THE GREEN FLAG -PROBLEM
2176 Words
Damian Blackwood spent the entire morning pretending he had not seen Elias.
It was an impressive performance.
Unfortunately, Amara wasn't impressed.
She noticed everything.
She noticed the way Damian had walked past them without saying a word.
She noticed how his expression had become colder.
She noticed how he had spent the next two hours behind his office door.
Most importantly, she noticed that every time Elias's name appeared on her schedule, Damian's jaw tightened.
At eleven thirty, she finally decided she had had enough.
She knocked on his door.
“Come in.”
She entered.
Damian was sitting behind his desk, reading a contract.
“Do you need something?”
“Yes.”
“What?”
“An explanation.”
He didn't look up.
“For what?”
“Your attitude.”
“My attitude is fine.”
“No, it isn't.”
He turned a page.
“Then leave.”
Amara folded her arms.
“You've been acting strange since this morning.”
“I'm working.”
“You were already working yesterday.”
“Yes.”
“And the day before.”
“Yes.”
“So what's different?”
“Nothing.”
She stared at him.
“You're lying.”
Damian finally looked up.
“You seem very interested in my behavior.”
“I am.”
“Why?”
“Because you're my boss.”
“That doesn't make my mood your concern.”
“It does when your mood affects everyone on the entire floor.”
He leaned back.
“Is that all?”
“No.”
“What else?”
“You ignored me.”
“I was busy.”
“You ignored Elias.”
Damian's eyes sharpened.
“There it is.”
“What?”
“Elias.”
Amara frowned.
“What about him?”
“You seem very interested in him.”
She blinked.
“I'm interested in him because he's my friend.”
“Friend.”
“Yes.”
Damian nodded slowly.
“Right.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing.”
“Damian.”
“Amara.”
She stared at him.
He stared back.
Neither spoke.
Then Amara smiled.
“Are you jealous?”
“No.”
The answer came so quickly that she laughed.
“You didn't even think about it.”
“Because the answer is obvious.”
“Is it?”
“Yes.”
“Then why are you angry?”
“I'm not.”
“You are.”
“No.”
“You are.”
“No.”
She stepped closer to his desk.
“You're jealous.”
Damian's expression hardened.
“You're enjoying this.”
“A little.”
“Why?”
“Because it's nice knowing you're human.”
His eyes remained on her.
“Don't mistake irritation for jealousy.”
“Okay.”
She nodded.
“Then I'll tell Elias you're not jealous.”
Damian's eyes narrowed.
“You don't need to tell him anything.”
“Why?”
“Because it doesn't concern him.”
“Then it concerns you?”
He said nothing.
Amara smiled.
“I thought so.”
She turned to leave.
“Amara.”
She stopped.
“Cancel your lunch.”
She turned around.
“What?”
“I need you here.”
“You always need me here.”
“Then stay.”
“That's not a reason.”
“It's an instruction.”
She frowned.
“You know, sometimes you're really annoying.”
“Sometimes?”
She smiled.
“Most of the time.”
Then she walked out.
Damian watched her leave.
He hated the fact that she had won.
Again.
---
At one o'clock, Amara was still at her desk.
Her stomach growled.
She looked at the clock.
She had forgotten lunch.
Again.
A shadow fell across her desk.
She looked up.
Damian.
He placed a small paper bag in front of her.
“Eat.”
She looked at it.
“What is it?”
“Lunch.”
“You bought me lunch?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“You haven't eaten.”
She smiled.
“You really do notice everything.”
He said nothing.
Amara opened the bag.
Inside was food from one of the most expensive restaurants in the city.
She stared.
“Damian.”
“What?”
“This is expensive.”
“Eat.”
“I can't accept this.”
“Why?”
“Because I don't need expensive food.”
“Then consider it payment for the work you do.”
She frowned.
“You already pay me.”
“Then consider it a bonus.”
She smiled.
“You're bad at pretending you don't care.”
His expression hardened.
“Eat.”
She laughed.
“Yes, boss.”
He turned to leave.
“Damian?”
He stopped.
“Thank you.”
He nodded once.
Then walked away.
Amara watched him go.
A strange warmth spread through her chest.
She didn't understand it.
And she wasn't sure she wanted to.
---
Across town, Elias stood inside his small factory, reviewing production reports.
Unlike Damian, he didn't have a massive corporation.
His factory wasn't glamorous.
It wasn't surrounded by skyscrapers.
But it was his.
He had built it gradually with his parents' support and his own hard work.
His father entered the office.
“You're distracted.”
Elias looked up.
“I'm working.”
His father smiled.
“Not very well.”
Elias laughed.
“I'm fine.”
“Amara?”
Elias paused.
His father smiled knowingly.
“You've loved that girl since you were children.”
“I know.”
“Then tell her.”
“I did.”
“And?”
“She hasn't answered.”
His father sat down.
“Then give her time.”
Elias nodded.
He knew that was the right thing to do.
He would never pressure Amara.
He had loved her too long to turn his feelings into a burden.
---
That afternoon, Amara received a message.
ELIAS: Dinner this Friday? Just the two of us.
She stared at the message.
Her fingers hovered over the keyboard.
Before she could reply, Damian's voice came from behind her.
“Who is it?”
She jumped.
“Damian!”
“Who?”
She locked her phone.
“Why?”
“Because you stopped working.”
She frowned.
“I was checking my phone.”
“Who messaged you?”
She smiled slowly.
“Elias.”
Damian's face became unreadable.
“I see.”
“He asked me to dinner.”
Silence.
Damian looked at her.
“And?”
“And what?”
“Are you going?”
She studied him.
“Would it bother you?”
“No.”
“Then why ask?”
“I was curious.”
“Curious.”
“Yes.”
Amara smiled.
“That's interesting.”
“What?”
“You're asking a lot of questions for someone who isn't jealous.”
“I told you I'm not.”
“Okay.”
She typed something.
Damian glanced at her screen.
“You're replying.”
“Yes.”
“What did you say?”
She looked up.
“You really want to know?”
“No.”
“You're looking.”
“I'm not.”
“You are.”
She laughed.
Then her phone buzzed.
She read the message.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“Tell me.”
“Elias says he'll pick me up.”
Damian's jaw tightened.
He turned away.
“Fine.”
Amara watched him.
Then, for the first time, she wondered if maybe she had been right all along.
Maybe Damian really was jealous.
---
Friday arrived quickly.
Amara spent most of the afternoon trying not to think about the dinner.
It wasn't a date.
At least, that's what she told herself.
Elias was her childhood friend.
He was kind.
He was patient.
He knew her history.
He knew Noah.
He knew the parts of her that Damian didn't.
So why was she thinking about Damian?
At six thirty, she stood in front of her mirror.
She chose a simple dress.
Nothing extravagant.
Just something comfortable.
She smiled at her reflection.
“You're going to dinner with your friend,” she told herself.
Her phone rang.
Elias.
“I'm downstairs.”
“Coming.”
She grabbed her bag.
Before leaving, she checked her phone.
One new message.
From Damian.
WHERE ARE YOU?
She stared.
She typed:
Going out.
His response came almost immediately.
Where?
She frowned.
Why?
No answer.
She slipped her phone into her bag.
Then walked downstairs.
Elias stood beside his car.
He smiled when he saw her.
“You look beautiful.”
Amara smiled.
“Thank you.”
He opened the passenger door.
She got in.
Neither of them noticed the dark vehicle parked farther down the street.
Inside it, Damian sat silently.
He hadn't intended to follow her.
He told himself that.
He had simply been driving home.
Then he had seen her.
Standing beside Elias.
Smiling.
Looking happy.
And something inside him had snapped.
“Sir,” his driver said carefully, “should I keep driving?”
Damian stared through the window.
“Yes.”
A pause.
“Where?”
Damian's jaw tightened.
“Anywhere.”
---
Dinner was pleasant.
Elias talked about his factory.
Amara laughed at his stories.
They discussed school memories.
Childhood memories.
The dreams they once had.
At one point, Elias looked at her.
“You haven't changed.”
Amara smiled.
“How?”
“You still laugh when you're nervous.”
She laughed.
“I don't.”
“You do.”
She looked down.
“Maybe.”
Elias smiled.
Then he became serious.
“Amara.”
She looked up.
“Yes?”
“I meant what I said before.”
She knew what was coming.
“I know.”
“I don't want to pressure you.”
“I know.”
“But I want you to know that I'm still here.”
Her eyes softened.
“Elias…”
“You don't have to answer tonight.”
He reached across the table and gently touched her hand.
“I just want you to know.”
She looked at their hands.
Then at him.
Elias was safe.
He was patient.
He was kind.
Everything Damian wasn't.
And yet—
Her heart didn't race.
Not like it did when Damian looked at her.
That realization frightened her.
---
When she returned home, her phone rang.
Damian.
She stared at the screen.
Then answered.
“Hello?”
“Where are you?”
She frowned.
“Home.”
“Good.”
“What was that about?”
“Nothing.”
“You called me.”
“I know.”
“So?”
Silence.
Then his voice came through.
“Goodnight.”
He ended the call.
Amara stared at the phone.
“What was that?”
She shook her head.
---
Damian sat alone in his penthouse.
He had spent the entire evening telling himself he had no right to interfere.
He had no claim over Amara.
She was not his girlfriend.
She was not his wife.
She wasn't even his friend.
She was his assistant.
That was all.
Except he knew that was a lie.
Somewhere along the way, she had become something else.
Something he couldn't define.
Something he wasn't ready to admit.
His phone buzzed.
A message from his grandfather.
You look miserable.
Damian frowned.
I'm fine.
The reply came immediately.
Then stop behaving like a man who just watched the woman he loves leave with someone else.
Damian stared at the screen.
The word struck him.
Loves.
He threw the phone onto the sofa.
“No.”
He said it aloud.
“No.”
But the denial sounded weak even to him.
Because deep down, Damian already knew.
He was falling.
And the man he was falling for was the one person he could not control.
Amara.
---
The next morning, Damian arrived at work early.
Amara was already there.
She smiled when she saw him.
“Good morning.”
He stopped.
“Good morning.”
She blinked.
That was new.
“You're in a good mood.”
“No.”
“You just said good morning.”
“I always do.”
“You usually say it like you're threatening me.”
He almost smiled.
“Do you have work?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
She followed him into his office.
“Damian?”
“What?”
She hesitated.
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For yesterday.”
He looked at her.
“You're welcome.”
A strange silence settled between them.
Then Amara smiled.
And Damian realized something terrifying.
He didn't want to own her.
He didn't want to control her.
He simply wanted her to choose him.
And that was far more dangerous.
Because if she chose someone else—
There was nothing his wealth, power, or influence could do about it.
For the first time in his life, Damian Blackwood had discovered something money couldn't guarantee.
Someone's heart.
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