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[Hearts got involved]
GENRE: Office Romance
Written by; Racheal A.
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Sorry for posting late🥺
Chapter 37
“Seeing you this way already hurts. Ignoring me will only worsen it”He said “Don’t ignore me, please”
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Kiara swallowed as he wrapped his arms tightly around her.
His hug felt comforting and for a moment, while in his arms,she felt at ease as all of her worries disappeared. She felt relaxed and relieved. Something she hasn’t felt all day. It brought a smile to her face and as much as she tried to resist the urge,she found herself wrapping her arms around him also, responding to his hug.
Erik smiled when he felt her hands on his back. He rested his chin on her shoulder,not breaking the hug. He felt she needed it. He needed it too. It’s been hard for him not seeing her all day.
They stayed that way for a while until he broke the hug. He held her face and looked into her eyes with a mixture of affection and worry in his eyes.
Kiara looked into his eyes also.
He gave her a small but warm smile before bringing down his hands to hers.
“Come on”He said, standing up.
Kiara raised her head, giving him an inquisitive look.
He made a head gesture towards the door, making her glance at it before looking back at him again.
She understood the message he was trying to pass through to her.
Erik gazed down at her with his hands still holding hers while she contemplated on what response to give him.
°°FIVE MINUTES LATER°°
Daphne looked up from her phone when she noticed the sudden silence in the apartment. Not that she could hear wh@ťěver Erik and Kiara were discussing about but the apartment shouldn’t be as quiet as it is with three people in it.
She left her room to go to the living room. It was empty when she got in.
“Where’d they go?” She furrowed her brows and later sighed “They could have at least told me they were leaving. Well, I hope things go well between them”She muttered.
She looked around the living room and folded her lips.
“I’m gonna go get myself a cup of coffee”She said before leaving the apartment.
••••
Kiara kept looking out the window as Erik drove. She had no idea where they were going but being out felt good. Being beside him felt good. She’s been in Daphne’s apartment all day. Not that Daphne objected to her leaving the house,the choice was entirely hers but she chose not to go out. Nothing and no one gave her a bit of encouragement to leave the apartment until now
Erik kept glancing at her as he drove. They haven’t said anything to each other since they started the ride. He felt she needed the quietness so he made to attempt to speak but her quietness bothered him, especially when she still had that depressed and stressed out look on her face
“I thought we agreed you’d tell me whenever something was bothering you”He said and she turned to look at him. “You didn’t tell me you wouldn’t be coming to the office today. I spoke with Emily and she was the one who made me aware that you wouldn’t be coming to the office today”He glanced at her “Why didn’t you tell me?”He asked, his voice gentle and polite
He felt she had her reasons and he respected that but he still felt hurt that she didn’t tell him and wanted to know why plus he didn’t want her to think he was asking as her boss but as her friend
Kiara looked at him. She felt guilty for not telling him and also ignoring his calls but it seemed like the only option she had. If she had told him she wouldn’t be coming to the office, he’d want to know why and that would lead to her lying to him or telling him everything,same goes with picking his calls and she wasn’t ready to tell him anything.
Even now,she still contemplated if she was ready to tell him,to spill everything.
“You… Don’t see me as someone you can talk to?” He asked
Kiara could sense the hurt in his voice.
“I do”She said sincerely “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you and that you had to find out from Emily. I’ve just been…”She sighed.
“Do you wanna talk about it?”He asked.
“What?”She muttered.
“Emily said you were dealing with some personal stuffs. Do you wanna talk about it?” He asked
She swallowed as she looked at him. She released a sigh before nodding. Not matter how she tried to avoid it,she was eventually going to tell him or she’d have to live with the guilt of not telling him and she might actually feel a bit relieved after telling him.
Erik smiled at her.
Daphne closed the door behind her after she stepped in. Her brows furrowed when she saw Lex seated at one of the center tables in the coffee shop.
“When did he start coming here frequently?”She muttered. She remembered seeing him here a few days ago.
She frowned when she saw him smiling at her. She thought of walking to him but she shook the thought away and walked to the counter instead, ignoring him.
Lex stood and walked to her, blocking her way just as she was about to get to the counter.
“Hey”He smiled at her. She frowned. “What’s with the frown,I thought you stopped hating me”He said.
He’s been coming to the coffee shop since the last time they met hoping they could meet and converse again like the last time. He somewhat enjoyed their conversation that day. Aside from the fact that it helped him feel less sad,her voice felt appealing to him. Actually, everything about her felt appealing to him. It was something he began noticing after that night at the hotel.
“Stop smiling at me”She said.
“You’re frowning at me because I’m smiling at you?”He chuckled.
“Yeah”She stated plainly.
“Ouch”His smile dropped
“I didn’t realize you love coffee so much”She said, making her way to the counter.
He followed her.
“I didn’t realize you did too”He said.
She faced him after picking her coffee preference.
“I don’t like coffee that much”She said “I take coffee only when I’m stressed out or when I’m here with Kiara”
Lex raised a brow.
“Ugh. I don’t even know why I’m telling you this” She said with a frown.
He chuckled.
Daphne looked at him. He actually looked more attractive with a smile on.
‘Gosh,what am I thinking?’She looked away, reprimanding herself.
She was handed her coffee.
“Thank you”She collected it and brought out money to pay for it but Lex held her hand and paid instead.
She faced him. “Don’t expect me to thank you. I was going to pay for it myself”She said.
“I know,and I wasn’t expecting a thank you either” He said.
She looked away and began walking to a table.
It was easier being harsh to him when she still saw him as the jerk who broke up with her best friend over his own mistake. Now that he was all changed, making the nice part of him evident, being harsh to him felt hard and also made her feel guilty. She shouldn’t be harsh to him anymore but she was afraid if she stopped, she’d give away the fact that she actually found him attractive and sort of liked having him around her. She didn’t want that.
“Incase you forgot, your coffee is on that table”She reminded him when he sat with her at her table while pointing at the table she had met him sitting at when she arrived at the coffee shop.
“I know”He said “It’s kind of boring sitting alone”
“I’ll make you feel more bored”She said, raising her coffee to her mouth.
“Nah,I don’t think so”He said.
A smile appeared on her face but the cup between her lips helped in hiding it.
“So, what’s stressing you out?”He asked.
“What makes you think something is stressing me out?”She asked, bringing down the cup.
“You said you only drink coffee when you’re stressed out or when you’re here with Kiara. And, you’re here alone which means, you’re stressed out”He said.
He was right about her being stressed out. Not being able to come up with a way to get more evidence on Natasha was stressing her out and making her frustrated.
“So, what’s stressing you out?”He asked again.
“You already know I’m not going to tell you so why bother to ask?”
“Cause I’m hoping you will”
“Like you’ll be able to help with anything”She rolled her eyes.
“Try me”He rested his arms on the table, bringing his face closer to her.
She chuckled and placed her palm on his face
“Move your face away”She said.
“Not until you tell me what’s stressing you out”He smiled and held her hand, bringing it down from his face.
“I can’t believe you’re doing this right now”She said, obviously surprised “Well, suit yourself. Keep staying that way and I’ll keep drinking my coffee” She brought her hands to her coffee and smiled, lifting it up.
He sighed.
••••
Erik and Kiara sat at the table they usually sat at to eat corn dogs, facing each other.
He still had that concern in his eyes as he stared at her,waiting for her talk.
“I,uh…”She moistened her lips, thinking of the best way to relay what she about to tell him “The reason I began working as your assistant…” She began “It wasn’t because I needed a job or because your last assistant recommended me”She shook her head
Erik stared at her, looking confused”What are you talking about?”
“The reason I began working as your assistant was because I was trying to get back something my stepmom made me believe your father deprived my father of from you. She told me about my dad and yours being partners for a business and that your dad denied my dad his share of the profit from the business. My stepmom wanted me to get it back and I agreed,that was what led me to working for you. I got to find out last night that everything my stepmom told me…Was a lie. Everything she’s ever told me was a lie” She said with tears thr_@tening to roll down her face.
Thinking about everything Natasha did to her brought tears to her eyes.
“There was partnering,no business,no denial of some dumb profit. It was all a lie to use me into getting what she wanted and I stupidly believed her and let her manipulate me”
“What?”Erik muttered,still confused “I don’t understand, what are you saying Kiara?”
“I’m saying that I’m not the person you think I am. I’m a liar and I came into your life with the intention of making you pay for what your father did. My stepmom might have made it up but it doesn’t matter. What matters is that I still accepted to do what she wanted me to do even when I knew it was wrong, even when I knew it would hurt you”
“Kiara…”
“I’m sorry I lied to you all these while,I really am” She apologized sincerely with tears in her eyes “I’m aware what I did is a really terrible thing, I’m a terrible person and I don’t deserve to be with you. You deserve someone better and I don’t think I’m that someone”She said “I’m sorry”She said once more before standing up to leave. “I shouldn’t even be here with you”She muttered.
Erik held her, stopping her from leaving. He was still trying to put together the pieces of what he could point out from everything she just said so he could understand it and now she’s thinking of leaving.
“Hey”He said softly.
Just then,her phone rang.
Not wanting to face him with the tears in her eyes,she chose to pick the call instead.
“Kiara”She heard Emily’s voice “How are you doing?”She asked.
“I’m…Fine”She lied.
“Stop overthinking, okay?”
“I’ll try”She muttered and she could hear Emily sigh.
“Kiara”Emily said “Another reason I called you is that I wanted to let you know what I found out”
“What?”
“So,I asked Ken to check the company’s records to see if there’s any truth about your dad and Mr Erik’s dad being partners for a business. Mr Erik’s dad used to be the CEO and owner of Tech Builders so I felt like records of such things should be in the company’s database and luckily,it is. I had Ken look into it after getting your dad’s name from Daphne and you were right,your stepmom lied about your dad partnering with Mr Erik’s dad. I mean,of course we all felt it was a lie after finding out all those secrets about her but I just wanted to be sure”
“Thanks”Kiara said.
“If you’re worried about me making Ken suspicious of anything,I didn’t”
Kiara nodded like Emily could see her
“I’ll check up on you tomorrow, good night”Emily said.
“Good night”Kiara muttered before hanging up.
Erik rose from the chair and came to stand in front of her,facing her. She looked down, avoiding his eyes.
••••
Daphne stood after taking the last sip from her coffee.
“Well,this has been fun”She stressed the ‘fun’ to make her sentence sound sarcastic. As much as she h@ťěd to admit, Lex’s presence around her felt nice.
Lex felt the same way too though she still didn’t tell him what was stressing her out despite how many times he asked.
“But I gotta go”She smiled.
“I’ll give you a ride”He offered, following her out of the coffee shop.
“Pretty sure you know what my response will be” She said.
She was right. He knew she was going to decline but he persisted.
“Come on”He said.
“Bye”She said, standing a few feet away from his car, waiting for the traffic sign to turn red so she could cross to the other side of the road to get a taxi.
He sighed, watching her.
The traffic light eventually turned red and all the vehicles on the road stopped moving.
Just when she got to the middle of the road,a car drove towards her direction with menacing speed, ignoring the red traffic light.
Lex’s eyes widened.
Shock and horror was written all over Daphne’s face. Her instinct screamed at her to run and she wasted no time in obeying but just when she was about to get to the other side of the road,the car got to her and hit her with so much force that sent her flying a few feet away which resulted in her landing heavily on the ground.
TBC…✍️