9

Chad gasped and took steps away from me. "What?" He stood, perplexed.

"Tom is my boyfriend." I repeated the words even though I was aware he had heard me the first time. I stared at my feet, my cheeks red from the embarrassment that followed the situation.

When he said nothing in response, I looked up to meet his gaze. He appeared to be a lot more embarrassed than myself.

"I tried to explain it to you but-" I decided to clarify further, Chad turned around instead to leave my office. I could only assume what he felt like after the whole situation.

"Sir please." I swallowed, moving towards him.

He stopped me in my tracks with a bellow, "stay away. It's a warning."

I stopped walking and gulped instead. He was not taking things well. I watched him disappear from sight and I knew I was in for a terrible day.

*

The day felt so long, Chad had not called me in for the slightest meeting. The office had never been so boring.

As soon as it was time for me to leave the office, I packed my bags and decided to head home.

I walked out of my office the same time as Chad. I contemplated on what to say, or if I had to say anything at all. Of course, my mouth had a mind of its own and would not remain shut. "Is there anything you would like me to do sir?"

Rather than responding, Chad turned to leave with an angry scoff. It was expected, I only shook my head with a disapproving sigh on my face.

*

Chad

The bedroom was empty. I knew it was only a matter of time before I had to retire to bed. I had a bulky day ahead of me and I needed to get things done as fast as I possibly could.

My ringing phone distracted my attention. It was a phone call from David Park. "David?" I put the phone up to my ear, going out of the bedroom and heading for the kitchen that was downstairs.

"Chad, I am so sorry to bother you. Remember that image from our vacation trip last year? Could you please text it to me?" He requested. I had gotten to the kitchen by now. I put the phone on loud speaker and dropped it on the counter so I could perform other activities that involved my hands.

"Oh, is anything the problem?" I spoke loud, opening the kitchen cabinet and pulling out a bowl. I moved to the refrigerator that rested against a wall and flipped it open, pulling out at least three varieties of frozen fruit.

"No, it isn't that. I need it for the inclusion in my new edition for our company's magazine, I lost it and it isn't on the cloud as well, please tell me you still have it." The young man sounded desperate.

I stuffed the fruits, an apple, orange and a melon, into the bowl and headed for the tap to rinse them clean.

"I do." I said to him, turning the tap off. I walked to the counter, picked my phone up with one hand, tucking the bowl of fruits in another, then heading back to my bedroom.

"Thank you so much!" His worry was replaced by relief.

"I will send it then." I walked to the stairs carefully.

"I'll expect it." With that, the phone call came to an end and that was where it stopped.

*

Soon, I had diced the fruit into small chunks, using a pocket knife. It was neatly arranged in the bowl that sat on my computer desk.

It was boring, but I scanned through old images to find the specific one, for his sake.

"Found you." I beamed victorious as soon as I spotted the image. I scooped a spoonful of mixed fruit into my mouth, using a silver spoon.

"Shit." I cussed, palming my face in my hand. I had accidentally hit the delete button rather than share it. "Ugh." I groaned, realizing I had to check my cloud for back up. Every image I had ever had was backed up to the cloud.

I took another scoop from my mix, then stood to my feet to get information from the cloud.

Soon enough, I was done and on the cloud. Lucky for me, the image was there, sitting in the most recent tab. I restored the image and turned to look away. It was difficult to hide the shock that followed seeing that I'd taken so many images to the trash.

I shook my head and attempted to stand to my feet when I squinted at the previous image. I could not make out what it was and so I clicked on it. It was a difficult thing to express the shock that followed. There was my secretary, naked and sitting on the cloud.

"What the hell is this?" I questioned rhetorically.