Office Diaries - Chapter 81

“Excuse me?”

For a moment Ken Park thought he misheard what he had just been told.

“Did you just say immaculate conception?” he asked again as he stared at his best friend’s secretary.

Jay Co gave out a heavy sigh as he stared at the vice president with a ‘what-the-fuck-right?’ kind of expression on his face.

The vice president whistled. “Who does she think she is? The vɨrġɨn fuċkɨnġ Mary?” he asked with a mixture of amusement and perplexity.

“I thought she’s one very smart cookie? How come she’s being like that?” Susie who had been sitting next to Ken all the time asked with a voice laced with frustration. “Oh my gosh! I feel so frustrated my balls are going to explode.”

“You don’t have balls,” the secretary pointed out, earning him a glare from Susie.

“I’m speaking in metaphor,” she retorted making the vice president sigh and decide to intervene before the two started a never-ending argument.

“Seriously though, how is Marian now?” He had heard from Jay that the PA had been sickly since last week.

“Well, I think her sickness is actually due to her pregnancy. She’s still stealing my food,” Jay added the latter blandly before he continued. “I don’t think big sis is getting crazy though. I think she’s just shocked since well…since she really couldn’t remember what happened the night she got drunk and had aphrodisiacs. Definitely, she’s at a loss as to who is the father of her child ergo the immaculate conception theory,” he said and all three of them sighed audibly.

“Ken, just what the heck is Big Brother Liam doing? The way he is acting like a dɨċkless bastard it’s a wonder he actually ɨmprėġnȧtėd someone. I thought by now he’d have confessed to Marian,” Susie stated irritably making Ken inch closer to her. Ken hated it when his girl was agitated.

“Calm down Su,” the vice president cajoled making her a little less ruffled before she spoke once more.

“But it’s frustrating Ken. I feel guilty because I feel I might be one of the reasons why they’re still not together,” she said looking totally depressed, making the others wonder what’s going on.

“What do you mean?”

“Well,” her voice trailed off as she tried her best to recall something. “At the gala, I kind of sulked because Big Brother Liam didn’t tell me he already confessed to his love. It’s that time you told me he confessed, right? But I realized after that he still hadn’t. But Marian was there and the two of them looked like besotted idiots I thought they’re already a couple!”

“Aha!” Jay snapped his fingers and Ken sighed, readying himself to more frustration as this tidbit was revealed. “Maybe that’s why Big Sis avoiding our boss like the plague these days,” the secretary said and the vice president agreed.

“There’s no ‘maybe’ about it. That’s exactly what happened. Liam couldn’t confess because Marian always manages to run away from him,” Ken stated tiredly and the three of them sighed audibly again.

“So, what are we going to do now?” Jay asked after a while and Ken raised a brow.

“What do you mean ‘what are we going to do?’ Those two hurt my head so bad I don’t want to meddle in their business anymore,” the vice president stated which made the secretary panic.

“Ken, Big Bro, you can’t do that!” Jay exclaimed making the couple raise their brow once more.

“Who the heck is your Big Bro?” Ken retorted but Jay ignored his comment.

“We are their friends and we couldn’t let them stay like that! And it’s not like we can avoid them anyway. We work in the same office. I think we should come up with a plan that would bring those two together so everyone would be happy,” the secretary practically begged and the vice president grudgingly agreed.

Jay was right, Ken thought. Their involvement in this issue was inevitable anyway so they might as well help them. Then again…

Ken threw Jay a suspicious glance. Friend or not, he knew the secretary wasn’t this helpful— well not unless he wasn’t given a choice but to help. He wasn’t one to volunteer himself so why now?

“Why do you seem too eager to bring those two together?” the vice president asked and the secretary smirked before he answered.

“I want the boss to sweep Big Sis off her feet and lock her up somewhere. I already had enough of pregnant people stealing my beloved food!”

And so the three people closest to the idiotic couple formally devised a plan.

However, the following workday was a huge enigma to the poor secretary.

There’s really something odd going on and Jay couldn’t pinpoint what it was exactly.

At least, not yet.

With a small frown, Jay raised his head from his table to glance across the room, beyond the glass partition to where Marian sat behind her table. For a while now, he’d been feeling her eyes on him. But whenever he looked, she would always visibly jump in her seat and immediately busied herself with something as she looked away.

Odd. Very odd.

Was she planning to take over his plate later again?

The secretary now wondered what this naughty big sister was up to. Usually, whenever she had something on her mind, she would come to bother him at his table and share him her woes regardless if he’s willing or not to listen. Now, however, aside from the surreptitious glances which he was able to catch from time to time anyways, she remained in her seat.

“Mulling over gazillions of weird stuff in her head again,” Jay muttered under his breath as he shook his head and turned his attention back on his paperwork.

He wondered if pregnancy vaporized Marian’s brain cells. She’d become too nutty lately. But he had no more energy to spare her today so he was thankful that she’s behaving in her own office. After the gala, their boss got a little lazy and so Jay was left to do most of the work, with Liam only reading and signing things after.

With an impatient snort, the secretary wondered when this foolish love issue would be fixed. Looking at it, with his position in between Marian and Liam, Jay was the most affected— both mentally physically.

“Give me a break you stupid lovebirds…”

On the other side of the office, Marian James was a bundle of nerves.

Swallowing hard, she looked at the piece of paper she’d painstakingly written her resignation letter into a while ago.

This was it, she thought as she placed a hand carefully over her stomach. She was only into five weeks gestation so it’s still not obvious that there’s a little baby already there. It’s still so minute that if she didn’t know she’s expecting and the morning sickness she didn’t seem pregnant at all.

But she was – and her little baby would continue to grow.

She couldn’t stay here. She couldn’t continue working with her questionable pregnancy— regardless that she already had an idea who the father was. Most especially, she couldn’t stay working in this company pregnant and miserable when the one she loved so much— the man who as she heard was going to marry someone else soon could see her. She couldn’t.

Raising her head, she glanced at Jay sitting across from her beyond the glass partition and she sighed and snorted pathetically as her fingers tightened on the paper in her hand.

Fool. Marian James, you’re a fool, she berated herself. Why hadn’t she thought about it? Wasn’t their boss gay?

Of course, if there’s someone Liam Kang would confess to, it would be her little brother, Jay Co! This must be the reason why the usually grumpy guy acted extra helpful to her.

She sighed as she fought the urge to cry. Why didn’t she realize this sooner?

She bit her lip. Too bad it’s still not legal to have same gender marriage in Korea. But it’s not a problem for Liam Kang. He and Jay could just go to the US or to France to have their wedding.

Fate was so cruel. The man she loved would marry her best friend and also the…

She shook her head, willing the last thought away. She closed her eyes as her lips quivered. No, she wouldn’t think about it anymore, she promised herself as she patted her stomach as if to comfort herself.

Well, if she’s going, she should move now while she still had the strength to. God knew ever since she got pregnant, she’d become so sėnsɨtɨvė she cried at almost anything. Her strong will was leaving her apparently. But while she still had some backbone left, she would do what she had to do.

Her presence would only be a hindrance to everyone in the long run regardless of what they might say now. She should leave while she knew she could still say no and could still be stubborn enough to do what she should.

Folding the paper neatly and placing it into a white envelope, Marian stood up from her table and walked towards her boss’ office.