A/N: Here it is guys. My last story. I've been excited about this ever since I started imagining it all inside my head and I'm also kind of scared actually. I hope everyone will like this.
This story is inspired and actually based on the novel "Gabriel's Inferno" by Sylvain Reynard. If you haven't read that one, I suggest you do because it's a great story. I edited a lot of things so this story is quite different than the novel but you will still see some resemblance from the novel.
Enjoy reading guys and I hope you will enjoy this. :)
Disclaimer: I neither own the story and the characters. This is only for fun and entertainment.
She makes her way upstairs, her nerves getting to her. She doesn't know what to expect really. She didn't even know why she's nervous. She was hoping that she would see him there, waiting for her and smiling when he sees her. She stays a bit at the door, her hand hovering at the knob. She takes a deep breath before finally opens the door and steps inside. She stared at nothing, as she stands inside the room that she only saw last night, and even then she never really recognized it. The room looks old and seems like no one has ever been there for awhile. She turns her head at the bed where only the sheets are the only evidence that someone had been there.
Her fingertips touch every single thing on the room. The study table, the books laid on top of it, the poster of some band she doesn't recognize, and finally a frame that contains a picture of him, smiling with his head held high. The photo seems to be a long time ago when he was younger and carefree. She wants to see that side of him one day. But right now, it seems impossible. She doesn't even know if he knows who she is or if he remembers her from last night. She sighed, crestfallen. She then pick up the frame and took out the picture, putting it on her pocket before she returns the frame and turns to leave.
She makes once last glance around the room as if she's putting everything in her mind every detail, and finally left the room knowing that it could be the last time that she will step inside it.
"Hey," Kurt spotted her upstairs. "There you are. What are you doing there?" He asked as he stops on the final step of the stairs.
"Nothing. I just got curious what's behind this door." She reasoned, pointing back to the now closed door.
"Well, it's my brother's room. He just left this morning, actually. Come on, Blaine's waiting for us downstairs."
"Okay," she smiled and followed Kurt downstairs, giving one last glance at the room she just been into.
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"Miss Berry!" she startled when her boss snapped at her. She was again deep in her thoughts that she didn't hear her boss calling her. It was yet again, so embarrassing, especially when you're getting stared at with a lot of people.
"The files." her boss says, looking very annoyed. He came in this morning already in a bad mood. He gets pissed easily and he glares at everyone who tries to ruin his day more. But then again, when does Finn Hudson came in the office in a good mood and smile at everyone around him? Simple answer, never.
Ever since Rachel started working at HEH Industries as an assistant for Finn Hudson, Chief Operating Officer of the company, she never once saw her boss in a good mood or with a smile on his face. No one really knows why, even when she asked around about it. They just said that he's already been uptight and mercurial when he started working there.
For Rachel it was terrifying of course, because she had to work with him every day and accept all the harsh things he'll say about how she's doing her job. The only good thing about working with him is that she gets to be close to him and see how good looking he really was. She always tries to steal glances every time she's in his office just to admire him while he works. So although his attitude about people isn't really that fascinating, she knows that somehow there's a good side of him that he just hides from everyone, a vulnerable side that only a few people can see and how she wish she can see it too. That's why she loves her job so much. Because she knows that one day Finn Hudson will break down all of his thick walls surrounding him and finally can express what he's truly feeling every time.
As her boss went through the meeting, she just sits there on the side idly by and does whatever her boss asked her to do. She gets easily distracted though. First, because of how Mr. Hudson looks on a dark blue suit and white tie, with a white shirt inside, showing how fit his body is. That's kind of why she had been yelled at a couple of times now. She is just getting flushed every time she thinks of him and his body. The other reason is that Ryder, her officemate and probably her closest friend in the office keeps on texting her silly jokes that makes her fight her own laugh.
She was trying to hide her phone as she reads another text from Ryder when she felt a presence next to her. She looks up immediately and found Mr. Hudson glaring at her. She didn't even realize that the meeting has been adjourned and everyone is starting to leave the conference room.
"I did not hire you as my assistant to giggle like some high school girl, especially on a meeting." He said sternly. "You've been here for like what? Two weeks, and you're starting to annoy the crap out of me. If you can't do your job properly then I suggest you pack up your things and leave this company."
Rachel can't help but gulp and stare in horror to his boss. It's really not the first time that she has been threatened to get fired but every time Mr. Hudson say it to her, it makes her feel that someday he will finally do it. That she would be packing all her stuff and walk out of the company, ashamed and hurt. She forced herself not to cry, even if her eyes started to get misty. She doesn't want her boss to find something to lecture her from anymore. She can only take a few and she's thankful she rarely got it.
"Take these files and book me a flight to Ohio later this evening." He hands her the folders before leaving her alone in the room with her head bent low.
She closes her eyes for a moment and takes a deep breath. She doesn't even know this job would be so much harder than she thought it would be. Well, maybe because she never realized that her boss would be like that in the first place. But she doesn't want to quit or get fired. Her job pays well and she could really use the money to pay for school loans and bills. Even if she is living by herself in a small apartment, she still has a lot of things to think about.
"Hey, you okay?" She opened her eyes and found Ryder standing in front of her table staring at her with concern.
She gave him a small smile. "Yeah, I'm fine." She told him but she knew neither of them believes it.
"You're getting used to it, aren't you?" He gazes at her with a sad smile on his face. He knew how bad it can be when they're dealing with their boss. He'd seen it a couple times. How Mr. Hudson makes one of his coworkers almost resign due to the fact that their boss has a sharp tongue in him.
"Almost." She sighed and leans back to her chair. "I can't believe what you said about him on my first day is true. I thought you're just overreacting."
"Well, it was a bit overreacting. He never actually fired someone who stared at him square in the eye." He shrugs.
"Yeah," she laughs softly. "That one is definitely a lie. I almost didn't stare at him my first day."
"Unfortunately for you, you have to stay all the time on his side and pretend you don't have feelings," he smiled sadly at her and all she can do is sigh in defeat and look down on her table.
"Don't worry. Like I said, I'm almost getting used to it." She tries to convince both of them.
"I feel actually bad for you that you're stuck working with that ass." Ryder said with venom in his voice, glancing at the closed door behind her.
Rachel's eyes went wide immediately and turn her head around quickly at her boss's office as if to make sure he didn't hear what Ryder said.
"Sshhh! You can't just say things like that. He could hear you!" She hissed.
"What? It's true, isn't it?"
"Even if it is. You can't just say that my boss is an ass." Rachel already felt bad saying that out loud but when she saw Ryder's eyes widen and was looking behind her, she knew she will really feel bad saying that out loud.
Ryder bites his lip and looks at Rachel apologetically.
"Mr. Lynn, I seem to remember that I pay you to be in this company to work. Not to stand here and talk nonsense to your coworkers." Rachel heard her boss say. Ryder apologizes to Mr. Hudson and reluctantly left after giving Rachel one last look.
"As for you Ms. Berry," she finally heard what she had been dreading to hear. "Come see me in my office right now."
Rachel went still for a moment after Mr. Hudson went back to his office. She knows that tone. It is a bad news whenever Mr. Hudson uses that tone on her. It's either he's in a terrible mood and he doesn't want to be pissed more or she had done something bad. Something she really doesn't want to do. For like, ever.
She stands up slowly, already wanting to run and leave the office just so she could be far away from her boss. Of course it's not actually a good idea since she really loves her job and she really does need the money she can earn from it.
She turns the knob of the door slowly, peeking inside when she slowly opens it. She can see Mr. Hudson talking to someone from his phone, his back facing her. She stops immediately on her tracks when she heard her boss' angry voice.
"I said I'm going! Can't you understand that?!" She can see him started breathing heavily. She never saw him this mad before, and if she was scared earlier going inside his office, right now the word terrified is an understatement.
"You think this is my fault?" She heard him say. "I'm going to be there tomorrow whether you like it or not. It's not up to you what I want to do with my life!" He turns around after ending the call, anger still evident on his face. He throws his phone on his table, not caring where it landed and then finally notices her standing at the door. His gaze on her makes her squeamish and she really wish she could just turn around and leave.
"Shut the door." He commanded as he sits down on his chair. Rachel immediately does what he orders and steps a bit forward, waiting for the blow to happen.
She stares absent-mindedly at the two comfy looking single couches placed across from where he sat. She never knew how it feels like sitting in one of those. Her boss never asked or told her to sit whenever she's inside his office. Her chair outside his office is too hard for her. It feels like it needed more cushion inside and the way it squeaks every time she sits on them makes her flinch every time.
"Do you hate your job?" He asks her suddenly as he plays with his pen.
"Um, no, sir." She bites her lips as she wonders whether her answer is good enough for him.
"Really?" he asks her, his face impassive. "Well, it seems to me that your own definition of liking your job is very different from mine."
She stares at him, scared at the way he talks and stares at her. She never sees him like this before. And somehow, she has an idea that the phone call he just had might have something to do with it. Her luck is so on point right now, sarcastically speaking.
"You're always late, takes too long to work, always out of focus, and just now, talking to your coworkers about your boss when it's office hours. If that's how you show you really like your job, then I think something's wrong with you." He put down his pen on his table loudly and crossed his arms as he continues to torment her by glaring at her.
"Maybe you have a mental disorder or something, Miss Berry. Something you didn't put on your medical records." He shrugs.
Rachel bites her lip once again, not knowing whether she should turn and storms out crying or just stay and take everything her boss is saying. It hurts her to hear him say things like that. It's not that he never heard him say things like that before but she never actually thought that he will say much worse.
"I – I'm sorry, Mr. Hudson. I promise I'll never do it again." is all that she can say. Of course everything his boss said about her is true. She just didn't realize he had been keeping an eye on him that much because he is a really busy guy. She never thought that every move she makes around him, he notices instantly. And that makes her feel more devastated.
"This is the part where I'm supposed to accept your apology and move on, right?" he said. "You would say you're sorry and promised to never do it again and what? You're going to do what you just say for like, a couple of days. Making me think that 'hey, she really kept her promise'. But then days later, when you thought that I already moved on from it, you're going to be back to your old self and then we're going to be back here, just like right now. Am I right?"
"N-no, Mr. Hudson. I-I just – "
"Have you already booked my flight for tomorrow?" he asks all of a sudden and made Rachel froze.
She never did get the chance to work right on it because she and Ryder talked earlier.
Her boss must have hinted that she hasn't because she heard him sigh.
"Just-just go, Miss Berry." He ran a hand to his hair and looks down to the files on his table. "And for god sakes, just do your freaking job for once!" he snapped.
Rachel flinched and nodded quickly before she immediately walks out of his office and goes back to her table, head bowed and forcing herself not to cry. She knows everyone on the floor heard his boss snapped at her. They must think now that she's lazy and not fit for her job.
Rachel got back to work immediately, tuning out the world around her as she tried her damn best to finish her work before lunch.
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Hours came by so fast and before she knows it, it was time for Rachel to go. She looks up from her computer and notices that some of her coworkers are already leaving. She glances to her boss office and notices him also that he was about to leave. She put her stare back to the computer when the door opens and Mr. Hudson exited his office. He didn't say anything to her though, didn't even stop on her table. He just walks passed her and stop at the elevator.
For Rachel it was a mixed of emotions, seeing her boss like that. Of course she was glad that he didn't give her anything to make her think badly about herself and her work ethic but she is a bit disappointed too that he didn't notice her presence. Well, it's not that he had done it before, it's just that she is still hoping, hoping that one day her boss will say something nice to her. And he will give her a smile as he says goodbye to her. But she knows it's not going to happen. She knows him long enough to know that.
She shuts down her computer before standing up and collecting her things. She was about to leave her table when Ryder went to her immediately, stopping her on her tracks.
"Hey, Rachel." He says cautiously. He looks a bit shy as he looks at her and it made Rachel confused.
"Hey, Ryder."
"Look, I need to apologize to you, about what happened earlier. It was my fault why Mr. Hudson got mad at you. I shouldn't have talked to you that long and shouldn't called him an ass, knowing that he's in his office." Ryder said, ashamed of what he had done to Rachel.
Rachel smiled sadly at him. "It's okay, Ryder. It's my fault, too. I needed to do a lot of work but I didn't so it's okay. You don't have to blame yourself for all of it."
"Are we good?" he asks cautiously.
"Of course, we are." She smiles at him. Ryder can't help but smile back and think that he would do everything to see her smile like that every day.
They both walk towards the elevator and waited for the lift to arrive. When it did arrive, they both went inside and press the button for the ground floor at the same time, making their hands touch. They both look at each other and shared shy smiles before the lift finally descended.
Rachel keeps on catching Ryder stealing glances from her and every time their eyes met, they both smile at each other. She didn't want to give it any meaning at all because Ryder is the only close friend she has at work and making assumptions about something will just make things change between them. But she can't help but be amused on how Ryder treats her whenever they're together. She admits that he's sweet and always being a gentleman. He also makes her always forget about the mean things her boss told her every day. She's grateful to have Ryder in her life and sometime she feels that somehow she's starting to like him. But every time she thinks about it, her past love kept on coming back to her mind, as if telling her not to. Maybe she's just too smitten by him that she wouldn't let anyone enter her heart. If only her past love will be there today and show her that everything is going to be alright as long as he is there.
"Do you need a ride home?" Ryder asks Rachel as they reach outside of the building, making Rachel come back from her own thoughts. The sky started to get dark and finally the rain starts pouring.
"Um, no." she shook her head. "I'm fine walking my way home." She said to Ryder.
Ryder frowned and looked at the sky. "But it's raining, Rachel."
"I brought my umbrella Ryder. I'm sure I can go home safely with it. And besides, my house is not on your way. I don't want to be a burden to you." Ryder was about to retort back to her but Rachel already opens her umbrella and started walking, waving goodbye to Ryder.
"I'll see you tomorrow, okay? Bye!" Rachel said, walking away from Ryder.
It's not that she didn't want Ryder to give her a ride home. It's just that she's used to walk herself home and she's fine with it. She likes how she can always look around the city and see the events around her. It entertains her, and it gives her a distraction on every problem she has on her life. And her house isn't that far from their workplace. It is only 6 blocks away from their office and walking has never been a problem to her. She was used to walking a lot even when she was young and now that she is in New York, she can't help but to get back to what she used to do.
But now, as she walks her way to her house, she notices how the rain starts to get stronger, especially the wind. She takes a hold of her umbrella more tightly and keeps her pace faster. But the more she gets closer to her house, the more the wind gets stronger, making her umbrella flip inside out and also making her wet. She squeals and immediately throws the now broken umbrella and just used her bag as a cover to her head. She tries to walk and run with her high heeled shoes and pass the people who are on her way.
The sudden stop of a car on her left makes her slow her pace and turn her head on the vehicle. The front door opens when she reached the car.
"Get in!" she heard someone says inside the car. She looks around her for a moment, thinking that it might not be for her after all. When she found no one around her, she cautiously makes her way to know it is. She bends her body and looks inside, making her surprise to see the owner of the vehicle who is patiently waiting for her to get inside.
"M-Mr. Hudson?" she stammers, both because of the cold and the surprised.
"Get in, Ms. Berry, before you catch a flu." He orders her, making her get inside the car immediately. Just when she thought her day couldn't get any worse.
A/N: How was it? Is it good? Should I continue? Please let me know.
See you on the next chapter.
Reviews are so welcome :) Thanks for reading !