I can’t believe I just saw Gerrard Southerford in the flesh.
In the flesh. Way too literally.
I swear I can’t get that image of his out of my head even now as I zip out of his property, afraid that if he loses it- scratch that- afraid that if I lose it, fuck’s going to happen.
I’m kind of embarrassed the way he told me to get out of his house when he was the one who told me to come in the first place, but now that I think about it?
I’m relieved he told me to leave.
Because heaven knows what I would’ve done had he not.
That man seriously gave my vagina a heartbeat so strong it still won’t go away.
I gulp.
I’m only just about to push the gates to his property open when headlights make spots dance in my vision.
I throw an arm over my face.
Tyres screech to a halt a minute later, and it&rsquo
I’m feeling the blood rushing up to my head.I’m feeling it.That’s because I’m still too busy reeling with the aftermath of what just happened minutes ago. Minutes. Gard saw me naked, for fuck’s sake, and now she’s in my house, staying for dinner.The fuck?It’s not that I was naked that’s annoying me so much—it’s that she saw me like that. I mean out of all the women on the planet—her? Like, are you kidding me, damn it?Gard?Why.Why someone I can’t even stand the freaking sight of.It’s a good thing I changed into a t-shirt and a pair of shorts as soon as she left, because god knows I wouldn’t have been able to keep my temper in check if she saw me like that a second time.I swear she’s a synonym for turn-offs.I’m shaking my h
I can’t believe I actually said that to my boss. ‘I didn’t like it one bit’. If my hands weren’t so busy trying to key the locked apartment door open, I woulddefinitely facepalm myself. Like, what the actual hell did I just say to Gerrard? It’s absolutely none of my business who he chooses to be with. PA or not, if he wanted to be with Bru, I had no business being pissed about it. I shoulder the door open and make my way to my bedroom. A sigh escapes my mouth, sounding just as tired as I’m feeling. “I really shouldn’t have said that...” I run a hand down my face, proceeding to massage my temples when I continuefeeling anxious still, lying down on the bed. “God knows what his reaction was... I didn’t even stay to see it,” I mumble hopelessly, becoming increasingly worried by the minute. I’m worried Gerrard’s going to be pissed about my conduct today. First,I walked in on him nak
I come back home in a totally different mood than the one I left in. It feels like this—chain—around my heart just loosened a little, making me feel like air's breathable again.I like this feeling.It's like I have something less to weigh me done. Something less to worry about.I strip my clothes off and enter the shower, my mind in some kind of a daze. When I turn on the water, its warm blast takes me back to the warm air that was rushing through the air conditioner of my car minutes ago.When I was dropping Gard off at her place.It feels really strange to think about what she told me. Never has a girl ever expressed her jealousy about other women's affection towards me as straight-forwardly as she did tonight. Maybe it's because of that, but I just can't get her out of my head right now.For some weird ass reason, though, I realise I don't even want to.I finish showering soon after.A
My eyes are so blurred with tears when I rush out of Gerrard's office that I can't even see where I'm going. But at the end of the day, it's all my fault, isn't it?I shouldn't have crossed my limit yesterday. I shouldn't have said what I said because Gerrard is not just some guy I met at arandom cafe or something. He's myboss, for god's sake. The founder of such a successful brand. The face of young entrepreneurs all over the country.And I thought a flirty, though honest, comment was going to sit well with him?Thefuckwas I thinking?It hurts the way he looked at me in his office, almost like it was painfulto look my way.I keep brisk walking down the corridor, without a thought of where I'm even going, just that I want to be far away from where Gerrard is.'I don't want to see you in my room again'.My face scrunches up so badly even as I try not to
There's a knock on the glass door of my conference room while I'm in the middle of a meeting.I look up. Bru's standing by the door, looking at me expectantly. "Um, Gerrard?"I raise a brow in question."Can I talk to you after this meeting?" she asks.I frown, wondering what's up, but nod anyway.If she didn't wait for the meeting to end, it's got to be something important.She passes me a smile and leaves."When do you want to meet up with the Turkish investors, Gerrard?" one of my financial advisors asks me then.I scan the agreement in front of me, thinking. If I sign another contract so soon, going through with it is going to be harder than pulling teeth. As much as I want to clinch this deal, it's going to have to waitat least another six months before I can allocate such a huge sum abroad again.No matter how lucrative this deal might be, I'm going to have to let it go-- for the time bein
I will admit— Idon’t know how to pack.At all.I’m standing by my tiny closet, hand on my forehead, eyes unfocused on the clothes hanging in my wardrobe. There’s notonedecent outfit I can wear to a dinner. And that,too, with Gerrard.The fuck am I going to do?I'm biting my lip furiously, chewing on it, but I still can't think of a good outfit. My gaze is fixated on this dark purple dress with lace sleeves, but the problem is I don't have matching footwear with it.I heave a sigh.I should've listened to Mom and not packed light.I'm in the middle of blowing out a loud breath when my phone starts ringing. I walk over to the side table on the other side of my bedroom, on which my phone is charging, andcheck the caller ID: unknown.My brow sags a bit.Who might this be?Nevertheless, I answer the call. "Hello?"
"Gard?" I call down the little hallway that leads to her kitchen.She pokes her head out the door, her bun bobbing to and fro atop her head. I swear I have to bite back a smile at the sight before I tell her, "I'm going to go park my car in the basement's parking, yeah? I kind of just parked outside when I came, but I better park it somewhere safe now that I'm staying the night.""Okay," she quips, before disappearing into the kitchen again.I don't think I need to describe just how much her bun bobs again-- at every movement she makes.I finally let slip a laugh, making my way out of her apartment and to the parking lot. The complex where Gard lives is, to be honest, pretty basic. I know the rent parameter might be why she chooses to live her, but then this place is pretty much like a five minute drive from my office, so that might also be a reason why she lives in such a cramped place. I'm pretty sure there's just one bedroom in her apartmen
My heart is still pounding in my chest. Almost as fast as a damned jackhammer.I blow a long breath out of my mouth, depositing my platein the sink and hunching over to lean on the counter. I can't believe those scenes started playing in the movies when Gerrard Southerford was sitting right next to me. All those hot and heavy moans, all those erotic whispers, those sounds... I swear my vagina is still singing a heartbeat to me, even now after I fled the living room.The night from Gerrard's house flashes in my mind for a quick second, when I'd walked in on him without his towel. My pulse beats wildly at the recollection.God, this man might just be the death of me...I pour myself a glass of water quickly, and gulp it down like I just ran a marathon. But how is it my fault that my throat feels parched all of a sudden?Tucking a loose strand of my hair behind an ear, I make my way out of th
Keith and Bru chose a barn marriage, far from the cold of their home country.Priscilla and Gerrard helped prepare most of everything, and were currently receiving guests at the entrance. Gerrardand Keith's mother didn't show up, not even after being informed of the life-changing decision her eldest son had made.The sons had been expecting this, but Bru and Priscilla hadn't.They still felt let down by Ms. Southerford.Bru's parents, on the other hand, were all about the place, her father taking care that all guests hada drink in their hands, while her mother wasprobably helping her deal with wedding day jitters. What could be said? The girl had already ordered two boxes of pizza in the last two hours alone."I'm worried about Keith," Gerrard muttered from beside Priscilla, shaking an old man's hand before gesturing towards the other guests.Priscilla gave him a look, observing him growing more fidgety
I'm listening to Bru speak on the phone, but it's hard to actually believe what's coming out of her mouth. Gerrard? In my apartment?Why?...How?"...come as soon as you can, Priscilla," she sighs at the end. "We miss you."My heart melts. "I miss you, too... I'll try and come as soon as possible, Bru. I'll call you when I get there."She pretty much squeals on the other end."You have no idea how eagerly we're waiting to see you again! See you soon!"It's hard not to hear the smile in her voice."See you soon, Bru," I grin, before hanging up.So Gerrard's been-"-Your boyfriend's been camping at your house?"The sudden voice by the door to my room startles me, to the point where I almost fall from the edge of the bed where I'm sitting. Whipping towards the source of the sound, I see Victoria looking at me all innocently from the little gap between the door and the wall."The fuck, Vira?" I scowl, pl
It's been one week since I packed up all my stuff and shifted base closer to the office.Since I shifted to Priscilla's apartment.It's not what I'm used to, but at the same time, it is.It's what I'm craving.The apartment barely fits me. And living here is probably the only time I've found myself wishing that I wasn't so huge. The washroom is so tiny that I can't move my arms much when I'm taking a dunk without knocking some random shampoo bottle off a shelf, or without hitting my elbow in that way that makes my entire nervous system freeze for a second.But this apartment is also the only thing close to making me feel nearer to Priscilla. Although she isn't here anymore, her memory is. I have her memorized in every part of the house from those few days we spent together here, and it's all I have left of her living, physical memory.Every time I enterher room, the bed shows us cuddling under the covers, wat
Victoria--is obsessed with Gerrard?My boyfriend?... Ex-boyfriend?I don't even know at this point."So?" Vira grins, spinning a slowly circle about herself as she gestures to the posters all over the walls. "What do you think?"I don't have the heart (or guts) to tell her thetruth. What's worse, just the sight of her... attraction(?) towards him has me feeling nauseous all of a sudden, but let me make it very clear--that it has absolutely nothing to do with the raucous amount of food I almost chugged down my throat not even half an hour ago.Naturally, the smile that I give her in response looks more like a constipated grimace. "It's... something else," I laugh nervously as I back out of the room. She turns to look at me in concern, but before any of the questions hit me, I wave my hand vaguely. "I'll just... I'm really tired, Victoria. I should go sleep now."That's all I leave it at.* ^ * ^ *
To say that I feel absolutely hollow inside would be a serious, serious understatement.I feel as if the world's closing in on me, and the corridor on Cilla's floor seems like it's choking me for coming here, punishing me for intruding on her space.She left.She left me.It doesn't take long for the hollowness in my chest to source itself to anger. Burning, vengeful, disastrous anger.Bounding over tothe elevator, I waste no time to dial Keith. When the lift dings open on the ground floor, he picks up. "Hey, Ger-""-I'll be at the office in 5, Keith. Is the meeting ready?""Yeah, b-"I don't wait to hear the rest, going straight for my car in the open parking.*****"Gentlemen, I've called for this extraordinary meeting today," I say to the meeting room at large, my file of evidences at the ready,"for an extremely pressing issue that I feel needs immediate attention. I deem
When the plane lands, I switch my phone off of airplane mode.Like I'd thought, I have a lot of texts from my Mom, asking me how the flight was and if it's landed, and telling me that the driver's waiting outside the airport with my car, ready to take me home.But as I get off the aircraft and make my way into the airport, I notice I have a lot of missed calls from... Bru.My heart skips for no reason.She must've gone to my apartment. Must've seen I'm not there.But then my heart skips again.Did she tell Gerrard I'm not there? ...Or maybe:Did Gerrard ask her to go and check my apartment? To call me?But as I head to baggage claim, I dismiss the thought from my mind, because there really is no use building up hope. Again. And that, too, for a man like him.I've learnedmy lesson now.My suitcases are thankfully some of the first to arrive on the belt, and I swiftly pull them off
I can't reach Priscilla.Call after call gets cancelled, text after text undelivered... I'm panicking.As I rush out of the conference room, Bru bumps into me. But one look at my face, and she holds me by the shoulders. "Woah, G. What happened?"I can hardly breathe as one more call to Cilla gets cancelled. I swallow hard. "It's Cilla…Bru, the- the termination letter. Smith, Bru. Smith- I need to go see her. I- I need to go."That's all I can manage to get out of my system before I pull away from her, running for the lift. But it couldn't have gone down slower than it did. I'm sweating by the time I clamber out of it, making a dash for my car whenthe valet brings it out, but I doubt my sweating more than normal in an air conditioned office has anything to do with heat.Priscilla... baby, don't do anything stupid... just wait for me. Please.It's all I can think of as I speed away for her apartment.* ^ * ^
I feel lost.Abandoned.Betrayed.The whole way to my apartment feels like a blur. I just can't believe it. I can't believe it that just to get me out of his company, Gerrard would play me like this. Use me like this. It doesn't take long for my numbness to go away, because soon, I'm breaking down into sobs.I knew it was too good to be true.I knew it.But I still allowed myself to believe.To hope.And look where that got me.Not only did I lose a job I'd already been thinking of resigning from, but also got my heart broken.Throwing myself onto my bed, I bury my face into my pillow as I finally let the tears flow freely.All that man had to do to get me out of his company was simply say it. Say it. And that would've been the last he would've seen of me. Then why in the name of god did he have to play me like this? Why? But no matt
Priscilla's not picking up the phone.I've been ringing her up ever since I left the dealer store an hour ago, but instead of picking up, she just cancelled my latest call.Is she mad at me, still?Or is she sleeping and I'm just disturbing her?I sigh, attempting one more call, but like all the previous calls, this one goes unanswered, too.Gripping the steering wheel hard, I determinedly go on for my house. I'd been calling Priscilla to tell her who the stalker is. I wanted to tell her to come to the office. But I don't have enough time or patience to go to her house and shit.I need to go home and make a few calls for a board meeting, gather my documents and evidence, too.Guess I'll just tell Priscilla when this is all over and well behind us.* ^ * ^ * ^ *I've only just gotten out of the shower when I get a call from Bru. Wiping my long mane with a towel, I pick up. "Hello?""Hey, Gerr. Keith told me. Ab