My Coworker Asked About My Secret Husband, I Said Strangers Chapter 02
I didn’t realize the new creative director was Elena until I got to work.
So that was the internal referral Brandon had given her.
Our creative department has incredibly high standards, we’re at the top of the industry. Everyone who makes it here is exceptional, and the competition is brutal.
Creative fields are the worst, a battlefield of egos and ambition.
Elena’s sudden arrival caused a stir.
My department, Brand Marketing, works with Creative all the time. Everyone was gossiping about where she’d come from.
“I heard she’s backed by the CEO of Vanguard Technologies, a major sponsor.”
“Actually, she didn’t get in through connections.”
“Brandon Cole from Vanguard handed over all his company’s design work for the year. She came with her own resources. Our company’s been wanting to partner with Brandon anyway.”
“She walked in with all that, so of course she got the director spot.”
Someone sighed. “Yeah, ten percent luck, twenty percent skill, and the rest is who you know. People like us never get that kind of backing.”
I’d met Elena once before. She and Brandon are the same age, four years older than me.
At the time, I thought of her as an older sister. I had no idea she was Brandon’s ex.
She was there, along with some other friends of his. We all had dinner together.
I’d always felt out of place in Brandon’s social circle. But Elena took my hand and acted so warm, like an older sister to me.
There were seven or eight people at the table, and she and I were the only women. She told me I could call her Elena.
She knew everyone there, chatted easily with all of them. She made an effort to include me, and I was so grateful.
At the time, when she found out I was engaged to Brandon, she paused for a second. Then she smiled and gave me relationship advice, little tips and tricks.
She kept glancing at Brandon as she talked.
He looked at her once, then took a sip of his drink.
That night, Brandon got pretty drunk.
Before we left, I overheard him talking to a friend in the hallway.
“So that’s it, Brandon? You’re just letting her go? Elena’s leaving the country tomorrow. Aren’t you going to see her off?”
His voice was soft, his eyes red-rimmed. “Yeah. That’s it.”
I couldn’t tell if he’d been crying or if it was just the alcohol.
But back then, I thought it was just the drinks.
Now I know he got drunk that night because of Elena.
All that relationship advice she gave me? She’d learned it all from him.
She sat there, right in front of him, and shared it with me like we were friends. And I’d been naive enough to see her as some kind of older sister figure.
It took two years of marriage for me to figure it out, and my chest felt tight.
I thought back to dinner that night. The restaurant’s signature dish was tempura shrimp. Someone put a piece on my plate and one on hers.
Brandon spoke up casually, his tone light. “Elena’s allergic to shrimp.”
It was only then that I realized how well they knew each other. How connected they were.
Everyone there was their friend, not mine. No one else knew about her allergy. But he did.
Because they used to be together.