Philip's car halted in front of his office, but as he stared at the side mirror, he realized that something was wrong.
Nina looked gloomy, and Kiara was comforting her, whispering words into her ears. Amidst the whispers, Philip overheard Kiara encouraging Nina to compose herself and go in with him for the project.
He sighed and tilted his head towards them, but Nina quickly masked her emotions, pretending to be okay. However, her facial expressions still revealed her true feelings.
"It seems like you're feeling down. Maybe we should reschedule the appointment for tomorrow. How about that?" Philip said, feeling concerned.
Nina exhaled a deep sigh of relief, as if a heavy burden had been lifted from her shoulders. It was as if he read her mind.
"Yes, please. I'm really sorry for the inconvenience," she blurted out, resting her head on the headrest.
"It's fine. I understand. It was never your fault."
"Thank you so much, sir," Kiara said, then turned to her friend and said, "Let's go now."
"No worries. Just tell me your residential address, and I'll drive you home. In this state, she doesn't need to use a cab," Philip countered, beaming a warm smile at them, and the two ladies couldn't express their happiness enough. They thanked him, gave him their address, and they drove off.
About ten minutes later, they arrived at Nina's home address, and they alighted.
"Thank you so much, sir."
"Thank you so much," they echoed in unison, although Nina's voice was low and weak.
Philip responded by bidding them farewell, and they turned and went inside while Philip drove off.
As soon as Kiara unlocked the entry door, Nina flung her handbag on a cushioned chair and headed straight to her room. Feeling overwhelmed, she needed to isolate herself from everyone, including Kiara, her best friend. She believed Kiara would understand.
She lay down on her bed to rest a little, but when she woke up, it was already dark, and there was no noise outside, indicating it was midnight.
She sighed heavily, grimacing as she rose to her feet. Feeling extremely weak and hungry, she was about to check on her friend and prepare dinner when her phone began ringing.
Her face frowned. Who could be calling her at this time of night? Given the timing, she concluded it must be an emergency, so she went to her phone, but she sighed when she noticed it was a strange number.
She wanted to ignore it since it wasn't her business line, but her instincts told her to answer the call.
"Hello," she said, placing the phone to her ear. However, she received a silent response from the caller, making her hiss angrily. She was about to hang up when a husky, familiar voice echoed from the other end of the call.
"Hello, Nina."
Nina's eyelids creased. "Marcus? Why are you calling me? Haven't you done enough? How did you get my number, by the way?" She asked, not giving him a chance to speak.
Marcus was dumbfounded. He never expected Nina to answer the call, given the time he called and the fact that she usually didn't accept calls from unknown numbers. This made him forget what he had planned to say.
"Did you call just to test my anger, Marcus? Have you suddenly turned deaf and dumb?" Nina added, her voice icy enough to convey her lack of feelings for him.
Marcus, realizing Nina wasn't taking it easy on him, decided to protect his masculinity and save himself some respect.
"You can be aggressive to your satisfaction, Nina, but this is a warning to you," he said, clearing his throat to continue, but Nina cut him short.
She scoffed. "Really? To warn me?" She sighed and continued, "You don't have to warn me, Marcus. You rejected me and made it clear today that you don't want to see me, so let's both abide by that rule." She said and hung up immediately, even though Marcus wanted to talk.
Marcus sighed with exasperation and flung his phone on the bed. He regretted ever calling Nina.
"In every accusation, there must be an iota of truth," he mumbled inwardly, heading to the window to gaze at the moonlight.
He began to suspect that there might be some truth in the accusations against Nina. Why had she moved on so quickly in just two years?
Marcus stood at the window, expecting Nina to call back since he didn't call her again after she hung up, but she didn't. He then went back to the bed and took his phone. Unable to sleep, he decided to browse through social media to see if sleep would come to his eyes.
Meanwhile, Nina's mood changed after the conversation with Marcus. She felt the same way she did when she left Shade Pack Enterprises. Why must he torment her life?
She stared at the wall clock and realized it was already 3:00 a.m.
"Gosh," she exclaimed, remembering she had an appointment with Philip today. She needed to go back to sleep so she wouldn't wake up late and disappoint Philip, making him see her as an unserious person.
As the sun rose, Nina woke up, did her morning exercise, and went to check on her friend. Last night, when she checked on Kiara, she was already asleep, so she couldn't wake her up for dinner.
As she opened the door, they ran into each other.
"Good morning, Nina. I can see you're doing well, so there's no need to ask," Kiara said with a smug grin on her lips.
Nina chuckled. "And you're not looking bad either," she said.
"I'm sorry, Kiara. I have to hurry for the appointment." She walked past her, heading to the kitchen to prepare breakfast. She remembered she had an appointment that morning, and it was only a few hours away.
"No worries. I will handle the kitchen. Just go and get ready," Kiara said, taking over the kitchen.
Nina felt relieved and went back to her room. She was about to walk to the restroom to shower when her phone started ringing.
Hastily, she picked it up, but it was a strange number. Her nose flared up with anger, thinking it was Marcus.
"You're yet to tell me your mission in my life. For God's sake, leave me alone," she yelled as soon as she answered the call.
"Um, I'm sorry if I called at the wrong time. I was just..."
Nina's eyelids raised in shock. "Oh, Philip? Please, I'm sorry. That was not meant for you," she blurted, and Philip sighed in relief.
"I was curious, though," Philip said with a chuckle.
"Yeah, I know the feeling. You were probably wondering, 'How did we get here?'" They laughed humorously.
"Anyways, I was calling to know if I should come pick you up today, or do you prefer using a cab?"