Chapter 108.

I drove my car to work for what felt like the first time in forever. When I arrived in front of the building, it really felt great to be able to see the place for a change.

When I stepped inside, there were a lot of people who greeted me with concern as they inquired about my health. They all appeared sympathetic on the surface, but I didn’t feel any sincerity in their words. It felt like they were more interested in gathering material to gossip about.

“Senior Dio, you’re finally back. Some of us thought you’d died like Rick. It’s been crazy lately. The boss also suddenly disappeared and only reappeared today. We only had a bit of information from her secretary to go off of. There have also been tons of conspiracy theories going around in the office related to you, Rick, and boss.”

When I finally got past the crowd and arrived at my desk, Peter, one of the few people in the office I got along with approached me. He did me a favor and filled me in on everything that went on while I was away. Peter just so happened to also be among our group of four that went for drinks on the night Rick died.

“It sounds pretty bad. What kind of conspiracy theories are there exactly?”

“Too many. You eloped with the boss was very popular among the ladies. You killed Rick who you saw as an eyesore in your relationship with her. The guys on the other hand think you infiltrated the company to get dirt on the boss for a rival company, but Rick discovered you, so you killed him off.”

I was slack-jawed.

“What idiot is spreading such nonsensical inaccurate garbage like that?”

“Well…”

“What is it? Go on…”

“That is…”

“Bloody hell, speak man! Speak!”

He averted his eyes to the side and said, “Sorry... It was me who inadvertently started it. I accidentally made a bad joke in our group and someone from outside overheard it and took it too seriously. From then on... it kind of blew up.”

“Peter, you’re breaking my balls man. You’re really breaking them bad.”

“I’m sorry! It really wasn’t my intention for things to blow up the way they did. But isn’t it true your relationship with the boss is surprisingly close despite only recently starting here?”

“It’s not that close.”

“How can it be such a coincidence that you returned to work the same day the boss did though?”

“That is…”

I was stumped. Certainly, to return to work the same day the boss did, that would definitely raise a few eyebrows. I didn’t think too deeply about something like that, I just wanted to return to work to get my mind off of things a bit was all. Repairing electronics, strangely enough, helped me cope with stress and allowed me to think more clearly.

When I became more aware of my surroundings, I discovered there were a lot of busybodies in the office who’d perked their ears up in our direction. There were others who occasionally shot discreet glances over, clearly also interested in getting an answer.

I didn’t have any idea what they were told by Boss’ secretary, so I didn’t really know what to say. With Rick’s recent death, it was likely she didn’t want to cause any stress for the other employees by informing them that another employee had fallen into a coma so soon after. A negative atmosphere would lurch over the workforce while work efficacy would have certainly plummeted with the exceedingly low morale in the office.

In a way, the strange stories that arose may have actually been a convenient spin-on Rick’s death in the office as a means to distract everyone from reality. It spurred on people’s imaginative nature. It turned their eyes to something fictitious in nature, far removed from the depressing reality. The reason it blew up, and as for who benefited the most… could it be? The one behind the scenes fanning the flames the entire way would be… no... I was surely thinking too much into it.

“Well? What is it? What’s the reason you two returned on the same day?”

“The reason for that is actually pretty simple Peter. It is-“

Slam!

Just as I was about to make up some sort of rubbish explanation, the sound of a door slamming open resounded loudly in the building. It was none other than the door to Val’s office.

She stepped out and scrutinized all the employees closely before she calmly announced, “I’ve heard there’s quite the interesting gossip circulating since I’ve been out of the office. To clear up the misunderstanding, Mr. Genovese was stuck in the hospital for the last two weeks due to a medical condition he had that flared up. I came across him passed out while he was on his way to work and I took him to the hospital to get treated.”

“Due to an emergency situation that popped up with a partner company, I had to take an emergency trip. I only returned today so I couldn’t fully explain everything that happened personally. It is merely a coincidence that Mr. Genovese was recently discharged from the hospital yesterday and returned to work the same day that I got back from my business trip. My secretary should have already informed you of this emergency business trip, so this gossip is truly ludicrous.”

Business trip?

“Psst. Peter, she was on a business trip?”

“Yeah. That’s what we were told, but nobody took it seriously. Everyone secretly thought it was a conspiracy and that boss’ secretary was just covering things up.”

“As people working under me, for MY company, I expect you all to maintain a certain level of professionalism even when I am not around. It’s very disheartening to return to such a mess. I hope you all maintain due diligence and take time to reflect on your immaturity. I am running a business here, not a daycare. Anyone found spreading baseless rumors like this will face corrective action. Depending on the severity, immediate termination may be considered.”

Peter really didn’t look too good when he heard the last part of her speech. Hell, even I felt bad for him when it was completely unrelated to me.

“Senior Dio, you’ve got to help me! I don’t want to get fired for a stupid joke. It’s absolutely not my fault! You know I’m not the type of person to spread malicious rumors like that intentionally, right?!”

“Relax, chill out, I’m sure you’ll be fine.”

“How can it possibly be fine?! I’m basically the source of this. If they investigate, no, what if they already know?!”

“Mr. Kerparski and Mr. Genovese, please come to my office. There are some things I would like to clear up.”

“See?! I’m screwed! They already know everything after all!”

“Stop panicking and think rationally. Why would our boss also call me in with you?”

“Maybe she just wants to keep you happy by showing you how she deals with the person who was responsible for the rumors that spread about the two you?”

“She’s not that harsh a person.”

“How would you know? You said you weren’t close!”

“Just call it instinct. She looks cold on the surface, but I’m sure she’s warm on the inside.”

“No way. Definitely not! You definitely haven’t heard about the rumors of when she first started the company. It’s said back when she first started the business, a single glare from her when she was frustrated made an employee pee their pants. Another time, a guy looked at her the wrong way and she fired him on the spot.”

“One time someone tripped and spilled a cup of water on her shirt and she put him on display in a dunk tank as payback for an entire day. She charged staff and people passing by outside to take shots at hitting the bullseye to dunk him. She made a killing that day. To add insult to injury, she even docked 10% from the poor sap’s paycheck that month.”

Was the last one even supposed to make her look scary? It sounded exactly like what I’d expect of her. Getting even and docking pay for petty reasons; sounds about right to me.

“Those don’t even sound that scary to be honest. The first person was probably just a nervous wreck in front of their boss, the second was probably a troublemaker even before that and probably had it coming. The last person was… just unlucky it had to be her he spilled the cup of water on.”

“Did I mention it was winter?”

“...”