The rain dribbled down the windows, the puddles filling the streets, reflecting the cloudy sky above. People walked with their shoulders shrugged; hands hid in their pockets, scarfs covering their reddened noses. The end of autumn boded cold winter.
The blankets rustled as Annie rolled inside them, growling, rubbing her forehead that felt like a burning pot. As she opened her moist eyes, the grey light stung them and turned around, mumbling.
“God, what’s wrong with me,” she said, coughed and reached out for the drawer.
Putting the thermometer in her mouth, she massaged her tramples and sat up, feeling like her body weighed a ton. As she looked down on the thermometer; everything made sense. Fever.
Annie dialed the number and coughed again.
“The Carlton Law Center,” a young girl answered.
“Hi, Jen, it’s Annie,” she forced the words out of her sore throat. “I have a fever. I can’t come in today. You’ll let the boss know, right?”
“Okay, I will,” the girl replied monotonously before hanging up.
Rolling back into the blankets, Annie covered her entire body and dug her head in the pillow.
Five hours had passed when Annie woke up and dragged herself out of bed. But she felt better, her head and eyes didn’t burn anymore, and she even had an appetite. Her fever had gone down, and after she ate, she was almost like her usual self – fresh and energetic like a newly hatched bird.
The evening had already seeped in when Annie’s phone buzzed, and she peeled her eyes off the TV screen, answering the phone.
“Oh my god, Annie! I’m freaking out!” her best friend, Sally, screamed from the other end of the line.
“About what?” Annie sighed at her usual overdramatic behavior.
“My blind date!” Sally let out. “What if he’s ugly? Or, worse – short! What if he’s psycho or something? Can you please, come along?! I can’t go alone, please!”
“Sally, I’m sick; I had fever this morning,” Annie rolled her eyes.
“But you don’t have it anymore!” Sally pleaded. “Please, please! I’ll have a panic attack.”
Listening to her friend begging, Annie exhaled, giving up.
“Okay, I’ll come,” she replied, hearing her friend shrieking from gratitude.
The club was full of youth, dancing to blasting music and drinking from one glass after another.
Annie and Sally inched their way through the crowd. Feeling the music drumming in her ears, Annie felt her head-turning heavy again.
“Oh, here he is!” Sally exclaimed, pointing at a tall, blonde man waiting at her. “God, he’s handsome!”
She quickly kissed Annies’ cheek. “Thanks for the emotional support!”
She turned, rushing to the man.
Smiling, Annie turned, relieved for her friend and herself too. She could go home and have a good night’s sleep before returning to work early in the morning, hoping the warm blankets and chamomile tea would make her flue vanish entirely.
Suddenly, someone tapped on her shoulder, and she turned, seeing her coworker – John – gazing at her with a sneaky smile. Suddenly, he bent, moving his lips close to her ear.
“Your secret is safe with me, Annie,” he murmured and stepped back with a smirk.
Annie’s smile melted, color draining from her face.
“I really am sick,” she emitted, trying to overshadow the blaring music. “I just had to come along with my friend for a minute. She needed me.”
“Okay, I believe you,” Jack winked
He waved before mingling with the crowd, leaving Annie behind, humiliated and frustrated.
The following day, as she stepped into the office, Jen, the young secretary, ran up to her with a concerned face.
“Grace is calling for you,” she whispered.
The boss calling for an employee was so rare that Annie, even one of the best employees, felt her heart skipping a beat.
Her eyes sneaked toward the corner, seeing Jack standing with an oily smile, scorn on his face.
Gritting her teeth, Annie turned, walking in the boss’s office while her eyes stayed behind, glaring at Jack. But her furious stare that could stone anyone changed nothing.
In a few minutes, Annie walked out of Grace’s room, closing the door behind her back. As she did so, she clenched her chest as if it could calm her pounding heart down. With a reddened face and watery eyes, she looked up, catching sight of Jack chatting with a coworker, his tone careless and joyful.
“Why did you do it?!” Annie walked up to him, saying through her clenched teeth. “Why did you tell her?! I explained to you, and you betrayed me!”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jack replied, his voice and face expressing no shame or regret but the sense of victory sparkled in his eyes. “Stop bothering me; I’ve got work to do. And I actually do it, unlike you.”
He turned, waving at Annie like a man trying to scare off a stray dog. Blood boiled inside her, but she couldn’t do anything other than swallow her anger and work ten times harder to make up for the accident.
That night when everyone started preparing to leave, Grace walked out, her sharp heels clicking across the tiles. Annie looked up, startled at the piercing sound.
“We have a big deal to close tomorrow,” Grace stood in the center. “So everyone’s staying tonight. You all have the documents divided and assigned to you. So, you have to finish them tonight. No one leaves.”
Silence welcomed her, and she nodded, going back to her room.
Annie and other employees piled up at the coffee machines as they’d need it for a long night.
It was past midnight when Annie stood up for the third cup of coffee when she saw Jack sneaking out of the doorway. He glanced around before slipping through the door gap and running down the stairs on tiptoes, like a thief running away from the crime scene.
Annie scoffed, shaking her head. Now she could take revenge on him.
The following day when everyone gathered in the main office, Grace’s killing gaze reached everyone.
“Someone left their documents unfinished last night,” she said with a cold, strict voice. “We lost the deal because of it. Do you know how many millions our company lost?” her eyes turned furious. “Who was it? You better tell me now because I’ll eventually find it out.”
Everyone kept quiet. Annie was silent, not even moving her eyes even though she could almost feel Jack’s tension spreading onto her.
“Okay,” Grace inhaled. “As you wish. But I’ll find it out. Now all go back to work and never betray me again.”
The employees left the room, and as everyone went back to their desks, Annie walked to Jack with a subtle smile.
“Your secret is safe with me,” she whispered. “And I really mean it.”
She pulled back, watching his pale, frozen face. Annie turned, walking away with uttering no more, feeling Jack’s eyes pinned on her back.
The blue light of the TV screen brightened Annie’s face as she sat in the dimmed room, watching a movie, eating popcorn. A week had passed since she had caught a cold and now her body felt energized without a trace of the flue.
Her phone vibrated, and she paused the film, answering it.
“Hey, Annie, it’s me,” Jack’s low voice reached her. “I’ve been wanting to call you for a week. And I finally did… I was too proud.”
“Yes, you were,” Annie agreed.
“I know you saw me that night leaving, and you said nothing to Grace,” Jack’s tone turned shameful. “Unlike me when I told on you. I realized how horrible my action was. I’m so sorry.”
“I know you are,” Annie smiled. “I can hear it in your voice.”
“I fought with my pride for a week, but I just can’t go on without telling what I really feel,” Jack responded. “I understand if you don’t forgive me. I just wanted to say sorry. I apologize.”
“I forgive you,” Annie said calmly. “People change and we all make mistakes. The important thing is that we realize our mistakes and try to turn ourselves into a better version. That’s what matters. Everything else will work out.”
“Thank you for being so kind,” Annie heard him smiling.
She nodded as if he could see her. Sitting there, on her couch, miles away from her coworker, she still felt that she had helped him grow and improve. It was only one person, but it meant that she had pushed the world a step closer to kindness.