by Mel Ryle
“So that’s what you’ve been talking about behind my back,” he said softly. He sounded somewhat hurt. “Well, I’m sorry for making this difficult for you.”
I turned away from him, angry with myself for repeatedly spitting out whatever passed through my brain. Why do I have to be rude to this guy all the time? “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it that way.”
“No. You don’t have to apologize. You were right on the mark,” he replied, sounding cold and rigid.
I think I just pissed him off again. Well, there goes our supposed friendship. That’s why I never really have friends in the first place. Damn mouth, why don’t you behave for once.
I kept quiet from then on until we reached the restaurant where we were going to meet Alexandra’s fiancé. I didn’t recognize which restaurant we were dining in until we went inside. I could never forget the familiar wooden furnishings and the elegant chandelier above us.
“Mr. Maxwell. Good afternoon!” The familiar, high-pitched voice broke my stupor. I turned and looked at Reyna, the girl who tends to the podium in front of the restaurant, blankly. I may not have anything against her, but I didn’t particularly like her either.
William walked past her and ignored her greeting as he headed straight to his usual table, which wasn’t empty. I silently followed behind him, my head down as I thought that the embarrassment was over.
As William took his seat on the booth across from Alexandra’s fiancé, I stopped dead in my tracks in astonishment. Where the hell was I going to sit? The booth was comprised of two upholstered benches facing each other. Both weren’t that wide, so there was hardly any gap in between if I sat next to either William or my boss’ fiancé.
William noticed my hesitance and looked at me questioningly. “Why are you standing there?” he asked as he gestured for me to sit next to him. I would have preferred not to be beside him, especially after what happened a while ago. But who am I kidding.
Reyna finally noticed me standing behind her. Her eyes went wide as she recognized who I was. I had the pleasure of seeing her reaction, which made me feel a little smug.
“Andy! It’s nice seeing you again!” Alexandra’s fiancé greeted, getting up from his seat and pulled me into a quick hug before I sat down.
I stiffened in his hold and let out a sigh of relief when he backed away a little. He still had his hand on me, though, holding me at arm’s length. I remember Alexandra’s fiancé, Michael Hamilton. He was an interesting character: very enthusiastic and slightly arrogant when he had the chance. Well, all men are arrogant bastards if they get the chance.
“Mr. Hamilton. Good to see you, too,” I reply with a weak smile and took a small step away from him.
“Please sit,” he instructed, gesturing towards William’s side. “I’m sorry about my brother-in-law’s rudeness, Andy. The boy doesn’t know much about being a gentleman,” he stated as he sat down across me at the same time I sat beside William.
“Don’t talk like I’m not here, Mike,” William hissed in annoyance as he pretended to be occupied with the menu in front of him. It was like he hadn’t memorized that damn thing already. Michael just smiled like he wasn’t affected by William’s mood.
“I’m glad to see you too, Willy.”
When nobody spoke, Reyna took this opportunity to get back to her job. She silently introduced herself and told us to wait for a server to take our order. It was standard stuff. She left with a quick bow and retreated to the podium. I caught her eyeing me for a second before she left. I didn’t dare look at her directly as I pretended to study the menu. I was just as damned as William.
After a few seconds, I noticed a person coming towards us in the standard uniform: black slacks, white polo shirt, and dark brown apron.
“Good afternoon. I’m Terry, your server for today. Are you ready to order?” he asked, his familiar voice making my stomach turn. I didn’t look up and slid lower in my seat after he talked. This was getting more and more embarrassing than I have hoped.
“I’m already full. You can take the young lady’s order, Terry,” Michael said, gesturing at my covered face.
“You’ve already eaten? Why didn’t you wait for us?” William asked in a miffed tone. I think he always sounded that way whenever he talked to Michael.
“You made me wait for almost an hour, Will. And I got hungry, so I ate.”
From my peripheral vision, I could see William shake his head in disapproval and close his menu. Then, he turned towards Terry with a stern expression. “I’d like roasted chicken with corn and mash potatoes on the side. And a Riesling wine.”
“All right, sir,” Terry said with a hint of smile, pausing for a moment. “And for you, ma’am?”
I could feel his gaze on me and I stiffened again. I didn’t really have much choice and the chances of escaping were thin. So, I sucked it up, lowered the menu, and said with a barely audible voice, “I’ll have a meatball spaghetti and cranberry juice, please.”
There was as short pause after that, which made me curious. I finally looked up at Terry, whose eyes were zoned in on me. He blinked in surprise and managed to choke out the first syllable of my name before William cut him off.
“That would be all, Terry.”
Terry snapped out of his trance and gave him a curt nod. He glanced at me for a second before walking away to punch in our order. As I looked at his retreating back, I felt bad that I ignored him. I reacted terribly that moment. If it were up to me, I would have pleaded him for help with my eyes. But I didn’t have my wits about since I didn’t know what to make of the situation.
“Do you know him, Andy?” Michael asked.
“Ah, yes. He is my friend,” I replied remorsefully.
“Oh. Why didn’t you say hi?”
I stared him for a second then glanced at William, who was preoccupied with his phone. I looked back at Michael decisively and gave him a small smile.
“I’m sorry, but can you excuse me for a minute?” I asked, sliding out of the booth.
“Sure,” Michael said with a beaming smile.
With a nod, I turned away from the table and marched towards the computer on the far end, where Terry typed in our order. Some of the waiters that I worked with turned to look at me in shock. I ignored them and half skipped to Terry’s side. When I reached him, I wrapped my arm around his waist, surprising him.
“What?” he asked in consternation and turned around.
“Hello,” I said softly, still feeling guilty about what happened a few minutes ago.
“And now you’re talking to me.”
“Yeah. I’m sorry about earlier. I was being shy and stupid,” I admitted, releasing my hold on him but kept one of my arms on his waist.
“You? Shy? Really?” he asked, feigning shock as humor and amusement danced in his eyes. Then, I knew that he wasn’t completely mad at me.
“Yes. I think being around Mr. Mogul is making me soft,” I stated in annoyance, playing along.
Terry chuckled, making me sigh in relief. By then, I knew he had already forgiven me. The boy doesn’t hold grudges like I do.
For a few minutes, we talked. Well, more appropriately, I was telling him the gist of how I got to my current situation. As to why I was having lunch with Mr. Mogul and his future brother-in-law? Even I don’t know the answer to that. We haven’t really gotten down to it yet. With that, I bid my farewell and returned to my seat.
Nineteen
When I got back, William and Michael were talking about something that was beyond my pay grade. My plan on asking them outright why I was here was pushed back. By the time they stopped talking, our food arrived, making me lose another chance to ask them. So I waited until we were done eating, but Michael beat me to it.
“Oh, Andy, here is what Alex wanted to give you,” he said as he pushed a bulky brown envelope towards me.
“What is this?” I asked, picking up the envelope from the table.
“They are for your other work, from what she told me,
” Michael replied nonchalantly as he grabbed his glass of wine, taking a small sip from it. “She wanted you to file and finalize it,” he added as he placed the glass back down. “You can check those when you get back.”
I was about to open the envelope but stopped myself. I looked up at him and nodded in understanding. This only made me curious as to what was inside it.
William and I headed back to work and Michael decided to go to the airport for his flight back to Italy. I was itching to know what was inside the mysterious envelope. But I wasn’t as aggravated by it as William.
“You know you can open it now that he’s not here,” William pointed out after a few minutes as he drove us back to the office.
I turned to look at him, eyeing him with suspicion. He wasn’t looking at me. His eyes were fixed on the road in front of us. “I’m not falling for that trick,” I snorted and kept the envelope secure on my lap, putting my bag on top of it.
“I know,” he smiled.
I remained silent after that, not knowing how to come up with a new topic. I was too confused right now. It was much better when he and I were bickering instead of having this awkward friendly charade. How I miss the bickering.
When we reached the office, he parked the car in front of the building instead of the parking lot. I was about to scold him until I saw a familiar man dressed in a black suit come around William’s door. The guy actually has a personal valet. This shouldn’t have surprised me, knowing who he was.
I hopped out of the SUV as William got out of the driver’s seat. I didn’t wait as I entered the building ahead of him. Once I reached the entrance of the lobby, I looked up at the reception desk out of habit and gave Danny a short wave of greeting. She looked up at me and gave me a brief wave before getting back to work. She was talking to someone on the phone.
I quickly made my way to the elevator, pressing the call button. I waited for a few seconds until it opened. I was about to get in when I felt a hand grasping my arm. I looked up just in time for William to walk past me. He dragged me toward the empty elevator and pressed the close button, not letting anyone in but us.
When the door closed, I turned to him with my eyebrows scrunched together. “That was really rude, you know,” I stated in annoyance.
“Now, can you open the envelope?” he asked, ignoring my mood.
“Why are you obsessed about the damn envelope? For all I know, it might be something about the art work for the gallery,” I stated, grasping the said envelope in a protective hug.
“What gallery?” he asked, his eyes wide in surprise.
I mentally slapped myself in realization. If Michael didn’t want me to open the envelope in front of him, it means Alexandra didn’t want William to know. God, why am I such a dunce?
I sighed and turned away from him, pretending like I didn’t slip. But he wasn’t letting it go easily. I could feel his eyes on me. And then, without warning, he pressed against my side, pushing me in one swift move towards the metal wall. I flinched in surprise.
“I’m not moving if you don’t tell me,” he threatened, his warm breath caressing my cheeks.
I kept my eyes closed and stood still as he said those words. A different kind of feeling shot through my body, which made me shudder. Releasing a ragged breath and closing my eyes, I tried to move away from him but it was useless. He really had me cornered. Now, I could really feel his breath on my face.
“There is a camera here, Mr. Maxwell. You can’t do anything to me with a witness,” I stated back as harshly as I can, but my voice sounded husky.
“Am I making you uncomfortable?” he asked after a beat of silence. He ignored my feeble attempt at a threat.
Who was I kidding? I sounded like someone who was turned on rather than angry. And for that, I think I need one pack of beer. I tried to calm my breathing and my heart before opening my eyes.
The first thing I saw was his lip, which made me think that I made the wrong decision by looking up. His lips slightly parted, which made me gulp. I can’t believe this was affecting me. I tore my eyes away from his lips to his eyes, which I thought was an even worse decision. His eyes were soft but blazing. His blue eyes looked like the Mediterranean Sea. The last time I’ve seen that look was actually, on television. I saw an episode on a television series where this incredibly hot man was about to sweep this girl he had been eyeing on.
But with just a snap, I lost those stunning dreamy-like eyes as William stepped away from me and moved towards the open door. Did I just imagine that look and those dazzling eyes? I can’t believe I zoned out and didn’t realize that we had reached our floor. What the hell did he do to me?
By the time I was able to pull myself back together, the elevator door almost closed on me. I had to put my hand on the edge to stop it from closing. Letting out a huge breath of relief, I walked out of the elevator towards my desk.
Maggie noticed me sit down and turned to me with a worried expression. “Are you okay, Andy? You look flushed,” she asked.
I turned to her with a small smile and fanned myself a little. “I’m fine. I just feel a little warm, that’s all,” I replied softly.
She eyed me for a second and nodded slowly before turning back to her work as I sat down on my chair. I dropped my bag on the floor and placed the envelope on my desk. I hoped this was enough to take my mind off what just happened. I don’t think that I would look at an elevator the same way again after what happened.
With another sigh, I straightened myself in my chair before opening the mystery envelope. The contents were exactly what I thought that they’d be. They were files and pictures of artwork for Alexandra’s gallery. Why did Alexandra keep William in the dark? I didn’t ponder much on that and went back to work.
By seven thirty, I had finished filing and cataloguing the artwork for the gallery. I even managed to squeeze in my report for the day. I wanted to type in and ask Alexandra about William’s non-involvement on the gallery. Why didn’t he know about it? But, I don’t want to cross that business relationship and make it personal. Was it even personal?
I sent in my report and quickly gathered my things before William decided to go home early. I didn’t want to look at him again today after the incident in the elevator. So I made my exit before the clock on my computer indicated that it was seven thirty.
When I reached home, I felt a sudden sense of relief sweeping over me. I made myself a sandwich for dinner and munched down on it with a can of beer as I switched on the television. Before nine, I was already in my bed, curled up into a ball under my sheets. With nothing to think about, my mind went back to the elevator scene again.
I closed my eyes in the dark room and pictured that moment. I could literally feel his warm breath on my cheek. The lingering scent of his cologne and body wash seemed to have drenched my comforter. I opened my eyes and pushed everything away from me. What have I gotten myself into?
The next morning, I was half dead as I lay down on my front. Somewhere in the distance, I could hear my alarm going off. But I was too tired since I couldn’t sleep properly last night. My mind kept on drifting to the image of his lips and his blue eyes. I just couldn’t get him out of my head. I had to do something to change this or I’m going to be in deep trouble.
When I reached the office building an hour later, I stood outside for a second like a statue. I was hesitant to go in and was contemplating whether I should go in or not. The truth was I didn’t know why I debated in the first place. I didn’t feel good about the fact he physically affected me. I didn’t even dare make a coffee trip today. If they wanted it, I can just take my time to go and get it.
With a huge breath, I straightened myself up and marched on. As I reached the lobby, I gave Danny a short wave of good morning, which she returned with her fingers pointing at me and gesturing it to go to her. I looked at her for a second, puzzled. But I followed through and walked up to her.
“Hey, is there something you need?” I asked as I reached the counter.
I looked at her in confusion and glanced down at the magazine. At first, I didn’t know what I should be looking at. But then Danny’s finger pointed at the photos below the headline. It was a photo of William walking into the restaurant from yesterday afternoon. And beside him was me, but it only showed my side profile.
I grabbed the magazine, putting the image closer to my face. “What the...?” I hissed in shock as I continued to look at the photos.
“You should be glad about this, Andy. At least, the paparazzi didn’t capture your full face,” Danny stated in comfort, like this wasn’t really something major.
“Are you kidding me? That’s obviously me!” I exclaimed in outrage, slamming the magazine back to the counter.
“Shh! People might hear you,” Danny hissed frantically, putting a finger in front of her mouth to tell me to keep quiet.
“What do you expect? This is very major for me. For him, this is nothing,” I countered back heatedly in a whisper.
“You don’t have to worry. I’ve already called Maggie. She’ll help you out,” she stated confidently, like she had handled stuff like this before. Well, maybe she had.
“You must think I’m like one of those girls...” I mumbled angrily, annoyed at myself.
“You aren’t those girls, Andy. Now, stop moping and head on upstairs. Maggie is waiting for you,” she commanded, grabbing the magazine out of my view and pointing at the elevator.
“This is really bothersome,” I mumbled again and walked towards the elevator, giving Danny a curt wave of goodbye.
When I reached my floor, I hesitated a little when I thought of William being there. What were his thoughts on the magazine? Is he just as pissed as I am? Well, maybe not as pissed, since the man was used to it.
With a sigh, I walked out of the elevator and up to my desk. Maggie noticed and greeted me with a face breaking into a smile as she held up the same magazine that Danny had shown me.