Chapter 11
885words
I had seen that brooch somewhere before. It was the exact same one that the mysterious man in the "Love Mission" app had been wearing during that video call. It was the same design and material!
My brain immediately turned into mush. I wanted to flee from the scene so badly.
If Mr. Rosewood had been the man in the video call, that meant he had seen me in my most shameful. So, did that also mean that he was just pretending not to know me?
Moreover, Mr. Rosewood was a married man. He was more than half a century old and even had a son and a daughter.
Speaking of which, I suddenly realized that I didn't know where Felix was. He had excused himself and left first as soon as the meeting was adjourned.
I stumbled my way back to the trainee team office. The place was dead silent. Everyone had a look of despair on their faces as they quietly packed up their things in boxes and left, making sure to avoid bumping into me.
"I'm sorry, Nathan."
"I'm sorry for believing the rumors about you."
I thought that they would take the opportunity to make fun of me for the last time before they left. But to my surprise, many of them didn't even have the guts to meet my gaze, and a handful of them even tried apologizing to me.
They quickly scampered off like frightened mice before I could even ask them for more details.
Derrick never showed his face. I scanned the office, trying to find Felix, and suddenly caught sight of a familiar silhouette in the corner that made me feel at ease at once.
Felix was texting someone. Based on how quickly he typed, it seemed like it was a very urgent matter.
"Beep!"
That familiar ping could only mean that the app was messaging me again!
"Due to some unforeseen circumstances, we apologize for the delayed lucky reward for your second mission. Kindly check and acknowledge that you have received your reward."
So, this whole situation was my actual reward for the bathroom shenanigans. It hadn't been the proposal deck itself.
I noticed from the corner of my eye that Felix's typing and pausing between messages seemed to match the timing of the app's messages popping up on my phone.
Mr. Rosewood.
The suit.
The mysterious man.
Him heroically saving me from Derrick in the bathroom stall.
Suddenly, everything fell into place and made sense to me.
Felix set down his phone and turned, coincidentally meeting my gaze. It was the first time I saw him looking flustered.
My phone suddenly started to ring just then.
I stared at him in a daze as I answered the call in a robotic manner.
It was a call from Bianca. Her voice was still soft and gentle as before, but she was shaking with excitement as she said, "Nate! An anonymous person just informed us that they would be footing all of the hospital bills for your grandmother!
"And that's not all. They even offered to settle the bills for all of the patients! Oh my god, I wonder who this generous billionaire could be?"
I ended the call.
Felix started walking toward me, but I kept backing away from him. Suddenly, I felt like I didn't know who he was anymore.
Eventually, I backed into the wall behind me.
"Was it… you?"
My voice trembled.
"Yes."
I didn't think that he would come clean with me so quickly.
"I'm sorry, Nathan. But I'd fallen in love with you the first time I met you…" Felix confessed.
"The first time? You mean, s-since the first day you started working here?"
"No. Earlier," he replied. "You saved a white cat from under the bridge. I only learned that you and I were working in the same department after I came to work here. And then, I caught wind of all those nasty rumors about you.
"But I never believed them. I started looking into the matter without anyone knowing, and I later heard about your grandmother being admitted into the hospital. I really wanted to help you, but you were always so cold toward me.
"Still, I liked you too much, and I came up with something… underhanded.
"Also, I had gone into the chairman's office that day and changed into Dad's clothes without him knowing. But when I heard Derrick's voice in the call, I immediately ran down to you because I was so worried.
"I'm sorry for causing you so much trouble. I'm really sorry…"
Felix was only halfway through explaining when I found tears running down my cheeks. He kept apologizing to me over and over. While I felt embarrassed about the whole situation, I realized that I couldn't get mad at him.
"It's okay."
Felix was stunned. He cocked his head at me in disbelief.
"I said, it's okay," I repeated. I could see the confusion in his eyes growing.
It took him a long while to finally understand that I meant what I said. His eyes then grew passionate as he looked at me and asked, "If that's the case, can I announce the third mission now?
"Kiss me."
I chuckled and shyly pecked him on the lips.
So soft and tender.
