Why didn’t you let me be with you until your last moments? Why must you push me away during your final moments? Why?

Since you left, I completely shut myself from the outside world. I didn’t go to work. Everyday felt meaningless without you with me. How do you expect me to continue living when you’re not here anymore? Do you even care about me?

‘Nic dear, please come out. You’ve been in there for weeks! You have to come out. It’s not good for your health to stay cooped up in the apartment for a whole month.’

‘That’s right. Please come out. At least unlock the door and let us in.’

‘Nic, we’re very worried about you. Come on, let us in if you don’t want to come out.’

I unwillingly unlocked the door and let my friends in. They looked awfully worried. The first thing they did when they came in was a group hug.

‘You don’t have to go through this alone, we’re all here for you.’

‘I know, but I just still can’t believe that she’s gone.’

Tears wouldn’t even flow anymore. I must’ve cried so much that they simply dried out. My eyes were red and puffy from crying so much in the past few weeks. Adjusting to life without him is hard and I don’t think I can ever move on.

The girls stayed and we chatted for quite some time. It felt good to have them around. At least this way, the apartment wasn’t as empty as it was before. The girls were trying very hard to cheer me up and I am very grateful for that.

‘Nicole, are you planning to come back to work?’

‘I’m not sure, but I’ll be back soon. I promise.’

‘Come back soon, ok? The office is just not the same without our boss bossing us around.’

The rest of them couldn’t help but giggle at Soo’s comment.

‘Ok, I got it. I’ll try to come back by the end of this week, ok?’

‘Don’t push yourself too hard, Nic. Come back when you’re ready.’

‘Don’t worry Sarah. I got it. It’s getting late. You guys have to work tomorrow.’

‘Alright, we’ll be going now. Take care ok?’

‘Ok, thanks girls. Good night and I’ll see you soon.’

‘Night Nic’

I couldn’t help by smile at their concern. It’s good to have friends like them, always dependable to cheer you up. Perhaps I’ll go back to work tomorrow or the day after, depends. Perhaps I’ll call daddy and let him know that I’ll be returning to work soon.

Meanwhile

‘You want me to do what?!’

‘I want you to charm my daughter and take her mind off that boy.’

‘I know that but why?’

‘I can’t stand seeing her like this anymore. Ever since he passed, she hasn’t stepped out of her apartment. She had lost so much weight during our last meeting two weeks ago. As a father, it pains me to see my child like this.’

‘So, this is what I understand. You are paying me to make your daughter fall for me so that she’ll forget about her ex. Am I correct?’

‘Yes. So do you agree?’

‘You got yourself a deal, sir. When do I start?’

‘You’ll start..’

Ring…ring…

‘Nicole, is everything ok?

‘Everything’s fine, daddy. I just called to tell you that I’ll be coming back to work tomorrow. The girls stopped y just now and I’ve decided to go back to work. See you tomorrow in the office.’

‘I assumed that was her?’

‘Yes, and you’ll start tomorrow.’

‘So soon?’

‘Yes, she just called to tell me that she’ll be back in the office tomorrow. So you’ll be given a post in her design department as an intern. Use the opportunity to charm her.’

‘Understood. So I’ll see you tomorrow then, sir. Good night.’

‘Good night and please be prepared for tomorrow. Oh, and please keep this agreement of ours a secret.’

‘I got it. Good night.’

‘Good night, Scott.’

The next day in office

‘Welcome back Ms Nicole. We’ve missed you during your period of absence’

‘It’s nice to be back and I’m sorry for being absent from work for so long.’

‘It’s alright. We’re just glad that you’re back.’

‘ok, if there’s nothing else, everyone please get back to work. I believe we have a project coming so let’s do our best.’

‘Ok!’

The entire design team replied to their boss who went MIA for a month or so. All of them glad that their boss is back. The office is quite dull without her in a way. All of them missed her dearly.

‘Ms Nicole, we have a new intern coming in today.’

‘What? My first day back and they already sent me a newbie to babysit?’

‘I’m sorry, Ms Nicole, but his files just came in this morning from HR’

My secretary stuttered as she handed me the newbie’s files. I can’t believe they just came in this morning. Usually, if an intern was coming in, they would’ve given us at least one week’s notice prior first day. This is certainly odd. Anyway, let’s see our newbie’s credentials.

‘Quite impressive. But I don’t understand, why did they give us the files this morning?’

‘I’m not entirely sure, I’ll call up HR and ask.’

knock knock

‘Ms Nicole, the intern is here.’

‘OK, send her in. Ms Lee, you may be excuse now.’

‘Yes, Ms Nicole.’

She bowed and left the office and her presence was replaced by the intern’s

‘Good morning, Ms Nicole. My name is Scott and I’m the new intern.’

‘Yes, very nice to meet you, Scott. Ms Lee, send in Sarah.’

‘Yes, Miss.’

The office door opened and Sarah came in.

‘Sarah, this is our new intern, Scott. I want you to teach him how things work in this department. You have one week to do so.’

‘Yes, Miss.’

‘You may leave now’

The two of them bowed and exited the office. Though I must say, he’s quite cute.

Scott’s POV

‘wow, she’s prettier in real life than in the picture. This is going to make things much easier to settle. I can’t believe I’m going to get paid to make that girl fall in love with me and for me to love her back.’ I mumbled to myself as Sarah and I started the office tour.

You see, to me, this deal is like a gold mine. I’m not very stable financially so an opportunity like this doesn’t come around very often and I thought for the best to as to accept this offer. Plus, I get a job, get a beautiful girl and I’m going to be a bit more secure financially. It’s a win-win situation if you ask me.

‘Did you say something, Scott?’

‘hmm..? yea, I’ve been wanting to ask, is she always that stern?’

Sarah giggled as she heard my comment about our boss.

‘Don’t worry, man. She’s actually a very warm person. This is just her office boss persona. She’s totally different when we’re outside working hours. That is until…’

‘Until?’

‘Never mind, forget I mentioned it. all in all, she’s a very nice person. Just don’t get the wrong impression of her.’

‘Ok’

I said as we continued the tour around the office. Sarah has a very bubbly personality. Completely different from Nicole’s, and the two of them are best friends.

‘Oh yea, before I forget. No cucumbers are allowed in this office.’

‘what?’

‘Nic absolutely hates cucumbers. So to avoid trouble with her, don’t bring in any form of cucumbers into the office.’

‘Oh, hard to believe a person like her would hate cucumbers so much’

Sarah giggled

‘yup, so to be on the safe side, just don’t bring it anywhere near here.’

‘ok, got it, Ms Sarah. Thanks for showing me around.’

‘No problem. Oh, and call me Sarah. We don’t have to be so formal with each other’

‘ok’

‘Right now, this is your desk and you’ll be working with us on our latest project for the April issue.’

‘Ok, Sarah.’

I settled down and the other designers came to greet me. They’re all very nice and friendly people, completely different from the icy boss. One thing in common, all of them say that Jessica is not as cold as she seem. I’ll just take their word for it and let it slide. Besides, my mission is to make her fall in love with me. Nothing more. My post here in this office is just to make things progress faster.

Flashback ends

It’s been a week since I left her. Wonder how she’s been doing? Maybe I should go and visit her to explain things. No, knowing her, she’ll probably won’t even want to see me after I left her like that during our little session. But somehow, I felt as though it is the right thing to do before I disappear.

However, I knew I wasn’t ready to face her yet. Maybe I’ll have a chat with Sarah and ask about her before going to the apartment. Though she sounded really angry over the phone, she agreed to come out and meet me at the café near the office building.

‘Hey, Sarah, thanks for coming out to meet up.’

‘yea..’

Her reply was short and rather cold. She must be mad at me for leaving her best friend like that.

‘ok, I’ll just get to the point then. How’s she?’

‘How’s she? So you care about her now? After you practically left her at the parking lot last week and vanished without a trace for a whole week, now you’re asking how is she?’

‘I know what I did was wrong but I had my reasons to.’

‘whatever the reasons were, you shouldn’t have just left her there. Do you have any idea how long it took her to stop crying after you left? You two have been going out for a few months now and she’s really attached to you. How can you do that to her?’

Wow, I’ve never seen Sarah this mad before.

‘Look, I just had to clear things up in my mind. Whether is it I truly, sincerely love her or..’

‘Or what? For her money and status?’

‘You can say that. You see, I was being paid.

‘WHAT?!’

She shouted at me in the café. Everyone was staring at us no thanks to her. I had to calm her down.

‘Sarah, it’s not what you think. Please clam down first, everyone is looking our way.’

‘You were paid to love her? Do you take me for an idiot? Who are you trying to fool with that lame reason?’

‘It’s true whether you believe it or not. Her father paid me.’

‘Her dad paid you to make her fall in love with you and vice versa? Did you write this and rehearsed over night or something because, let me tell you, Scott, it sounds preposterous!’

‘Ok, please calm down and lower down your voice. People are seriously staring.’

‘Fine’

‘So, will you answer my question now? How’s she been doing?’

‘She fine, just that she refuses to come out of her room and eat. We practically had to force her to eat and go bathe. She’s very much heartbroken and it reminds me of the few weeks after he passed. You better do something about it quick or else I will personally make the rest of your days on earth a living hell!’

She’s really angry. I’m actually scared right now, and I don’t get intimidated easily.

‘Ok, ok. I planned to go visit her and explain everything after this later on. I just wanted to know how’s she, that’s all. Thanks for the info, Sarah.’

‘Whatever; and you better not make her cry anymore. I don’t think her eyes can take anymore crying. It’s really red and puffy when I saw her yesterday.’

‘Thanks. I’m going to her apartment now. Thanks again.’

She simply nodded and the both of us got up, paid and left.

After the meeting with Sarah, I didn’t go straight to Nicole’s apartment yet. I went back to my place and got ready all the things I needed and after making sure that everything was prepared. Only then did I go to her place; to rid her apartment from my things and hopefully, get a chance to explain.

When I knocked on her door, there was no answer. I called her phone, it went to the voicemail. So I slid the cover off the security pin bar and punched in the code to open the door.

Once inside, I got the shock of my life. The place looked like a hurricane swept by. It was a huge mess. Food containers from take-out were all over the table, clothes and papers scattered on the floor and I’ve also noticed a few picture frames missing from the counter top.

Of course I had expected this; looking at the state the place was I felt really guilty knowing that I was the main cause. Slowly, I began to tidy up the space.

As soon as I bent down to pick up the mess, I heard the bedroom door click and it creaked open. And so we meet.

Her eyes widen as though she saw a ghost. Her bloodshot eyes told me that she had been crying a lot and also hadn’t gotten much sleep. Her hair was disheveled, as I peered into the bedroom, it was also a mess, if not bigger than the one in the living room.

‘What are you doing here?’

‘To get my stuff.’

‘Get them and leave. I don’t want to see you anymore.’

‘ Understood.’ I nodded and continued helping her to tidy up.

‘What are you waiting for? Get your stuff and go.’

I sensed my help wasn’t needed and so I went and gathered my things, she was watching me the whole time; arms crossed and foot tapping.

‘I’m done. See you around.’ With that, I walked out the door again.

After I closed the door, I could hear a slam, most likely to be her slamming her bedroom door shut. The worst part was, I didn’t explain a thing. Still, I knew I couldn’t go back in. It would be as if I had a death wish, she is not a very pleasant person to deal with if she is angry.

***

Nic’s POV

The nerves that guy had. After what he did last week he still dared to show his face.

When I saw him just now, part of me wanted to give him a chance to explain himself while the other part just wanted him out of the apartment and you can guess which side won. Part of me was happy to see him back but the other part was sad that he only came to get his things. Men, I can never understand them.

I went to open the front door after a few minutes to see if he was still there and he wasn’t. Of course he wouldn’t be there, you silly girl. You chased him out, remember? With a heavy heart I went back in.

***

36 hours later

“You do realize that the deal if off”

“Yes, sir.”

“I will still wire the money to you, since you’ve kept your end of the bargain well.”

“but sir, I can’t…”

“I insist. Use it to start a new life at wherever you are now.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Take care, my boy.”

“Thank you.” He hung up the pay phone and waited for his change to be returned.

Pulling up his hood and putting on his shades, he disappeared into the airport crowd.

***

End.

date created: 27 April 2010

date modified: 4 May 2011