Sweat drops blinded my vision and my lungs struggled against my chest. I had started the treadmill from 6mph, and gradually increased it to the maximum until all I could feel was the harsh beating of my heart. Anything I could do to distract me from the thing that was killing me.
"Hey, Stav!" Isaiah's girlfriend, Kylie's head peeked through the door. I almost stumbled forwards and cracked my head. Hopping off the treadmill, I leaned against the wall and took some deep breaths to calm my racing heart.
"What?" I asked, wiping the sweat with the towel.
"You didn't come for dinner. We had saved you some pasta," she replied.
"I am not hungry," I said, still gasping.
"Are you okay?" she asked, stepping closer to me.
"Of course I am okay," I said almost instantly.
"It's just that, you look stressed," she said, her almond eyes observing my face keenly.
"I am not stressed. Why would I be stressed when everybody is happy and having the t
Once Antonio's car stopped in front of the massive mansion, we both exited the car simultaneously and he extended his hand for me to hold. Hesitantly, I laced my fingers with his large ones and we stepped towards the entrance."You will be the prettiest girl in the party," he whispered, lowering his mouth to my ear."Thanks." I chuckled, although I wasn't sure he meant it.Patty had sent me this dress from her boutique to wear at the gala. It was a silk, off the shoulder A-line dress, deep red in color, that cinched around my waist, with a slit that ran from the ankle up to my thigh. I had parted my hair in the middle and curled the ends. Neela helped me do my makeup and I complemented the whole look with my favourite shade of red lipstick and a new pair of heels. I felt like the dress caught too much attention and the few looks I got from random men just added to the misery."Shall we?" Antonio said and we both entered the hall. He himself looked quite d
This wasn't my plan. I came to the gala just to prove to Alice, and maybe to myself, that I wasn't a complete loser and I had a life. I didn't intend to act like a complete jealous freak throughout the party but I couldn't help myself.The minute she walked in, dressed in that damn red dress, I lost all the control I had. The delicious curve of her neck, her bare shoulder and decolletage, her long leg that peeked out of the slit of her dress with every little movement, everything about her was driving me crazy, stealing me of all my senses.And then there was Antonio, who left no chance to feel her up, may it be the dance or his attempts of kissing her. And that bastard even succeeded in doing that. I couldn't stare at them any longer so I left the hall and found a solitary corner where my car was parked.But I didn't even get a few minutes of solitude. A few minutes after coming here, I heard her voice, screaming at me, "What is wrong with you, Stav?"I
It was official, Stav Trajano had ruined me.Never had I had such a hard time concentrating on the laptop in front of me or the pile of files on my side. Never had I so desperately wanted to burn a memory from my brain. Each time I caught his sight through the window, my mind went straight to last night when he was ravishing me with his delicious mouth and his curious hands, and some other parts of him as well."Argh," I groaned and then answered my phone that had been ringing for the last two minutes."Hello." A familiar voice responded and I immediately sat up straight. Antonio's thoughts had been wiped out of my mind until now. How could I be so selfish to leave the party without even informing him first?"Hi," I said, gulping. "Um. . .Sorry about last night. I-I had an upset stomach.""You and Stav both, I guess, considering you both went AWOL at the same time," he said, and I flushed in embarrassment."Antonio, I am sorry. Stav and I. .
It had been two days since Stav left. I called him a few times yesterday but he didn't pick up my call. Earlier today, I received a brief text message from him saying Christopher was out of danger now. I knew he must be really busy but I desperately wanted to hear his voice to see if he was okay. Was I pathetic?"Your coffee is getting cold." Patty's voice broke my trance, and I shook my head. "What are you thinking about?" she asked."Stav," I said, and she lifted her eyebrows mischievously. "Take your mind out of gutter. I was just worried for him. He must be really stressed.""When will he come back?" she asked."I don't know. I haven't talked to him directly," I replied."Do you want to?" she asked. I chucked the cushion at her. "What? It's not my fault you look constipated since he left. The sex must have been great.""Remind me why I told you about our hookup?" I hid my face in between my palms."Because I am your best friend,"
I was busy signing the annual finance report when my phone rang. Picking it up absentmindedly, I responded, "Hello." "Good evening, Miss Montelebalo. Can you kindly spare a minute to my client, Stav Trajano? He says he is an old acquaintance of yours," Stav's voice responded from the other side. "I am sorry. But Miss Montelebalo is a little busy because her last assistant left her to deal with dimwits," I replied, fighting the smile that was appearing on my lips. "Aw. Darn it. My client was really looking forward to talking to her," he said. "Well, in that case, maybe she can spare a minute or two." I bit my lips, and closed the files, leaning back in my seat. "How is your first day going?" "Awful. There are hundreds of pending projects, unread files and postponed meetings that I have to deal with. I haven't had a free minute since 8," he replied. "Sounds exactly like I expected." I chuckled. "Luckily, your last boss was kind of a Sata
It had been two weeks since I started working at my company and talking to Alice was the highlight of my days. It was our little ritual. After returning from the office, I would text her to ask if she was free and then we would talk for about twenty minutes to half an hour before going to sleep. There had been some harmless flirtatious exchanges between us, but I wanted to make things official. So I was planning on visiting her as soon as I was done with all the pending projects and asking her out."And guess what, I actually fired an employee today. Me. Sweet, innocent me. I never thought I'd fire someone one day but that idiot just pushed the wrong buttons at the wrong time," I huffed."Am I a bad person if this news makes me happy?" I heard her click her tongue. "I mean, now you can understand why I do such things.""Well..." I trailed off. "Kinda.""See, I am not the devil now, am I?" she asked."For me, you will always be the devil." I chuckle
When Stav stopped responding to my texts and calls, a series of weird emotions happened. The first day, I was agitated. I thought he was probably busy and made excuses to myself for his lack of response but it did nothing to calm my racing heart. The second day, I was anxious because I thought I did something to earn that reaction. The next day, I was worried for him. I thought something had happened to him but his Facebook profile said he attended an event last night. So apparently, he was alive and kicking. And then the day after that, I was furious.It had been two months since then and it's safe to say, I was still furious at him.Most of the time, I kept myself busy so I wouldn't have to think about him. Because whenever I did, my hands itched to go to him and strangle him for his stupid behaviour. He avoided me like a plague and the worst thing was, I didn't even know why.Right now, I was inside a cab, on my way to a meeting from the hotel. Kaye was sitti
Ignoring Alice when she wasn't around was hard, but ignoring Alice when she was around me was my own personal hell. The minute I saw her, all the reasons for ignoring her sounded so trivial and all I wanted was to go to her and listen to her voice.For the last two months, I had been anxious. My sleep wake cycle was disturbed, my head ached most of the time, my heart beat faster than it should, my stomach was a mess. I thought it was because of the extra work stress but when my eyes landed on her, a sense of euphoria swirled through me and all the anxieties were settled, all the aches were cured.I wanted her to talk to me, to scold me, to glare at me, but all I got was a cold greeting and it left a bitter taste in my mouth.I couldn't exactly blame her for the cold shoulder she was giving me. After all, after being AWOL for two months, I stole a project from her the day we met again. And Alice wasn't someone who took such things lightly.I tried to expla