Clarke sat on his seat inside his office. He felt restless since the moment he woke up because he had hurt his wife.
He knew what he did was wrong, really wrong. He was busy, exhausted, and he was furious when his son, Hermes, suddenly stormed in and threw a big tantrum around the office.
He didn’t want to hear whatever reason Hermes had, that was just plain wrong, and he had to discipline his child.
But he shouldn’t yell at Gaius because he just wanted to pacify the situation. It was also the first time he raised his voice, even yelled straight in front of Gaius.
"Damn, I’m a terrible husband...." Clarke mumbled. He wanted to do something for his family, but he needed to plan it because he was still too ashamed to even look at them directly in the eyes.
Clarke was thinking about what kind of stuff would be good to make up with his wife, but all his concentration was gone when he heard the knock on the door.
"Come in," Clarke said. He thought it was just his staff giving another report for him to handle. But he was pleasantly surprised when he saw Reed come with a woman beside him, wearing a tight skirt and white blouse.
And when Clarke saw the face of that woman, he was stunned silly.
"Big brother, it’s been a while!" Reed said excitedly. He entered the office with that young woman following behind him.
"A—AH, yes, please sit, Reed and uh... Miss..." Clarke replied awkwardly. He still couldn’t take his eyes off the young woman, because her face... she looked like Gaius, but female version!
From her eyes, brows, nose, and cute lips, everything about this young woman was like Gaius in the female version, and younger ones too, since Gaius would be 37 this year.
Reed and the young woman sat facing Clarke, who was still dazed, and Reed tried to open the conversation, "Brother, this is the new secretary that I want to introduce. She said she’s ready to handle anything that you give, even the big thing, haha!"
Reed patted the woman’s shoulder, and she jolted out of fear, "M—My name is Gaia Sleek, Sir. A pleasure to meet you."
"Gaia..." Somehow, Clarke was convinced this woman might be Gaius in the female version, even their names were similar. But he couldn’t say it because it sounded weird.
"Yes, Sir. I’ve been working with Mr. Ville for years as a second secretary. But when he said I could get a position as the main secretary here, I immediately accepted, please take me as your secretary, Sir!"
’Ah, her innocence and hardworking attitude... that also look very similar to my wife....’ Clarke continued pondering. He was completely absorbed by this young woman who looked exactly like Gaius.
Honestly, he felt weird that he would be working with someone that had his wife’s face. But she was offered by his brother, Reed. If he refused because of that ridiculous reason, Reed might get offended.
’It’s okay, I think. It’s just the face anyway.’
’This office is hectic these days. There’ll be nothing weird going on here.’
’As long as I maintain this healthy working relationship, I don’t think Gaius will be jealous once he finds out that I have a new secretary.’
’Besides, finding a competent secretary is really difficult these days.’
Clarke continued making justification in his head, but he wouldn’t lie there was a sense of restlessness and guilt in his heart. He truly loved Gaius, but he also had to be realistic.
Gaius and the kids needed a good life. He had to work hard no matter how much it took, even though he had to work as a regular human in this world.
"Okay, I’ll accept you to be my new secretary. My name is Clarke Gaist, and you can just call me Mr. Gaist from now on," Clarke said. "My staff will be helping you on your first day of work. When will you be able to work?"
"Right now, Mr. Gaist!" Gaia replied.
"Ah, that’s great," Clarke pressed the intercom and ordered his staff to come in.
"This is the new secretary, Miss Gaia. Go and introduce her to work here, including all the paperwork. Tell me if you found any difficulty."
"Yes, Mr. Gaist."
**
Gaia and the staff left Clarke’s office room, leaving Clarke and Reed alone. Reed saw that Clarke looked troubled. Thus he asked, "What’s wrong, brother?"
"It’s nothing," Clarke smiled thin. "I just have many things to do, so I got really busy. Thank you for accompanying my family on that water park vacation before."
"Ah, don’t worry about it, brother. They’re also my family, so I have to help them in some way," Reed grinned. "Besides, playing with the kids and Gaius is so much fun."
"Thank you so much. Also, thank you for offering me a secretary, it’s tough to find one... it’s just...." Clarke gulped. He tried to find a good word for this. "It’s just... that woman, Gaia, looks really similar to your brother-in-law, don’t you think?"
"Ah, that’s true. But I think that’s because of a coincidence. She worked with me way before we met, brother. Don’t worry about it."
"Hm... I see..."
Reed then darted his eyes at two lunch boxes stacked at the edge of Clarke’s table. It seemed to be fresh because he could see the steam trapped inside the boxes.
"Brother, is that your breakfast and lunch?"
"Ah, yeah, that’s my breakfast and lunch. Your brother-in-law cooked it for me," Clarke replied.
"Ah, that’s so fortunate of you to have someone preparing for breakfast and lunch. Brother-in-law is such a good wife," Reed commented.
"Yeah, he is..." the guilt in Clarke’s heart emerged again. He had no mood to eat the food prepared by his wife. He felt undeserving.
"Brother, I’m hungry right now. Can I take those boxes? I can buy you something else instead!"
"You want it?"
"Yes!" Reed replied. "I really want to eat something that has been made by a good and obedient wife."