Mine When Broken

The first day I joined this company, I heard a lot of rumors about the CEO that were not quite good for his reputation. The latest rumor was that he dates men and that was the reason he kept his personal assistant by his side. I only listened as they talked amongst themselves, but I couldn’t argue that what they said was not true, because I was still a new employee.

But I knew the CEO way back when I was still in high school. He was a senior while I was just a junior who crossed his path by chance…or was it not?

“Mr. Drayce is back.”

The words spread around in whispers and conversations ended as everyone became quiet all of a sudden. Even the sound of keyboard softened, like the entire place remembered who owned it. I didn’t look up from my desk immediately. I had learned very quickly that in a place like this, attention wasn’t something you invite, you survive it. And as someone who had only been here for less than two months and barely settled into a position I wasn’t even sure I deserved, I wasn’t about to start inviting attention to myself.

I heard the footsteps. They were almost calculated, didn’t rush like everyone else trying to settle quickly into their office after being away for about three months. They didn’t echo nervously across the marble floor. They owned the space.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and stood quietly to welcome him. I lifted my hand from the mouse I held and stood with the rest, but with my head down. I didn’t want him to recognize me—No. I didn’t want to be the center of attention and gossip, not now, not ever. I just want to make enough savings and establish my own business. That has been my motive from the first day.

But then, I looked up.

I couldn’t get over the urge to do so and that was my first mistake.

Noah Drayce. I saw him again after almost ten years. He is now taller, composed, dressed in perfectly tailored suit. For a moment, I admired him. He didn’t glance around the office the way most people do, nor did he acknowledge anyone. He didn’t slow down his pace…and he didn’t look at me.

Why would he? I was just another employee, someone he probably wouldn’t even care to know as long as we don’t see each other or bring up the past.

But my heart sank the moment he entered the elevator and the doors slid shut. It was the door that was shut, but it opened something wide in me that I had tried to bury those ten years. Regret…anger…pain. I resented him a lot back then because he had ruined me.

I had only met him for the first time back then, but my life never remained the same after that.

“You saw him, right?”

I blinked and dragged my attention to Chloe, my work partner. Her eyes were wide and she was smiling, like she had been waiting for this moment all along.

“You are seeing the boss for the first time since you joined us. What do you think about him?” she asked, blinking.

I pulled my chair and sat back, focusing on the screen in front of me, but Chloe was bugging me and I couldn’t push her off except I give her what she wants.

“I wasn’t looking,” I lied, and I knew she didn’t buy it.

“Please,” she scoffed. “Everyone looks.”

“Maybe I’m not everyone,” I say to her and stare at the spreadsheet in front of me.

She leaned in closer and lowered her voice. “They said he had some deals oversees. No one knew when he’d be back. But I think that’s just a lie. It must be because of the rumor. Maybe he finally came back after it died down. Who knows what is about to happen now?”

I sighed and turned my head to look at her, but I didn’t get the chance to say what I wanted to her face.

“Theresa.”

The voice cut sharply into the air and I froze. I turned slowly and saw the head of our department.

Vanessa Cole stood just few feet behind my desk, her expression perfectly composed. She didn’t raise her voice, but it must have been because of the presence of the CEO who had just returned.

“It’s Tessa,” I corrected her, politely.

“Ms. Sloane,” she corrected otherwise and I could see her eyes sending daggers at me. “The executive floor has requested a replacement assistant. Immediately.”

My heart skipped a beat.

“Replacement?” I repeated and I could see a little frown on her brows. She hated repeating herself.

“It’s temporary,” she said. “Unless you give them a reason to make it permanent.” She took a step closer to me and said, “As you must know, the former assistant has been laid off. So until there is a permanent replacement, you have to fill in for the time being.”

“Who—” I started, then stopped, because I already knew.

“Top floor,” she said.

I looked to the side and I see the others staring at me. From their expression, I could tell they didn’t like that I was now being placed in a position higher than them. Of course, even I didn’t think I deserve it.

“I’m not trained to work in executive,” I tried to tell her, but it seems it had already been decided.

“You’ll manage,” Vanessa said smoothly, like she cared about me, when in truth, we both knew she sent me there to suffer. It must be because we don’t see eye to eye, because I had gone against her twice since I joined.

Vanessa turned and said as she went, “He doesn’t like being kept waiting.”

My pulse quickened and then slowed down. I was passing adrenaline like it was some freebies. I stepped away from my desk and I could hear the whisperings already.

Chloe caught my wrist before I would go and she said with concern, “You have to be careful. Don’t give them a reason to start a rumor about you.”

I understood what she meant, but I knew better what I was getting into.

I took the elevator and with every floor I passed, the weight settled heavier in my chest. It was like I was moving towards something I am well aware I wouldn’t be able to get myself out of, just like back then.

The top floor was nothing like the rest of the building. It was much quieter and the air was colder. I stepped out of the elevator and walked into the space. There were fewer desks and fewer people, and unlike where I was coming, these people didn’t look up. It was almost like they didn’t give a care about someone like me—or so, that was how I felt.

At the far end of the corridor, I saw a closed door. I didn’t need someone to tell me. I could almost perceive his scent from earlier. I walked to it and I hesitated before I knocked.

“Come in,” said a low voice. It sounded calm.

I swallowed and pushed the door open. The office was wide, same as the glass, making the city visible. Then I turned my gaze to him and there he was, sitting with his chair turned to face the glass. I stared at the back of his head for seconds I didn’t bother to count. That was when it all started coming back to me. I could feel the anger, the pain, of all the years I spent resenting him.

His life got better in those years, but he had f*ck*d *p my life.

He turned the chair around and my breath caught. I thought he would recognize me immediately, but that was not the case.

“Name?” he asked with a little raised brow, like I was a stranger he was just getting to know.

It took all of me to be calm and not let my voice croak. “Tessa Sloane.”

Immediately I said my name, I expected something, but his gaze barely shifted. His expression remained the same.

“Tessa,” he repeated slowly, like he was testing how it sounded.

I feel my chest tighten and I immediately said what I came for. “I was told you needed a temporary replacement assistant.” I had knowingly included ‘temporary’ so he would get the message.

His eyes hadn’t left mine since he turned the chair around and my fingers curled slightly at my side. “What would you like me to do?” I ask.

“Close the door, Tessa.”

My brows rose just slightly and I turn to see that I left the door opened. I immediately pushed it close and it made a soft cli