Chapter 145: I Won’t Allow It!
Jill and Michael’s reactions made Wendy begin to question her reaction as well. Was she really just overreacting?
Jill was a stubborn girl by nature, so if she pushed Jill too hard, then she might create a problem that didn’t even exist in the first place.
Wendy had no choice but to let this go for the time being.
***
The next afternoon, Michael came over to ask Wendy out for lunch again. She refused him again. But when she went to the cafeteria to eat, she realized that Jill and Michael were at the same table again, chatting and laughing happily.
Jill would even put some food onto Michael’s plate from time to time.
Wendy had already explained to Jill the day before about how her behavior might be misleading to others, but she was still doing the exact same thing.
She immediately stormed over and pulled Jill right out of her chair. Jill looked confused and asked, "What are you doing? I’m not done eating yet."
"I need to talk to you." Wendy dragged her all the way back to her own office and shut the door behind them.
After Wendy let go of Jill’s arm, Jill massaged her sore arm and grumbled, "Why did you do that? I was just having lunch with Mr. Lucas, that’s all. You were so unhappy yesterday and you dragged me away today. Those who didn’t know better would think you’re jealous."
"Jill, I’ve already told you before that it’s impossible between Michael and me," said Wendy angrily as she put both hands on her waist.
"I know. That’s why I don’t understand why you’re angry." Jill looked really puzzled.
"Don’t you have any other friends in the company?" said Wendy. "Did you eat alone before this? Why do you insist on eating with Michael now?"
"Mr. Lucas keeps asking you out for lunch, but you keep turning him down!" Jill had predicted this question and had already come up with a response beforehand. "Of course, I have other friends in the company whom I could eat with. But it’s so sad for Mr. Lucas to eat all by himself, don’t you think? What’s wrong with eating with him?"
"Do you know that the other employees have been gossiping about you and Michael?"
"They can say whatever they want. I don’t care about that," Jill shrugged and didn’t look the slightest bit bothered.
"Let me remind you. You’re only 23, while Michael’s already 33." Wendy really didn’t know what had gotten into Jill’s head. Why was she so insistent on getting so close to Michael?
"I know that. He’s just ten years older, that’s all," Jill still sounded as nonchalant as ever. Then, she became serious and asked Wendy, "Wendy, I just want to know one thing. Do you not love Michael Lucas anymore?"
Wendy initially thought that perhaps she was overreacting again, and Jill really just wanted to eat with Michael because he seemed lonely and pitiful. But Jill’s question told her things weren’t that simple anymore.
She stared back at Jill in disbelief.
According to what she knew about Jill, she didn’t think Jill would like a man like Michael.
"Yes, or no?" Jill pressed Wendy for an answer.
"Jill, are you serious about him?" Wendy began to panic a little.
If Jill were to really fall for Michael, how was she going to explain this to Timothy?
Timothy had asked her to take care of Jill and train her at work, not to help her find a boyfriend.
Worse still, this man was her own ex-husband.
Timothy would flip if he found out about this.
"I’ll take it that you don’t love him anymore then."
Jill turned around and said as she walked out,
"As long as you don’t love him and you don’t intend to be reconciled with him, then whatever does has nothing to do with you."
***
Over the next few days, Wendy kept overhearing other employees gossip about Jill and Michael.
When she went to the bathroom, she heard some gossipy voices outside her stall.
"Wow, Jill is really getting bolder and bolder. She even went looking for Mr. Lucas after work and asked him to send her home."
"I don’t know what’s got into Jill either. Why does she keep harassing the boss?"
"The problem is that Corrine Swift is actually Wendy Stewart, while Jill is the assistant that Corrine herself brought over to MC Enterprise. How could Jill try to steal Corrine’s man like that?"
"oh, come on. The boss isn’t just some ordinary man on the streets, you know? Jill is still young and doesn’t have much experience, so I’m not surprised that she would fall for someone like Mr. Lucas. So many other women in the company would love to go after the boss too, but they just don’t have the guts."
"You’re right. Besides, Corrine keeps rejecting Mr. Lucas’ advances too. Also, if Jill ends up successfully becoming the boss’ wife, she won’t be a lowly assistant anymore. In fact, she’d be in a higher position than Corrine."
Wendy got angrier and angrier listening to such comments and decided to walk out and reprimand them. But the ladies walked out of the bathroom just as she emerged from her stall. She heard one of them say, "I heard Jill is moving her work desk to the office that’s right next to Mr. Lucas’ too."
That made Wendy freeze in her steps.
"Jill is moving seats?" Wendy suddenly felt this rage burning deep inside her heart.
Jill was her assistant, so she required Wendy’s approval before she could move.
Worse still, Jill was now going to take the office next to Michael’s, as if she wanted to make sure everybody know she was trying to go after the boss.
Wendy was so furious that she marched right out of the bathroom and headed towards Michael’s office.
Jill was walking towards her with a big smile on her face as she carried a large cardboard box with her things in it.
Wendy grabbed hold of Jill’s sleeve and asked her with a grim look on her face, "What are you doing?"
"I’m moving tables," replied Jill very naturally, as if there was no problem at all.
"I’m your supervisor. Why don’t I know anything about this?" Wendy continued to ask.
"I was about to tell you about it." Jill grinned and used her chin to point the way to Wendy. "I’m going to move to the office that’s next to Mr. Lucas. It’s not a big space, but it’s big enough for me. That way, it’ll be convenient for both yourself and Mr. Lucas to call for me. Why don’t you come with me to my new office?"
"Jill!" Wendy’s head was beginning to spin.
She refused to let go of Jill’s sleeve and said through clenched teeth, "You know the sort of person Michael is. You know he’s been married before and has two children. Are you so desperate to be a stepmother?"
"Stepmother?" Jill laughed. "That won’t happen. I’m sure you’re not going to pass your kids to him, and he doesn’t even know he has two kids. Besides, even if you did let him take care of the children, we’ll get along just fine since I’m so close to both of them."
"What on earth is wrong with you?!" Wendy was about to start her angry tirade when she noticed others walking past them.
So, she dragged Jill into her office and slammed the door shut behind them.
She took the box from Jill and flung it onto the floor as she said in a commandeering voice, "I will not allow you to move desks."
"Wendy..." Jill’s smile faded. "Miss Swift, I might be your assistant, but you know that I’m not here to really be your assistant. Even if you don’t allow it, I’m still going to move."
Wendy watched as Jill picked up the box from the floor again.
She stood in front of Jill and refused to let her walk out of her office. She had to sit Jill down for a good chat today, otherwise, she might really end up getting together with Michael.
"Jill, let’s talk," she said in a solemn voice.
"Aren’t we already doing that?" Jill had a straight face on, but she sounded very nonchalant.
"Tell me. Have you fallen for Michael?" Wendy asked directly.
"I don’t think that’s the right way to describe the current situation," replied Jill with a laugh. "But I’m rather interested in him."
If Jill had just said no, then Wendy would have been relieved. Given Jill’s personality, she would have tried to get close to Michael a long time ago if she had fallen for him and not waited till now. But instead, Jill said that she was rather interested in him. This really gave Wendy a terrible headache.
To Wendy, Jill was only 23 and hadn’t been in a relationship before, so she didn’t know anything about being in one.
Jill looked straight into Wendy’s eyes and continued, "I’ll come clean then. Actually, when you first got me to pretend to be you and meet Michael at the airport, I personally felt that this man wasn’t too bad. But because I knew that he was your ex-husband, I didn’t want to make any moves. But now, the two of you aren’t on good terms and you keep repeating to me that you will never get back together with him again. Since you insist that it’s impossible between the both of you, why do you care who Michael ends up with? As for whether I’m in love with him or not, I’ll know only after I get to know him better... Michael still carries a torch for you, so if I don’t pester him so hard, he won’t even pay me any attention."
Why don’t you help me out here?"
Jill put the box back down on the floor and tugged at Wendy’s sleeve as she whined, "You don’t love him anymore and you even dislike him so much. But I’m a little interested in him, so won’t you help me out? If it works out, that’s great! But even if it doesn’t, at least I’ve had tried."
Every word that Jill said pushed her closer and closer to Wendy’s limits.
Wendy shut her eyes and massaged her temples. "Have you ever thought about what your dad would do if he found out?"
"My dad? He’d support me," said Jill with a big smile. "Don’t worry, I know my dad better than you do. He’s way more liberal than you are. As long as I’m serious about this relationship, my dad would definitely want me to be happy."
"It’ll be a miracle if your dad doesn’t faint from anger! There’s no way he’s going to support you! Besides, even if he does, I wouldn’t." Wendy felt like she was about to faint. "If you keep this up, I’ll send you back to Rheinsville right now."
"If you dare to send me back, I’ll tell Michael that he also has a daughter," threatened Jill. "I’ve got a trump card too."
"You..." Wendy had always known that Jill was a rather rebellious child. But she had only been disobedient towards her father. This was the first time Jill was behaving like this toward her.
"Wendy, we’re like sisters, so I’ll ask you one last time," said Jill as she picked up the box again. "Do you intend to get back together with Michael or not? As long as you say you intend to, then he’s yours and I will not go anywhere near him no matter how much I like him. But if you say that you don’t intend to, then I don’t see any reason why I should reject a man just because you don’t want him."
