I'll Teach You, Marianne.

< Muller Finance International >

Three days have passed since Anne rejected Jack that night and since then Jack seemed to have no enthusiasm for work. He looked very frustrated and lost. This had also become a serious concern for the three assistants who had been talking about it for the past three days.

"You're sure Master and Madam don't fight anymore, right?" Nicholas repeated his question for the third time to Erick who was checking important files on his desk.

"Jesus, how many times do I have to answer that, Nick?" Erick asked curtly.

Nicholas chuckled as he raised his hands in the air. "Relax dude, don't be mad. I was just making sure."

Erick glared at Nicholas and was ready to open his mouth if Alice hadn't suddenly stepped in and joined them.

"Master is well right? H-he's not as sick as he used to be, is he?"

Bam!

Erick hit the table hard. He couldn't accept that Jack was suffering from depression again. "Watch your words, Alice. He's your boss, your boss. You don't deserve to talk like that!!" Erick's eyes flashed when he spoke. He didn't accept Jack being badmouthed even though the person who vilified him was the woman he loved.

Seeing the response that Erick gave made Alice smile. Wait, she was not angry? What an understanding couple.

Instead of being angry, Alice drew closer to Erick who was still sitting at his desk. Without speaking, she immediately grabbed the hand of the man who had made up with her and forced him out of the room, followed by Nicholas behind, who was happy to see the two lovers quarrel. Alice's steps stopped right in front of Jack's room which was not tightly closed.

"See what he does, sir," said Alice quietly.

Without being ordered twice, Erick immediately looked into Jack's room, followed by Nicholas who was on tiptoe behind him. Instantly, both Erick's and Nicholas' eyes widened when they saw what Jack was doing. At this moment, Jack was sitting in his chair fumbling for Anne's photo and talking to himself as if he had someone else he was talking to. What the heck.

"I-I am not dreaming, am I?" Nicholas stammered with tears in his eyes.

Eric shook his head. "No, you're not dreaming."

"What do we do, Erick? I don't want to stay in that hospital anymore," Nicholas said hoarsely, the image of where he lived when he was in the special hospital where Jack was treated with depression after Anne left him now flashed back into Nicholas's mind.

Alice smiled faintly at the conversation of the two men, but Alice's smile did not last long because her face suddenly turned pale when she realized Jack was standing in front of the three of them, who were kneeling in front of the door of the master's room.

"Is this what the three of you have been doing all this time?"

Thump!

Erick's and Nicholas' bodies immediately stiffened instantly at the familiar sound to their ears. The two men slowly lifted her head up and smiled like a fool when they saw the master was standing in front of them with a murderous look.

"Don't talk, come with me!!" Jack shouted in a rising voice.

Without being able to argue, the three people doing what the master ordered. The three then stood parallel to Jack who was already sitting in his chair with his hands folded across his chest. The look in his eagle eyes was enough to make anyone afraid at this time, because Jack would be like this when he was only facing his enemy. Knowing that the master was really angry made Erick not dare to speak, he actually lowered his head even more because he didn't want to look at the face of the master who was emitting a cold aura.

"You've been standing there for two minutes and not saying anything, how long are you going to be like this?" Jack finally spoke, breaking the silence.

"I'm sorry sir, it's my fault for saying things about you," said Alice bravely, although her voice sounded hoarse but she could speak loudly.

Jack smiled at Alice's words. "Saying nonsense about me, what's wrong with me?" Jack asked again while crossing his arms across his chest. One thing Jack liked about Alice was that this girl was never afraid of him when he was arguing unlike other girls who didn't dare to look at him in the eyes. This was what made Jack believe that Alice didn't like him like the other female staff who didn't dare to look at him when he spoke.

"For the past three days you have been acting strange, you often daydream and sometimes do stupid things that don't make sense, like keeping important documents in the trash and the most terrible thing is that you are talking to yourself with photos of Anne. Are you okay? I mean, you're going to have another child with Anne, sir. You can't be sick. Do you really have the heart to make Anne take care of the baby alone again like when she took care of Christian before?" Alice spoke at length without fear, while Erick and Nicholas were like the undead. The faces of the two were as pale as sheet when they heard Alice speak to their boss like that.

Jack was silent for a while, digesting the sentence after sentence that Alice said. He didn't look angry at all. Instead, his sharp gaze turned sad all of a sudden. "Oh, so you guys noticed."

"What ... so what I've seen for the past three days is true because of you..."

"Don't be stupid, Alice, I'm still sane. I can't be crazy," said Jack quickly.

"Then what are you doing?" Alice asked again quickly.

"I'm just feeling a little sad," Jack answered quietly.

"Sad? Why are you sad, sir?"Erick and Nicholas simultaneously.

Jack took a deep breath. He then got up from his chair and switched to sitting on the carpet where Christian played when he came to visit the office. Seeing the master sitting on the floor, spontaneously, Eric, Alice and Nicholas did the same. The three of them sat opposite Jack, who was leaning against the wall holding some of Christian's favorite toys.

"Did you have a fight with Madam, sir?" Nicholas asked quietly, emboldened.

Jack shook his head slowly. "No, our relationship is fine."

"If you didn't fight with Madam, then why are you sad, sir?" the impatient Erick finally joined in asking.

"Anne rejected me," Jack answered quietly without realizing it.

Alice, Erick and Nicholas were silent for a while. They didn't understand what their master was talking about at the moment.

"Anne rejected you, rejected you for what sir?" asked Alice quietly.

With his head still leaning against the wall, Jack then told him what had happened to him three days ago. Like a fool, Jack shared his personal problems with his three unmarried assistants. Even though Alice and Erick had lived together in the same house, when they heard this, their master both blushed, especially Nicholas, who was currently single after being dumped by his girlfriend, who was a flight attendant for a Luxembourg commercial plane.

"How can I hold myself back? If my beautiful wife is in front of me and keeps walking around me like that, I used to be able to hold myself back for three years because I wasn't with her every day, I didn't see her beautiful smile, I didn't feel her soft skin, I didn't sleep in the same bed with her. But right now, I'm doing it all with her, just imagine how tormented I've been for the last five months..."

Thump!

Jack immediately closed his mouth when he realized the stupidest thing he was doing right now in front of his three assistants.

To be continued