Love Redux: Fated to the Handsome Doctor

BAM!

Piles of files slammed onto Mahya’s desk. The girl’s eyes widened, her mouth trembling as she struggled to speak. “Wha-what are you doing, Sir?” she asked after taking a deep breath.

“ARE YOU CRAZY?!” her boss exclaimed, restraining his rising anger.

“I don’t understand what you mean. Explain, what’s happening here?” Mahya asked, rising from her seat. Even the coffee on the table almost spilled, threatening to ruin all the scattered work analyses on the desk. Her cramped space became noisy with her boss’s shouts, as if he wanted to forcefully dismantle her room.

“You! How dare you investigate Seno Adhijaya? I’m returning your files!” he yelled persistently.

“Oh! So, this is about my investigation proposal? What’s the problem, Sir? I don’t feel like I’ve done anything wrong!” Mahya retorted, equally fierce. In journalistic work, structural positions were just diagrams on boards, not unresisting zones in the field.

Mahya wasn’t afraid of being fired.

As long as she knew why her work was being canceled.

“You! How could you make enemies from such circles! You didn’t even check the status of the credit card that was your responsibility! Our credit card was deducted $1000 because you damaged Seno Adhijaya’s car, right? All those payments will be deducted from your salary and bonus this year!”

Her boss ranted incessantly, almost making Mahya’s jaw drop to the ground. What was this? Why did Seno even know the office credit card number she carried? Was … everything she did a form of revenge from the rejection a few nights ago? When Mahya refused to be his sugar baby?

“Sir … I can explain,” Mahya finally softened her voice. She understood that all of this was a tangled thread where Seno was the root. However, Seno’s offense had nothing to do with her investigation proposal. Seno’s position shouldn’t have been an issue in the investigation process.

Why did this office seem to protect Seno and not want to scrutinize suspicious targets like the open principles of the press should?

“NO! I will stop this investigation process. In return, you have harmed the company, your position in the investigative section will be shifted to the feature section! Understand? Now, pack up!” the boss ordered arbitrarily.

Mahya was furious. “I won’t!”

Suddenly, amidst their argument, Carol- the editor-appeared as a mediator.

“Boss! What are you doing to Mahya? Do you have to demote her? This can be discussed calmly,” she defended her friend.

“I can’t! My decision is final. Remove that nameplate and move to the feature desk next door!” he refused firmly. “And, don’t call me ‘boss’ at the workplace,” he added before walking away.

Carol looked at Mahya with pity. This year, Mahya was supposed to get a promotion. But just because Mahya bumped into someone who might be close to her brother, she ended up being demoted. Instead of a promotion, Mahya’s level was even lowered by one level below what it should have been.

“I won’t accept this!” Mahya shouted passionately, but Carol quickly approached her. “Calm down, remember, your house installment still has 3 years left,” she whispered, hoping to soothe her friend’s anger.

Mahya growled like a lion ready to pounce on its prey. She was truly angry at being treated unfairly like this.

Her boss didn’t care. He didn’t care. He just walked away after giving Mahya unilateral orders. The girl was so angry and hurt. She was truly heartbroken.

“Carol … how am I supposed to accept all of this?” she whimpered as she picked up the files discarded by the cruel boss.

Almost there, Mahya could conclude how Seno could get such a large injection of funds. She had tried to dig up information, investor data, and production patterns of drugs that seemed to have special characteristics and were different from other drugs in its class. Seno’s business truly aroused Mahya’s suspicion.

“Mahya, calm down. Just follow the flow. I’ll help you as much as I can, okay? You must not get lost in emotions. It’s very difficult to get a job in this field,” Carol tried to comfort Mahya. Once out of the newsroom, a reporter’s reputation would be questioned by other offices.

Carol didn’t want Mahya to struggle and become unemployed even though there was a lot of potential in her. She would help Mahya speak to her brother when her emotions were stable enough.

“As far as I know, they were friends in college. Although different campuses. Aren’t you in the same university as Seno?”

“Yes. You’re right. But there are so many students. It’s impossible for us to know each other if we don’t have any interests.”

Carol nodded, trying to understand. She, who graduated abroad, also understood that the population of students was quite high, especially in public universities. Her brother didn’t want to study abroad because his girlfriend was here. Clearly, Carol didn’t even know her brother’s friends.

“I’ll help you tidy up your things,” Carol said, then got up from her seat. She helped move Mahya’s laptop and files to the next room, in the ‘feature and lifestyle’ editorial office.Content bel0ngs to Nôvel(D)r/a/ma.Org.

That section wasn’t a particularly influential section, but it wasn’t quiet either because the support from advertisements and advertorials was quite high. As feature reporters, they could even increase their income by lobbying new businessmen who wanted to advertise themselves with the latest news from the cold hands of the reporter.

“What’s the topic this week?” Mahya asked after moving her last items there. Carol also held that section, for efficiency. There were two other reporters working there. Plus Mahya, there were three reporters filling articles in the ‘feature and lifestyle’ section.

“Health. It seems there’s a handsome young doctor who’s gaining popularity, Mahya. You have to interview him,” Carol said, while searching for conversation links about the doctor on social media.

Mahya began to get acquainted with the other reporters in the room. They were both very quiet, unlike her. Only awkward smiles could they exchange together. Mahya then approached Carol again and checked her search engine.

“Who?” Mahya asked when she saw a photo of a handsome brown-haired man in a white suit on Carol’s phone.

“This is Dr. Andre. A surgeon who’s currently popular in X. You have to get his contact! Our news will become viral!” Carol exclaimed with high enthusiasm that soared to the sky. The doctor’s handsomeness mesmerized anyone who saw his portrait. Who knows what the fate of the viewers’ hearts would be if they even met the doctor in person later on.

“A surgeon?”

“Yes! Very interesting, right? Now! Find that doctor’s contact! Quickly!”

Mahya sighed heavily. She could only nod and comply with her boss’s request, even though this section wasn’t as serious and challenging as the section she used to lead.

“Dr. Andre, huh? Hm … alright.”