A CRAZY LOVE - Episode 163
“Sorry.” Nicole instantly said before turning around, not planning to stay there any longer.
Since the time she had come to know about Victor’s past, she had been feeling utmost guilty, and avoiding him as much as she could.
She had already apologized to Victor and Victor had calmly replied that he had forgiven her, but she couldn’t help and felt even more guilty.
“Wait.” Victor immediately spoke from behind, slightly disturbed by Nicole’s recent behaviour.
Nicole stopped in her tracks, before turning around, trying to present a fake smile with utmost sincerity, even when she was terribly failing at the same.
“How can I help you?” Nicole asked, her voice sounding robotic and a little funny.
“Do you have some time?” Victor asked.
“No no. Not at all. I am busy with a tightly packed schedule.” Nicole said, only wanting to finish this conversation and not stay for another second in the same room as Victor.
“Sorry.” Victor said, making Nicole’s eyes go wide in shock.
“Huhh?” Nicole asked in a confused voice.
“I am sorry for shouting at you the other day. I must have been out of my mind to yell at a female that way. So I apologize for behaving wrongly and scaring you unnecessarily.” Victor said in a truly gentle and apologetic tone.
“Ahh.. No you don’t.. you don’t have to apologize! It was my mistake… I am sorry.” Nicole said in a flustered way while waving both her hands in front of her, trying hard to deny, looking way too cute and childish while doing so.
Victor looked at her frozen, his eyes constricting and darkening for a moment. Something was changing in his eyes while his heart beat accelerated.
And Nicole who was flustered looked into his constricting eyes, his intense gaze making her feel a cold shiver run down her spine.
Both of them didn’t understand what was happening, but the air around them was turning fierce with sparks flying all around them.
Victor, who was deep into his daze felt a very foreign yet an all too familiar feeling spreading through his body, coursing through his veins.
He instantly shaked his head, as if trying to clear his mind, not wanting to experience those emotions again.
“Cough.” He cleared his throat, bringing Nicole back to the present.
Nicole’s cheek turned a deep shade of pink while she was back flustering and fumbling, unable to understand what just happened seconds ago.
“I will.. I’ll take my leave now.” She said and instantly turned around, literally running away towards her office.
“What happened, Miss Nicole?” Joel, who was about to enter the office, saw her coming out.
“N.. nothing.” Nicole said while rushing away.
Joel gave her a puzzled look but she was already gone. Though Joel didn’t miss out on how her cheeks had gone all pink and her forehead was covered in cold sweat.
He turned back towards the door, knocking on it in confusion.
Meanwhile Victor, sitting inside, was no less confused.
‘What the hell just happened. Uggghhh Victor, just stop doing that. She is different and you are definitely going to scare her away this way.’ He thought while having a sip of water.
He heard the knock and instantly composed himself.
Joel entered the office but he definitely wasn’t expecting Victor to be sitting inside the office.
“Hello! Morning Mr. Victor. Where is Young Madam?” Joel asked.
And with that Victor explained everything that happened last night. He felt that Joel, being Markus’s closest man, should know wh@??ver was happening with Kizy.
By the time he was done, Joel’s mouth was left wide open, not believing that all these things happened in one single night.
“I.. I never expected that Young Madam would do something like that. How is she now?” Joel said in a worried tone, not knowing what he was supposed to do.
“I guess she will be fine. Both Jason and First sister had a good talk with her and I know both of them care for her a lot. They won’t let anything happen to Second sister.” Victor said in a convincing tone, which was somehow able to calm Joel down a little.
The duo talked for some more time, discussing Kizy’s condition, Markus’s arrival and company matters.
Joel explained to Victor the project Kizy was working upon recently, making it easier for him to understand.
“If there is nothing else, I’ll take my leave.” Joel said.
“Thank you for helping out. You truly reduced a lot of work and made this easier.” Victor said in a calm tone.
“Anytime for you and your team Mr. Victor.” Joel said.
He was about to go when he suddenly remembered something.
“Well, did something happen between you and Miss Nicole?” Joel asked, remembering how he had seen Nicole leaving this office.
“Why though?” Victor asked, intending to know what Joel meant.
“Before entering here, I collided into Miss Nicole outside the office door. She looked distressed, as if she was about to cry maybe.” Joel expressed what he felt.
“Seriously? Crying?” Victor asked in shock.
He knew things were not right between him and Nicole, but he thought she was a strong and mature girl who would let such small incidents pass away.
He never expected to make Nicole cry from such a negligible scene.
“I think so. Her face was all red while her forehead was covered in sweat. I thought it was Young Madam inside and decided to not intervene in family matters. But I never expected it to be between you and Miss Nicole.” Joel said honestly.
“There is some misunderstanding between us. We started on the wrong foot I guess. But I never expected that I would make her cry. Do you know where she went?” Victor asked in a distressed tone.
“Guess she went back to her office. I think you should talk things out. Maybe that will help clear up the misunderstanding.” Joel suggested.
“Hmmm.” Victor said while getting up, intending to visit Nicole, while feeling guilt ridden.
“I will take my leave now.” Joel said and turned, walking directly out.
Victor similarly walked out of the office, thinking everything through.
He turned towards the direction where Nicole’s office was situated. He had even walked midway when he paused and turned around, walking in the opposite direction.
But he simply passed by the office, without entering. Instead he went to the cafeteria.
“One hot coffee and choco-chip cookies.” He ordered.
One thing he never missed doing was making sure that girls ate well. Even when his relationship with Nicole was kinda off, he felt that first he should make her eat something before discussing anything.
Thus he ended up buying these sweets for Nicole, paying for them before leaving for her office once again.
Once he reached Nicole’s office door, he composed himself, before knocking on the door.
“Come in.” Answered Nicole.
Victor felt odd hearing Nicole’s near perfect voice, far away from someone who had cried or was about to cry, but he just shook his thoughts away before entering.
And true to his doubts, Nicole was there, simply sitting on her chair, reading documents with a pen in hand, nowhere near the cry thing that Joel had mentioned.
Though unknown to the fact Nicole wasn’t reading anything before he came. Instead she was replaying the scene, the one where he had locked her on her spot with a single intense glare.
Thus her face was still flushed, though he wasn’t clear about it as she had lowered her head.
Victor just stood there, assessing the situation when Nicole finally lifted her head, only to jump in her chair from shock and cough hard after watching Victor standing in front of her.
Within seconds, she was coughing so hard that tears started flowing down her eyes. Victor had to come ahead, pouring her a glass of water before rubbing her back.
“Careful.” He said while she sipped the water.
Finally after a few moments, Nicole was able to come back in her original form, cursing for making a fool out of herself.
“What made you come here?” Nicole asked, glad that her voice came out normal, not embarrassing her any further.
“Uhh.. that.. you see, I thought our conversation didn’t end well and I was worried that I must have scared you off, something that I never do with females. So I thought this would be a good idea.” Victor said while pointing towards the bag he had bought.
“Here.” He said, placing the bag on her table.
“Eat up and don’t worry about anything else. Also sorry if I might have scared you moments ago. I’ll leave now.” He said before turning, feeling awkward as consoling girls or having a little normal conversation with them was definitely not his thing anymore.
“Victor, wait.” Nicole said immediately, worried that Victor might leave instantly.
“What happened?” Victor said while turning back, thinking Nicole had something serious to discuss with him.
“Why don’t you stay??” Nicole said.
“Huhh?” Victor asked with an eyebrow raised.
“I already had my breakfast and this will be too much for me. Why don’t you help me finish this food and then go back?” Nicole asked in a sheepish manner, though internally she had wanted to sound strong and bold.
“Sure no problem.” Victor replied before taking slow steps towards the table and ultimately settling down on the chair that was facing Nicole.
Both of them ate little in an awkward silence, making both of them uncomfortable with each passing minute.
“So how are your parents doing now?” Finally Victor decided to break the silence.
“They are doing good.” Nicole said while nodding her head.
“Are they still pressuring you about marriage?” Victor asked another question, a question which was most probably the reason for all the misunderstanding created between them.
“Not at the moment. But I know that they won’t wait for more. Even Grandpa would do the same. He is waiting because I lied about some random non existing man.
In a few days, I’ll be going to tell him that I do not love that man anymore or maybe we broke up. I guess he will give me a month or two to recover.
That much would be enough to come up with something else.” Nicole said while shrugging.
“If you don’t mind, can I ask you something?” Victor asked while picking a cookie.
“Sure, why not?” Nicole said.
“Why are you avoiding marriage? I mean I don’t want to interfere in your private life, but is there some reason for not getting married?” Victor asked.
“Hmmm. To be honest, I haven’t thought about marriage that seriously.
Secondly, I am not avoiding marriage, but I just haven’t found someone with whom I am ready to spend my remaining life.
I know this may sound silly, but I truly want to fall head over heels for someone, be crazy in love and then get married while promising for forever. I want a story like Brother and Kizy.” Nicole said while giving a childish smile.
“But there marriage was a deal. No love. No feelings.” Victor said or more like presented his doubt.
“You won’t beleive but brother must have liked Kizy since their childhood. And troubling her must have been a way to get her attention or maybe he simply didn’t knew how to express his feelings.
In fact if not for me, they both would still be denying their hearts and going against each other even now.” Nicole said while remembering the acts she had to put on with Markus for making the low EQ couple realise their love for each other.
“What if that man of your dreams is someone you would meet through blind dates? You are ignoring the most simplest way to find the right person.” Victor commented.
Nicole shook her head while sipping the hot coffee down her throat.
“Naah, it’s not like that. The ones I meet on blind dates are those rich useless kids who have been trained to grow into a sophisticated businessman to handle the business that was passed onto them by their fathers and grandfathers.
They are simply too formal, too gentlemanly for me. I mean there is nothing wrong in being a gentleman, in fact I definitely like this quality, but they make it way too awkward.
I just don’t like that atmosphere. Plus all of them view me as the daughter of the Evans family and not just Nicole. They see me for my family and wealth and the amount of connections they will get after marrying me, instead of just thinking about marrying me as an individual.” Nicole said, blabbering on and on.
“Okay okay. Slow down and take a deep breath.” Victor said, even controlling a small smile that was about to break on his face.
“Hehe.. sorry for the unnecessary details.” Nicole said while scratching her head.
Though this wasn’t her usual self. She was or more appropriately has been always a bold woman to begin with.
But today of all days, her body suddenly decided to betray her, especially by embarrassing herself like a kid in front of Victor, and she couldn’t curse herself any less.
“No that’s okay. But you were eating and talking so much while eating will once again choke you up. I was just trying to ask you to be careful.” Victor said.
“Umm yeah. So that’s how it is. So no more blind dates and wasting time. Instead I will prefer spending time to learn new things.” Nicole replied.
“New things. Interesting. Like?” Victor asked, trying to be more casual with Nicole as he could see how uncomfortable he was making her.
“To be honest, I love teaching. In fact I was a teacher an year ago at-” Nicole was still speaking when she saw Victor’s expression go from amusement to a darkened one within seconds.
She immediately realised that Victor’s previous job was teaching. Plus Anna was a teacher as well. So her revelation must have made him remember his own black past.
“Hey. You alright?” Nicole asked in a low voice, regreting for opening her dumb mouth.
“Yeah. No problem. You can continue.” Victor said, shaking his thoughts away while trying to normalise his minds within seconds.
Though he had been stunned momentarily, it was only a fleeting moment, nothing more. He had already decided to move on while keeping Anna as his forever sweetest memory as well as toughest lesson.
“Are you sure?” Nicole still tried to confirm.
“Yes of course. Now continue with what you were saying.” Victor said, brushing off remaining parts of the emotions that had him in control for a second.
“Okay. So I plan to continue with my job but dad wants me to-” Nicole was still speaking when she suddenly stopped.
“I am sorry. Actually I know about your past.” Nicole said while mustering her courage.
She had decided to pretend that she didn’t know anything and keep going on with her speech. But her conscience could never let her stay that way. She felt that hiding the fact that she knew about Victor’s past was no less than a lie. Hence she confessed the truth.
“I know that.” Victor said while a sad smile appeared on his face.
“You know? How? Did Rose tell you?” Nicole blurted out.
“Hmm. So it was First sister.” Victor said while nodding his head.
“Wait wait wait a minute. You didn’t know about this, right? And I gave myself out?” Nicole said while embarrassing herself for the Nth time today.
“Not it’s not like that. I had an inkling that you must know something about my past for your behaviour to take a sudden three sixty degree turn.
Plus you had been so furious while leaving my bedroom that day and then you were feeling sorry and avoiding me since the very next day. Hence I knew that you were already aware of my past. Just that I never expected First sister to intervene. But I must have known that my second sister wouldn’t disclose any information without asking me.” Victor said.
“Hey, it’s not like that. Don’t misunderstand Rose. She did this so that I don’t have any disbelief or wrong perceptions about you which might affect our work in the long run.” Nicole said, trying to justify Rose’s act.
“Cool down. I am not going to scold First sister. It’s good that she told you because I would have never been able to tell anyone about it again. She did the right thing.
Just that I don’t want you to avoid me or give me that sympathetic look or view me with those sorry eyes. I have already moved on.” Victor said in a calm voice.
“Uhh. Sorry if I made you feel that way.” Nicole said while lowering her head.
“Hey, don’t do that. I already said that you don’t have to feel sorry.” Victor said.
Nicole looked up, trying to smile genuinely while nodding her head.
“Since I have done my job of finishing cookies, I will get going now.” Victor said while getting up.
Nicole just nodded her head while Victor left for Kizy’s office, intending to clear up some work for her.
*6 PM, MARKUS’s HOUSE*
Kizy was behaving the most normal she had been since Markus left. She ate properly, having a healthy meal with her teammates. She even went to the Evans mansion and spent a few hours with grandpa and grandma, making them feel relieved.
She came back home and took a nap before getting up and taking a stroll in their garden. In short, she was doing every normal thing she had stopped doing for the past one month.
Right now, she was standing in front of Jason’s door, knocking on it.
“Come in.” She heard Jason speak from inside.
She walked in to find Jason sitting by his bedside.
“I will be going out for dinner.” Kizy informed him.
“With whom?” Jason asked carefully.