Wounded Ego
1935 Words
“Was she unable to recognize you?” Gray asked behind the steering wheel, a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth.
Chloe’s action baffled him.
He had been around Chris for as long as he could remember and she was the first, ever, to feign ignorance of his employer’s identity. While most women would claim to know and find the ugliest ways to cling to their boss, Chloe did the exact opposite.
So, he could not simply let the chance to annoy his boss c*m best friend slip away.
“You heard and saw it. Why ask?” Chris snapped, glaring at the cuff link in his hand, appalled by the sight of it.
“Well, I think it’s for the better. She was quite innocent back then. So, she probably hated your guts for disappearing the very next morning.”
“Are you done talking?”
Gray laughed, then clicked his tongue.
“I just find it funny. I’m so used to seeing women chasing after you. Now, Chloe failed to remember you. I can’t help but think that your grim expression and dark aura may have scared the daylights out of her.”
“It’s not like I give a sh!t,” Chris mumbled impatiently when the car slowed down at the red light.
Looking out the window, he scowled at the Mercedes that had stopped nearby. He had a very good memory that was comparable to a photographic one, so he could recall things faster and easier than normal people. Chloe was in the vehicle, and he could not help but recall the way the blonde guy held her shoulders.
“Stop glaring at the car. It did not commit any crime,” Gray went on, laughing while shaking his head. He could tell that Chris was simmering in mortification.
After all, it was the first time a woman whom he bedded failed to remember him.
“One more word…” he warned ominously.
Rodney, who was sitting in the passenger seat, trembled in fear. He had been working as Chris’ assistant for almost five years. Until now, he could not fathom the depth of the brotherhood between Gray and Josh with his tyrant employer that they could cr*ck jokes and have the balls to mock him.
Dealing with Christopher Harrington was a pain in the as* that he knew he could kiss his career goodbye if he got on his nerves. Poor Rodney has never had a peaceful sleep since then, thinking that he could be fired anytime by his fascist boss.
“Where to, Boss?” Gray asked, quickly switching into a professional tone.
Yet, the stifled laughter was loud enough for Chris to hear.
“Sunny Hills,” he replied lazily, choosing to ignore Gray’s taunting.
Pulling his tie loose, Chris leaned against his seat, closed his eyes, and pondered on Chloe’s behavior. He was certain that she had recognized him given the way she stared intently into his eyes. He thought that she was just putting up an act when she handed his cuff link back. But when she did not mention anything about five years ago, it confused him.
Truthfully, he found it puzzling that she did not even ask to confirm his identity.
Maybe she had really forgotten him.
Or maybe, she did remember him, but just like what Gray said, she hated his guts and chose to shrug him off.
Oh, well. It’s for the better. It’s not like I care about her anyway.
When Chris arrived at his villa in Sunny Hills, he went for a quick shower and gone to bed. He allowed sleep to take over his wandering thoughts. He was too beat to spare more nonsense on Chloe.
She was just another stranger he had f*cked in the past.
Nothing more, nothing less.
However, to Chris’ dismay, Chloe appeared in his dreams that night. Her big brown eyes were staring at him with affection as she caressed his face with her slender fingers. She was lying by his side, cradling her face with a hand as her elbow supported her weight. There was a sheen of sweat on her flawless skin that made her glow under the sunlight. And she was naked… with the swells of her healthy peaks showing, her cleavage gleaming at him.
“Did I tell you how much I find you beautiful?” Chloe asked, grinning beautifully with a dimple peeking on her left cheek.
Chris held her wrist and planted a kiss on it, intertwining his fingers in hers while he rubbed the back of her palm against his face as if he yearned for it his whole life.
“You did. But I also told you, you’re gorgeous, haven’t I?”
He reached out and brushed his thumb on her lips, trailing his fingers to her jaw, down to her neck, and collarbones, then traced down the V between her breasts. He gave one of her boobs a little squeeze, eliciting a delighted giggle.
When he flicked her hardened n*pple, Chloe let out a desperate moan as she squirmed under the blanket while moving her legs on his thigh, rubbing it up and down. She reached out so that her chest was against his arm as she whispered, “And so hot, I must add…”
“And so are you.”
Smug, Chris reached under the sheets and grabbed the sensitive area between her legs, tamping it whole with his large palm. He pressed his thumb on her bundle of nerves, earning the sexiest moans he had ever heard.
To his surprise, Chloe responded with her hand grabbing his shaft.
“Christ, Chloe…” he groaned throatily as the warmth of her palm enveloped his arousal.
She kissed his jaw and muttered, “Don’t you dare think you’re the only one who knows this. I do have a bit of knowledge, you know.”
Breathing heavily, Chris jolted awake from his slumber, sweating profusely, feeling the uncomfortable burn in his belly. He looked down and saw himself hard as a rock. His sweatpants were wet.
“What the heck?” he grumbled.
Combing his hands through his hair in desperation, he went straight to the bathroom for a cold shower. He couldn’t believe that he had just a wet dream. The last time he remembered he had one was when he was in high school.
Was he really that s*x-deprived?
What’s worse was he was doing it with Chloe in his dream!
In fact, Chris could not remember the last time he had s*x as he was always too tired to even have the energy to have carnal urges. He had become a workaholic with little to no time to socialize, too busy building the family business to greater heights to stabilize his influence in the company.
If he had the time, he would spend a few hours in a nightclub with Gray and Josh to enjoy a few bottles of wine. Yet, regardless of his desire to seek pleasure, none of the women were ever able to turn him on.
For some reason, Chris, as Levi Bowman, who loved hard, senseless s*x enjoyed an intimate lovemaking with an innocent young lady five years ago.
As much as he hated to admit it, his standards in s*x drastically changed after the night he had shared with Chloe.
S*x with Chloe was exhilarating and there was something he could not find the proper words to describe it. And it significantly changed his requirements when it comes to having a bed partner.
“You’ve gone insane, Christopher Levi Harrington,” he chided himself, staring at his reflection in the moist mirror as he held his manhood. His erection shamelessly arched against his belly as if it did something so impressive.
His dream was so vivid that he could not get Chloe’s naked image off his mind as he jerked off, replaying the fantasy and interlacing it with the memories from the night they shared five years ago.
He came not only once or twice but three times!
When he finally calmed his little brother, Chris found himself in the mini-bar on the first floor, browsing through the internet with his tablet as he chugged his favorite Lafite.
At first, he was reading articles about Chloe from her debut to the most recent ones. Then, as if he was possessed, he found himself creating a dummy account on every social media platform, checking every post.
“Who would ever think that the great Mr Harrington would become a social media stalker?”
Swirling the red wine in his glass, Chris continued scrolling through Chloe’s photos, seeing little to no change in her beautiful face. Only her figure seemed to have fully developed, endowed with every soft curve a woman should have.
“Why are you here?” he growled when Josh walked around the counter, took a glass, and settled on the seat across from him.
“Why are you here?” Josh asked back, glancing at the tablet and glass in his hands.
Josh and Gray occupied the first floor as he usually spends his time on the second and third floors. The fact that Chris was sitting there in the middle of the night was enough for his friend to understand that something was bothering him.
“Does she bother you that much?” Josh inquired again, pouring himself a drink.
“She recognized me in the parking lot.”
“Then?”
“But she acted like she didn’t,” Chris mumbled sourly.
“Isn’t that what you wanted?”
Chris was silent. Josh was right. Isn’t that what he wanted?
Why was he gloating on such a trivial matter?
As if reading his mind, Josh let out an amused chuckle, deepening the frown on his brows. He did not know why his friends were ganging up on goading him that day. It was as if they were having fun seeing him frustrated.
“Would you feel the same if it was another woman?” Josh inquired again.
Chris gulped the remaining liquid from his glass, got up from his seat, and tossed the tablet aside. He did not have the desire to think or answer Josh. He knew that if he stayed there longer, he might end up smashing his face to wipe off that annoying grin on his mouth.
“Why don’t you call her? You might find the answers you’ve been asking yourself,” Josh suggested, earning him an ugly scowl from Chris.
“What for?”
Josh shrugged and then clicked his tongue. He shot Chris a meaningful look before gulping his wine down. This friend of his has always been egotistical. It might have been a big blow to his pride that a woman had ignored him.
If Chloe did recognize him but refused to acknowledge him, it meant she did not want anything to do with Chris – or Levi.
He could not help but want to applaud the woman’s guts. She was the first person to trample on both Christopher Harrington’s and Levi Bowman’s pride. Moreover, catching his boss stalking a woman on social media was such a sight to behold.
Josh snickered inwardly, making a mental note to share his discovery with Gray later.
“I don’t know. Maybe, you’ll be able to vent your years of frustration…” Josh said haughtily as his eyes roved down, and added, “From down there.”
“F*ck off.”
Yes, he was hard.
Again.
Just by looking at Chloe’s photos.
What a joke!
- Writer
