Cecelia spent hours at the restaurant crying by herself. She didn't know what she was going to do, her one year job had suddenly gone down the drain.
But from what she had heard, one year was even the longest any person had remained Vince's secretary. Either it was the person who resigned two weeks later, or Vince terminated their employment.
In her case, it was the latter.
She sniffed in on her sobs as she checked her phone for the time.
4:15pm.
She had no idea when time had rushed so fast. But now that she's officially jobless, she'd probably see it rush at a much slower pace from now on.
Staring at the document in front of her, she knew that she was supposed to go back to the office, probably to beg him for her job. But at the moment, Cecelia felt too drained to do anything. Her eyes were swollen from crying and her stomach ached as she hadn't eaten anything today.
Would she really use her last strength to go beg for a job filled with only pressure and insults?
Making up her mind, she slouched in her seat, deciding to stay there for a while until she was finally mentally prepared to get up.
It was already getting dark before Cecelia decided to leave the restaurant. She was going to go straight home rather than returning back to the office. Not like she had anything to do there anymore.
She picked up some stuff for her dad before booking a cab. The distance between her dad's house and where she worked was quite a lot. She should be there in about an hour or so.
Everywhere had gotten dark when Cecelia arrived at her dad's place. The cab parked in front of the big mansion she grew up in.
"Thank you." She handed him the money before making her way to the entrance. She tried her best not to show her emotions regarding her job.Before she could knock, the door was pulled open.
"Cece sweetheart." The cheerful voice of the older lady who stood at the entrance brought a smile to Cecelia's face.
" Hii Tania." The older woman embraced her in a hug. "Oh do come in child, your father has been expecting you." She said
"Papi is home?"
"Yes, he is pumpkin." The sound of her father's voice turned her around. "Daddy!' she ran towards the older man who made his way down the stairs. He immediately catches Cecelia in a tight hug.
"It's good to see you Cece."
"You too." She said as he dropped her back to the ground. " I'm sorry work has been keeping me so busy. I don't even have space for a love life." She said with a scoff as she walked towards the living room. "How is work going?"
"Same old same old." He said. "Why don't you go to your room and freshen up so we can have dinner together." She heard him say and she turned around to give him a nod.
"Here, I got you guys some things on my way." She hands over the bag to Tani.
"Oh thank you dearie. Now go freshen up." She said as she began to walk away.
"Alright, see you in a bit pops." She picked up her bag she had dropped earlier and found her way upstairs.
Vince on the other hand sat silently at the backseat of his car while his driver drove him over to his family's house, not that he would have gone there on a normal day but receiving a call from his mother today who insisted they had something to discuss, he had irritatedly been pulled there. He would have preferred she said whatever she wanted on the phone rather than waste both their time, but there was no changing his mother's mind.
Reaching the Manor, the car drove in and through the pathway until it reached the front of the mansion. Without waiting for assistance, he pushed the car door open and stepped out.
Let them do this and get it over with. He thought.
He made his way into the building immediately in search of his mother.
"Good evening sir." One of the maids greeted
"Where is my mother?" he tossed her greeting aside.
"She's in her room sir." Without waiting, he turned on his heels and made my way up stairs and to The Head Mrs Quinn's room.
He placed a knock the moment he reached the door.
"Come in Vince." He wasn't surprised that she knew he was the one. He pushed the door open as his sight landed on his mother sitting in front of her dressing mirror. He watched her green eyes stare at him from the mirror while he shut the door.
"I'm glad I could finally get you to show your face."
"Good evening mother." He gave out an almost lifeless greeting. "Is there a reason you made me come all the way here instead of my own apartment?" He remained in his position in front of the door.
Finally she turned around, a small smile formed on her lips as she faced him. "Always in a rush aren't you." She said, "How's the company going?, I was hoping we would have dinner first and..."
"We both know I don't have the time for such casualties." He deadpanned. "You have dinner with Chanel every time so I presume that should be enough. Can we go straight to the issue now?"
He had no energy whatsoever to start a back and forth with his mother, most especially not at that time. He had enough stress already at work especially with Cecelia getting on his nerves at the slightest bit today. Besides, he had some work he had to go back home to.
"I see." Her tone dropped slightly. "I was hoping we would start things off lightly…." She stood up, " but always cold as always." she walked towards him.
"I'm I supposed to feel apologetic now?"
"No no. I don't expect you to feel anything, not right now at least. Things are only going to get better for you."
He found her vague way irritating. More time would have been saved if she would just go straight to the point.
"And what do you mean by that?" His question was followed by a bright smile on his mother's face.
"Congratulations hunny…" she started off lightly.
"You're engaged."
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"I am what?" Cecelia stared blankly at her father. That night sure did take another turn.
"Hold up, back up a bit." She moved her chair away from the table, "what exactly do you mean I'm engaged? How? When? I don't remember being proposed to." She stood up from her chair immediately.
"Princess listen…" she cut him off
"Listen to what Dad? Did you sell me off to a stranger?" She couldn't believe her ears.
"He's not a stranger sweetie. He's the son of my friend who's investing in the company to save it from going under hunny. She has been looking for a wife for her son and I'm sure you'll make a fine wife. You were raised well." She heard the pride in his voice but that was far from Cecilia's focus right now.
"I see. So you and your friend set me up into an arranged engagement without my permission? And the guy agreed to it?"
George sighed as he moved the chair away from the table. "He will, I know so."
Cecelia stared at her father in disbelief, "so you're saying he doesn't know about this as well. Wow, this is really something."
She was literally still trying to find herself in this complicated life of hers, why would her father even think that marrying her off to a stranger is the best thing right now?
"Dad, I don't think…."
"Princess, this is the best thing for you." He told her. "You're old enough to get married don't you think?"
"It's not about that. It's just…." he cuts her off
"Do you think I would do anything that's not in your favor? Since your mum died, have I ever done anything that wasn't good for you?"
Cecelia froze at his words. There he went again, using emotions to blackmail her each time. Could she for once have a say on what she wanted in her life without feeling bad?
"He'll treat you well." He told her with a smile before taking his seat back at the table. "We'll be having a meeting with them tomorrow at their house. I suggest you pick out a nice outfit for your first meeting." He continued eating.
Cecelia just stared at her father, words refusing to make it's way out of her throat. Would it even matter if she were to complain? It seems he already had his mind made up.
With that, she picked up her phone and moved away from the table as she made her way out of the dining room.
"Where are you going young lady?" Her dad's voice asked from behind
"Out." She replied sourly. "I need to get some air." She said before leaving his sight.