When Emily got back to her office, she was exhausted. She just slumped into her seat. Several emotions were surging through her and it was weakening her, she really missed him and seeing him looking so cute that morning made things worse for her.

Some minutes later, the door opened and Kate walked in, she was smiling and was holding some documents in her hands. As she got to her table, she put them down.

“Morning, I thought you were supposed to come to my office?”

Emily nodded slowly. “Yes, I am so sorry Today has just been awful.”

“Oh, because of your break up?”

Emily looked surprised. “You heard?”

Kate nodded as she checked for dirt under her fingernails. “Well, news spreads faster here than anywhere I have ever been.”

“Well, it’s just a temporary.”

Kate scoffed and sat down. “Should I be real with you?”

Emily nodded.

“No break-up is temporary.”

“Why does everyone keep saying that?”

“Because it’s the truth. He only told you that to lessen the blow a little and with the way, he dressed to work this morning, I can bet it with you that Liam is officially back on the market and any sensible girl will be glad to tap that.”

Emily was confused This was really getting out of hand. She hasn’t signed up for this with Liam.

“I am so confused,” she finally declared.

“About which part?”

“Everything. It is just the first day do you think, it will get better?”

Kate thought for a while. “Well, it depends.”

“On what?”

“On what caused the break initially. Are you on the good side or the bad side?”

“I don’t understand.”

“I mean, are you to be blamed for it?”

Reluctantly, she nodded and shook her head. “I think so but Joe thinks...”

“Wow! You are allowing others to think for you! Obviously, you messed things up!”

Emily was surprised. “But you haven’t even listened to my side of the story.”

“Okay, I’m listening.”

“Ever since I got the nomination, we have been having issues. He thinks I have not been creating time for him because I go for important conferences and most times, I always had to cancel dinner and stuffs like that.”

“Hold on,” Kate interrupted. “He thinks or you know?”

“I don’t understand what you are asking, Kate.”

“Well, you said, he thinks that you haven't been creating time for him, so now I am asking, does he think that or do you accept that as a fact?”

Emily was feeling a bit uncomfortable with the question. “Well, I didn’t do it on purpose. He should at least realize that I have a career to work on.”

“That is the problem with you women who have good men.”

“Wait, you can’t judge like that, you didn’t even hear the rest of the story.”

“I don’t have to listen before I realize how selfish you are being.”

Now she was getting angry. “No, I won’t allow someone like you to judge me. You are in no position to do that.”

Kate shrugged, standing up. “Well, I am glad that the poor man had to let you go. I hope he finds someone better than you! I will be waiting for the document, hurry up and bring it to my office later. Thank you.” Kate said before closing the door after her.

Emily inhaled to calm herself down. This wasn’t unacceptable but she was surprised. She had never been friends with Kate and what was she even thinking, telling her about her life just like that. Joe had talked about her the previous day. She was that kind of woman who was comfortable with her position in life and who was not willing to sacrifice anything to move ahead. She had promised herself not to ever settle for less so there was no way she would get to the peak of her career like all those big women she saw at all the conferences. Perhaps Joe was right, maybe she never needed a man like Liam.

Even while she came to this conclusion, there was a part of her that kept feeling guilty, which she was trying so hard to shake off. Why should she feel guilty for trying to be successful? Perhaps Liam had been jealous of her career all this while. If not, why would he be jealous now that they were so close to the D-Day?

As she was wondering about all these things, her phone rang, it was Tom. Without thinking, she picked it.

“Hey, Tom.”

“Hello, my favorite woman.”

She smiled. “What's up?”

“Are you free tonight?”

“Tonight? Why?”

“I want to take you out, that’s all.”

Emily was surprised but the timing was impeccable. She thought Joe must have told him about her break-up.

“Did you talk with Joe?”

“Well, would that be a problem?”

“You haven’t answered my question.”

“Well, I did and he told me what happened with your relationship and I thought you might need someone to talk to. Unless of course, you don’t and that will be fine.”

“Well, I do. I really do. I think having some fun tonight will be okay for me.”

“Okay, that’s nice. I will pick you up by 7 pm.”

The call ended and she put it on the table. Well, at least now she could be sure that she wasn’t going to have a lonely night. She lifted her bag from the floor where she had put it and opened it. Carefully, she dipped a hand inside and brought out a hand mirror. She checked herself for a while, applied more lipstick and then returned the mirror into the bag. If Joe could make everyone think that breaking up with her was making his life better to the extent of changing his new looks entirely then she could also do the same. If he was in the market, she was also in the market.