What Nobody Knew

Part 15

It has been an hour since Mr Knight and I had our little disagreement in the middle of his office. I was still shaken up about it. The more I thought about what he said, the more irritated I became.

He accused me of being unprofessional and a shameless flirt. Which was insane. If anything, I was trying to smoothe over the tension, nothing more. Sure, I thought George was a nice guy and I honestly didn't think he was at fault for that unpleasant meeting. But that didn't mean I was flirting with him right in front of my boss.

In the message, Mr Knight only told me that he was stepping out for the rest of the day and gave me filing work to complete before leaving for the day. And true to his word, he wasn't in the office when I got back from my lunch break. He also refrained from making any further contact for the rest of the day, which was very much out of character for him. 

I took another sip of my coffee and kicked my crossed leg up-and-down.

I had to think about something else. Let me rather think about Julie. I was after all waiting for her. If there was one person in this world who was kind, unassuming and as close to an angel on earth as possible, it was Julie.

I am certain that in all her life, she has never said anything unkind about another person. She always tries to see the good in others and completely disregards their faults.

That is why, when she told me about her plan to skip college and focus on charity work abroad, I was not surprised in the least. She has always had a kind and nurturing heart and I was always convinced that she would become a school teacher. She decided to take it a step further by doing exactly that, but receiving a pittance in return in remote countries.

The number of feet crossing my peripheral started increasing and I looked up to see that the passengers from Julie's flight were busy entering the airport. I stood up and craned my neck to try and see whether she was somewhere in the sea of people.

After a few minutes I saw a head of golden blonde locks coming out of the crowd towards my direction. She was more tan than I remembered, but I guess that could be expected if you take her travel destination into account. She wore a pair of light blue jeans, white sneakers and a white T-shirt with a flower print on them.

When she saw me, her eyes lit up and a warm smile spread across her face.

"Lizzie!" She engulfed me in a hug.

"Julie, I'm so glad you're finally home! You're never ever leaving again." I said, squeezing her tighter.

She chuckled, "Well, at least not for the next couple of months. But I really missed you too."

"We should probably go and get my bags." she said after a few seconds.

"No, I'm not done hugging yet." I hugged her even tighter.

"You're cutting off my oxygen here Liz." Julie laughed.

"Oh, sorry bout that." I finally let her go.

We walked towards the baggage claim.

"So what's new in your life since the last time we spoke?"

"Oh, not much, I just got in an argument with my boss today where he called me a shameless flirt." I answered with nonchalance that I didn't feel, taking a sip of my coffee.

"Why on earth would he say that?" Julie looked at me with disbelief. 

"Because I spoke to our client." I huffed.

"I'm sorry Lizzie, I'm going to need a little more than that. What happened? I thought you said things were going alright at work."

"They were! Until this morning that is."

I proceeded to tell Julie everything that happened this morning, from George Reynold showing up at the meeting, to Mr. Knight's cold behavior towards him, my questions in the car on our way back, all the way to our argument in his office.

"Oh my, that's quite a lot for one day. I'm sorry he said those things to you. Surely there must be a reason for his behavior, some sort of misunderstanding. From what you told me about him, I find it hard to believe that he would react in such a way without cause." Julie's bags came by at that moment and each of us reached down to grab one.

"That's because you, my dear Julie, are incapable of thinking ill of anybody."

And that's the reason why I didn't feel even the slightest bit of betrayal at the fact that she clearly wasn't taking my (or anyones) side. She was trying to be diplomatic, to mediate the situation as best as she could from the outside.

"I don't know about that, you make me sound like some sort of a saint."

"That's because you practically are!"

"Oh come on now," a blush started creeping onto her cheeks, "But wait, what's going to happen now? Please tell me you didn't get fired." She asked, looking worried.

"No, I didn't get fired. Unless Mr. Knight changes his mind tomorrow. After our argument, I took my lunch break and he simply left the office before my return. So in all honesty, I don't know what I'll be walking into when the morning comes but I have a feeling it's not going to be a pleasant and welcoming environment."

We had walked all the way to the car and were now loading Julie's luggage inside the trunk. I don't know how she managed to fit her whole life into two duffel bags and a backpack, but somehow she did. She was the minimalist in the family. Now, I'm not quite as spendy/splurgy as my mother, but I think I'd fall comfortably in between the two of them on the spectrum.

"Let's talk about you, did you meet any handsome foreign men while you were abroad?" We climbed into the car and we started making our way out of the airport parking lot.

"No, nothing like that."

I raised an eyebrow at her.

"Really? My sister, easily the most beautiful girl in our town, did not turn even one head? Impossible. I think your modesty is doing a disservice sis." I said with a teasing smile.

"No, it's true, I promise you. There were no men. Between the normal school classes and after school tutoring, I didn't have all that much time to socialize." She shrugged.

"Well alright, that excuse will do for the moment." I winked at her.