Ava stopped talking in disbelief. She couldn't wrap her head around the fact that someone had been listening to her vulnerable words all along. She felt a wave of embarrassment accompanied with a burning anger as the masculine laughter continued. She marveled at his level of insensitivity as she made her way to the other side of the tree, ready give him a piece of her mind.
Noticing her presence, the male figure stopped laughing and raised his head to look at the face of the woman who was foolish enough to fall in love with her male best friend, and thought that just speaking into the air would make her feel better.
"How could such a good looking lady allow herself wallow in such stupidity" he thought to himself as his eyes met her swollen eyes. He felt more disdain than pity, people who fell in love should be beheaded so far as he was concerned.
"Laughing about people's ordeal is rude"Ava said coldly as she took in his features. She could tell he was tall from the way he sat,his slender fingers were loosely clutched around a black walking stick that had a golden nob,he was dressed in the hospital ward clothing but he looked expensive and had a form of handsomeness Ava couldn't deny.
"You should have thought about that before invading my privacy to mop about the stupidity you call love, and I'm glad your heart has been broken so you can now face reality" he said coldly as he stood up "love is just a set up for great pain, toughen up!"he commanded with a tone that indicated he was done talking as he brushed past her shoulder into the alley that led to the other side of the hospital.
Ava stood dazed in tears,how could someone be this mean. His words hit her so hard she began to feel the dizziness had felt earlier wash over her as her heart tightened, her breathing became shorter,the ground began to spin beneath her feet and soon,all she could see was darkness.
******
Ava opened her eyes to the sound of her phone ringing. She tried to move but felt numb nevertheless, she reached out to the drawer by the side of her bed to pick her phone. She sighed weakly as she saw the caller ID. It was her mean unit head Candice, Ava had skipped work for a week due to the accident and although the hospital had informed her work place,Candice was beginning to get impatient. The unit had a huge deadline that was already closing in on them,all hands needed to be on deck and she wasn't going to take even being hospitalized as an excuse.
"Good afternoon ma'am" Ava greeted weakly as she managed to sit up.
"What is good about the afternoon, when we have a deadline and you're sitting your lazy ass at a hospital?" She asked coldly with a hint of impatience in her tone.
Ava didn't give an answer because with a woman like Candice, one needed to tread carefully.
"I need you at the office on Monday, we have a presentation to make to the board of trustees before the final presentation we need to make to our investors by next month, you're in charge of gathering the data we need and I've forwarded the necessary details to your email" she said hastily with determination leaving no room for Ava to pitch in an objection.
Ava remained silent because she knew whenever Candice had made a decision, nothing could change it.
"I'll see you by Monday" Candice said triumphantly as she already knew what the silence at the other end of the call meant,"get well soon and oh, don't be late" she said before she ended the call.
"So she knows I'm not in the right frame health wise"Ava said sneering as she checked her email. Tolerating the ever domineering Candice was like trying to endure the heat of a volcanic larva but she loved her job regardless and working would be such a great way to escape the emotional myriad she was in at the moment,"so why not" she reasoned as she buried herself into her work.