Two

It wasn't like I had been doing something bad with him. So, there was really no point in feeling embarrassed.  

"Oh, gosh," Ryan muttered underneath his breath. 

I gazed at her, admiring how good she looked tonight. 

Sherri Dustin was a person no lady would like to be friends with. She had a way of intimidating people, either by her excessively, luxurious style of dressing, or by her blatant way of speaking. I truly didn't appreciate her personality. I would say she was mean. 

She was dressed in a dark mini skirt, a white off shoulder crop top. As she wore that crazy stern look, she squeezed her purse in her palm, which was evidence that she was so angry. She took a step close, and that was when I noticed she was wearing stiletto shoes. 

"What's going on, Ryan? Do you wanna lose your job by hooking up with her?" She obviously wasn't able to contain her anger. 

I scoffed. One thing I hated was if my character was being questioned. Nobody had to tell me I was decent. I knew it myself. So, how the heck would she accuse me of hooking up with the guy she liked?

"Hey, no one's hooking up here. Don't spit out some trahsy words." Yes, I was furious. Who cared if she was the visitor?

"Excuse me?" She tucked some strands of her flat-ironed hair behind her ear, linked her arms on her chest. "Did I ask you to speak? I was talking to your boss, woman."

"Yeah, but don't question my attitude." I faced her, ensuring my sassy look was menacing enough to keep her mouth shut. "Ask Mr. Arthur what he was doing, rather than making a conclusion that we were smooching each other."

She snorted. "What do middle-class people like you do to rich men like him? Don't try to act like a saint. I know you don't mind letting him taste your body for some cash."

"Hey!" I couldn't control my fury, so I gripped her arm, yanked her to me. "Mind your words, woman. Fine, you're rich. And so? What makes you think every middle-class woman's a gold digger?"

She sniggered "Um, cause, obviously, y'all are too poor to afford the basic things of life. So, I guess you have no choice but to extract some money from the rich ones."

I tightened my grip against her arm. One thing I knew was, no one, absolutely no one, had the right to speak to me in such an insulting manner.

"Serene." Ryan's voice cut me off my thoughts. Who knew if I was already planning to hit her hard? He held my arm, spun me around to face him. I glared at him as if he was the reason for my predicament, while he just twitched a brow at me. "What's with you, woman? This isn't the first time you see Sherri being this way. Why are you overreacting?"

"Overreacting?" I scoffed. "You see nothing wrong about this, sir? How can she speak that way? Yeah, whatever, she's rich. And so what?"

He frowned a little. "Hey, you need to respect the visitors. Enough of this now. Just leave."

I snapped my arm from his hold. I knew I was supposed to pay some respect to my boss, but I really didn't like this woman. 

I twirled around, ready to take my leave. But, before going, I gave her a smirk. She was glaring, and I liked how she seemed frustrated. Ryan sighed out loud, and just walked to his seat. She was also about to walk away, but I held her arm back. 

"What?!" She spat out in a whisper. 

I sighed. "Insecure people are the ones who cry out at every little thing. If you're jealous, just ask him to pin you to the wall. It's as easy as that. And yeah, I've got a boyfriend. I've got no time for your man."

She gritted her teeth, and choke out, "Bitch! You're messing around with me?"

I shrugged, being so indifferent to her threatening look and voice. "Nah, nah. You're messing around with yourself. Goodnight, my lady."

"I swear, I—"

"Night." I cut her off. Still angry, I took my leave.

Walking back into my office, I didn't think twice before preparing to leave. I couldn't believe someone could accuse me of such a disgusting thing. And, this was all Ryan's fault. 

***

It was past eight already. After leaving the office, rather than going home, I had decided to pay a visit to my boyfriend's place. It had been a week since I had seen him, and I knew he wasn't happy about the fact that I hardly had time for him. 

I smiled as I took a turn to the next street, which was the street he lived. I was a bit fearful, knowing that he would be annoyed at me. Well, since he had a good heart, he might not be as angry as I expected. 

I glanced at the bag I was holding, which contained two burgers and an orange juice. Ralph was lazy when it came to cooking, and there was no doubt that he would be glad that I had bought dinner for us. 

I took a deep breath when I got to his apartment. Knocking on his door, I waited patiently for him to answer me. I pursed my lips, thinking of calling him. What if he wasn't around?

About grabbing my phone to give him a call, the door opened up. I sighed in relief, smiled as I stared into his nut brown eyes. He smiled back, but I could sense something wasn't right with him. 

"Hey, baby?" I stepped in, curled my arms around his neck, giving him a small kiss on his lips. 

He smiled. The smile really seemed like a feigned one. "Hey," he returned my greetings.

Oh, yes. Something was going on with him. His body language was proof that he wasn't fine. 

I caressed his hairline, then pulled my lips into a pout. "Are you fine? What's with the low and tired voice?"

"Let's have a seat." He pulled away, seeming even more exhausted. It felt like he didn't want me around here.

My eyebrows knitted, as I fretted. "Okay. Please, do tell me what's going on, hm?"

"Sure." He nodded. 

We settled to sit on the three seater sofa in his living room. He sat beside me, gazed at me intently, but said nothing. 

I raised a brow at him. "Do you wanna keep staring at me like that? Go on. Say what you wanna say, dude."

He sighed hard. His eyes looked down, and his fingers intertwined in one another. It seemed so much like he was being hesitant. This was creepy, and it made me even more nervous and worried. Ralph wasn't a great talker, but he was never this silent and gentle. 

He finally stared at me, sighed again. "Serene, I've made up my mind. At this point, I need us to break up."

My heart throbbed against my chest. I trembled in fear. Wait, he had to be playing a prank. There was no way he would ask for a breakup, after two years of dating me. That was surely not possible. 

"Wh-What?" A word eluded my lips, after a short silence between us. If this had to be true, my life would crumble. No, my Ralph couldn't do this to me.