: Chapter 30

Twirling the spoon into the mug, I mixed the sugar with my tea. Steam stopped dissipating from the beverage, but my moving the spoon didn’t halt. I was too lost in my thoughts.

I’ve always wanted you for myself.

Come on a date with me, and you’ll get all your answers.

His words haven’t left my head since last night. Even at night, I couldn’t sleep due to his revelation and proposal. Proposal to go on a date with him. And as usual, not being able to give him any answers or make a decision, I ran away.

After returning home, when I recalled everything that happened at the hotel, I was stunned by my own doings. The jealousy, the kiss, and the demand for answers.

Last night I was too brave to pull off the stunts I never thought I’d do. But the bravery didn’t stay long when it was time to do something.

It wasn’t my fault. First I kissed him, and then I asked him the questions that had been running in my head for so long. Yes, I was going to do it sooner or later, but I wasn’t prepared for it yet. It just came out of me. And when he opened his mouth, I was shocked and surprised. His condition to disclose the truth had me dumbfounded.

Being confused and overwhelmed with emotions, I didn’t know what to say.

I still didn’t know.

I’d ignored his calls and messages. I was killing time so I didn’t have to go to the office early today. Why? Because I was too nervous to face him.

The blare of my phone snapped me out of my trance.

My heart skipped.

Is it him again?

Relief flooded over me at once when I read Cassie’s name flashing over the screen.

“Hey, what’s up?” Setting the spoon away, I took a sip of the cold tea.

“The disinterest of your voice says that you aren’t happy getting my call?” Her tone was accusing.

I rolled my eyes. “It’s nothing like that. Just having a bad day.”

She hummed, “Had a fight with your Romeo?”

“Who are you talking about?”

“Duh! Who’d be the Romeo of our Juliette other than Achilles Valencian?”

I shook my head at her. Even being sassy and sarcastic, she was into Shakespeare’s romance.

“No, we didn’t have any fights. But…” I sighed.

“Spill!”

I spilled everything to her. And she listened without interruption.

“I don’t know, Cassie. I’m so confused. I can’t just go out on a date with him. And I know him. He won’t tell me anything if I don’t agree.”

“What’s wrong with going out with him? You guys are jumping on each other’s bones any chance you get, anyway. What’s the issue?”

My cheeks burned at her remark. “We don’t jump on each other! Definitely not me! It’s always him!”

She snorted. “Yeah, right! Who initiated the kiss last night?”

I bit my lip. “I—the situation was different then. I… I was…”

“Jealous?”

“Yes,” I said, swirling the liquid in the mug. What was the point of lying? She knew everything, anyway.

“That means you admit you still want him?”

My heart stuttered.

Did I?

The fuzzy feeling in my tummy gave me the answer.

“It’s not that easy, Cassie. I still didn’t have the talk with Warner,” I uttered the main reason I was facing so many difficulties to give Ace an answer. And wasn’t it too soon? I mean, we were just getting to a level of understanding each other, even not there yet if I was speaking frankly. Even if Warner wasn’t the issue, wouldn’t it be too soon to go out with him? Everything was moving so fast between us that it overwhelmed me.

“Now, where did Warner come from? I thought he already knew of you and Ace,” she squeaked.

I didn’t know what problem she had with Warner. She just hated the idea of him being between me and Ace.

“He has an idea about us, but we still haven’t had an official break-up. So, technically, he is still my boyfriend,” I explained. “I can’t just go on a date with someone else while still being in a relationship with another.”

“Fuck this shit! This isn’t a relationship! You don’t love him, and he knows it, end of story. Don’t spoil your real opportunities for the fake ones!” she snapped.

“Cassie,” I cautioned. “Though I wasn’t ever really in the relationship, our friendship was real. And I already did wrong enough to him by letting Ace close to me. I can’t do more. I can’t start something new by keeping the former hanging.”

“So, where the hell is he? He was supposed to come here and talk to you, right? When is he coming?”

I set the mug down and rubbed my neck in frustration. “I don’t know. He’s still mad at me. All he told me was he’d be here soon. That’s it. We haven’t talked since that day.”

I didn’t even know where he was. He wasn’t receiving my calls or responding to any messages. I even called his cousin, but he had no idea when he was coming to LA.

“Then what are you gonna do now?” she asked.

I shrugged, sighing. “I don’t know.”

“You can’t ignore Achilles for long, you know that, right? You’ll have to face him today or tomorrow. He’s not going to wait for your answer that long. Knowing his obsession with you, you should be lucky he isn’t already knocking your doors down to get a yes out of you.”

A giggle bubbled up my throat as I shook my head. I was relieved he didn’t do such a thing.

My eyes fell on the fresh flowers in the kitchen vase that arrived for me this morning, just like everyday. Even when he must be mad that I was ignoring him, he didn’t forget to send those red roses to me. At first, Mom and Dad were curious about those flowers, but now they kind of got used to them.

“All right, I’ll talk to you later.” I glanced at the watch. “Gotta go to the office now.”

“Don’t forget to keep me updated.”

“I won’t.”

The first thing I did after arriving at the office was to ask the watchman if Ace was present. And I had to curse my luck knowing he’d arrived earlier than his usual time. And already one of the unlucky employees got fired due to his extremely sour mood.

I was certain I was the reason behind his ill temper.

Gulping the nervousness down, I kept my chin high and walked inside the building.

I hoped I wouldn’t have to face him today.

But as soon as I wished that, the elevator’s doors slid open, and he walked out. Running behind him were some black-suited men, busy explaining something desperately.

The tightness of his jaw and a day’s old stubble announced his mood. Anyone with a sane conscience wouldn’t want to cross his path today.

With widened eyes, I turned around and ran to the staircase before he could notice me. Climbing the stairs was a good exercise, anyway. But of course, my legs didn’t let me listen to my mind and took the elevator to the fifth floor.

Once I was at my destination, for the first time, I pushed the thought of him to the back of my mind. I had something else important to do.

I went to look for Sierra.

Even with so many things, her exhausted, pale face didn’t slip my head. Nor did Arthur’s mocking smirk he threw me as a challenge. Even though I could be wrong, I could feel it in my gut that something wrong was going on. And I needed to find it out.

But again, I didn’t find her at the office. Matt was the closest friend of hers after Liza in the office, so I asked him her whereabouts. But even he didn’t know much about her, except her not being herself for the past few weeks.

“What do you mean?” I asked him, outside of his current office.

He shrugged. “Her always bubbly personality was gone, as if something was really troubling her.”

“Didn’t you ask her what it was?” My brows furrowed. I had this doubt that whatever it was, Arthur had something to do with it.

“I did. But she didn’t tell me anything, Em. She can be really secretive when it comes to her personal life,” he replied, seeming to wonder himself. “Anyway, why do you ask?”

“Uh, nothing. I haven’t seen her for a few days. I heard she is sick. So, I thought to ask you, as you’re quite close to her,” I lied.

I couldn’t tell him my doubts. Arthur was a very reputable man in the office. I couldn’t just bluff anything without solid proof. It was just my intuition that he shouldn’t be trusted.

He nodded. “Yeah, due to ill health, she took a few days off. But don’t worry, I’m sure she’ll get better soon. I’ll let you know if I hear anything from her.”

I smiled. “Please do. Anyway, I’ll see you later. Got some work to do.”

Again nodding, he went inside his office.

I tried to call her last night, but she didn’t pick up. She even ignored my messages and emails. It wouldn’t bother me this much if I didn’t see her with Arthur. And seeing tears in her eyes at both times I found her around him didn’t sit well with me.

She looked scared.

What was going on?

I let out a breath. I wished she would tell me.

Shaking my head as I pushed the door of my office open and padded inside, a gasp slipped through my lips. My eyes widened.

I was running away from the devil, and here he was waiting for me in my own cave. With one hand in his pocket, he stood before my desk, touching a picture of me and Tobias. Putting the frame in its previous place, he turned around. Dark, stormy gray eyes fell on me.

“W-what are you doing here?”

His head tilted to the side. “Did you really think you could escape me for that long? In my own office?”