Will smiled. For some reason, this information made him feel happy and giddy. “Did you like it?”
She looked away. “Did you?” Una asked in a small voice.
He sucked in a deep breath and stared at the road ahead. Of course, he liked it so much that his mind was screaming he wanted more, but he was confident that he wouldn’t be able to say that without getting a strong, negative backlash from her. Una wasn’t that kind of girl. She couldn’t be easily persuaded. She was not Kate or any of the women he met.
“Very much,” was the safest answer he came up with.
“Me too…very much.”
He smiled sheepishly. The light signal turned green, and he stepped on the gas pedal as traffic sped off again. They remained silent all the way through to the university, feeling a little better after acknowledging that they both enjoyed the kiss―very much.
***
“Good morning, Liz,” Will greeted as Liezel stepped into the elevator at MaxxTech offices.
Liezel smiled at him in return. “Back at you, William.” As the doors closed, she reached for her pearl earring, unconsciously caressing it. It was the last pair that had been a gift from Sinclair before his trip to New York that got them into their first argument. When he didn’t even make any effort of consoling her after he returned the following day, she had stopped talking to him outside work.
Right before the elevator could ascend, they heard someone call to hold it for them. Liezel’s stomach at once at the familiar voice. Will quickly halted the elevator by pressing the button to hold the door open.
And just Liezel had expected, Sinclair stepped inside, a briefcase in his hand, looking sharp as usual. When the doors shut, Will took a step back behind Liezel and Sinclair. As the elevator hummed, he noticed Liezel’s shoulders straighten, which was soon followed by an irritated sigh.
The seconds seemed to drag on as the silence inside became too deafening…until Sinclair spoke.
“You’re late again, Ms. Blanco.” His voice was tight and slightly scary.
To Will’s shock, all he heard from Liezel was a flat, “Whatever.” He moved a little further from them as he could. He had no idea what had gotten into Liezel for answering back to their boss that way, but one thing was for sure―he didn’t want to be a part of what was about to happen.
“Ms. Blanco, I don’t know what’s gotten into you,” Sinclair spoke, his tone was dangerously low. “But if you have forgotten who you’re talking―”
“I haven’t!” Liezel’s voice came out a little bit louder. She looked into his burning blue eyes. Before she could start shouting, she sighed heavily and bit her lower lip, trying her hardest to calm herself down. Sinclair was still, after all, her boss.
Sinclair, on the other hand, just stood there, jaw clenched, matching his intense gaze.
“I’m your secretary, and you’re my almighty boss,” she continued, her voice was low this time and a little bit throaty. “I do everything you ask me to and do as you please. I know that.”
It took Sinclair a second to process the fact that he was having this conversation in front of one of his other employees. Before he could say anything further, he stopped himself and muttered a firm, “Good.”
They finally reached their floor, and when the door opened, he glanced at Will. “You didn’t hear any of that.” He then stepped out first and walked down the corridor, his expensive black leather shoes were all Liezel could hear clicking against the hardwood floor.
Liezel sniffed and brushed away the tears that quickly rolled down her cheeks. Before Will could ask her why she responded so angrily at Sinclair, she hurried out of the elevator and aimed for the bathroom to fix herself. It wasn’t her intention to lose her cool that morning, although she had been feeling angsty towards him ever since their last argument over Sinclair’s New York trip. And it wasn’t any help that the gloomy weather fit her general mood.
After their elevator encounter, the rest of the morning continued, and Sinclair hadn’t come out of his office nor had he asked Liezel for anything. It wasn’t the same with Will, though. He had asked her a few times if she was okay. She was, of course, grateful for his sympathy, but she couldn’t let herself dwell on her current situation with Sinclair by talking about it with Will, or anyone for that matter.
Focusing on the tasks she listed for herself to finish that day, she opened a draft of a contract on the computer and started reviewing it. Seconds later into the paragraph of clauses, she heard her telephone ring. Without looking at it, she grabbed the receiver.
“MaxxTech Head of Company, Sinclair Godfrey’s office, Liezel speaking.”
“Bring the SLA for Pascal in the conference room now.” Sinclair’s voice immediately pulled her concentration away from the monitor. She looked down and saw that it was her telephone extension to Sinclair’s phone that rang.
“Okay,” she said, and the line instantly went dead from Sinclair’s end.
She sighed, and her heart started to beat heavily. It was a good thing that she had the document printed the day before, else she would have to tell him to wait and this would have given him a reason to call her incompetent. With the anger she saw in Sinclair’s face that morning, she was sure that they were back to how they were before in the beginning. Of course, they would have to sit down and clear things out between them, but she doubted if that talk would happen any time soon. In the meantime, she had to make sure she’s on top of her deliverables.
Once she gathered the document, she began walking to the conference room. Sinclair was standing in front of a projector screen in front of the team of programmers when she came into the room. A few of them acknowledged her sudden presence by glancing at her before going back to the presentation in front of them. However, Will’s gaze lingered for a couple more seconds.
Silently, she placed the document on Sinclair’s table in the front.
“Darn it, Liezel, what happened to you? Did you have a fight with your hubby?” Glen suddenly announced, thoughtlessly bringing everyone’s attention to her.
“Not now, Glen,” Will warned quietly.
Almost immediately, her eyes prickled lightly. She cursed at herself for forgetting a quick touch up. After crying her eyes out in the ladies’ room, it was evident that she looked terrible. She turned around, and her eyes landed on Will who was already looking at her with concern in his eyes.
“You may leave now, Ms. Blanco,” Sinclair said. It wasn’t what he said that brought her to tears again, but the way he had said it—cold and uncaring.
She swallowed a lump in her throat and hurriedly left the conference room. The heaviness she felt seemed to have doubled as she crossed the floor, tears threatening to stream down her cheeks. No, she couldn’t go back to her desk just yet.
Tears flowed down her face when she briefly glanced at Sinclair’s private office. Biting her lower lip to stop herself from bursting into tears, she left the office floor and walked down the hall. When she turned a corner, she spotted an arrow sign on the wall at the end that said stairs. With the emotions still building up inside her, she went in that direction. Without an ounce of hesitation, she pushed open the door and descended down the stairs and stopped on the first landing.
As soon as she slid down the wall and sat on the cold and damp steps, she started crying so hard that she had to reach for the railing for support. Her whole body wracked with loud sobs. Unlike the ladies’ room, no one would be coming here anytime soon to witness her outburst.
She hated Sinclair and the way he was treating her like nothing had happened. And she hated herself too for letting her guard down. Sinclair had told her she was overreacting when she went a little mad after knowing he had changed his plans and went to New York instead without telling her in advance. But the reason that had fueled her anger wasn’t really that he had chosen to go instead than be with her, but the fact that he had changed his mind without telling her first and asking her if she was okay with it. Weren’t they in a relationship afte
r all? And considering that they were, wasn’t she supposed to be a part of every decision he made?
It took a few minutes for Liezel to finally pull herself together. Wiping away the tears off her face, she breathed deeply and slowly stood up when she heard the door creak open. Looking up, her heart fell when she saw Will looking down on her from the stairwell. She wrapped her arms around her, trying to compose herself and hoped for him to get a clue to leave her alone.
But it was to her utter dismay when she heard him coming down the stairs instead.
“Here you go, Liz.”
She sniffed, eyeing a pack of Kleenex in his hand. “Thanks.” She cleared her throat and grabbed the pack.
“You’re welcome,” he said quietly behind her. “See you around.”
Her eyes met with his, and he offered her a flicker of a smile before he exited where he entered. She smiled to herself, glad that Will wasn’t the slightest like his friend Glen. Although, if she could have it her way, she really would have preferred Will to see her in her situation since she was closer to him than with anyone in the office. Quickly, she wiped at her nose and took a deep breath. As it began to get colder, she decided it was time to go back.
III
Anger
Cursed be their anger, so fierce, and their fury, so cruel!
Anger―
I was never the guy who was prone to fights and was never the type of man who would openly express hostility to others. Ever since I could remember, I had always been calm, collected, and composed. Adam Collin, however, was an ex-US Army veteran who served the country for seven years and an all-around terrible person, bad-tempered, overly sensitive, and constantly winded up in fights. It was these qualities why Adam Collin was currently hanging upside down.
Adam Collin’s current predicament was all of his own doing. He couldn’t blame my clients for wanting to get rid of him and his rage. This was his fault.
“Hmmm…” Adam groaned, finally awake.
Adam swallowed hard as he swayed back and forth. With the blow I gave him that knocked him off, and made the blood rush to his head, I bet he felt like it was about to explode right now.
“What the fuck?” He struggled when he finally realized the mess he was in. “You?”
“Hello, Adam,” I greeted.
His eyes widened at the sight of me, and he struggled even more. But I made sure that the rope was tight around his ankles and down his feet. I knew he was scared. I could feel it, yet he was trying so hard to mask it. When I raised the paring knife in my hand, he gnawed on his bottom lip.
“Are you trying to console yourself with some reassuring thoughts, Adam? Why don’t you get mad at me instead?” I mocked him. “Oh, wait, you did…and you tried to punch me, right?”
“Who paid you to do this? Those no-good sons of bitches?”
Clever man. He figured it out right away. Or maybe he had already expected this to happen, given that he wasn’t really very charming man and made plenty of enemies with his temper.
I sighed. I wasn’t really in a mood to deal with someone like him. Adam annoyed me for some reason. When I was watching him, waiting for the right to time attack, he had somehow made me hate him in less than half an hour. He was rude to the bartender who made him his stupid drink, and he was even rude to the waitress who refused to talk to him.
The anger came rushing back to his reddened face as his eyes began to recognize me. “You son of a bitch! You’re that guy who slashed my tire outside Tony’s.”
Yes, he was right. I slashed his tire. The night was growing late, and I had to do something to catch his full attention and get him to leave that damn god-forsaken bar that smelled musty and piss-laden.
Adam was no featherweight. He was perhaps a few kilos heavier than me, which was why I had to drug him first to make sure he was still unconscious while I tied and hanged him up. I gotta make sure I enjoy every minute flaying this fucker. Looking at him glaring at me now, I have to peel his irritating face.
“You sick bastard! Untie me now! Let me go, you sick fuck!” he yelled, his face contorted in anger.
“I am not an idiot, Adam. You can’t just start screaming at me and demand that I untie you.” I stared at him, and though I knew it was natural for humans to start spewing nonsense when trapped in a serious situation such as what he was in now, it still didn’t stop my own temper from boiling.
I couldn’t understand it, but he was really getting into my nerves now, like his behavior was rubbing off on me. I had been called so many things by my projects, much worse than a sick fuck, but this was the first time that it really got me.
“Well, I think you are an idiot! You don’t understand shit! You killing me won’t make any difference at all. The stupid fucks who paid you to kill me don’t understand shit on what life really is about. Seven years of my life spent defending this fucking country so that morons like you could live freely. But instead of living like a decent person, you and the rest of the fuckers continue to piss at each other while the rest of the world continue to mock at us!” He was already gasping for breath by the time his little speech ended.
Okay, enough.
I took a deep breath and swiped the knife at Adam’s chest. Then time stood still for both of us.
“You fucker…” he choked out, the knife protruding from his chest.
“I hate you!” I told him. My voice came out raspy.
I pulled the knife only to stab him again. And so it began: a gut-wrenching stab after another. Adam wasn’t just an angry man but a very proud one too. He didn’t want to give me the satisfaction and hissed every time I swiped my knife at him, keeping a cry of pain from slipping out of his mouth.
Suddenly, my mouth was dry, and my whole body went rigid. Holy shit! I couldn’t stop stabbing him as a burning sensation radiated across my body. He was spitting blood, and I stood there, panting like I was about to reach my climax.
“You have sinned terribly, Adam,” I shouted, the paring knife piercing Adam’s stomach, ripping open his blood-soaked shirt, earning me a scream of pain from him. Finally!
I grabbed the cleaver from the nearby table and dug it into his ribcage, ripping through his flesh, severing the bone and muscle on his body. Sweat rolled off my forehead while a playful smile spread on my face. Anger had slowly faded off my system that was quickly replaced by extreme delight.
Adam wrestled one last time, and I took a fistful of his damp hair and held his head to face me. His eyes were already shut as thick blood cloaked his eyelids, but his mouth was open, a soft moan of pain escaping it.
“Don’t worry about your sins, Adam.” I smiled down at him. “I got you.”
Chapter 15
Kiss And Tell
“I love Wednesdays…” Glen sniffed.
That day was the same as any other day for everyone, except for Will. Over the past few days, he was beginning to realize, after the kiss, that he could never go back to the way things were between him and Una. He tried to clear off the tension he was feeling inside, but nothing worked, and Glen’s STD scare had gotten old and was no longer effective as he found himself leaning closer to her. Like all every time he would see her, his pent-up feelings would automatically bubble up to the surface.
And even after that realization, a new problem developed―it felt as if he couldn’t have enough.
He wanted more.
He wanted to do more.
He wanted more of Una.
He thought he could no longer brush aside the attraction he seemed to have for her. She’s like a magnet pulling him in. And he was beyond grateful that things seemed to be so comfortable and easy between them. It’s not as awkward as he thought it might be. And this wasn’t anything similar to what he had with Kate.
No, not at all.
Kate made sure he noticed her and made the first move; she forced herself into his life.
Una was utterly different.
Will’s thoughts disappeared as soon as he walked into the break room wi
th Glen and Liezel for lunch. They headed to the back table and brought out their brown bags, expect for Liezel, who had ordered hers.
“Here you go, my liege.” Glen handed one of the brown bags to him after they sat down.
Liezel glanced at the bags as she prepared her own food container. “Let me guess…chicken sandwich.”
Will took out bagel chips, string cheese, and an apple while Glen displayed his tuna sandwich, brownie, and a banana on the table.
“Try again next time, Liezel Anne,” Glen said smugly. “And since I practically eat a wide variety of sandwiches, you would really find it quite a challenge to guess it right.”
Will glanced down at Liezel’s falafel salad takeout. “That looks yum.”
“So, what’s the deal?” Glen asked, looking at Liezel as he started munching on his sandwich.
Liezel looked back at him, confused. “Are you asking me? What do you mean?”
“You have been hanging out with us for a consecutive number of days now.”
“Can’t I eat lunch with you? I mean, despite your poor table etiquette, I have been eating lunch with you guys…since I started here. Well, with Will at first…for obvious reasons,” she reasoned out, sounding a bit defensive in the process.
“Hey, why do you think Sinclair leaves every twelve noon?” Glen asked, breaking into her thoughts.
She and Will both looked up and craned their necks to what Glen was looking through the glass walls—Sinclair leaving his room and walking toward the main door.
“For lunch?” Liezel answered. “Just like the rest of us?”
Glen nodded and then playfully smiled at her. “And why don’t you go with him anymore?”
She pushed back the thought of hollering at him for bringing it up. “I’m his damn PA. I only go out with him when it’s a lunch meeting—with a client.” She heard Will briefly clear his throat.
Considerably Wicked: A Dark Romance Page 15