24. Something nice
“So, what did you want to talk to me about?” I ask once the waiter clears my plate and serves my dessert. I waited till after the main course to ask Alex what he wanted to tell me.
“Nothing, I just needed an excuse to take you out,” He says, smiling because he has succeeded in his plan.
“Really,” I don’t know why but I find it cute that he lied to get me to go out with him. I actually missed him.
“Yes, and I am sorry I did. I missed you, and I wanted to see you by all means,” He says, taking my hand on the table. He rubs smoothening patterns on it. I look at him, and I can tell he is speaking the truth.
“I am sorry I have been avoiding you,” I say, smiling. It feels nice to know he missed me.
“It’s fine, and can you tell me what I did to cause it?”
“As I said earlier, you didn’t do anything wrong.”
“I don’t think that’s possible. Things were great between us, but then suddenly you ghost me. I must have done something to cause it.”
“Trust me, you didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Really”
“Yes, you didn’t.”
“If I didn’t do anything wrong and Jason did not tell you anything about me, then what is the reason.”
“There is no reason, and why don’t we drop the topic. We are talking now” I don’t want to have to tell him the reason. It would be so embarrassing for me to tell him how Mr. Jason controls my life.
“I will drop the topic because it seems you really don’t want to tell me. I wanted to know why so I can make sure it never happens again.”Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.
“Trust me, the reason why I ghosted you is not your fault, and it’s not something you can fix. Except you can make Mr. Jason disappear from the world? If not, there is nothing you can do.” I mutter the last sentences to myself.
“I didn’t hear the last words you spoke. What did you say?” He asks
“Nothing”
“Okay, and would you like to go somewhere with me this weekend.”
“Where”
“The Maldives, I have business to attend there, and I thought you would like to join me” Alex owns hotels and resorts around the world.
“Maldives,” I say, shocked he wants me to come along with him. Is he trying to take me on a romantic getaway? Oh my God, that would be amazing. “I would love to come along with you,” I say, smiling.
I can’t believe Alex asked me on a romantic getaway. I feel like things are starting to finally look up for me. I just hope Mr. Jason never finds out. I don’t think he will find out because except he is going to the Maldives next weekend with Alex and I. There is nowhere in hell he is going to find out or ruin this for me.
After dessert, Alex drops me at home, and we plan to meet on Friday. Which is the day of our trip; I can’t wait.
The following day, I went to work with a big smile on my face. Alex and I spent the whole night talking, and it reminded me how much I enjoy talking to him. He is such an amazing person.
I step out of the elevator once it arrives on my floor. Walking to my desk, I see a package on it. I don’t remember ordering anything to the office. I keep my purse on my desk and take my seat. I tear the seal on the package, and inside is a laptop. A new laptop, did they make a mistake delivering this to me. I did not order a laptop. I just took mine yesterday to the store to get it fixed. I am about to pick up the phone and ask Nora about the package when I receive a text message. I check my phone, and it’s from Alex. I quickly open it, wondering what he has to say.
“I am sure you must have seen the laptop by now. I hope you like the one I picked.” Alex text reads
“You bought me the laptop? Why?” I text back. I am confused as to why he did
“Yes, I did. Yours is not working, and you need one to replace it.”
“Mine is working; it’s just having some problems. I don’t need a new laptop.”
“A lady like you should not use something that gives her problems. You should only use things that are of the best quality.”
I don’t know why but this moment feels like a bit of Deja vu. The big difference is Alex’s words did not insult me in the process of telling me I needed to use things of good quality, but Mr. Jason did. This is just one of the many differences between them.
“Even though I don’t think it’s right for me to take the laptop from you. I still have mine.”
“It’s not a bad thing if you have two laptops, or you can sell the old one and enjoy the one I bought for you.”
“I don’t know………….” I won’t lie, a new laptop will make things easier for me because the one I have is really giving me problems, but I don’t feel like it’s a good idea to collect the laptop from Alex.
“Eleanor, don’t think too deeply about it and just enjoy my gift. Please,” I don’t text back immediately. I am thinking about if I should accept it or not when another of his message comes in. “Please, Eleanor, it would really mean the world to me if you accepted the laptop.”
“Alright, fine, I will keep it. Thank you for getting it for me.”
“You’re welcome, and have a nice day at work.”
“You too,” I say and lock my phone.
I am walking back to my desk after giving Mr. Jason his morning coffee. I see a package on my desk again. Did Alex send another thing? I open the box and what is inside confuses me. I dial Alex’s number to tell him the company sent another laptop. I think they must have sent this one by mistake, or he might have ordered two mistakenly. He does not answer the call, so I leave him a message to call me once he is available.
I set up the first one he sent and started using it to do some work I will most likely take home after work. I usually do tasks on my laptop that I would finish doing while I am at home. If I can finish with the job at work, I use the company’s computer.
I am working on my laptop when Mr. Jason walks out of his office. We have a meeting to attend, so I quickly close all the applications on my laptop, but while I am doing that, Mr. Jason says something to me that halts me in my actions.
“What is this junk you are using?” He asks, looking at the laptop on my desk with disgust
“Excuse me, sir?” I ask, confused as to why he is commenting on my choice of laptop for the first time
“Where is the one I got for you?”
“You got me a laptop,” I ask, shocked.
“Yes, I did.” He says, and I realize the other laptop was not sent by Alex by mistake. Mr. Jason got it for me, but why? Why would he buy me a laptop? Alex, I understand why he did, but Mr. Jason, I can’t come up with any reason why he would.
“I did not know it was you who bought it, sir.”
“If it was not me, who else in your life can get you a customized laptop,” He says, arching his brows as he speaks to me.
“It’s customized,” I say, surprised. Why would he get me a customized laptop? I thought he got me one because I complained to him about my old one having problems and thought maybe his reason might be the same with Alex. But now he is saying he got it customized. Why the hell will he do that?
“It is, and I don’t want to see you ever use anything other than it.”
“Okay, sir”
“Good, now let’s go,” He says, walking to the boardroom.
During the meeting, I could not concentrate on anything the company’s accountant said because all that was in my head was that Mr. Jason got me a customized MacBook laptop. It’s bad enough that he got me a MacBook, then he made it worse and got it customized. Why? It’s not the first time he is spending money on me, but this is different and unlike him. Why would he give me something good and nice? Is he sick or something? I might actually be overthinking this whole thing. He might have gotten it for me because he does not want the problem from yesterday to repeat itself and nothing more.
Once we are done with the meeting, I quickly walk back to my desk to check the laptop. I did not check it properly because I just closed the box once I saw it was a laptop. I open it and take off the covering, and my mouth hangs as I see the laptop correctly now.
The color is orange, like my XR iPhone. Was he trying to match my laptop with my phone? If he was, that’s really cool, I must say. I lift the laptop and under it has my name engraved behind it. Words do not explain how shocked I am right now. Why would Mr. Jason do something so nice for me? I don’t understand? I thought he hated me.
“I see you like it,” Mr. Jason says from behind me in front of his office door.
“Yes, I do; it’s beautiful,” I admit truthfully.
“That’s good. Make sure I don’t see you using any other junk,” He says and enters his office.
“Okay, sir,” I say smiling,
I know he is referring to other laptops except for the one he got me junk. I turn back to face the laptop and realize this is the second time Mr. Jason makes me smile. I think there is a good side to Mr. Jason, and I was just unlucky to see his horrible side first. I have a feeling things are going to start becoming better between us.