Night passed by. Angela woke up from her deep slumber, staring at the ceiling with sweat oozing down her cheeks.
"What sort of nightmare is this? Why do I keep having these kinds of dreams?" she muttered, as she walked downstairs to get a glass of water.
She stared into the glass, still overwhelmed by her nightmare. She couldn't understand what she had dreamed of, nor could she bring herself to talk about it.
"Angela, what's wrong? Why are you awake at this hour?" Becca asked, rushing to the fridge to get some juice.
"Oh… it's fine… nothing. I was just thirsty, so I came down to get a glass of water," Angela replied quickly, wiping the sweat from her forehead.
"Are you sweating?" Becca asked, moving closer to her.
"Sweating? No, I can't be. Why would I be? I'm just thirsty… umm… I'll be going upstairs now," Angela stammered before running upstairs.
Becca looked in the direction Angela had gone and muttered to herself, "Is she… nervous?"
When Angela reached her room, she jumped onto her bed and grabbed her phone.
"2:45 a.m.? Ughhhh! I don't think I'll be able to sleep!" she groaned, running her fingers through her hair.
"Wait… was I nervous earlier? Oh my God, it was just a dream. A mere nightmare!" she said in disgust. Tossing her phone aside, Angela forced herself back to sleep.
The next morning, Becca went upstairs to wake Angela.
"Girl, wake up! You're going to be late for work."
"Okay, I'm coming… just give me ten minutes and I'll be downstairs!" Angela replied, throwing off her blanket and heading to the bathroom to get ready.
Ten minutes later, Angela came downstairs. Becca was already dressed and prepared.
"Are you ready to go?" Becca asked.
"Yeah, let's go," Angela said, and the two girls got into the car and drove off to work.
Angela was the Managing Director of the Artistic Culture Company, while Becca worked as secretary to the most popular—and most handsome—CEO in the country. Both women carried out their duties diligently, never receiving any complaints or queries at the company.
That morning, the CEO called for Angela, and she quickly rushed to his office.
"Sir, you called for me?" Angela asked innocently.
"Yes, I did. I just wanted to confirm some paperwork that was submitted to me. But when I looked through it, I noticed it was from your department."
Angela froze in shock. Her heart pounded. She knew she had carefully reviewed the paperwork before sending it to his office. She just hoped nothing had gone wrong.
"Yes, sir. It was from my department," Angela said softly, glancing at the cover of the documents.
"Okay. I just have one question to ask you," the CEO said, looking at her sternly.
Angela couldn't meet his gaze. Staring at the floor, she replied, "You can go ahead, sir."
"All my life, I have employed many managing directors. And I have also fired many of them—for one particular reason. Do you know what that reason is?"
Angela was trembling. She wished the ground would open up and swallow her whole. "N-no… I mean, yes sir."
The CEO nodded. "It's good that you know. When this paperwork was submitted to me, I was surprised. I couldn't believe my eyes. I had to ask myself—'Who is the Managing Director of the Art Department?' Then I remembered. It was Miss Angela Lordson.
"At first, when I appointed you as Managing Director, I underestimated you. I underrated your abilities. But now… I'm truly surprised and impressed."
Angela's eyes widened. Is this really the CEO? Or someone else who looks like him? she thought, stunned into silence.
The CEO continued. "I looked through the paperwork and it was very impressive—the headlines, the captions, everything. The directors and board members will be thrilled when they see it tomorrow. So please, make sure you're here by 6:00 a.m. sharp for the board meeting. They'll be very pleased."
"Of course, thank you sir," Angela replied, relieved as he dismissed her.
Later that day at lunch, Angela sat with Becca.
"I heard the CEO called for you," Becca said, sipping her juice.
"Yeah. I was scared at first… Becca, it was just like a dream. He… praised me—"
Before Angela could finish, Becca spat her juice out in shock.
"Ewwww! Becca, put yourself together!" Angela scolded, irritated.
"I'm sorry, I was just shocked," Becca said quickly, wiping up the mess.
"You weren't as shocked as I was in that office. You should have seen my expression—I couldn't close my mouth!" Angela laughed.
"Yeah, you probably did," Becca teased.