Love Finds A way

“Excuse me, sir. May I have a word with you?" I said. There were whispers circulating the corridor where we were standing and I knew they were directed at us. after all, what would a chartered accountant have to say to the head of Tongues? But it had taken all of my confidence and some to walk up to him. there was no way I was walking away because of eyes following me. I stopped walking after calling him, but Xaxier didn't stop, andw neither did his stepfather. was it that he didn't hear me, or he didn't want to talk to me in front of others? after all that happened, he'll pretend I don't exist? "Excuse me, Sir Emerson," I called, my tone a little higher this time. More eyes were turning towards us but I could care less about them. there were things I could accept from a man. But acting like I didnt exist -- especially after what happened between us -- was something I could never allow. this time, he stopped walking and looked towards me. Xavier Emerson wasn't a face you overlooked in a crowd. he's the kind of person you'll get a glimpse at and begin planning your future over -- up to old age. Or, just many sticky nights, if you were like Laura. But the man standing before me wasnt the charmer of yesterday. If not that the smooth, perfectly cut face was the same, and those dark bottomless eyes of his were the same one I shivered under hours ago, I would've wondered if it was a different man. And just like last night, I shivered under those eyes. But this wasn't the kind of shiver that'd make me want to turn off bright lights and begin exploration. This was the kind that made me wonder what crept just outside my field of vision. "What is it?" he asked, his tone icy enough that all of my confidence shrank far beneath the surface. Step away. Walk away, bustled through my head continuously. Still, it'd taken too long for me to get here. It had taken everything to bring me to this point. There was only going forward. I'd done it a million times, this shouldn't be different. "May I have a word, sir?" I quipped. It took everything for those words not to quiver. whatever girls said about Xavier being a charmer, it was likely because they'd never been on the receiving end of the glare he was levelling on me. "You may not." "What?" I cried, in spite of myself. This wasn't happening. there was no way Xavier was being this rude to me. He'd been different yesterday. sweet, even. But this persoon in front of me, this man... "I just wanted to get your-" "I thought I told you not to speak?" he boomed, cutting off everything that was struggling to get out of my head. the only response I could come up with was a swallow that was audible in the suddenly quiet hallway. my heart was soon to tear the veins holding it in place with the way it was beating. Could the others hear it? "Besides, is this how you got a position in my company? Is this how you guys behave? You go around asking your superiors for favors and w***e yourself out to them?" I couldnt help the gape. This was Xavier? This was the guy i gave... This was... I couldnt bring myself to say the words no matter how much I tried to get them out. Compared to the girl who spent all her money on a man, only for her to find him spending the same money on another woman, this pain was on another level. "Now, look here, woman. Not once in your parasitic life should you ever make the mistake of showing your face in front of me. Understood? I understood. I understood perfectly what it meant for the tiny shred of hope you managed to scoop together in your hands to slip out until not even a drop of it remained. What I never understood was that hope could be blown out of your grasp in a second. Not until I stood in front of Xavier and was made to know who he truly was. "Do you understand?" he asked, his mocking tone stinging as it opened up the long-buried wound. It took three seconds, the longest It'd taken me in forever, but I managed to pull my lips aside into a smile. I didn't have a camera, but I was certain that the smile was bright, full of life, and unwavering as I stared down the biggest man in Tongues. "yes, sir. I understand. Forgive me for overstepping my bounds. I will make sure such never happens during my stay at Tongues”. Obviously satisfied at how much of a ruin he'd made me after hours of making me feel like a queen, Xavier Emerson turned around, joining the men he was previously speaking to as he walked down the corridor to the elevator at the end. But I stood in the same spot watching that perfect gait move further from me, the hall slowly returning to its former glory of bustling people, this time undoubtedly talking about me -- after all, I caught words like "w***e", "pity", and "golddigger" brush at my ears. Before the elevator closed, at the same time all of my liking for him dissolved into bottomless hatred, I made a promise. I will make you suffer, Xavier Emerson, president of Tongues Winery, worse than you've made me suffer. I promise you on this bandaged heart you've crushed into fine dust.