Chapter 33 - Something's Off With Susan

Chapter - 33

As Alex stood in front of his office building, looking at the skyscraper in confusion. He was in a dilemma as to whether walk in through the main entrance or not. He didn't want to come across Susan, or she might feel guilty seeing him. Pondering over it, Alex finally came to a conclusion. He made his way to the parking lot. He was going to take the elevator from there, directly to the PR department, avoiding any complicated situation.

Alex got on the elevator and was soon on the fourth floor, but as if it was some god's play, as soon as he stepped out of the elevator, he came face to face with Susan. Surprised to see each other, the two of them stood there for a few seconds.

"Hi," Alex greeted, grinning sheepishly.

"You are here... I thought you won't come today, but I came to check, just in case," Susan said.

"It just happened,"

"You should not have come today," Susan said, "Even the doctor asked you to take a couple of days off," Susan scolded him softly as to not let others walking by hear.

Scratching the back of his head, Alex looked around awkwardly. He felt gazes of people as they walked by them, giving them intrigued looks. Alex looked like a docile boyfriend, being reprimanded by his dominant and authoritative girlfriend.

"I was feeling alright. There was not much pain, see..." Alex said as he moved around his body to show her how well he was, "Oww..." only to winch in pain.

"See... you are not at all fit," Susan said as she held onto his hand and rubbed around where he felt his pain, "You should have taken a couple of days off and healed yourself."

Alex had a slight smile on his face. He felt touched by Susan's concern for him, but somewhere down, he felt uncomfortable. Throughout the conversation till now, Susan would occasionally look behind him, and she looked distracted for some reason. Whenever Alex tried to look behind, Susan would say something, preventing him from doing so. Still, he was thankful for the concern she was showing to him.

"I am fine... I told you about my mother, didn't I? I can assure you, she wouldn't have allowed me to take a step out if she was not convinced," Alex tried to ease her worry.

"Hmmm..." Susan replied, looking lost.

"You know what, those ruffians who we came across got messed up pretty bad themselves. I saw it in the news this morning," Alex told Susan, but she didn't react. Most importantly, she didn't seem to be paying attention to what Alex was saying.

"Susan?" Alex called out to her and lightly tapped on her shoulder, bringing her back to reality.

"Huhh... yes? You were saying something?" Susan was startled for a moment.

"You tell me. Is there something bothering you?" Alex asked, "You look lost."

"It's nothing... nothing at all," Susan tried to brush away the matter, but how can Alex let her.

"There is definitely something bothering you. Tell me, we are friends... Maybe I can help you," Alex pressed her to reveal what was bothering her.

"It's really nothing. I just feel responsible for whatever happened to you. It's because of me you ended up in the hospital, thankfully you are alright. Otherwise, I wouldn't know how to live with myself," Susan said, and by the end, tears formed in her eyes.

Seeing her standing there with teary eyes, Alex was stumped. He hurriedly approached Susan and embraced her in his arms. At that moment, Alex didn't care what the onlookers might think. All he cared about was to pass on his warmth to her. They stood there in each other's arms for some time before Susan realized the situation they were in. She lightly pushed Alex away, getting out of his embrace.

Even Alex got out of his everything is gonna be alright vibe and let her go. Susan looked in his direction, but she was not looking at him. She was looking at something or someone behind him. But she didn't look that way for long and soon turned her attention towards him.

"I hope you take good care of yourself," Susan said.

"I will, and you don't have to worry too much about me. If I feel an iota of discomfort, I will just grab my back and run back home, haha..." Alex tried to lighten up the mood.

Susan just nodded, hearing Alex with a smile.

"But did you know that those ruffians from yesterday got what they deserved," Alex once again brought up the topic.

"Those who beat you?" Susan asked.

"Nah... Nah... they didn't beat me that much. I was pretty much outnumbered and was easily evading their attacks. I just got a bit unlucky with that beer bottle," Alex tried to defend himself, "And did you see me beat their boss? I am telling you, if the police hadn't stopped me, he would still be in the hospital." Alex explained.

"Sure... sure..." By now, even Susan was back to her usual self. She was not teary anymore, "So what happened?" Susan asked further.

After that, Alex narrated to her what he saw on the news this morning.

"They totally deserved it," Susan said, "We were at fault, but that wasn't a very big deal. We could have resolved it in a civilised manner, but those apes didn't even give us the chance. I would like to personally thank the person or gang who beat the shit out of that bald ape," Susan vented out her anger, but then she remembered Alex was still there, "I should get going now. You better take care of yourself and let me know if there is any discomfort."

"I will..." Alex nodded. He wanted to say something more, but by then, Susan had already stepped into the elevator, and waving him goodbye, she made her way down to the reception.

Alex stood there looking at the elevator. He wanted to ask what she meant when they parted ways outside the hospital yesterday, but he couldn't. Then his gaze turned towards the direction Susan was looking in throughout their conversation, but there were a dozen of people there moving around, and he couldn't guess a thing from that.

Dejected, he made his way inside the PR department, ready to be bombarded by questions from the ladies there.

* * * * *