𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔎𝔦𝔰𝔰

รɦαω

I was foolish to admit to Riel that he had given me the perspective to break off my engagement. I was so eager to hint that I'm up for the taking, that I made him run.

I'm going to call off my engagement because Mallory, and I don't have relationship. We honestly don't even have a friendship. I'm finally ready to set myself free of the bitterness that I have been harboring for life.

"How do you balance shareholder value with societal impact?" a wiry built senior sticks their hand in the air.

I'm not exactly amped up to talk business with a group of people who think that graduating summa cum laude

from some business school, meant they knew anything running a company. But a publicist thinks me speaking to a bunch of business students would encourage fresh talent to look for jobs at Harlow Atlantic.

"I'd say . . ." I had an answer for the question but I can only focus on Riel, sitting to the back of the lecture hall with some hotshot professor whispering in his ear.

I turn my face away, breathing harder.

"By adopting a long-term perspective," I continue with answering the question. "Shareholders' interests are in long-term profitability, sell them on how sustainable growth will benefit them in the long run."

Riel is giggling. Why is he giggling?

Whatever could a man that gives lectures on corporate responsibility have to say that's funny?

I watch another one of the students frantically waving their hands to get my attention.

"I'll be ending our talk here," I ignore the raised hand. "But not without announcing the new library that I'm donating to your business school." I stump away from the podium before the professor could score himself a date with Riel.

"Mr. Harlow, we wanted to ask—"

I strut past the students coming up to me to ask more questions.

"We're leaving," I tell Riel through a tight-lipped smile.

He turns his head slowly, his hair spinning through the air as his eyes lock onto mine through half rim reading glasses. The smile drops off the curve of his lips as his gaze settles over me.

"Okay," Riel's eyes darken at me. He must be thinking that his angry looks would kill me. But the sultry look in his eyes only stirs my soul, rekindles my heart and torments me with jealousy of knowing that other men could enjoy seeing their reflection in them.

"Mr. Harlow, thank you for being here," the professor extends a handshake.

"Yes," I take grip of the handshake, hoping that I would apply the right amount of pressure to break the man's hand. "It was my pleasure."

"You've quite the strong handshake," the man says.

"I don't think so," I tell him. "You're probably just a bit worried about impressing me."

"Self-important jerk," Riel spits under his breath.

"Something to share?" I ask him.

"No," he gives me a guilty smile, then he ignores me to talk the professor. "Dr. Kelly, thanks for sharing your class with us."

"You're welcome," Dr. Kelly grins at him. "Don't forget my email. I'd love to have the chance of convincing you to study at our university."

Dr. Kelly is a sly man. I hate him. But I can respect his game.

"Let's not waste any more of the professor's time," I tell Riel. "I'm sure the professor has papers to grade."

Dr. Kelly narrows his eyes at me. He must've catch on by now that doesn't have a chance with Riel. I already got rid the last man, and I'll do same with him.

"I'm not paying you to make dates," I tell Riel in a gruff voice, once we're outside of the lecture hall. "You're at work, and I expect you to act like you're at work."

Riel stops his walking to scoff at me. "I'm not sure on where you're heading with this conversation. I'm fully committed to doing my job, and think we should forget that you've brought this up as talking point."

He rolls his eyes at me, before heading for the car.

Putting me in my place? He gets sexier by the second.

─── ⋆⋅☼⋅⋆ ───

Back the office, I'm greeted by an unpleasant surprise.

"Shaw," Mallory giggles, and wraps herself around me in seconds.

"Mallory," I dodge her attempt to kiss me on the cheek. "What are you doing here?"

"Can't your future wife visit you at work?" She declares loudly to the entire office building.

Riel observes me with Mallory, before he leaves for his office. He doesn't even glance back me.

Mallory fixes her makeup in a compact mirror, sitting across from me. I couldn't tell why she was here, and she's not giving me any hints.

"Why are you here?" I interrupt her reapplying lipstick.

"Well," she crosses her legs. "Granddad is in New York, and he's expecting to hear about your wedding."

"I'm suspecting you want to continue tricking him into thinking we've an actual relationship," I grumble.

"Yes," she says. "And ..."

"And what?" I ask her.

She fidgets with her fingers, taking her hands on and off the desk. "And that we're planning our wedding for Christmas."

Mallory checks for something under nails, maybe she's looking for the man that used to be pathetic enough to let her use him whenever and however.

"We're not doing that," I tell her. "You, and I are going to sit down with your granddad, and tell him we aren't getting married. I don't care what reason you're going to give him for our break up, but I suggest you tell him that you're gay and that he should get over it."

I'll be forty in a week, and as an early birthday gift to myself, I'm breaking loose of the web of lies that I've been telling people is a relationship.

"Are you fucking deluded?" She screams. "He's never going to accept that. The man still makes donations to conversion therapy. He thinks gay people need a cure. You think he's going to accept that his granddaughter being a lesbian?"

I watch her frantic footsteps around the office. I know how much she cares for her grandfather's opinion, but it's no longer my battle to bear.

"Don't raise your damn voice in my office," I bite down my tongue to stop myself from saying something harsh to her. "Your grandfather doesn't run your life. So what if he can't accept you? Get over it, and move on. It can't be worth your happiness to please a crippled bigot."

"Crippled bigot?" Mallory asks. "You didn't think this badly of him when he saved your dad from going to jail for tax evasion, or when he convinced investors to give a crap about your company."

"Shut your mouth," I point a finger at her. "I built this company by myself. Your grandfather whispering the name of a one or two venture capitalists did nothing for my company."

John Mercer might've given me business advice as a young man. But Mallory is crazy for thinking that her grandfather is such an important man. I dropped out of Dartmouth in 02 to help my father run a bankrupt company.

I risked everything to rebuild a failing business, I won't let anyone take credit for my work.

"I'm sorry," tears slip down Mallory's cheeks. "I wasn't thinking when I said that."

"Why are you two fighting?" Sebastian walks into my office. "The whole office can hear you two shouting."

Mallory tries to hide her tears from my brother, but he sees them anyways.

"Are you okay?" He hugs her.

"Yes," she sniffles. "We're just having a disagreement about the wedding."

"What's wrong with the wedding?" Sebastian asks.

"We aren't having one," I answer him. "Mallory and I

won't be getting married to each other."

He blinks rapidly, his brows furrowing in disbelief at my answer. "Wait—What?"

It takes Sebastian a moment, but he finally gets a clue on what I'm saying. "What did you do?" He goes pale in the face.

In my brother's eyes, I'm always the villain. He needs no explanation or justification to place blame on me. I've accepted it. Clearing up his misconceptions about me, isn't worth the effort.

"It isn't worth concerning yourself over," I tell him.

"I can't believe that you're my brother," he pours scorn the idea. "You're sick. You can't just string her along in a seven year engagement, then on a whim you decide not to go through with the wedding."

"It's not his fault," Mallory says. "It's mine."

"I don't believe that," he whispers to her.

Sebastian is ready to throw punches at me, but Mallory holds his arms.

"I've always said you're too emotional for a man," I tell my brother.

"You'll never change," Sebastian points at me. "You're going to die alone." He sighs, before leaving my office.

"Why would say that to him?" Mallory asks.

"I'm done talking," I say to her. "You've a week before I announce that we aren't engaged, or getting married.

You can announce it before me, I don't care. I want to be done with lying about my life."

"Okay," she smiles weakly. "I'll figure something out."

I work late into the night, reviewing operation reports from our factory in Mohawk Valley. It shouldn't have taken me nearly this long to look over a few numbers, and safety reports, but there were missing pages from the report. I phone the factory manager, but he won't pick up any of my calls.

"Summers," I ring the intercom.

I don't get an answer.

"Summers," I try again.

He doesn't answer.

Is he giving his boss the silent treatment?

I get tired of calling him, and go looking for him in at his cubicle. "Summers . . . Summers," my voice falls to a whisper.

I find him. He's at his desk, sleeping on the job. I'd be upset at him, but how could I be mad at perfection.

Riel's dark lashes rest softly on his flushed cheeks. He can't real. This boy has to be my heaven. How could he possibly be this beautiful?

I reach to touch the hair that tousles over his forehead, but stop myself. Riel made it clear he didn't want me to touch his hair.

"Summers," I whisper, shaking his shoulder.

"Hmm?" Riel shrugs out of his nap.

"Wake up," I tell him.

"Sir?" Riel pouts as he attempts erasing the sleep lines from his face. "Sir?" He throws himself into a panic.

"Don't tell me I scared you?" I ask him. "My face can't be that horrid."

He smiles at me for the first time since Paris.

"I'm sorry," he whispers. "I didn't sleep well last night, but I realize it doesn't excuse me sleeping at work."

"It's okay," I tell him. "It's almost ten. You didn't have to stay back at the office."

"I didn't want to leave you by yourself," he mouths, but quickly changes tune. "I mean, um, I mean ... I stayed in case you needed me. Since I'm your assistant, and stuff."

I chuckle at him fumbling his words."Who are trying to convince, me or yourself?"

"I'm not trying to convince you of anything," he grabs his bag from under his desk. "Good night. I've a train to catch."

I pace after him as he heads for the elevator. "Let me drop you home," I submit for his consideration.

"I'm good," Riel presses the button for the first floor. "I like the train."

"Why are you so stubborn?" I ask him.

"Have you looked in the mirror?" He asks.

"Have you seen this face?" I smirk. "The mirror can't get enough of me."

"Yeah . . . Yeah," he scoffs. "You're the sexiest man on earth — yada yada."

The door to elevator opens, but Riel doesn't go inside. He turns to look at me. "Sir," he exhales a low, strained breath. "You never heard me say that."

"I heard nothing," I pretend to follow his instructions.

"Good," he walks into the elevator.

"Wait," I tell him. "The old memory is a bit fuzzy. But I do remember you calling me the sexiest man alive, was it?

"Oh god?" He covers his face.

"Don't get embarrassed," I remove his hands from over his face, folding his palms into my hands.

─── ⋆⋅☼⋅⋆ ───

I'm slowly getting out of the doghouse. Riel is warming up to me again. We aren't quite back to playful, teasing remarks yet, but I'm wearing him down.

"Sir?" Riel taps on my desk. "You wanted something?"

He's breathtaking, so it usually takes me a few tries to get my thoughts together after seeing him first thing in the morning.

"I need the missing pages of this report," I point to the fax of the factory report. "Go down to the plant, and get the general manager to give you the full report."

"Okay," he nods. "I'll get it to you by evening."

"Could you also get me some more coffee?" I show him my coffee mug.

He takes the empty mug, and hands me today's copy of the New York Times. I skip through the paper, looking

for the page with the market news, but I'm come across crossword with Riel's handwriting filling out the blank spaces.

59. Across (clue: "Church recess") Riel put 'apse' as his answer. He also has a small printout of trivia questions creased into the side of the paper. What is the Cayley-Hamilton theorem? Every square matrix satisfies its own characteristic equation.

Even his mind is attractive.

"Your coffee," Riel comes back. He walks around the desk, and sets the ceramic cup next to me.

I spin my chair, finding myself under his frame. I pull on the edge of jacket, forcing to him to lose his footing, and he falls into my arms.

"Is this how we're saying hello, now?" I smirk, bringing him closer in my arms.

"You yanked me," he accuses me.

"You're blaming me for you being clumsy?" I play the victim.

Riel steps out of my arms. "How does a man child like you run a business?" He grabs the newspaper from the desk, rolls it up and uses it to beat my shoulder.

I tip the chair back with a bit smile on my face, and let him trash me.

"You beat all the men in your life?" I ask him.

Riel drops the paper, gasping . "You can't ask me that."

"Why not?" I ask him.

"Because," he pauses.

"Because?" I sit up to hear his answer.

"Because," he broods. "Shut up — will you?"

Making him flustered is my favorite hobby. I love how awkwardly charming he gets when he's doesn't know what to say.

"Why are you telling my fiancé to shut up?" Mallory grills Riel.

When did she get here?

"I'll give you two privacy," Riel excuses himself.

"Why are here?" I ask Mallory. "How did you get inside the house?"

"Jeez, Shaw?" Mallory laughs nervously."You brought this place on our fourth anniversary as a couple. Why are you acting like I'm a stranger?"

"I remember," I confirm. "But that doesn't answer the question I asked you."

"Did you forget dinner with my grandfather?" She asks me. "He's getting adamant about talking to us."

"I didn't forget," I tell her. "I'll meet you at restaurant."

"Actually," she hums. "I don't exactly want to be airing my business in public. I'd prefer to break the news in a more private setting."

"Fine," I say. "We'll have the dinner here."

"Thanks," she smiles weakly. "We wouldn't want New York to break news of our broken engagement before us."

"Our engagement has been broken for a long time," I

mumble. "Or did you forget having a girlfriend for the last six years?"

"Shaw," Mallory heaves. "I don't guilt me. I never once asked you to stay celibate for all those years. Plenty of women were just waiting for you to take a second look at them, but you avoided them."

She's right. I shouldn't guilt her. She didn't force me to lie. I wouldn't end our so called engagement because I was waiting for her. Waiting for the day, she would tell me that she's done being lesbian, and it's time for us to get married. I kept waiting for the day, she would stop running off to her different girlfriends, and tell me that she's off to the bridal shop or the wedding planner.

Maybe I'm more of a homophobe than her grandfather, I did think there was the chance she could change her sexuality to be with me.

I've always been selfish.

And knowing, I had those thoughts on sexuality. What makes me think that I deserve to fall in love with Riel?

He's everything right my world. But I might be tricking myself into thinking that I'm right for his world.

"I wasn't trying to make you feel guilty," I tell her. "You deserve to love whosoever you want. We both do."

"Excuse me," Riel knocks on the side of the open door. "Sir, I'm leaving to pick up that report you wanted."

"Okay," I tell him. "I'll see you in evening."

"Wait," Mallory stops him. "Were you listening in on our private conversation."

"I wasn't," Riel mouths. "You're not that interesting for me to risk my job over."

He grips onto the straps of his bag, and strides away.

"Did you hear what he just said to me?" Mallory gasps. "Where does he get off talking to me like that?"

"Ah-hah-hah," I laugh heartily.

"You're laughing?" She asks me. "You're not going to fire him? He told you — his boss — to shut up a while back, now he insults me. And you're laughing?"

"You accosted him," I remind her. "Why should he lose his job for speaking up from himself."

"When did you stop?" Mallory questions.

"Stop what?" I ask her.

"Stop being my Shaw," she says. "We've spent so much of our lives together, and this is the first time you've let someone get away with insulting me."

"Simple," I tell her. "I'm no longer your Shaw."

─── ⋆⋅☼⋅⋆ ───

The quiet clink-clink of silverware is the only response to John Mercer asks for the date of his granddaughter's wedding. He presses his knife into his braised quail as he waits for an answer.

"We aren't getting married," I break the silence.

The old man doesn't react, bone crunching against his dentures.

"What did she do?" he asks me.

"She didn't do anything," I defend Mallory. "We've just decided not to continue with the engagement."

"Hmm," John voices. "You did something, then? She caught you with another woman. Don't worry I'll talk some sense into her. Men wonder, it's in our DNA."

"No ... you old fuck," I slam my fists against the dinner table. "I didn't wonder. Mallory doesn't need talking to.

We aren't getting married, because we've decided not to."

He keeps cutting through his vegetables, unbothered by me shouting at him.

"Mallory," he says in monotone. "You're not doing your job. Shaw is unhappy with you."

"That's it," I shout. "Get out of my house. Get the fuck out of house. You're an old man, but I swear I'll knock some sense into you."

"Fine," John wipes his mouth with his napkin, pushes his chair back. "I'll respect another man's house."

He knocks his cane around, and leads himself out the front door.

"It's over," Mallory's face crumples. "He won't wait to disown me."

She breaks down, her cries echoing through the room.

"Mallory," I kneel beside her. "You should be the one to disown him."

"I know," she whispers. "I just can't believe the things he said. Forget hating me for being gay — he's already hates me for just being a woman."

"Don't cry," I catch her as she falls into my arms. "He's not worth your tears."

"Yes, but," she sobs. "He practically raised me."

"You don't owe him your life for raising you," I tell her.

"It's your life. Don't waste it, waiting around for some man's approval whether he raised you or not."

"Your birthday is next week, but seems you're already forty and wiser," Mallory hugs me.

"Don't remind me," I chuckle.

I help Mallory get on her feet, and start looking for my phone. I was starting to miss Riel, and I am starting to have withdrawal symptoms after spending the last few hours without him.

"Shaw?"

I look around to Mallory, and I don't even get to flinch as she presses a trembling kiss to my lips.

"Mallory," I force her away from me. "Why would you do that?"

"I thought," Mallory doesn't get to finish.

CRASH!

The sound of shattering glass comes from the foyer. It doesn't startle as much as Mallory kissing me, but I go to check.

"Riel?" I shudder.

"I shouldn't have come here," he says weakly, backing away from a broken vase. "Why did I come here?"

"Riel?" I don't know how to ask. "You didn't see ...?"

"I saw," he tells me. "You were kissing your fiancée. It's normal. She's your fiancée, you should kiss her. I know that."

"It's not what you think," I explain. "I didn't kiss her."

He doesn't listen to me, walking out of the house.

"Riel," I go after him. "It's not what you think."

"I saw a man kissing his fiancée," he tells me. "There's nothing for me to think about."

"She's not my fiancée," I tell him. "Not anymore."

"I don't care," he yells at me. "I don't care about who is and isn't your fiancée."

"Riel, please," I grab his hand. "Please ... I'm asking for just one minute to explain what happened."

"Don't explain anything," he twists his hand away from me. "Don't explain anything to me."

"Riel?" I plead with him. "Listen to me for even just a second."

"Why should I?" He asks me. "I'm just your assistant."

"Come on," I tell him. "We both know you're more than just my assistant."

"Do we?" He asks. "Because I felt like just an assistant, today. If I was more than your assistant, you wouldn't have sent me to a factory leaking dangerous chemicals. You would've thought twice about risking for my safety for a stupid report."

"I don't what you're talking about," I say. "You have to know that I'd never put you in danger."

"I don't know anything," he mouths. "But I know one thing, I'm done being your assistant."

***

Did the title fool anyone? Never mind that I'm sure Shaw, and Riel will kiss one day.

Anyways ... my head is busy with so many new book ideas. I've a whole world of characters in my mind, and they all have interacted with each other in some way.

Any guesses on how Riel, and Kai from "From Hate Flourishes Love" will meet each other?

Possible new book incoming, if I finish "You're my boss, or From Hate Flourishes Love" by early 2025.