BXBX NOVEL Chapter 8 - The Secretary's Developing Feelings
Charles is known by everyone to be a diligent and loyal assistant to his boss.
He\'s been working for Adrian for many years now, became his schoolmate from high school to college, and was basically trained for all his younger days to be the outstanding secretary that he is in the present. Coming from a household that supports and shares a close relationship with the Millicent\'s, he has turned out to be the perfect person for the job.
Little did everyone know that the real reason why Charles took this position wasn\'t because of those things. He didn\'t decide to work for Adrian just because his family wanted him to and he was simply obliged to do so due to his background.
The true cause is the strong bond and friendship that they happened to nurture unknowingly over the past few years. Charles has come to know Adrian better than his own flesh and blood. He\'s aware of a lot of things about this nonchalant and enigmatic boss of his -
Including the fact that he never truly appreciated nor recognized the beacon of light that his wife has become into.
"Say, Charlie... Are you married?" Cassidy chimed in all of the sudden, halting his train of thoughts.
"Huh? What?" Charles blurted out in surprise, taken aback by her uncalled-for question.
"I was asking if you already have a wonderful wifey who\'s waiting for you back at home or something."
"O-Oh... No, I don\'t. I\'m single."
Both of them just finished packing up and bidding farewell to everyone who took care of her for the past weeks. They\'re now on their way out of the hospital, heading to the main lobby.
"Well, that\'s kinda expected. You look really young. How old are you?"
"Just a year younger than the President. Thirty."
"Huh?!"
At her sudden exclamation, some people around them can\'t help but look at their direction in surprise. Once more, she\'s catching attention without her noticing it, which makes him heave a sigh in exhaustion.
"Ma\'am Cassidy, please lower down your voice-"
"You\'re already thirty?! And that man is thirty-one...?! Both of you look so young!"
Seeing her eyes glisten in awe and astonishment, Charles can only blink at Cassidy in nonplus for a moment, thinking that she\'s really easy to read. He then chuckles a little the moment she starts gushing more about his youthful-looking appearance as if she\'s seeing some amazing human species.
"I can\'t believe you\'re still single, though! I mean, look how much of an eye candy you are!"
And once again, Cassidy kept shamelessly saying things that most people would\'ve just been quiet about.
Because of her amnesia, she forgot the fact that he used to receive tons and tons of marriage interviews. There\'s a lot of beguiling beauties out there who came after him as well, including celebrities and prominent personalities even, but he didn\'t entertain any of them.
In a way, Charles thinks that he\'s just like his boss - completely uninterested and dispassionate when it comes to their love lives.
"Charles."
Right after taking a step out of the hospital, a grandiose black Lincoln Navigator SUV suddenly pulled out in front of him. The passenger\'s car window is opened to reveal none of other than his boss.
"President...?" Charles trailed off in surprise and confusion.
"I thought you\'re not coming, Sir. Are you going to take Ma\'am Cassidy home?"
"Where is she? I\'ve got no more time to spare," Adrian started insouciantly, getting straigth to the point.
But then, as soon as he turned to look back at Cassidy, he saw no one there. Flummoxed, he then scanned around the surroundings and thought that she might still be inside the building.
Adrian noticed how he began to panic a little, surveying the place as if searching for a missing five-year-old. Knowing this new Cassidy, though, he already got a hunch of what\'s happening here.
"Did she wander around again? I kept getting calls from Dr. Gilmore that she\'s been doing that for the previous weeks..." Adrian muttered with his brows furrowed in annoyance.
"Seriously, what\'s with her? She should\'ve just stayed put like she always did before-"
"Oh, there she is, President," Charles cut in, his eyes glued at a specific direction.
He then follows his line of vision and takes a look at what his wife is up to this time. That\'s until he finds her talking with a few elders who just got out of the hospital like her.
They appear to be conversing quite mirthfully, and she seems to have earned their good will with how light-hearted their smiles are. This got Adrian baffled to a certain degree. He didn\'t really take Cassidy so much of a sociable person that she\'d just talk with strangers like this.
"They\'re the people from one of the wards she often visits, President. Ma\'am Cassidy wasn\'t merely wandering around," Charles suddenly chimed in, taking him aback for a bit and making him look at him again.
Then came another nonplussing sight.
His secretary has this gentle and thoughtful smile on his face - the first he saw in a long while. Adrian rarely sees this side of him, which also only means that something must have happened.
"Hey, Charlie...!" Cassidy called out of nowhere, finally making her way to their direction.
"Sorry for the wait. I just said my goodbye to them... Oh, and lookie here! They gave me lollipops!"
As Cassidy keeps grinning from ear to ear, practically bouncing energetically like a ditzy toddler, Adrian can\'t help but be caught off guard. Much like Charles\'s, that kind of look is something he rarely sees on her - a genuinely happy smile.
Then, without realizing it, he ends up staring too much.
That\'s all until Cassidy finally noticed that Adrian was there all along. She then halts on her tracks and drops her grin almost instantly - only to be replaced by the look of someone seeing an otherworldly creature from some intergalactic dimension.
"Yikes... He\'s here."