CHAPTER 28: HE LIKES YOU.
Evelyn covered her face with the pillow but it got pulled away from her by Kira with a stern look.
“Don’t think I am here to spend the night with you for nothing sis and I mean it. I just feel like they resemble each other a lot and your son called him ‘daddy’.”
“Can you come off it, Kira? This is not strange…in fact, there is nothing strange about it. I won’t lie to you, I saw the resemblance as well but…this is the world. There has been evidence of two people from different angles of the world looking so much alike but having no biological relationship. That’s life.”
Kira nodded along to the provided explanation as she pinched her chin, “I see. That is actually acceptable.”
“And also, Mr. Raphael is a very busy man and I believe that he won’t have time for such a thing. He has his family name to uphold and respect which is very important.”
“But don’t you think that Mr. Raphael can probably be interested in you?” Kira went straight to the question that was boiling all over in her mind as she looked at Evelyn with her eyes telling the meaning of what she meant. Evelyn looked confused for a minute and then bewildered. Her eyes were searching for nothing in particular as they just roamed all over the room with her pretty and feeble mind trying to digest that question.
Later on, she scoffed with disbelief.
“Interested in me? That would have been one of the realities that I would have loved to believe in but unfortunately, it’s just fantasy.” Evelyn replied.
“Why? He isn’t your type of man or you are just not ready to open your heart for another relationship?”
Evelyn faced her friend with her hand on Kira’s lap.
“This has nothing to do with his qualities, Kira. Mr. Raphael has everything I need in a man physically. Talking about his gorgeousness…his green eyes, his height, his voice…how deep it is when he talks huskily…”
“Wait, what?” Kira interrupted and looked at her friend teasingly. Evelyn’s mouth hung open at what she had just said.
“I didn’t know that my friend could pay so much attention to her boss’s description.” She teased and Evelyn felt like burying herself under the ground.
“Just stop it, Kira. That was just an imagination and nothing else, don’t take it seriously. I do admire him but the possibility of him falling for me is zero percent. I am not even the type of woman he is looking for…”
“And what type of woman do you think he is looking for?”
“I don’t know but rich men won’t go for someone below their standards or the high society’s standards.”
“But what about the percentage of you falling for him? How much is it?”
Evelyn didn’t bother replying to that question and Kira smiled before lying down next to her.
“Look Evelyn, I am not going to force unnecessary feelings or emotions on you that will probably make you overthink some issues that have to do with the brain ninety percent more than the heart. But when I walked in on you and him earlier this evening, the whole scenario was different.
I don’t know of any boss that comes to visit their female staff this way and also takes good care of her because she is sick. I mean that he is a f*cking billionaire and his father is a tycoon and I am sure that they have a lot of business to cover so there won’t be any time provided to do all these that he is doing for your sake that’s why I think that there might be more to it.”
After she was done talking, there was a moment of silence between the two for a while before Evelyn cleared her throat.
“I don’t know what to say to be sincere, Kira. Having him fall for me might be a little bit awkward, though it isn’t wrong but…”
Evelyn had no issues with Raphael. He was a great guy and had made her heart skip once or twice a day whenever they were together or whenever she managed to get a glimpse of him. From the day she had seen him for her interview till presently, she had tried to coordinate herself in front of him to make a good impression.
Sleeping in his arms and inhaling his perfume this afternoon felt all familiar to her. She had a feeling that he was somehow someone that she could know but not remember at the moment as she tried racking her brain for clues. His body was cold a bit so when joined with the heat of her body, it made her tingle. Her cheeks heated up at the thought and she covered her face with the blanket.
Kira knew that she was having one of her weird thoughts again and just rolled her eyes. Evelyn’s phone rang and she reached out to answer the call.
“Hello.” She greeted him first.
“How are you feeling now?” The voice that she wasn’t expecting to listen to at that moment asked her the question. For some reason, his tone felt a little down.
“I am doing alright now, Mr…”
“It’s Raphael.” He corrected her.
“I apologize, Raphael.”
Kira’s eyebrows shot up hrice in a consecutive manner when she heard this. Why was her friend trying to talk so low and smooth…in one word, seductively?
“Thank you so much for spending time taking care of me today, Raphael. I am sorry that I might have made you miss some important things to do.”
“It’s fine, Evie. I just…I wanted to ask about your well-being and also to hear your voice to soothe my wounds.”
“Are you injured?” Evelyn asked eagerly.
“Don’t worry, you can take the day off tomorrow…”
“No, I am perfectly fine, Raphael. I will be back to work tomorrow morning.”
“Hmm, have a good night then.”
“And you too.”
The call ended and Evelyn pulled the blanket to cover herself very well.
“I thought someone was trying to change the course of the whole plot.” Kira joked and Evelyn hit her slightly with her butt.
“Go to sleep, I don’t want to be late with all thanks to you.” She murmured enough for the two to hear.
“Goodnight bestie.” Kira greeted her.
“Sweet dreams.” Evelyn replied.
_____________
On the other hand, Raphael returned to his room and closed the door leading to the balcony. He was done receiving fresh natural air for the night. He still had some things to do. He was already in a bad mood tonight but after listening to Evelyn’s voice, he had managed to calm down. His mouth was still paining him that he had to nurse the swollen part.
He brought out his laptop and logged in to his secret account. On clicking on a button, different architectural buildings popped up bearing the title EXCLUSIVE NORTH STAR. He rubbed his palms against each other before relaxing on the chair, his eyes glued to the screen.
Right now, he felt like skyrocketing but was still held back so he would not be at fault.
[FLASHBACK]
“Does daddy not like me?” Little Raphael asked his mum as she walked into the kitchen to bring out their dinner. She looked at him and winked.
“Why won’t he like you? You are one of the cuties in the entire world, Ralph so how can he possibly dislike you?” She said sweetly and sat next to him. She dished his meal for him and persuaded him to start eating.
“But it seems dad likes my stepbrother more than me, mum. He doesn’t even come to visit me or anything, he likes Vegas and I don’t like Vegas.” Little Raphael puffed his cheeks and scoffed. His mum chuckled and took a bite of her meal.
“You can’t just say that without evidence but do you want me to show you a trick of how it works?”
Raphael nodded eagerly.
“That’s my boy. You have to show your father that you are better than Vegas who just pretends to be useless at his age, Ralph. Very soon, when you are more mature, you will be the one taking over your father’s company so you have to break all stereotypes concerning you and show him how much you love and care for him as his son. I promise that when you can achieve this, he will see your hard work and even love you more than Vegas.” She advised him.
“Wow.”
[FLASHBACK ENDS]
Raphael placed his two hands on the chair before resting his head on it. Looking back into the conversation, he saw that all his mother was doing was for his interest but selfishly. Even though his mum was just a one-night stand to his father, she still wanted to pave the way for him in the Theophilus family but in doing so, she planted the seed of competition within him. Well, she wasn’t at fault but he was about to end his service to be the man that he had always wanted to be.
“I am sorry mum but I am done trying to show how much I love and care about that because the time is ticking fast for me. I hope that you will understand.”
He whispered and shut down the laptop before preparing to sleep.