The Stolen Heart

Chapter 8: The mystery of the berry red lipstick mark!

My baby bump was starting to show a little so I started wearing long, loose clothes instead of my usual designer ones. I also stopped wearing my heels in favor of comfortable shoes, but in order to not gain attention for my massive transformation overnight, I still kept it fashionable and trendy. Many people raised their eyebrows at my new baggy look, but none of them suspected anything, I think.

Just as I was passing through the lobby, I saw Daniel being cornered by a very direct and flirty Elena. As, I started walking forward, I could hear every single word of their very loud conversation. She was coming on to him very strong. Not that I can blame her. Daniel seemed to have caught the eye of almost all the women in our office. He was always surrounded by women. He reminded me a little bit of Justin in that aspect. The only difference was that while Justin was comfortable around and used to these women surrounding him like hyenas, Daniel looked like he wanted to dig a hole here and now and vanish.

He eyes widened when he saw me and he immediately mouthed at me desperately, “HELP ME”.

I stifled a laugh and nodded at him. Elena narrowed her eyes when she saw me approaching them and shot me a predatory glance warning me to stay away.

I pretended to be rather occupied with watching how the lifts opened and shut and people entered and out till I walked right into her.

“Ouch! Are you blind?”, she snarled at me.

“Oh! Sorry! Didn’t see you there.”, I replied innocently, widening my eyes and smiled sweetly at her.

“I had thought that your outfits couldn’t get any worse but clearly you have proven me wrong. You look like a completely hideous cow.”, she declared smugly.

Daniel immediately shot back, “I think you look really pretty and warm. Tight clothes and heels don’t necessarily make a woman attractive.”

I pretended to be surprised that I had found Daniel there. I smiled at him to show my gratitude then started engaging in the task aforesaid.

“Daniel, you have still to submit your marketing proposal for the Westminster Seminar. Without it getting approved, I can’t allocate the funds properly.”, I said in a very frustrated tone to a very relieved Daniel.

He immediately pounced on it and started giving out his marketing pitch right there and then. He had quite a knack to make it sound excruciatingly boring.

Mid conversation, Elena gave up and left, flipping her ponytail indignantly over her shoulder while she stalked off annoyed and we immediately burst into laughter. Both of us rushed at the lift when it opened for the third time, and so did many other people.

The lift was super packed that we were mushed into the right corner. Daniel immediately turned back and placed his hand on the wall, protecting me from the pushing and pulling of the crowds. But he was standing way too close for my comfort. His Jacket was right in my face. There was not even an inch of space between us. Our chests were touching. I looked at everywhere else but at him, visibly flustered at the closeness.

I could hear his breathing getting raspier as every moment passed by. It was very obvious by his heated breaths and the way he swallowed his own saliva, every second now and then, that he was attracted to me too. Just then the lift opened onto the second floor and everyone started rushing forward, knocking back Daniel in the process. Our bodies touched for a split of a second, my mouth touching his chest. I involuntarily let out a sigh as I breathed in his cologne.

For a minute we stood in shock, then I hastily moved aside and wrapped a hand over my mouth in shock.

A perfect imprint of my berry red lips was on Daniel’s very white jacket. He always used to wear leather jackets, why did he have to mix it up today?

Daniel looked flustered as well. It was like I had just kissed his heart. We both looked at each other, petrified, when the door opened to our floor. We still didn’t break our eye contact but we just stood there staring into each other’s eyes.

“Hhhm”, a voice interrupted us and I almost died in shock as I saw whose it was. My face lost its color and I paled under his questioning stare. This wasn't awkward at all.....

Justin was right behind us, waiting to get into the lift. We immediately jumped apart. I walked out stiffly without even greeting Justin. I walked away without even a second glance at Daniel either. I was too embarrassed at what had just happened.

The whole day, I kept to myself praying to god that I don’t run into him anywhere. But alas, god was not on my side today.

There was a meeting in five minutes and Daniel is going to be there and I was in here having a panic attack. I still can’t believe that I kissed his chest. It was an accident but still.

I caught up with Jen just as she was entering the meeting room and slowly entered making use of her to shield me. I had not pestered her about that topic since that day. Whenever I brought up that topic, she started clamming up and I had to finally dropped it.

I saw him the moment I entered the conference room. He was sitting in the far-right corner and he grinned at me when I entered. He immediately pushed out his chest proudly, and his jacket clearly showed my berry red lipstick on it. He hadn’t even tried to remove it by scrubbing. It looked intact….the shape of my lips were perfectly imprinted. I immediately let out a groan and he chuckled delightfully. Jen watched this exchange with raised eyebrows. Oh! I was going to get an interrogation from her after this meeting was over.

To my utter horror, Jen wasn’t the only one watching our little exchange. Justin seemed to be watching us with narrowed eyes too. I cleared my throat loudly and was about to seat myself far away from Daniel when Jen smiled at me wickedly, then dragged me…no …practically manhandled me into the seat right beside Daniel.

Daniel burst into laughter at my sheer discomfort and looked at me with twinkling eyes. His laughter caught everyone’s attention and they all looked at us incredulously. I sank further into the chair, blushing furiously.

Then someone excitedly pointed out Daniel’s stain in his jacket and everyone started gossiping excitedly trying to figure out whose lipstick it was.

Justin’s eyes darted dangerously from Daniel’s jacket to my berry red lips and scowled. Judging by the way his eyes narrowed and fixed on my lip, it was obvious that he had made the connection. He looked annoyed and pissed at the revelation. Did he perhaps think that I was doing his baby brother an injustice by moving forward this fast?

I looked around and found out that I was the only one wearing a red lipstick. Everyone else was wearing nude shades of pink. I cursed my bad luck and my eyes immediately roaming around the room trying to place a tissue box. Daniel was watching each and every one of my actions with piqued interest.

He quietly offered me his handkerchief from under the table and I grinned gratefully at him. I immediately threw my pen to the floor, knelt down, pretending to pick it up, then started furiously rubbing of my lipstick.

I looked up at Daniel pouted my lips at him and mouthed, “Is it visible now? Is it okay now?”

He gave me the thumbs up and watched with an amused expression as I attacked my lips again unconvinced, making sure that it was completely gone.

I got back up and placed my pen onto the table and sat back nonchalantly.

Daniel couldn’t stop smiling at me. At my raised eyebrow, he simply shrugged and whispered, “You are quite endearing, you know that?”

Which caused me to blush further. His grin grew wider as he saw me blush and he looked all hearty and content while I just wanted to wipe that smug expression off his face.

 Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw that Justin’s hands were curled into fists and on his face was a look of pure rage. Shocked, I turned around and looked at Justin in the eye. His eyes however held mine for a second before fixing Daniel with a death glare.

Daniel seemed unperturbed by Justin’s glares, as his entire attention was currently fixed on me. 

All through the meeting, Daniel kept stealing glances at me snakingly and Justin kept losing his temper at almost everyone and shouted his head off. By the time the meeting was over, everyone was petrified of Justin’s temper. Veronica, the new intern had burst into tears in between the meeting and left the room wailing. Justin was not his normal self today. He more or less felt like the bully I was used to in high school.

 When the meeting was over, Justin had stormed out furious, while everyone looked at each other bewildered and frightened. He had shouted and scolded almost everyone in the meeting.

Jen looked disturbed at Justin’s behavior which immediately made me ponder over that night’s conversation. Daniel, however seemed completely oblivious to the death glares he had been getting from him throughout the duration of the meeting.

Everyone including Jen had exited the meeting room rather uncomfortably while I was still fixated on my chair. I shook myself out of the daze and got up and was about to leave when a hand grabbed mine. I looked back and found that Daniel hadn’t left yet.

He looked shy and bashful all of a sudden. He didn’t let go of my right hand. His fingers were busy drawing circles on my wrist. He looked like he was mustering up his courage before asking me out. It was plain as day that he had feelings for me. But I felt uncomfortable at the very thought of it. It hadn’t been that long since Richard passed away. I wasn’t ready to move on. And to top it all, I am pregnant now too.

He muttered flustered, “I think I like you”. He had more to say, I could tell but I immediately held up my hand, motioning for him to stop.

His eyes scanned mine, anxiously waiting to see my reaction. I sighed and softly let go of his hands and muttered softly, “Sorry”

He looked heartbroken at me rejecting him without even letting him complete what he wanted to say.

He took a sharp breath in and asked me dejectedly, “Can I at least know why?”

I hesitated for a moment before deciding to indulge him.

“I am pregnant, Daniel. And I am not yet ready to move on.”

He looked taken aback by my revelation. His eyes immediately snapped to my stomach and then back to my eyes. He then let out a relieved laugh.

“I can wait”, he said softly. It was said so quietly that I doubt whether it was meant for me to hear.

 I felt too embarrassed and flustered to give him even a second glance so I rushed out of the room. It was only when I reached the stairs, that I relaxed. I usually took the stairs. Today was probably the first and last day that I took the elevator. I would be lying if I said that Daniel hadn’t been on my mind these last few days but I couldn’t do that to Richard…not when the reason I am still alive and kicking is because of him.