Dave
Why do you do this all the time, Aileen? It took a hard time for me to come to terms with my feelings whenever I had to choose between you and your mom whom I’m betraying every day with a straight face. And yet, you gotta use her against me like this? This isn’t funny at all.
Cause there’s no way I can sacrifice you just to make our marriage last. Does her happiness come first for you? And not our love? Our future? My feelings? They don’t matter at all to you? How can you be so heartless?
The knock on the door drew my attention. Who’s this now?
“Come in,” I leaned against my chair, grabbing the files from the bed to read.
Marshall entered through the door and came over to stand right in front of me with his laptop in hand.
I hope he’s not here for work. I’m seriously not in the mood to deal with anything.
“I hope you are not busy at the moment. I need to show you something,” he addressed, opening his laptop.
Yup, he’s here for work!
“Yeah, show me.”
He came over to my side and placed the laptop right in front of me.
“So, we are currently going through a recession and this is the data of the employees who are working…….. yeah. Do you think I should make changes to the report?”
“You know what? This is not that important. You can handle something as minor as this on your own, right?” I asked.
And he looked at me as if he had seen a ghost or something.
“What’s wrong? Did I say anything weird?”
“Yes, you did. You do realize that this going to affect how we operate things. Then, why do you think I should take this big decision on my own? This is your job, that’s why I came to ask you about it.”
“Uh….. that’s…true but….”
I didn’t know how to turn him down at the moment.
“Are you worried about something? Or is something bothering you? That must be the reason you can’t focus on work?” He asked, examining my face closely.
Why does he manage to catch me every single time? Can’t I even suffer in peace now? Seriously!
“Am I right? Why aren’t you saying anything?” he asked, closing his laptop.
“No, I’m not worried about anything. You are just imagining it. You don’t need to worry,” I replied, reaching out my hand to grab the laptop. “Let me go through the reports. I’ll see through it.”
“No,” he snatched the laptop in his arms the very minute. “I’m confiscating this for now. You should get some time off on your own. Go for a walk or something.”
“Why are you being my mother? I’m really fine!” I grunted. “Those reports are important. Let me see it.”
“No means no! And you were the one who said they weren’t important a minute ago. You can’t go back on your word. If you can’t tell me about your troubles, then you should take time off.”
I was already angry at the moment and he was starting to get on my nerves like that.
“I’m asking for the last time nicely, will you give me the laptop or not?” I asked, folding my arms.
He smiled. “The answer remains the same. No!”
“Fine! Then, deal with it on your own. Don’t come to me for help,” I got up from my chair and walked out of the room closing the door behind me.
Marshall’s jaw dropped to the floor seeing me walking out. But, I wasn’t going to forgive him after he made me that angry.
Sucker!
I took an iced coffee from the cafeteria and entered the elevator then went up to the rooftop to spend some time alone.
While sipping on my coffee, I cleared my mind off.
I’m really overthinking things, aren’t I? After all, she’s going to remain the same while I feel bad about myself.
If only her husband didn’t turn out to be such a jerk, maybe then we could do something for her parents to get back together.
But, unfortunately, that ain’t happening.
It’s not like…. it has to be me only. There are other guys out there who can take my place, and care about Emilia like I do.
But, for Aileen, it has to be me only. There’s no way I can stand seeing her with someone else.
Why on earth did you have to confess to me, Emilia? Why did you have to grow feelings for me?
If you didn’t have any attachments towards me, things would’ve been so easy. We could go our own ways without any conflicts.
It…. it makes me feel guilty realizing that I was the only unfaithful one in this marriage.
You don’t deserve a man like me. I’m the worst, really the worst.
“Don’t be so pessimistic,” Aaron, my wolf remarks. “You are not the bad guy here. The situation you are in is the reason behind all of your sufferings.”
Oh, it’s been a long time since you’ve talked so nicely to me. Are you pitying me also?
“It’s not pity, but if you want to think of it that way, no problem either.”
You are ruthless. Fine, I won’t pity myself anymore. Are you happy now?
“Yes.”
For the rest of the day, Marshall tried to approach me for countless times, but I ignored him anyway.
One hour before, I was about to leave he came and confronted me in my cabin.
“Lord, may I know what I have done to receive this silent treatment from you? Please forgive me already!” he pleaded.
“I never said you did something. Then, why are you taking the blame for no reason?” I asked, glancing down at my watch.
Two more meetings to go. I’ll tell someone to get the car so I can leave as fast as possible.
“I’m taking the blame, cause earlier I tried to force you to share your worries with me. But, I was clearly invading your personal space. And I didn’t realize it at all. So, I’m here to say sorry about it.”
“Okay, you are forgiven,” I replied promptly.
He looked at me surprised. “Really? You forgave me just like that?”
“What else did you expect? Do you want us to cuddle? I don’t mind it though.”
“What? No. I mean, you are too easy to please. You forgave me without thinking too much.”
“So? It’s not like I’m winning an award or something in exchange for punishing you. So, let’s call it quits. I have a meeting to attend to. See you later at the party.”
“Uh…sure. When are you leaving from work though?”
“In one hour. Let’s see.”
“But, it’s almost 5 p. m. Won’t you be late?”
“Ah…. hm, let’s see.”
I’m not excited to face her right away yet. I’ve ignored her so much in the day.
In the end, I was caught up with so much work that I was literally running late for the party.
Dad kept calling me like crazy and I ended up not picking up his calls. Cause, I knew what he was going to say if I did.
Coincidentally, Sarah was also calling me. I picked up her call while putting on my seatbelt.
“Hello, Sarah.”
“Your dad is driving me crazy, Where are you?”
“Uh…. would I be lying if I said I just got off from work?”
“No, you won’t. But, make sure to come as fast as you can. Guests are starting to arrive and everyone is asking to see you. Your dad is furious you aren’t picking up his calls.”
“I did that on purpose. Alright, I got up. I’ll be there in 40 minutes. Till then, handle the situation for me.”
“I don’t want to deal with your old man. He’s so nagging,” she complained.
“Hey, you are letting out your true thoughts without thinking. Where did your cover get blown off to?”
“My cover? It has gone bad as my make-up which I did two hours ago. I need a retouch but that girl is nowhere to be seen. I sent her to fetch some juice for me.”
She has it tough as well.
“Anyway, I’m hanging up. See you.”
“See you.”
I drove home as fast as I could and went straight to my room.
Emilia was waiting inside for me. And surprisingly, she looked very much pretty today.
Maybe, it’s her make-up which suited her clothes that made her stand out so much.
“You are finally back!” she said, walking over to my side. “We are running late.”
“Yeah, I know. Get me my clothes. I’ll take a shower and get done with it.”
“Oh, they are hanging in front of the closet. Take it with you.”
“Okay, thanks. Is Aileen ready?”
“Uh…. she went to get ready. Maybe she’s done already.”
“I see…. go and check up on her then. Maybe she might need help.”
“That won’t be needed. Still, I’ll see how it’s going. You hurry up!”
She left closing the door behind her.
I took a quick shower and came out and changed into my new clothes.
While I was spraying my perfume, Emilia entered through the door.
“Aren’t you looking good?” she compliments, resting her hand on my shoulder. “How do you guys manage to look so good in such a short time when we women have to spend so much time on our make-up just to turn out to look moderate? It’s not fair, is it?”
“Uh…that I can’t relate. But, I’m flattered by your compliment. Are we ready to leave?”
She nodded. “Yeah, let’s go downstairs. Aileen is waiting for us.”
“Sure.”
She wrapped her arm around my arm and we went down together.
Downstairs in the living room, I saw a girl standing who was wearing a magenta red colored dress which made her look just like a model from behind.