Sapphire P.OV.
As soon as I heard his deep loud voice from behind me, I froze and so did everyone else on the floor but when they realize he is not mad at them they continued with what they were doing, while trying to stay out of his way. I turn around having a déjà vu moment. I'm pretty sure something like this happened before but before I could recall when this happen, Mr. Giovanni spoke.
"Why are you ladies standing here and blocking the way instead of doing your work?! This is not the first time I have caught you slacking off. Do you know how many things can be done with the time you just wasted? Well?" he asks us.
I'm stunned speechless from his tone when from the corner of my eye I saw the pack of ladies and they look like they just peed in their underwear. They were not able to control their fear very well, so I made sure to keep my expression neutral, while waiting for him to continue speaking.
He looks at us waiting for an answer when the leader of the pack Veronica suddenly has the guts to speak up, but of course what came out of her mouth is nothing but lies. "It is not our fault sir. Miss Sapphire is the one who disturb us! We were just walking to our desk when she came in front of us and block our way!" her voice was so piercing that it felt like her voice is stabbing into my eardrums.
Mr. Giovanni then turns towards me with his piercing stare, and he asks me "is this true?" I wanted to shout that it was not my fault, but I held it in and answered calmly. "No. What Miss Veronica said just now is not the truth". Her minions is about to argue with me, but the boss interrupts them.
"Enough! I can see that you have a lot of free time on your hands. I will delegate the miscellaneous work in this office that must be done for you four to complete. This is your punishment for disturbing work. There better not be a next time as the consequences will be more severe. Understood?" He says in a hard tone. "B-but-" Veronica stutters trying to argue but the boss apparently had enough of her, as he cuts her off.
"Do you take me for a fool, that knows nothing. I was giving you an opportunity to speak the truth, but you didn't. So, if I see you making problems one more time, you will be fired on the spot. Understood?" He says to her in a steely voice. Veronica pales almost turning white under all her make up. Her minions also paled looking terrified and were trembling.
"Understand?!" the boss raised his voice at her, and she stammers a "y-yes sir". I was just enjoying watching Veronica getting chewed out by the boss when he turns towards me demanding me to go back to work until he calls me to his office for further notice.
I just nodded with a "yes sir" then walk around the ladies to get to my desk, ignoring them. As soon as I sat on my chair by my desk, I quickly open my computer and check my email for any important emails that may have piled up during my absence. Lucky for me nothing too serious happened while I was away. I was just sorting out the files that was piled up on my desk when there is a notice in my computer saying I have a new email. So, I opened it and it's from Beth asking me to watch the video she sent me.
I am a little hesitant to watch the video during work hours, but my curiosity won out, so I click open the video. To my surprise it is about the psycho Marcus. He is standing in front of the judge with his lawyer beside him. I'm sure he paid a bom for the lawyer to represent him to bail him out.
I unintentionally clench my hands thinking he deserves to rot in jail for the rest of his life. Marcus's lawyers are talking a lot trying to defend his client but even I who is watching from a video can tell that it is hopeless as the evidence on his wrong doings is pretty clear, and that the lawyer is about to run out ways to defend his client.
I can't believe some lawyers will defend the criminals just so that they can earn money. But I guess people will do anything for money these days. Anyway, after the lawyer finish talking the judge is looking over some papers on his desk. I am a ball of nerves hoping that he gets put behind bars for the rest of his life. The judge lifts his hammer, and I held my breath until the judge pronouns Marcus Edan guilty and is to be put behind bars for 60 years then slam the hammer did, I breathe out in relief.
I am not satisfied with his punishment, but it is good enough at least I'm pretty sure Beth and I will never have to meet him again in this life. With that worry out of the way I feel lighter and happier than ever. I sent a quick message to Beth on my phone about having a celebratory dinner at a famous sushi restaurant that is near our office on Friday. She quickly replies that she is ready to go. I smile then send her a smiley face afterwards I shut down the phone.
I was just about to start working when I got a call from Mr. Giovanni to come to his office. I made sure that I look presentable and had all the necessary files before I took a deep breath then let it out and started walking in the direction of his office.
His office is not that far from my desk, so I got there in no time. I have not had a private conversation with my boss in a while, so my heart is beating like crazy, but I steel my nerves and put on a polite expression while knocking on the door two times and waited until I hear his deep baritone voice telling me to come in. I turn the doorknob and push the door open. I am hit by the coldness of the room.
I shivered a little because I am only wearing a knee length pencil skirt and thin but not thin enough to be see through, long sleeve blouse. I look in front of me and there he is sitting while concentrating on the papers on his desk. His blazer is hung behind his chair and his tie is loosened at the top with his hair slightly messy giving him that sexy messy look.
"Miss Evans, I trust that you have manage to sort out your work that you have missed during your absence?" his voice brought me out of my thoughts and to my horror I feel my cheeks warm up with embarrassment at my thoughts. I cleared my throat then hand him the files that was on my desk that he needs his attention.
He took the files and I made sure our fingers won't touch. Once he has the files, he checks the documents inside, but his expression never changes. It is always his signature stern expression. After a few minutes of flipping through the pages he put the documents back on his desk then took his pen from the pen holder and sign the documents that needed approval from him then once he is done, he hands me back the files.
I took it and asked, "will that be all sir?" "No wait a moment. I have something to talk to you about" he says while making a wait gesture with his hands. I look at him warily wondering what he could possibly want to talk to me about. "What is it that you want to talk to me about sir?" I ask thinking if he is about to fire me, but he interrupted my thoughts.
"It's about your sudden leave of absence before this" he says staring at me sternly. I look at him warily wondering what is going to happen to me. "I am made aware that your leave of absence is because of an unfortunate incident and that you were admitted to the hospital," he starts, and I nodded nervously. "Are you healed enough to work like normal now?" he asks. "Yes sir, I am," I answered.
"That's good then you will be continuing your work like normal but prioritize the work you have missed out," he explains, and I just nodded my head. "There will not be any pay cut as this leave of absence is counted as a sick leave. So please report to the relevant personal about your sick leave," he informs me.
"Yes sir, I will do that as soon as possible,' I answered so happy that I didn't get into trouble. He nods at me and then dismisses me, so I walk out of his office relieved like I was released from a prison.
As soon as I sat on my cushion chair, I let out a deep sigh of relief. I survived talking with him and I didn't even get a pay cut for my absence. I quickly snap out of my happy thoughts when I remember that I still have a ton of work to be done and I must complete it as soon as possible to make up for the days that I missed work. So, I got into work mode and tried to finish as much work as I possibly can before lunch time.
I was focusing on replying to important work emails that I didn't realize that someone is standing in front of my desk, until a familiar person's voice spoke. "Hey Sapphire, I know you are busy right now but its lunch time. So do you want to take a break and have lunch with me at the café?" Catherine asks me. I look see her standing in front of my desk.
"It's lunch time already?" I say a little surprise then check the wall clock and sure enough it is already 1:30pm. Wow I am so busy that I didn't realized that I have been working non-stop for a few hours. "Sorry! Of course I would like to go. There is so much work to do that I didn't realize the time passing by" I told her helplessly while rubbing the back of my head. "It's okay I know you have a lot to catch up with, but little break will do you some good," she advises me.
"Thanks" I said getting up from my chair stretching a bit before grabbing my wallet then together we walk towards the lift. Luckily the lift is on our floor when we arrived, so we quickly enter right before the door closes. The lift is a bit crowded with the lunch hour crowd, but it is only for a minute or two before we reach the ground floor. We got out of the lift and walk out of the office building towards our familiar café shop.
Once we enter the café a waiter showed us to our table which is beside the window so we can see people walking past on the busy street. After the waiter took our orders and left, I ask what I have been wondering all day. "What happen to Sarah? Why is she not at the office?" I ask her with concern. "Oh! Sarah I almost forgot. Her son fell down the stairs at school and is in the hospital right now. She ask for a leave of absence for a few days to look after him" Catherine explain somberly.
"Oh My God!" I gasp; I did not know she had a son. "Is he ok?" I ask hoping its good news. "So far from what she told me he's out of danger, but the doctor said they need to keep him in the hospital a little longer to make sure he doesn't have a concussion" she further explains. "Thank god he's okay" I let out a sigh of relief.
"Sarah's son is not the only one that was admitted to the hospital" she hinted at me. I gave her a confuse look until I remember that I was just discharge from the hospital two days ago. It must have been obvious as she can see the injuries on my face. I tapped my forehead and said "Ha-ha, I forgot" while giving her an apologetic look.
"Forgot! You had me worried for days when you did not show up for work and I had to ask the human resource for news about you and all they told me is that you were admitted to the hospital. I tried to ask for more information, but they would not go into specifics, so I had to wait until you came back to work to find out what happened. Then you came back to the office with injuries on your face which shocked me," she says all that in one breath and breathe out once she finish speaking.
I looked at her, touched that she was that worried about me. "I'm sorry that I made you worry so much about me but I'm fine now, but an unfortunate incident happened but thankfully it is resolved now" I told her. "You better tell me everything that had happen while you were absent from work and about how you got those injuries. Don't leave anything out you owe me for making me worry about you" her voice fill with worry and curiosity.
So, I storied to her about what had a happened to me from the beginning of the kidnapping incident until the end leaving nothing out as she requested but I had to pause in the middle of the story for a bit because the food just arrived, and I waited until the waiter placed our order on the table and left before I continued.