CHAPTER FIVE- DOOMED!

~MIRA’S POV~

“Bella and the rest of the news crew will conduct the interview but he will be here to inspect the team behind the wonderful scripts.” Mercy immediately gave out an instruction.

And then, turning slightly, shoving her hands into the pockets of her suit jacket, she said, “If you are not cut out for this job, now is the best time for you to quit.”

A couple of muffled chuckles rose. Mercy’s expression eased. “Good luck, everyone. Our future depends on this.”

The moment she and Bella left, silence dropped like a curtain.

Laura leaned toward me, raising her brows dramatically. I bit back a laugh.

“Don’t even think of sneaking out,” I whispered.

She whispered back, “Me? I wouldn’t dare. Did you see the way she looked at us?”

The department was as quiet as a temple after Bella and Mercy left. Laura wiggled her brows but didn’t dare to leave her seat.

I stretched my arms and yawned. I didn’t sleep well. It would take a while to get used to sleeping on a new bed or being a married woman.

I resumed typing on my laptop at the same time when a sharp gasp broke the silence.

Aurora, of course.

She lifted her phone like it was a sacred relic. “He’s hot. He’s fucking hot!”

Everyone’s heads turned.

“To prove it,” she announced, and then, horrifyingly, he licked her phone screen.

I groaned. “Aurora, that’s disgusting.”

She shot me a grin. “Disgusting? Please. I’m just being honest. Look at him. I want to marry him.”

Murmurs rippled through the room as people crowded closer to peek at her phone.

Laura leaned over first. “Oh my God. That jawline. He doesn’t look real.”

“Let me see!” another voice chimed in from the back.

Aurora waved the phone above her head like a trophy. “Behold, the man of my dreams.”

“More like the man of everyone’s dreams,” Laura muttered, reaching for the phone.

“Back off.” Aurora pulled it close to her chest. “He’s mine. I claimed him first.”

I rubbed my temples. “You don’t even know him.”

Aurora gasped, offended. “So? Marriage is about faith. I have faith he’s my soulmate.”

That earned laughter from nearly every corner of the office.

“You mean you have faith in his abs,” Laura teased.

Aurora flipped her hair. “A woman must follow her heart. And my heart just screamed at me through Wi-Fi.”

Someone in the back snorted. “Aurora, you’ve fallen in love with every man who walked past this building.”

“Correction.” She wagged a finger. “Every man with a six-pack. Standards, darling. Standards.”

More laughter.

I paused. If I asked who, I would be drawn to the gossip Aurora was ever willing to dish out.

No matter how handsome he was, romance between colleagues was prohibited.

Curiosity always got the best of me nowadays, it might be my new boss I thought. I missed the old me right now as I recalled I was off the market, but it was a contract and I am allowed to admire handsome men. Though I didn’t think I would be doing that often, my husband was hot enough for me.

I stared at the script on my screen, the one I had to vet.

Tech Valley was a media outlet that combined tech and entertainment. Most times, they had to find a way to incorporate tech in fun ways to keep most of their younger viewers glued to the TV.

All the scripts from the scriptwriter had to pass through them before it was sent to the news department. In my line of work, there were no mistakes, so I couldn’t afford to make one.

Laura beat me to the question. “Who?”

Aurora’s eyes gleamed like she’d been waiting for the question all her life. She tilted the phone toward Laura.

“Don’t drool,” Aurora warned, pulling the phone back quickly. “He’s mine.”

“I wasn’t..” Laura cut herself short. Explaining would only feed her.

I smirked at her. “You stared a little too long.”

She rolled my eyes. “Please. He looks like trouble.”

“Trouble is sexy,” Aurora declared.

The room broke into chatter again, everyone throwing opinions, teasing, joking, claiming imaginary rights to the stranger.

Then Laura’s tone shifted. “Wait. Hold on. Isn’t that…” She squinted at the phone again. “Isn’t that the man Mercy said was coming?”

The laughter died.

Aurora blinked. “What?”

“Our new boss. The one over our team.” Laura pointed at the picture. “ Yea, I think, Mark posted it.”

“The boss. Check your Whatsapp. Mark sent a picture.” She repeated firmly.

Mark was one of the videographers.

Everyone could count on him to supply the right information.

For the first time, Aurora’s confidence faltered. “You’re joking.”

“I’m not.” Laura shoved the phone toward another colleague. “Tell me that’s not the same guy.”

“It is,” the colleague whispered. “Holy shit, it is.”

Aurora’s jaw dropped.

The entire office froze, as if the air itself had thickened.

Because one thing was certain, OFFICE ROMANCE was forbidden.

No one dared to laugh now.

The looks on their faces aroused my curiosity and I immediately reached for my phone and tapped on the group chat of Tech Valley staff.

They had two groups, one for serious messages and the other for gossip and chats and hook-ups.

The picture took a few minutes to load and when it did, my world crumbled. My phone slipped from my grasp and crashed to the floor.

My heart beat against my chest as I picked it, I set it on the table and forced a smile on my lips when Laura threw a worried glance at me.

This could not be happening.

My chest tightened, breath stumbling as I momentarily forgot about the cracks on my new Samsung phone and swiped right.

The picture was the same. I placed the phone face down

and grabbed my head in my hands.

This can't be real!

It can't be happening.

Why did he have to be my new boss?

I am doomed!