The day after tomorrow came when we were supposed to have our promised Kimbap. I saw Irene arrived that morning and I immediately plugged in my earphones. Why? I don’t even know. I just feel like not talking to her that morning. It felt uncomfortable but somehow it felt easier. I must admit that I’m still hurt when she didn’t come for work yesterday. There was no text or any advise. I’m her staff and actually she’s not obligated to tell me her whereabouts, but I don’t know. I kind of feel disappointed.

I sensed Irene staring from my peripheral vision. It took a few seconds before she laid down on her seat and began her furious typing on her laptop.

I heaved out a sigh and stood up to get my second cup of coffee that morning.

‘This will be a really long day.’

“Your chicken might come back to life if you keep on poking it like that Wen.”

I raised my head and found Seulgi and Joy staring at me like I’m kind of a wanted murderer. I looked down and truly it is, the smoked chicken is already full of holes without a single bite.

I gave a sheepish smile to Seulgi and Joy before letting out a deep sigh, finally taking a bite of the chicken that has been waiting forever to be eaten.

“You don’t have to tell us if you don’t want to Wendy,” Joy remarked as she finished her meal.

The three of us decided to have a lunch out since it was the end of the month and partially because the two of them sensed my gloomy mood ever since yesterday.

“Irene seems a bit pale and off today too. Did you guys fight?” Seulgi asked.

My ears perked up from the mention of the name. I heaved another sigh and began poking the poor chicken again unconsciously.

“No. I mean, she didn’t come for work yesterday,” I answered. Now that I think about it, I never really met Irene’s eye for half of the day. She would pass me some reports and I would return it to her without making eye contact. We didn’t share a word since morning. It’s like we returned to that day when we first met.

“I think I saw her sign out late the other day. She was with Jennie and I had to pull some overtime work, so I happened to saw them leave the office that time. I think it was around 2 am,” Joy shrugged as she shared the information.

Now that I think about it, Irene had been busy since last week. I happened to witness a pile of prospective clients report on her desk last time. Our manager is really squeezing every ounce of strength from each one of us. But knowing Irene, I didn’t really worry about her. She’s capable after all.

“By the way Wendy, you have a scheduled meeting with a client this afternoon right? What time was it again? Are you not supposed to head back first?” Seulgi’s question sent my whole body in shivers. It’s like a pale of ice bucket had been thrown at me causing me to stand up so abruptly.

‘Oh !’

I was drenched in sweat when I arrived at my desk. I opened my laptop with clammy hands as my breathing become ragged. I totally forgot about the meeting and I still have a variance with my financial statement. Heck, even the presentation is not even done! The meeting’s at 2 and I only have an hour left. Just why is it that no one made a follow up on this!

“Hey Wendy, you okay?” I felt Irene’s hand on my shoulder and somehow my nervousness dropped in half. She always had this power to make me calm down.

“Huh? Oh, yeah. It’s just the presentation for our meeting later is not yet done and I still can’t find my variance in my cash flow statement,” I responded honestly as I began to type on my laptop.

“I see. You still have 30 minutes on that. We’re leaving at 1:30 pm. Let me know if you need any help,” Irene reminded and turned back to her work not before leaving a reassuring smile.

“Yeah, thanks,” I said and returned the smile.

It must have been my unluckiest day and at 1:30 pm I’m still not done. Now, I’m beginning to panic. Our manager’s already standing behind me and Irene is all good to go. We had booked our ride and it will arrive in 5 minutes.

“What are we gonna do Irene?” I heard our manager asked.

I once again felt Irene’s hand on my shoulder as she gave it a