Chapter 40: Daniel

          A few days later, I went to the office as usual. There was something on my table that captured my eyes. An A4 size envelope with my name on it.

          I opened it and read the title of the letter inside it.

           OFFER LETTER FOR THE POSITION OF ASSISTANT RESEARCHER AT LATAYA FOOD.

          'Wow!' I said to myself. I needed to sit after reading the title. Suddenly my entire life was flashing right in front of my eyes and I took a deep breath remembering them. It felt like it was just yesterday I witnessed the fight between Zara Murad and Shazlin. 'And now...' I could not help myself not to laugh about it.

          My day at the office went by just like any other day. I met with Chan, the Urban Fruits, Daniel and the other staff whilst my head was busy thinking about my willingness to leave everything that I have built here In Hey for something new and vague.

          "I think Diana must have paid someone to do a research on you. If not then how come she is so confident to offer you the job? You both have met two or three times right? And the rest of the communication that I saw was just through that phone," said Gina to me after I broke the news to her.

          To be quite honest, I was really really ecstatic when I received the offer from Diana. I was on cloud nine because I never thought that kind of opportunity would knock on my door so fast.

          However, for someone who had never set foot on a totally different continent before, I felt very nervous about it. Having to start a new life in a strange land, meeting with new people, coping with a new environment, weather and other things. It was pretty nerve-racking but very exciting at the same time.

          But...what about Eddie and Norman?

          'This is heavy,' I sighed.

****************

          "Daniel..." I took a peek into Daniel's office. It seemed like he was busy going through something, probably drafts for the upcoming issue.

          "Hi, Marina. Come in!" Called Daniel. He looked at my face for a few seconds and then continued with the drafts.

          "Are you looking for me?" I asked, walking into his office.

          "Yes, Marina. Come here for a second. I have something to show you," said Daniel. I moved a little bit closer to him and was all ears.

          "Marina, I have gone through one-third of these drafts and made some notes on them. Can you please give them to Miss B when I'm done and ask her to go through everything again later all right?" Instructed Daniel after he showed me some parts that required reconciliation.

          "All right, no problem. I'll let her know."

          "Good."

          "Oh, by the way, Daniel...any news on the new magazine?"

          "I have not yet received any feedback from them so far."

          "I believe they have got their hands on the proposal already?"

          "I'm sure they have seen the proposal by now. But I can't tell when they are going to give the decision us. They have to convince the investors first and you know how some of them just don't really understand this business right?" Daniel gave me a sarcastic look to me.

          "But it's been some time already. What is happening up there?" I showed my concern. Daniel's plan to expand Harry Hans' publication by creating a new magazine line is no longer a secret to many in the company. In fact, he never failed to bring the proposal up in every executive meeting in Harry Hans.

         "What you see in the office is not the same up there, Marina. There's a lot to think about when it comes to taking a big move like this," answered Daniel briefly, sounding refused to talk further about it and I took that as a sign to stop asking either.

          "I see," I nodded.

           "Oh, by the way, Marina. Rumour has it that you have just received an offer to work in the States soon. Is that true?"

         "An offer to work in the States?" I repeated the same words, frozen in disbelief.

         How did he know about it?!! All I know I only broke the news to the Urban Fruits!

         'You girls...Grrr...' I could see their faces in my eyes laughing innocently.

         "Hey's office is not that big Marina. Especially when it comes to a story like this," said Daniel followed by his infamous sarcastic smile.

          "All right... all right..." I surrendered. "I admit, I have received a job offer from Diana Sinclair."

          He looked at me, with a very serious face, as if he could not believe what he just heard.

          "Hold on. Did you say, Diana Sinclair?"

          "Yes," I replied with a square face. I did not expect that kind of reaction from him, to be honest.

          "I knew it! I knew it! I could tell from the way she asked me so many things about you the other day, I knew she had something up her sleeve! She was trying to steal you from Hey.."

          "Steal? Since when did I become a commodity to Hey that anyone can steal me or not when they want to?" I asked Daniel back and laughed as I thought it was very funny.

          "Damn!" Daniel laid his back on that comfortable chair of his. " So how, Marina? What is your decision?"

          "I haven't made any, yet! I mean the offer was really interesting. But there are just so many things I need to think about, first. Now let's say you are in my shoes right now...will accept the offer?"

          "Hmmm...I would have been giving you the same answer as you did. But why Marina? Let me guess, you feel too heavy to leave Hey?"

          "Honestly, yes...I already felt at home here. And it's not going to be easy to be leaving somewhere you call home, right? Especially the people here..."

          "Am I on the list of 'the people' you mentioned just now?"

          "Of course... How could I leave the big boss out?"

          "At which number?" he asked me cheekily.

          "Ahaha...no comment!" I tried to stay calm responding to that question. But I believe he got what I meant, that he was pretty much up there on the list.

          "So. Tell me Marina. What do you honestly think of Hey? Are you really having fun working here?"

          "Yes, I am. From the beginning, I know this is a great place for me to start over. I could never forget 'Harry' and H1N1."

          "Don't you ever mention Harry ever again, Marina? I can spend the rest of the day just laughing about how I could prank you with just a pair of sunglasses."

          "You had no idea how shocked I was!"

          "Hahaha...but you know what, Marina. I also can't forget about what happened during H1N1. Phew! Panic and worrisome. That's only how I could describe that moment. Never in my working life have I experienced anything like that."

          "That's true Daniel. I'm very grateful that we have all survived that pandemic, and we managed to not stop publication for that month."

         "When there's a will, there will be a way," Daniel added.

          "That's correct," I nodded.

         "So Marina. Before you received this offer from Diana, has it ever crossed to your mind to work abroad?"

          "Never. There are just so many things to think of. Accommodation, environment, money and many more.

          "You are right. Do you know anyone in the States?"

          "You mean other than Diana Sinclair?" I laughed.

          "Yes, other than her..." Daniel also laughed.

          "Unfortunately, nobody."

          "Well, that can be a challenge. Who is going to look over you when you are sick?"

          "Like that ever happened to me here anyway!" We both burst into laughter.

          "Hahaha...that's right.."

          "But if I agree to accept the job, I might take Gina there too for a week or two as a companion."

          "That's a good idea. Plus she has been there before right? How about your parents?"

          "Hmmm...They are heavy-hearted to let me go, frankly speaking."

          "Of course, they will be worried," said Daniel. Then, he paused for quite a while before continuing.

          "Marina..." Daniel said my name but with a little bit change of tone. I knew that was going to switch the direction of the conversation, though I had no idea where it was going to be.

          "Yes, Daniel?" I was pretending that I was not aware of the change.

          "Once again, I want to apologize for what happened at the Asia Cafe the other day."

          "Daniel, it was..." I tried to avoid the topic, but Daniel quickly interrupted.

          "Until this very moment, I'm still very ashamed of it," he said. Judging from his face, Daniel seemed really insisted to spill what he felt, and so I just let him dive into it. "It's just that I want you to know, your being here has got nothing to do with Jennifer. I took you here because you are really capable and deserving. Please don't misunderstand what I said to you that day, drunken at that."

          "It's okay Daniel. I get it really. It's okay," I convinced him, although that did not seem to very much put him at ease. He sounded as if he had known that those scenes at the Asia Cafe were still playing at the back of my head, like a broken record.

         "How about you and Jennifer?" I asked that question suddenly, not really sure why and what I wanted to actually hear from him.

          "We are not together anymore."

          "What? Why?" Jennifer's beautiful face flashed through my mind when Daniel broke the news. But deep in my heart, I could not stop cursing her for not appreciating the gentleman. I thought she was the one who called it quit, for the second time now, until Daniel told me the truth.

         "I don't feel like it's going work, between us," he said casually. There was no regret on his face at all. "How could you be so sure about it? Didn't you really love her?"

          "Love only was not enough, Marina. I have come to realize that we are not heading in the same direction. We are no longer on the same page," explained Daniel. He did not wait long to answer. I did not see a hint of hesitation from him to tell me about it at the time. He seemed pretty confident with the decision he had made.

          I thought Daniel would never let go of Jennifer no matter what. Perhaps, Jennifer had her own reason not to continue the relationship with a man like Daniel. Maybe.

         "How was Jennifer? How did she react?"

          "She was furious in the beginning. She thought I was just taking revenge on her," Daniel replied with such a weird smile. He seemed very satisfied.

          "Of course, she would be! I would have been furious too had I been her," I told Daniel, even though I knew that would be the last thing I would do like I did when Norman had broken up with me back then.

          "She can't do that. Now we are even!"

          "Ahh... so you did dump her to seek for a revenge?" I teased him.

          "Of course not, Marina. You know who I am right? I was just being proactive. Before anything goes south. Prevention is better than cure, remember?" told Daniel. What I thought was going to be a short meet-up with Daniel became longer. Daniel kept talking about one after another topic, from my new job offer to the situation at Hey to his own personal life. At times, I did ask to leave the room because I did not think it was a good thing to spend the working hours with personal conversations. But all he did was just pull more of my legs. He said I was just finding excuses not to talk with him more. Well since he was the boss, I just stayed there and let him talk. Maybe to him, it was the only time he could do it, assuming I might be leaving the company soon. I took the time to share with him about myself and Norman too.

         "So what's your decision?" asked Daniel. He sounded uneasy.

          "No... I'm not going to accept Norman back into my life, Daniel," I said firmly. To be honest, I said that just to convince Daniel and to project a good image of me, when the truth was- I still did not have it sorted yet. There was no response from Daniel, however. He just nodded at my statement.

          "Marina. To be honest, it's very hard for me to let you go. But if you think this is the best for you, then go! I'm not going to stop you or be a wall between you and your better future. But just in case, if you find it is not for you and you want to come back here, Hey is always ready for you.."

         "Thank you, Daniel. I really appreciate that."

        "Whatever you decide, I hope it will make you the happiest in the world, Marina."