"What are you doing here?" Amy let out a tired sigh.
She looked at Mona who was standing in front of her desk. "Please talk to him for me. He won't even spare me a word. Please. He can't end things like this with me."
The young girl looked like she was about to cry. But that was not the least of Amy's worries. It was the fact that should Stella walk in on this scene, the older woman would surely ask questions. To spare her the heartache, she thought she had dealt with this quietly but it seemed Mona had other plans.
"Please. I'll do anything", she begged.
Amy frowned when she heard this. She didn't think Mona felt this deeply about Ian. A few days had passed without seeing her and she suddenly showed up with dark circles under her eyes, hair tied in a ponytail but still disheveled; she was barely keeping it together. Amy could guess the girl had been begging Ian to give her a chance and he didn't budge so she resorted to this.
"Listen, like I said, what happens between you and Ian is none of my business. I just wanted you two to take what you were doing in that storeroom elsewhere-"
"I got that and I would. But he suddenly ended things with me. How could I accept that? I've given him so much, done so much for him. I've gone as far as-"
She was interrupted by someone grabbing her arm and leading her out. Mona's eyes grew wide when she took in Ian's side profile. Even with his expressionless face, she could tell he was angry.
Amy was rendered speechless. She was watching this scene when she heard approaching footsteps. Stella was wearing a frown on her face as she looked to the door.
'Did she see that? How do I explain this?' Her heart was thudding wildy against her chest despite her calm countenance.
"Who?" Amy's brows rose.
"Did you forget? It's Friday. I would expect this from Adrianne but not all of them."
'Ah! The book club meeting!' Amy mused.
Speaking of the devil, the women walked in speaking in hushed tones. There were even some giggles erupting among them. Meredith stopped when she saw Stella's glaring face which made the others stop as well.
"You're all late", Stella crossed her arms against her chest.
Emma gave a sheepish laugh. "Well, we couldn't help but stop by the construction site."
"Tell me you took pictures!" Stella's earlier displeasure quickly vanished and her face lit up from excitement. She could imagine with envy as her friends admired the muscular bodies, skin tanned and glistening with sweat.
"Of course I did! I would never disappoint you my dear Chair Lady." Adrianne came forward with her phone.
The women now got a move on and went into the conference room. Ian walked in to settle on Amy's desk. The latter looked to the women disappearing into the conference room before looking back at the young man.
"Is she gone?" Amy asked.
"Yes, I'm sorry about that. It won't happen again", his lips were pressed in a straight line as he hang his head low.
"It's okay. But I think you two should sit down and have a serious talk. She's probably like this because there's unfinished business", Amy advised.
She thought of how Mona had been behaving. It looked like the breakup was so sudden and she didn't understand things. The girl needed closure to at least move on if Ian needed to end things. A part of Amy felt bad for Mona.
Probably because she herself almost went berserk when Zach said he would take back his words and at the thought of him suddenly losing interest; so she could understand.
At least for her, Zach was still interested. Well, was that even a good thing? She didn't want to get involved with him but at the same time couldn't stand the thought of not being involved with him. He didn't push for a relationship but they have been having normal conversation with a bit of flirting on his end since his confession. However, she could admit that she didn't want to put an end to whatever was going on between them at the moment. She liked it.
She excused herself to go join the ladies. Stella was still ogling at the hot young men with Adrianne by her side. She must be the only grandma, mother and wife, who could do this and get away with it.
"By the way, when did Ian get a girlfriend? I thought he was never interested in girls", Sylvia nudged Stella to get her attention.
Amy walked in on this and quietly settled on a chair beside Adrianne. Despite her calm countenance, her heart started thumping wildly when she heard Sylvia's question.
"Girlfriend?" Stella's brows rose.
"Yes, we saw him talking to some girl before she left while crying. I never thought a day like that would come. Kind of reminded of Richard in those days!" Dorothy chuckled. Her smile disappeared when she saw Stella's glare. "My bad."
"I don't know. It could be he was turning down a girl who asked him out. You know how he is", Stella responded with a nonchalant shrug.
Even so, the woman felt odd about this. Amy had asked her the same question some time back. 'Could there be something she doesn't know?' Stella mused as she looked in Amy's direction. The latter was busy serving herself a plate of spring rolls. 'Maybe I'm overthinking?' Whether Ian got a girlfriend or not is his business, it was good for him anyway since he has been a loner for most of his life.
"Emily, you've become quite the celebrity", Emma exclaimed with clear amusement.
"What happened?" Amy and Stella asked at the same time.
"You gave the gym a little show when you dealt with Daisy. I didn't think you had it in you", Emma gave her a thumbs up. Amy's cheeks heated up from embarrassment as she gave an awkward smile.
"But some people are not satisfied with you. They think you used Daisy's scandal to draw away attention from your intentions on Enzo and Pedro", Meredith commented with a shake of her head.
"Emily are you interested in them?" Sylvia asked.
"No", Amy's face was pulled into a frown.
"You know the truth, we all know the truth. Those people are strangers, you don't owe them an explanation", Dorothy responded.
"What she said", Adrianne seconded.
"Yes, don't mind them dear. They'll eventually get tired of talking. They're trying to make drama out of nothing!" Stella added.
"Drama? If they want drama they should go to the Westwoods' household", Anastasia commented. This immediately drew the ladies' attention.
"Well? Out with it", Dorothy urged impatiently.
Anastasia leaned in and beckoned for the others to do the same. They abandoned their tea and drew closer to get the juice that will quench their curiosity.
"Apparently, Nora Westwood is pregnant for her daughter's boyfriend", Anastasia told them.
"Not so much drama", Emma leaned back in her seat seeming to lose interest.
"It doesn't end there", Anastasia didn't wait to build up momentum and proceeded to speak. "He didn't just impregnate Nora, he impregnated his girlfriend, and his girlfriend's cousin!"
"Hold on! This guy impregnated Nora and Nora's daughter and niece? How true is this?" Dorothy asked with clear disbelief.
"I was there when the three fought over him while Nora's husband beat up the guy", Anastasia leaned back in her seat after setting up the topic of discussion for the day.
Like always, the ladies threw in their opinion and theories. Amy, however, was plagued by two thoughts. One: Ian should resolve his isssues before Stella picks up on things. And second: she hoped these new rumors about her would not be a problem.
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