Chapter-18: Avoidance Mistakes
Aria Anastasia
My goal for today: avoid Zaiden Storm.
I won’t even be professional with him, I will simply avoid him.
Last night, after he locked his lips with mine, I pushed him away and ran from there. I got home straight and went to sleep to keep my mind sound and clear. I knew running away wasn’t the right thing to do, but I had to do it.
My mind went blank when his soft luscious lips met mine, and when I realized what was going on, the first thing I thought was to never appear in front of him again.
Zaiden didn’t follow me, in fact, he didn&rsqu
Chapter-19: RealizationAria AnastasiaI wiped the tears with the back of my hand, sucking in a deep breath. I was in the females’ washroom.Why was Zaiden’s scolding affecting me so much? It never made me feel this bad before. Him scolding me was nothing new, yet I was upset. I felt like curling myself in a ball and crying in one corner.This was the first time I made such a huge mistake, which would ruin the company. I have never been this much careless before. It was so foolish of me to do that. Getting distracted after a single kiss like a teenager, it was not my thing. It was not me. Just because Zaiden kissed me, it didn’t mean I should occupy my mind with the thoughts of him.
Chapter-20: Blurry MomentAria AnastasiaI was brave enough to agree to my feelings. I mean, I wasn’t sure about whether I was in love or not, but I knew I liked Zaiden Storm. I wanted to decline it, but when emotions were strong, it was hard to resist it.“Well, since you told me such an important thing, and I was quite interested to know what was going on between you and Zaiden, I will reconsider my decision on the deal cancelation,” said Mr. Raymond, with a genuine smile playing on his lips. “Zaiden deserves an awesome woman like you in his life.”I could feel the heat rushing to my cheeks as I said, “About the mistake I made…”“It
Chapter-21: Taking CareZaiden StormWatching Aria falling down, that too on someone else's arms, was bothersome but it didn't matter because Aria lost consciousness. Her health came first to me."Aria," I called her name and ran to her. I wanted to catch her but she was too far away. In fact, I was grateful that Liam was there to hold her.I picked up Aria in my arms. Before Liam could utter a word, I told him, "Thank you for catching her. Call Daniel."He nodded and ran away.I felt my heart clenching at the sight. I placed her on the nearby waiting couch.
Chapter-22: Special FoodAria AnastasiaMy eyes jolted open, only to see the white ceiling. The familiar smell hit my nostrils and when I looked around, a groan escaped my lips.I was at the hospital, and I hated the smell of the hospital. It was nostalgic.However, I was feeling better now. My head felt lighter, and it was relieving for me. I tried to get up and sit, but it was troublesome for me. When I looked at the couch, there was no one in the room—not even Zaiden. I didn’t know why I was expecting him to be there. I knew that I liked him, but I didn’t know whether he had any romantic feelings for me.I tried to get up one more time and that was when
Chapter-23: Like YouAria AnastasiaI was walking on the road, leaving my car back in the office parking lot.I knew I should've asked Zaiden about the woman instead of running away from him, but I just couldn't tolerate their closeness. I have never felt like this. Earlier, women used to cling onto Zaiden and I didn't even bother to look at them. But today, I was upset seeing a little closeness between Zaiden and a woman whom I couldn't even see properly.Was that how liking someone felt like?I continued walking until there was a sudden thunder. The dark sky was sulking, just like me. The sky would cry as rain, and I would cry as tears.I didn't know why I felt like crying over this small issue. Maybe I was PMSing—t
Chapter-24: Moment To CherishAria AnastasiaI have finally told Zaiden I liked him. I didn't know how he would respond to me. He was quiet after hearing me. In fact, he was looking at me blankly, as if I told him I was pregnant."Zaiden, are you okay?" I asked when he was quiet."Yeah," he answered curtly. I waited for him to say something else as a reply to my confession, but instead, he stood up. "Let's head back to the office and eat what you have cooked."My jaw dropped at his words. I just told him I liked him and he even didn't bother to reply. He simply avoided me.I knew I shouldn't have told him I liked him. He didn't feel the same for me. I was just an employee who used to call him by his first name and knew his
Chapter-25: An OccurrenceAria AnastasiaI wanted to stab Zaiden to death innumerable times.Yes, he was my boyfriend, but that didn't give him the right to call me into his cabin repeatedly during work hours.Now I was on my way to his cabin just to hand him my fountain pen because I forgot where he kept his one. I wonder what he would do with a fountain pen right now when he could simply use a fucking ball pen.I barged into his cabin without knocking on the door."Just because you are my girlfriend now, it isn't right to not knock before entering," came his voice.Rolling my eyes, I retorted, "Just because you are my boyfriend now doesn't mean you will treat me like a servant
Chapter-26: A Major ProblemZaiden StormI felt my heart clenching as I was waiting for Aria at the restaurant.Something felt unusual. Everything was going smoothly, but I could still feel something bad was happening, or something bad was about to happen. The last time I felt like this was when Lance got shot in his shoulder a year ago.Was Lance okay?I took my phone and dialed his number. He picked it up on the second ring."Bro, is something wrong?" came Lance's worried voice."No," I responded, getting confused if he was okay, then why I was feeling this way. "I just called you to ask whether you were okay or not."
Chapter-40: ProposalAria AnastasiaI drove to Zaiden's mansion as soon as I could after I received his phone call, without even bothering to change out of my home clothes which were tank tops and shorts.My heart was beating so fast. The only thing that was roaming in my head was Zaiden's safety. Did he get shot by any of his enemies? Was he hurt? He only told me to help him and come to his mansion immediately.I parked my car in front of the gate and ran inside his mansion. I made my way to his bedroom without replying to the maids' greetings.“Zaiden?” I called out after opening the door to his room. He was nowhere in sight.
Chapter-39: Poking & AvoidingAria Anastasia“Hey, babe, you coming to pick me up?” I asked after Zaiden received the call on the third ring.I usually didn't call Zaiden this early in the morning because he always sent me good morning messages and said that he would come to pick me up. However, I didn't receive any texts from him today. That has never happened in the last six months of our dating. I wondered if he was feeling okay.“I am already at the office, Aria. You can come on your own, can't you?” he replied.I stopped buttoning my light blue blouse and stared at myself in the mirror blankly. “Oh, ok
Chapter-38: Perfect DateAria AnastasiaI smiled looking at myself in the mirror. I was wearing a light pink off-shoulder dress that reached up to my knees. I touched up my light make-up and was ready to go.Today I was going to spend the whole day with Zaiden outside. We were supposed to do that last week, but I had to turn him down because I had to spend time with Freja, that's why he has been sulking the whole week. She went back to New York three days ago.I went to open the door and grinned seeing my handsome boyfriend at the doorstep with flowers in his hands. He seemed embarrassed about it.I arched an eyebrow teasingly and said, “What's this about, Mr. Storm?”&nbs
Chapter-37: Apology BalloonsAria Anastasia“Ma'am, the boss is calling for you,” Yana mumbled fearfully.I didn't look up from my computer screen and said, “Tell him that I'm busy.”“But he said that it's urgent,” she said.“I don't care.”“He also said that the company can go bankrupt if you don't come to him,” she added.“Then let it go bankrupt,” I said curtly. “Now go and do your work. I'm your supervisor, not him,” I ordered Yana who quickly nodded and sauntered away.
Chapter-36: Daydream WeddingAria AnastasiaIt has been many days since I went to Zaiden's family gathering. In fact, another of his family get-together was around the corner.Even though it's been that long, it still felt surreal to be with Zaiden. It was almost as if I was trapped in a bubble of dreams and it would burst with the lightest touch.Ever since we started dating, we would rarely argue. As we started to get to know each other even better, we would understand each other's point of view more easily. It helped us wrap up our work sooner and do whatever we want for the rest of the day.However, we would try to remain professional during our work
Chapter-35: ConfessionZaiden StormI parked the car at a sideway near Aria's apartment and turned to face her.“Thanks for dropping me, Zaiden. I had a lot of fun tonight with your family, ” Aria said with a cute smile.“You still haven't told me,” I spoke up.“Tell you what?” she let out while opening her seatbelt.“What is your impression of me?” I asked.She gave me a flat look and said, “That's the seventh time you have asked me.”“Because you haven't
Chapter-34: The Storm FamilyAria AnastasiaThe mansion was decorated beautifully, and the homely feeling I got as I stepped in helped me calm my nerves down.As we reached the living room, I saw a black-haired woman in her mid-forties sternly giving instructions to a servant. But as soon as her face landed on Zaiden and me, her lips curved up in a big smile.“You guys are here. Welcome, you two,” the woman exclaimed and rushed to give a hug to Zaiden. “Even though I saw you a month ago, it feels like forever, my son.”“I'm sorry I couldn't call you that often, Mom. How have you been?” Zaiden replied.Th
Chapter-33: Frantic ShoppingAria Anastasia“Oh, my God. I need to buy a dress. Oh, no, I also need compatible shoes. Zaiden, what am I going to do?” I cried out.I was going to meet Zaiden's family tomorrow, and I had no idea what I was going to wear. I wanted to strangle Zaiden for forgetting to inform me beforehand.By now, the shopping malls and stores were already closed. I would need to choose a nice dress from my closet now.I was tapping my foot out of anxiety when Zaiden pulled over the car near a shopping district, although the lights of most shops were out. He came over to my side and opened the door.I glared at him
Chapter-32: Sudden AnxietyZaiden StormI was completely engrossed in my work when I heard someone knocking on the door.“Come in,” I permitted and Aria entered with her cheeks puffed. “What is it?” I stopped typing on my laptop and paid her my undivided attention.“Why haven't you had your lunch yet?” she demanded.“Lunch?” I let out in confusion and checked the time to realize that it was past lunchtime. “Oh, it completely slipped my mind.”“You even said that we were going to have lunch together, but look at you being a workaholic like always,” she fumed, crossing her