Silver Lining

Chapter 25 - The Truth Unfolds

*Back to 7 years later*

Clara's POV

I sipped the last few droplets of coffee in my mug and cursed under my breath for the dire situation I'm stuck in. It's already 9pm but I'm still stuck in office clearing the leftover work that Mr. Moss insisted that I finish doing it as a form of proper handover before I switch over to the creative department.

Then an aromatic coffee scent wafted through to me, I looked up and saw Rico holding onto a cup of freshly brewed coffee as he smiled to me and said, "I figured you will need this."

"Oh Rico, why are you still here?" I yelped at the sight of him as I didn't expect him to be still hanging around here at this hour and also because I didn't know how to interact with him ever since what happened 7 years ago.

"I should be asking you that instead," He raised his eyebrow at me.

I let out a sigh and said, "I'm tying up the loose ends for the handover of my work."

"Didn't the company had someone else to take over your work?" Rico asked.

"Well, Mr. Moss wanted me to do a proper handover before I leave for your department. I think likewise too," I explained.

"Some things just don't change," Rico breathed out these words that left me confused as he looked intently at me.

"What do you mean?" I shrugged my shoulder and asked him.

"Nothing," He said while revealing his warm smile, the same one that swept me off my feet 7 years ago.

"Well, let's not waste any time and get started," Rico continued to say as he reached out his hand to the pile of work on my table.

Bewildered by his action, I looked at him and asked him, "What are you doing?"

"As you can see, I'm doing work." He clicked his pen and started flipping through the pages in the file.

"Oh no, wait a second, you don't have to help me with my work," I said while taking the file from his hand.

"It's my fault for landing you up in this predicament, so may I?" Rico said while sticking his hand out as a hint to get back the file.

"What do you mean?" I asked him.

"Mr. Moss isn't really happy when I requested for you to be transferred over to my department. This explains why you're still stuck here at this hour," Rico explained.

"You got me transferred to your department? Why would you do that?" I asked him.

Instead of responding to my question, he just shook his head and snickered. Then he pointed to his watch and said, "We better hurry if you want to catch sleep tonight."

That successfully brought my attention back to the heap of work on my table as he made me realised how much time I've wasted on the digression. We dug our heads back to work and stayed focused till we got it done.

Thank god, if not for Rico, I wouldn't have been able to complete all the work within an hour's time. His quick-mindedness and his efficiency at work is no surprise to me, after all, he was a Harvard's graduate.

It was already 10.30pm when we left the office. The awkwardness between us set in again when we were taking the elevator down from office. It felt like an eternity when the elevator was making its way down and I couldn't wait to jet off from his sight.

After getting out of the building, I mustered my courage to smile at him and thank him for his help, "Thank you so much for your help tonight. Good Night." Then I turned my back to him as quickly as I could but my "jet pack" was halted from leaving when he said, "Clara!"