The office doors slid shut behind Nichole with a soft hiss, and for the first time that day, she felt like she could finally breathe.
The city lights blurred as she stepped into the evening traffic, her thoughts swirling in confusion. No matter how hard she tried to push it away, her mind kept returning to one thing—him.
Martino Brown.
His voice.
His unexpected defense.
The way he had told her to stop carrying everyone's burdens.
It unsettled her more than all the cruelty he had ever shown her.
She wrapped her cardigan tighter around herself as she walked, moving aimlessly through the bustling streets. The noise of honking cars and chattering pedestrians faded into the background as her feet instinctively took her toward the only place she ever truly felt safe when the world became too heavy.
The bookstore.
The warm glow of yellow light spilled from the small shop window as she approached. The bell above the door chimed softly when she pushed it open, and the familiar scent of old paper and coffee wrapped around her like a hug.
Joseph looked up from behind the counter and smiled gently when he saw her.
"You're late today," he said kindly.
Nichole managed a faint smile. "Rough day."
He said nothing more, only nodded and poured her a cup of tea like he always did. She took it gratefully and moved toward her favorite corner—the small wooden table beside the stacked shelves of romance novels.
The silence here was comforting. Peaceful. Nothing like the tension that lived permanently inside the walls of Exxon Mobil.
She had barely taken her second sip when the events of the day crashed into her again—the humiliation, Clifford's voice, and then the shocking moment of protection from the one man she never expected to care.
Her hands trembled slightly around the cup.
Joseph noticed.
"You're thinking too loudly again," he teased softly as he joined her.
Nichole sighed. "Am I that obvious?"
"You always are."
She hesitated, then whispered, "My boss defended me today."
Joseph's brows lifted with mild surprise. "The same boss who makes your life difficult?"
She nodded slowly. "That's what makes it strange."
For a moment, Joseph studied her quietly. "Sometimes people surprise us. But that doesn't mean you should forget who they've been to you before."
"I know," she murmured. "That's why I'm confused."
Joseph leaned back, folding his arms. "Confusion means your heart is awake. Just don't let it lead you into fire."
His words lingered long after he returned to the counter.
Just then,her phone vibrated in her hand.
Angelina calling…
"Who is that, Nichole?" Joseph had asked.
"My friends."She said while lifting up her face.
"You know…, we've not been together after they angrily stormed out of the company due to the embarrassment they had gotten from my boss.
"Mhnn…,my bad!" But you know you can't continue like this with them,Nichole," he had concluded.
"I know…," Nichole had replied.
Her heart skipped painfully.
She had paused for a while…
For weeks now, she had avoided their calls. Not because she didn't miss them—but because she didn't know how to explain everything that had happened after that night and even how to apologize for the embarrassment they both got the day they visited her.
The night she had broken Inside just to save them.
Her phone stopped ringing.
Then vibrated again.
Cassandra calling…
Her chest tightened.
Slowly, with trembling fingers, she answered.
"Hello?" her voice barely came out.
"Where are you?" Cassandra's voice cracked on the other end.
"We need to see you."
Nichole closed her eyes.
"I… I'm at the bookstore."
There was silence for two seconds.
"We're coming,"
Angelina said softly.
Minutes later, the door pushed open again.
Angelina and Cassandra walked in.
For a moment, all three of them just stood there, staring at one another like strangers who shared a painful history.
Angelina looked thinner.
Cassandra's eyes were swollen.
Nichole's heart twisted painfully.
She dropped her bag slowly and whispered,
"I'm sorry."
Angelina's face broke immediately.
"No… we're the ones who should be sorry."
The air thickened with unspoken pain.
They sat.
And silencio swallowed them whole.
Cassandra spoke first.
"Do you remember that day?"
She asked quietly.
"The day we came to see you at work?"
Nichole nodded slowly. Her hands trembled in her lap.
"How could I forget?" she whispered.
"It was supposed to be a happy visit,"
Angelina said bitterly.
"We just wanted to surprise you."
Nichole's voice shook.
"You didn't deserve what happened."
They had walked into the office laughing that day—two proud friends admiring how far Nichole had come.
Until Martino Brown had walked out of his office.
The moment his cold eyes landed on them, the entire floor fell silent.
"What is going on here?" he had demanded.
Nichole had tried to explain.And at that moment,a hot argument had ensued between Angelina, Cassandra all against their friend's boss,Martino Brown.
He was rude to them as always though.
"You have turned my office into a playground," he had said coldly. "Are these riff-raffs your friends?"
Those were the hurtful words he used against them to the extent that they couldn't bear it anymore.
He had ordered for their arrest.
The humiliation had been unbearable.
Angelina sniffed as she remembered.
"They dragged us out like criminals."
"And locked us up," Cassandra whispered.
Nichole's lips quivered as she listened to her friends speak.
Her chest tightened painfully.
"You were locked up for hours… because of me."
Angelina gasped softly. "We didn't even know what happened after they took us."
Nichole wiped her tears quickly.
"I went on my knees for him."
Their heads snapped up.
"I begged him,"
She whispered brokenly.
"In his office. I told him he could punish me any way he liked, but to release you both."
Angelina's lips trembled.
Cassandra's breath hitched.
"He refused at first,"
Nichole continued.
"He said rules were rules. That emotions had no place in his company."
Her hands clenched tightly.
"Then I told him I would do anything just for him to let you girls go.The next day,he had summoned me to his office while pointing towards piles of pending documents that I would be working on.That was the price I had to pay.Every single file.Every single project."
Silence choked the table.
"They released you… only because I sold myself to exhaustion."
Angelina covered her mouth with both hands.
Cassandra's tears dropped freely now.
"We didn't know," she whispered.
Nichole swallowed painfully and continued.
"I stayed in that office till midnight and worked I worked my pretty ass off in that freaking office since he had insisted that I report all to them before leaving.It was only with the secret help of Helena was I able to do so.After that,I had wanted to sleep right there in the office but Helena insisted.She had taken me to a nearby hotel to rest for the day. From there, we both came to work and trust me when I say he had seen the perfection in those files but due to his cruelty,he had refused to admit it."
Her eyes were hollow now.
"I was repaying a debt you never asked me to take."
Angelina sobbed.
"Why didn't you tell us?"
"Because you already hated that place,"
Nichole cried softly.
"I didn't want you to hate me too."
"And then came Clifford,"
Nichole whispered.
Their expressions hardened.
"He started mocking me openly. Calling me desperate. Saying I sold myself just to please the CEO."
Her fists trembled.
"He dumped his unfinished files with me and made me do the work for him. And he laughs at any single misfortune I get to experience in the hands of Martino."
Angelina shot up angrily.
"That fool!"
"I couldn't fight back,"
Nichole whispered.
"I was already carrying guilt, exhaustion and fear."
"And then…" she paused.
The bookstore went silent.
"My boss defended me."
Angelina froze.
"Martino?"
Nichole nodded slowly.
"He shut Clifford up. Publicly. Coldly. Fearlessly."
She exhaled shakily.
"It was the first time he ever stood up for me."
Joseph, listening quietly from the counter, slowly shook his head.
"Life is strange," he mAngelina suddenly stood up and wrapped Nichole into a tight embrace.
"You idiot,"
She cried.
"You suffered alone for us."
Cassandra joined the hug immediately.
"We were angry at you while you were being destroyed for us."
Nichole broke down completely in their arms.
"I didn't want to lose you,"
She sobbed.
"You never lost us,"
Angelina whispered.
"We just lost our way for a while."
They sat again, holding hands like wounded soldiers who had returned from war.
"We're staying with you now,"
Cassandra said firmly.
"No more fighting alone."
Nichole nodded tearfully.
For the first time in weeks…
She felt safe.
As they prepared to leave the bookstore that night, Joseph looked at Nichole softly.
"You survived something that was meant to break you," he said gently.
Nichole nodded slowly.
As they stepped into the cool night air together, Angelina slipped her arm through Nichole's.
"No matter how powerful your boss is," she said, "he cannot own your soul."
Nichole looked up at the stars.
And for the first time in a long time, she believed that..