Four

Okay, I had never killed anyone. So, of course, murdering him wasn't an option. But wait, how could he be kissing me? This felt so dumb. How disrespectful and stupid of him!

He pulled me even closer, though there wasn't an inch left between us. I didn't know what I had done to him, but for sure, he was upset. He was kissing me as if he was trying to tug my lips off its position. A kiss ought to be cute and enjoyable. But no, this kiss was torture.

After a while, he pulled away, breathing slowly. I tried to catch my breath, my eyes jutted out of their sockets. I didn't know what to say or do. This man had just kissed me like I was his chick. How could he?

"Ryan." Mr. Shawn hurried over to us. He pulled me aside, stood in between Ryan and me. Obviously, he was furious. "How dare you? Do you realize that you've just broken the rules of this company? How can you smooch your secretary?"

Ryan sniggered, and tucked his arms around his chest. "So what? You're gonna fire me now? Great! I've been waiting for that. Come on. Send a sack letter to my mail."

"Hey, this isn't a joke." Mr. Shawn stepped close to him, seeming too angry to control the expression of his wrath. "No one ever breaks my rules. Who do you think you are? Huh?"

"My dear Raymond." Ryan poked Mr. Shawn's arm. He had a sinister smile plastering on his lips, which was probably infuriating Mr. Shawn's anger. "Too bad that I had the guts to break the rules in here. So now, do you mind sacking me? I'll happily leave."

For a while, Mr. Shawn was silent. And then, he hunched out a throaty laugh. I guessed he was trying so much to remain calm. 

"Good job, dude," Mr. Shawn remarked. "I know what you're doing. You want me to get you fired, right? Too bad that won't work. Cause, you're staying. You're going nowhere, my man."

Ryan glared. "Really? You want me to kiss her even harder? And maybe see me rip her clothes off, and pin her to a bed?"

I gaped. Wait, was he talking about me? What a joke. He had better know that I wasn't Sherri. How the heck could he babble such foolish words? 

I just glared, and sulked at myself. This was quite embarrassing.

"You don't have to do that. Cause, no matter what you do, you remain here. Your work here is beneficial to my company. I'm not gonna let go of you," Mr. Shawn uttered. 

Ryan scoffed. "Let's see how it goes, dick."

Mr. Shawn twirled around to face me, smirked at me, his hands dug into the pocket of his Chino pants. "As for you, this meeting is postponed. I'll see you some other time. And, in the meantime, be careful. This is a warning to you. If I see you doing something crazy with him, you lose your job, okay?"

I swallowed hard. "Okay, sir. That's noted."

"Good girl," he added. 

He snapped his fingers, his men running over to him immediately. Soon, he made his way out of this vicinity. Once I noticed he was gone, I sighed in relief. 

"Hey." Ryan's voice made me flinch. 

I shot him a glare, and lamented, "Mr. Arthur, what was that? Why would you kiss me, all because you want Mr. Shawn to get you fired? What am I? A dummy? Do you—"

"Sh…" He pulled his index finger over my lips, stepped close, giving me a small and cute smile. Did I ask him for a smile? "You need to calm down, woman. Instead of ranting, thank me for saving you. That dude's crazy. You shouldn't go into his office alone."

I only frowned harder, then slapped his finger off my lips. "I get your point, okay? But kissing me wasn't the solution. Please, next time, for the sake of my job, don't do that. It was vile and quite embarrassing."

"Hm." He nodded, and sighed too. 

"Goodnight." 

Stating that, I walked past him. But then, like the idiot he was, he held my wrist back. I got even more angry, and snapped my neck around to look at him. I was glaring, but he was only smiling like a lunatic. 

"What?" That one word expressed how frustrated I was. I just couldn't contain my wrath. 

His smile curled into a smirk, his brow raised at me. "Anyways, I must say that your lips were good to taste. You think we can kiss some other time?"

I dropped my jaw. "Man, I'm your secretary."

He winked. "Don't worry. We won't do it in the office. It'll be in my house, or um, at a hotel."

"Mr. Ar—"

"Oh, fine." He pulled his hand from my wrist, and put his hands in the pocket of his pants. "I'm only playing around. But yeah, your lips taste good. Ensure you save it for the guy who loves you. Not everyone should taste it like I did."

I gaped. This man was going to make me go giddy. 

"Goodnight, pretty," he added, then walked past me. 

I blinked three times, feeling so confused. What had just happened to me? 

***

A tear left my eye as I recalled what Ryan had said, as I was seated on this red, lip-shaped divan on the balcony of my room. He had said I should keep my lips for the one who loved me. Thinking about that, I was really upset. It reminded me of my breakup with Ralph. 

When I heard the door behind me make a slight sound, I sniffled, swiftly rubbing off my tears with my knuckles. I didn't want anyone in my family to be worried about me. 

"You're okay, girl?" My younger sister, Vicki, asked as she sank into the couch. 

She stared comprehensively at me, those honey brown eyes beaming so much. As always, she was smiling. 

Vicki was my twenty three years old younger sister. As everyone could tell, she was pretty, maybe even prettier than me. Of the three children in the family, she was the tallest, having a height of 5"10. Also, she was the most cheerful one in the family, and in fact, she was my best friend. Though she could be really annoying sometimes, I cherished her so much. 

Suddenly, for some reason, her smile got wiped off. "Sis, you're okay? Don't tell me you've been crying."

I swallowed my tears, looked down. She literally caught me. I was a bad pretender. 

"I'm still hurt. I just can't deny that fact," I confessed. 

"Aw…" She took my hands, shifted close. Knowing that I wouldn't look at her because I wanted to cry, she raised my jaw, rubbed her thumb finger against my face to clean off my tears. "Stop crying now. That dude's really not worth your emotions. I mean, he broke up with you for no good reason. I'd thought you had gotten rid of him."

"It's hard." I sniffled. "Two years isn't a joke. To be honest, I was expecting him to say something about planning a marriage between us. I didn't know he was gonna, you know, ask for a breakup."

She gave me a small smile, my hands tightened in hers. "You know what? This is a chance for you to find a better man. Also, it's a victory for someone else. He's given another man a chance to find a sweet person like you."

"I hope that man comes. I-I really don't know where to start from. I feel so stagnant. This hurts." 

She moved close, pulled me for a hug, and patted my back. "Love you, sis. Don't worry, okay? We'll always be here for you. Someday, you're gonna find a sweet man."

"I hope so." I whimpered. 

After a while of weeping like a baby, I pulled away, wiped off my tears, and smiled calmly at her. She smiled too, kind of studying me. I guessed it was time to stop being emotional. I had to move on. If not for myself, for my family who were worried about me. 

"Good girl." She pinched my cheek. 

"Thanks," I appreciated. 

Her smile turned to a smirk, which made me twitch a brow at her. She was up to something. 

"Ready for a tickle attack?"

I gasped, my eyes squinted at her. "Don't. You. Dare."

She shrugged. "Too late!"

Before I could try to escape her torture, she grabbed my arm, tickled me so bad. 

"Oh my gosh! I'm gonna pee on my body! Stop, Vicki!" I cried. 

She laughed hard, completely ignoring my cry. Well, this was so much fun. I liked it. At least, it was going to make my night. 

Truly, just like I had told Vicki, I was going to move on. I was ready to stop thinking about a man who wasn't worth my emotions. Though I was scared that I wouldn't find a new lover, I just wanted to be optimistic. I just wanted to put my fear behind. And hopefully, I would fall in love again. 

But, fall in love with who? I guessed I would leave that question for fate to decide. 

***