As Ciara walked into the empty house, she noticed that Gerald was still at the same spot she had left him that morning, his usual Stoic demeanor replaced by a look of concern.
"You're home early..."He said, his voice quiet but audible enough to Ciara's hearing, "Is everything okay?"
Ciara paused, her brow furrowed. "I just needed to get out of the office." She said, avoiding his gaze, and walked past him to take the only couch in the middle of the large room. "I needed a change of scenery."
Gerald didn't seem convinced, and he studied her closely. This wasn't the mood she had left with earlier that morning, in fact, she left full of life as if that were something vital that she had to do at work and was feeling enthusiastic about. But now, her face is only saying a different thing entirely.
"You know you can talk to me, right?" he said, his tone gentler than usual. "Did something awful happen at work today? You don't look like the Ms. I have known for the past few years -your look is saying something different."
"Yeah, I know." She muttered with a dried tone. "I just feel awfully guilty of something I was supposed to have ignored, even if it was the right thing to do, I feel like I should have threaded some other path instead -the nudging feeling of guilty won't just leave me."
"Did you dismiss Sheila?" Gerald asked, staring directly at her eyes, even though, they were a few feet away from each other. "I heard Brandon saying he used Sheila against you for his own selfish reasons."
Ciara heaved out a heavy sigh without saying anything. If anyone should know her enough aside her brother, Dwayne, then it's Gerald. He only spent a few years with her, but he knew her enough than she ever thought he would -he finds it easy to study everyone around him.
"You dismissed her, right?" He asked again, this time getting the answer he needed -her silence was the enough answer he needed. "-and you feel awful about it? Why would you feel awful for doing the right thing?"
"I don't know, but I felt like I should have reconsidered her, I should not have asked her to leave." She uttered, her voice low. "I'm yet to fire her, though, my guilt is making it hard for me to do so. I only ask her to leave for the main time until I decide what's the best for her, something of sort, you know."
Gerald was pissed off with Ciara's wavering thoughts, not when he thought she's changed from being soft and weak. What's the feeling of guilt for when she literally hasn't even made the right decision yet?
"I don't understand, ma'am." He called out slowly, his brows creased lightly. "Why haven't you fire her yet? She sold out the company -letting the confidential information of the company out is literally selling out the company itself, ma'am."
Gerald's right, though, "I know,but..."
He cuts her off abruptly, giving her no chance to complete her words, since he already knows what her reply is. "I see you would rather not let go." He enunciated, drawling her tone. "That's because you've gotten too attached to her. Sheila is good and competent, but her mistake is grave and shouldn't be treated with emotion."
"Ah, I know, right?" She told him with a shrug of shoulders. She sees reasons with him and his theories are right, she's the boss, and she's supposed to act like one so that the other employees will take her decision and company serious.
Sheila is out of the picture, for the main time or maybe forever, Milan is now the secretary. She needed to focus on the things at hand and not things she's supposed to let go.
"I made Milan the new secretary immediately." Ciara said, breaking the almost awkward silence. "She's the only one I can trust aside Sheila, and I trust her enough to handle this position better than Sheila."
"Yeah, she's been proving herselfworthy since I know her, it's a good thing you considered her worthy." Gerald said in approval. "I just hope you won't get too attached to her, just as Sheila -humans are bonded to make mistakes."
Ciara chuckled lightly. "I wouldn't make the same mistake either." She enounced with assurance in her voice. "I'll be different with Milan, but not too hard on her."
"How about your uncle?" Gerald asked, changing the topic all of a sudden. "The bedridden one, what did you plan to do with him?"
"I'll be visiting the hospital later in the day, I have something well-prepared for him." She replied slowly, a dark smile on her face.
Gerald stared at Ciara in disbelief, understanding the look on her face. "You're not going to hurt him, are you?" he asked, his voice laced with concern. "I know he did some awful things, but he's still your family."
Ciara met his gaze evenly. "Yeah, you're right, he is my family." She said, her tone measured. "But family doesn't get a free pass to hurt others, especially not family. My uncle needs to face the consequences of his actions -and what did you mean by your words? Have you started taking sides with him?"
Gerald let out a dry chuckle. "That was sarcasm, ma'am." He vocalized in response. "Why would I take sides with awful men? Not when he's the master planner of the whole scenery, he needs to pay for his crime regardless of his health condition." "I was starting to think otherwise." Ciara said as she stood up, heading towards the door. "I have to go anytime from now, I should take some air outside for the main time -I have to clear my thoughts first."
"Sure, I'm still here." He shrugged his shoulders lightly. "I must do what I know how to do best here, I hope this won't end quickly."
"Sorry, but it's ending soon." Ciara enunciated. "I might bring Dwayne here tomorrow, he needs to learn the truth too. They are his uncles who murdered his parents and at the verge of doing the same to his sister too."
"Have you pictured what his reaction would be when he learned about this?" Gerald asked. "He doubts if he would be soft with them. He's a man, you know -men protect what is theirs."
Ciara laughed softly at Gerald's assumption, so she thought. "Dwayne is a soft guy, he wouldn't do anything to them -he is not the violence type."