Filed to story: Sweetheart Do You Still Love Me
Elspeth answered in all honesty.
“It’s still working hours now. There’s coffee in the office and you can also have it delivered, so you don’t need to go out and buy it yourself.”
Callum did his best to control his tone, but Elspeth still caught the reproach in his voice.
Her mood soured right away. She wanted to explain herself but what Callum said next stopped her.
“We’re having a meeting in five minutes. I already informed everyone about this an hour ago. Didn’t you get the message?”
Elspeth was startled. What meeting?
“I didn’t hear about it.”
“Remember to check your texts next time.”
Callum sighed.
“You were always a careful, meticulous person, Elspeth. What made you like this today?”
Before Elspeth could defend herself, Callum ended the call by saying the meeting was about to start.
Elspeth checked her texts. She hadn’t seen it at all, but it was sitting there quietly in her list of read texts.
She stared at the cup of coffee on her front passenger seat. While she didn’t know what to say, she felt her heart constricting in pain as a hoard of negative emotions spread through her.
After nearly half an hour of getting stuck in traffic, the roads started clearing up again. Heavy rain started falling, and it seemed to reflect Elspeth’s mood as she slowly drove down the streets.
She was back at the office, but just as she was about to get out of the car, she realized that she didn’t have an umbrella. Callum wasn’t picking up her calls, so she gritted her teeth and jogged back into the office with the coffee in hand.
The rain was too heavy, and the bag was completely drenched. Elspeth was also soaking wet as she held the coffee out in front of Emma and said coolly,
“Your coffee.”
Emma frowned as if she didn’t know what Elspeth was doing.
“What coffee?”
“Isn’t this the coffee you wanted?”
“When did I ask you to get me coffee?”
Emma exclaimed in startlement.
Once she heard that, Elspeth instantly figured out the source of her unfortunate circumstances today.
“This is the coffee you asked me to get for you two hours ago. What’s the matter? Are you going to deny it now?”
Emma had a look of realization.
“Oh, I’m so sorry, Elspeth. I forgot about it. It was such a long time ago, and there was a meeting just now, so it slipped my memory. Are you okay? Look at how wet you are! It’s all my fault. You wouldn’t have had to go so far if it wasn’t because of me.”
She gave Elspeth a tender look of concern as she suggested,
“Hurry up and dry yourself off, or you might catch a cold.”
Elspeth was a little doubtful at Emma’s seemingly genuine remorse.
“It’s fine.”
Although Emma seemed harmless, Elspeth could always see the traces of a taunting, calculating look in her eyes.
However, it would only flash across her eyes momentarily. Elspeth never got a clear shot of it and kept assuming she was seeing things.
From how things have been going, she might not be a bad person, but she’s definitely not easy to get along with.
Elspeth nodded without saying anything.
All of a sudden, she cocked her eyebrows as a thought flitted across her mind.
Before the whole affair with the coffee, her phone had been left on the desk the entire time as she explained something to Emma, and she had left her phone for a moment to print out a document.
She had a good hunch for why the text had been listed as read now.
She changed into a new outfit before heading straight to the CEO’s office.
No one knew what happened with Elspeth inside the office. All they saw was that her expression had turned even darker when she walked out.
Someone asked her what happened, but she only said that she had missed the meeting due to her negligence, so Callum gave her a talking-to. She didn’t say anything else.
However, Emma knew that the conflict between the two wasn’t simply over this.
When Emma heard what Elspeth said, she had a look of worry as she asked,
“What’s the matter? Did Mr. Winthrop reprimand you? Elspeth, I’m the reason why all of this happened. Why don’t I talk to him about it? That way, everything will be smoothed over.”
Elspeth eyed her coldly.
“Don’t bother with the act, Emma. Don’t you realize how fake you sound? I’m the one who got in trouble, not you. Don’t stick your nose where it doesn’t belong.”
Emma froze as if she didn’t know what Elspeth was saying.
“What are you talking about, Elspeth?”
There was a hint of aggrievance in her voice.
Elspeth realized she had been a bit harsh, so she sighed.
“Sorry about that. I was in a bad mood, so I spoke a little too hurtfully.”
“It’s fine, Elspeth. I think Mr. Winthrop is a little stern, but he treats you very well, so you don’t have to worry. He’s your boyfriend, isn’t he? I’m sure things won’t be too bad between you two.”
Elspeth looked a little convinced.
“Alright. Anyway, this has nothing to do with you, so don’t worry. Just focus on your work.”
With that, she went back to her desk.
She flipped through the documents on her desk before asking loudly,
“Where are my documents?”
A female employee nearby spoke up tentatively,
“Just now, Mr. Winthrop asked someone to take the documents away. He said something seems up with you lately, so you don’t have to be in charge of important documents. He’ll go over himself for the time being.”
Elspeth snorted.
“What now? Is Mr. Winthrop negating all my previous efforts just because I’m a little off today?”
The female employee was a timid one. When she noticed Elspeth was in a bad mood, her voice lowered to nearly a whisper.
“I… don’t know. Maybe Mr. Winthrop thinks you’re under a lot of pressure, so that’s why…”
She trailed off as she knew this was never a stance Callum took with the employees. He believed that if an employee couldn’t perform, then they should just leave the company. He would never go so far as to show consideration for their condition.
Elspeth couldn’t stand it any longer. She stood up and said to the employee beside her,
“I’m going out for some fresh air. Help me tell Mr. Winthrop that I’m taking the day off. He can take it out of my salary.”
She left as soon as she finished speaking.