Sick Like Me (Sick Like #1)

Chapter 47

FORTY-SEVEN

I walked into the busy function room of The Verdant Royale, finding the room crowded with groups of other staff members. The floors were a pure white marble with grey and black lines, and the walls were a bright white.

The tables were a dark grey wood, with matching chairs under each one. Each table held a runner, black and white checked. Then in front of each seat was a grey ratan style place mat. In the centre most of the tables stood glass vases of red and white roses, with four burning candles surrounding it. Off to the side of the centre of the table, each one held a jug of water, and the opposite side of the table seemed to hold a jug of a dark red wine.

I was impressed, to say the least.

I looked around, in search of my work friends. As if right on time, I felt a gentle yet familiar hand wrap around my elbow, then I was pulled into a very orange and cinnamon scented wall.

I looked up at Stefan, his bleach blonde buzz cut having been died a dark brown for the occasion. He smiled at me, then his own eyes wandered around the room.

“It feels like almost everyone who works for the company is here,” He noted before he looked back at me. “Which table are we on?”

I looked behind us at a board with circles to replicate the tables, then six names sat inside each circle. “We’re on one of the front tables, with Casey and her husband,” I replied before I looked back to the other side of the room, the deemed ‘front’ of the room where a small wooden stage was set up.

“Let’s get going over there, shall we?” Stefan held his arm out to me, and I laughed before I wrapped my hand around it. “Your little boyfriend won’t get mad at me for you clinging onto me, will he?”

At the mention of Owen, my eyes tried to seek him out. He said he would be there, but I hadn’t heard from him all day and I hadn’t seen him despite telling him a few hours earlier I was a cafe nearby.

I had the sinking feeling he was done with me, since our relationship felt it wasn’t advancing. At the thought of him ending things this me, I felt a sense of… Relief. And I felt so guilty for that.

“Have you seen him?” I asked as Stefan navigated us through small groups of people. He led us to the front, then to our table. He read the name tags and then pulled out a chair which was behind my name tag.

I sat down and looked up at him as he moved to sit beside me. He sighed softly and shook his head as he leant back in the chair. “No, I haven’t.”

There was something about Stefan’s tone which felt off, and I wanted to dig more into it. But he forced a large smile and looked behind us. I looked in the direction and found Mr and Mrs King walking towards us with Casey in tow.

“Ashton,” Carol called.

I stood and smiled at the woman, only for her to wrap her arms around me when she reached us. I blinked in surprise at first, but then my hands came to gently pat the woman’s back awkwardly.

“Congratulations on your promotion,” Mr King greeted, smiling as he stood a few steps back beside Stefan. The pair shook hands in a greeting between themselves.

Carol pulled away from me and let out a little gasp as if she was unaware of the situation. “That’s right,” She said softly, yet loud. “Congratulations on your promotion. It was well deserved.”

“Thank you,” I smiled shyly and looked down at the floor to hide my embarrassment from their sudden attention, which I had no doubt called for the attention of nearby patrons who wondered who I was for the company owners to want to speak to me.

“We don’t have any seats, so do you mind if we take up the rest of the seats beside you?” Carol asked, to which I shook my head in response.

“No, please feel free to sit down!” I pointed my arm in the direction of the free seats for the pair. Carol walked around me back to her husband and grabbed his arm before she pulled him in the direction of the seats.

Carol pushed her husband to sit beside Stefan, meaning she was sat opposite myself. I watched as she silently grabbed the jug of wine and poured herself a glass from one of the glasses sat around her place mat.

She then looked up and right at me, holding the jug out in my direction. “Would you like some?” She offered.

I nodded and took the jug from her, then I poured myself and Stefan a glass. “This place is gorgeous,” Stefan spoke up, the dreamy look in his eyes just as it had been some weeks ago when we scoured the internet for photos of the place.

“We actually got married here,” Malcolm spoke up, his hand seeking his wife’s on top of the table while his eyes looked around the room, seeming to finally land on the crystallised chandelier hanging from the ceiling in adoration.

“You did?” Stefan sounded jealous, yet impressed. “I want to get married here one day, when I finally find the woman who I want to settle down with.”

I felt hands snake on my shoulders from behind, then I felt lips on the top of my head. I looked back once they stood to full height once again, and found Owen stood behind me in a white shirt and black tie.

I turned in my seat to get a better visual of him. I smiled instantly, and he smiled in return. His hand moved to push my blonde waves from my shoulder. “You look amazing,” He spoke softly, and I felt my cheeks flush hot from the compliment.

“Thank you,” I began, but my words were cut off when I heard a loud knocking noise. I looked around in surprise, and then my eyes landed on the stage to find a man stood on it with a microphone in hand.

I turned back to face forward, and felt the warmth of Owen disappear from behind me. I shot a look behind me, to find him gone.

I frowned and looked at Stefan, who had an expression on his face bordering one of guilt. I frowned, parting my lips to ask him what was wrong only for my words to be cut off by the person in front of me.

“Welcome everyone,” The man spoke loudly into the microphone, a wide smile on his face that looked more than forced.

A handful of people around the room clapped at his greeting, then the man continued. “Mr and Mrs King would like to thank you all for attending this amazing milestone in their life.”

I heard from a few tables back give off a loud ‘ whoop ’ noise, and I cringed at the audacity of the person. I hated drawing attention to myself, and the fact they felt no shame was a mystery to me.

I felt a shiver run down my spine and sat up straighter. I looked around behind me to figure out if someone was staring at me to cause the reaction, but I found everyone’s eyes on the man on stage.

I turned back to him with my eyebrows knitted together. I chose to try and push the feeling aside.

“To kick off the night, we want to announce some promotions to congratulate you and your hard work,” The man looked down at his phone, and I assumed he had written his speaking notes for the night on the device.

“The first promotion we have is of Zoe Sykes,” The man began, and a group of cheers and claps sounded from the back. The man laughed. “I see her department friends are all here. Zoe has been working for the company for five years as a sales executive, but has since been promoted to shift manager three years ago, and a year ago she was announced as sales department manager. Zoe has shown tremendous dedication to the company and we are happy to announce she is now branch manager of the Bristol West branch.”

The room erupted into claps for the most part, but some people hooted and cheered for the woman.

The clapping died down, and the man took that as his sign to continue. “The next promotion we have is for the South Hadley branch,” The man began, and I closed my eyes as I knew he was about to speak about myself.

“One of our first design department members, Ashton Barret, has been with us for the last two years. She took on a personal project from Mr and Mrs King and has impressed them over the years with her skills. She has since now been promoted to Design and Customer Services manager,” The man clapped his wrist since his hand was holding the microphone, and everyone else around clapped.

I looked down at the table and closed my eyes, hating the attention. Luckily, not many people seemed to know who I was and so only Stefan and Casey gave me words of encouragement .

The man took a large breath into the microphone, calling once again for everyone’s attention. “And now for the final promotion. Well,” He began and clicked his tongue, then turned his head to the side. “I’m unsure if we can class this as a promotion, or a new hire.”

Stefan and I shot one another a look, wondering who would have been worthy enough to be mentioned as technically a new hire. If the company announced every new hire, they would be verbally promoting staff members every single day. But the man also said it was technically a promotion—confusing.

“Some of you may remember, a year ago we began collaborating with FinOptic Solutions, a finance company around the UK that helps other companies manage their finances,” The man began.

At the mention of Dakota’s company, my stomach dropped. I had been focusing on my life, trying to keep my head down and forget the man. He hadn’t contacted me, and I hadn’t contacted him. As far as I was concerned, we were done.

“One of the members of the team who joined us, Dakota Vernon, has shown tremendous care and attention to our company. Some of you may be aware, the company finances director left the company earlier this year, and we have been in transition to welcome a new person into the role.”

I closed my eyes. I was fucking cursed, I was sure of it. Surely not, I hoped my suspicions weren’t true,

“Dakota showed interest in the role and so after discussions with his company, he has decided to step down from his role in FinOptix and has joined King Family Furnitures as our new company finances director.”

That was it, I was sold. I was cursed for life.

I heard loud cheers and claps all around the room, and was surprised to find the man seemed popular amongst any staff members. Of course, I bitterly thought. He probably fucked half of them .

“That is all with our promotion announcements,” The man stated loudly, and the clapping and hooting all fizzled out. “We have a special announcement, however, from one of our staff members.”

The room fell into silence and the man walked to the edge of the stage where I found Owen. Owen took the microphone from the man, then made his way on stage and stood in the middle just as the man had done.

That made sense as to why he hadn’t messaged me, I noted. He was preparing something for the gala.

I felt Stefan tense from beside me. I looked at him and shot him a look. “I’m going to go to the restroom,” I whispered in his direction, then stood. “Keep notes of what he says so you can fill me in on the gossip.”

“You may want to stay for this,” Stefan looked at me with something behind his eyes, something I couldn’t decipher.

I shook my head and laughed. “My bladder means more to me than some shit he has to say.”

I turned and made my way carefully through tables, weaving slowly and tilting my body to ensure I didn’t bump into anyone and disrupt them.

“Thank you all for being here on such a special occasion,” I heard Owen’s voice call out, and I paused to shoot a look behind me at him. I felt my lips twitch as I noticed everyone was laser focused in on him.

He worked hard, and he deserved the recognition.

“Some of you may or may not know, but I have been in a relationship for the past year,” He continued, and I felt my body still and my lips part.

I stood from my place in the centre of the room, and felt panic overcome me as eyes from nearby tables shot me looks as they revealed they knew just who I was, and that he was talking about me.

Why was he bringing up our relationship in front of everyone we worked with? Was he going to break up with me in front of them all? Or was he going to do something else?

I felt cold take over where blood should have been flowing warmth through my body and closed my eyes for a brief second.

“No, please,” I whispered, then opened my eyes once again to look at him. His eyes found me, and he smiled wide.

Even more eyes turned to face me, and it felt like my worst nightmare.

“Ashton Barret is the love of my life, and I want nothing more than to be a man worthy of her. I want to protect her and love her until my final breath in life. I have to thank this company for bringing us together in the first place,” He noted.

He must had forgotten I only liked him because he was fit, not because we worked for the same fucking company.

“Ashton,” He continued, then speaking to me.

Eyes from tables near and far all turned to stare at me like some specimen under a microscope to be passed around for science class. They all seemed to recognise what was happening.

“Please,” I whispered once again, as if begging to some higher being to wake me up from the nightmare.

My throat felt tight, my nose stinging.

I wanted to cry. I wanted to grab my bag and run out of the hall.

I couldn’t believe he was doing that in front of a crowd of people. He knew I hated busy places, and I hated attention. He merged two things that made me uneasy, and it felt cruel. As if he was forcing my hand.

As though Stefan’s Ashton-senses kicked in, I felt the velvet of his suit brush against my arm gently and then his fingertips lightly brushed against the side of my hand. I looked from Owen to Stefan, and I felt as if I had a look of pure horror etched onto my face.

“Will you marry me?” The question I had been dreading filled the room.