TIES ARE SYMBOLIC
1140 Words
A/N:
My dear readers, I know the previous chapters may not be as perfect, but trust me, the story gets deeper and better as we go.
I'm improving my writing as well as my characters! Love y'all.
*****
The afternoon at the office was unusually quiet. The kind that made every turn of a page sound too loud.
Ava sat across the table from Ethan sorting and arranging files while he was on his laptop.
The air between them was charged.
Ever since the night of the flickering light, something had shifted. A line had been crossed.
Ava's phone rang.
She checked the caller ID, the head of corporate scheduling.
She answered. “Hello? Yes…hold on.”
Her eyes widened as she checked the digital schedule.
“Mr. Ethan,” she said. “Your meeting with the board is in five minutes.”
“Your presence is required in the conference hall, immediately.”
He cursed under his breath as he closed his laptop. He grabbed his suit jacket and put it on.
“They are always so unorganized.” He muttered.
Ava noticed his tie as he moved past her.
“Hold on.” she said softly, stepping closer to him. “Your tie…it’s crooked, let me fix it.”
He paused.
Their proximity was intimate.
Closer than two people who were supposed to be just a boss and an employee.
Ava lifted her hands slowly and carefully, smoothing the knot of his tie.
He watched her face, her eyelashes lowered in concentration, her fingertips slightly trembling.
It was not nervousness; she was trying to look as if she wasn't affected by him.
But she was, they both were.
When she was done, she looked up at him and their eyes locked.
There were a bunch of unspoken feelings and restraint. It was overwhelming.
It was dangerous to be close to each other the way they were.
“There, all done.” She whispered, her voice barely inaudible as her fingers lingered on his collar a second longer.
One of the junior employees stood in the doorway clutching a stack of files across her chest.
Her eyes widened in shock as Ava stepped back immediately.
Ethan straightened the shoulders, wearing a cold face again.
“I came to drop these off.” The junior employee said placing the files on the desk.
Her eyes looked like she was going to tear down the company's building with the gossip of seeing Ava and Ethan in a compromised state.
Before any other word was said.
Heels clicked.
Miranda Dobrev.
She entered like she owned the building; dressed in her silk coat and a bold red lipstick that decorated her lips.
She looked extravagant, and that was her style.
Not only that, but she surveyed the room, she saw Ava and Ethan, and she saw how close they had been.
The way their eyes looked at each other with longing; she had been watching from the window.
A smile formed at the corner of her mouth.
“Oh.” Miranda said casually. “I hope I'm not interrupting anything.” She said mockingly.
Ava stepped back farther.
Miranda tilted her head, eyes solely fixed on Ava.
“Careful sweetheart. Ties can be symbolic.” She warned.
Ava said nothing.
Ethan exhaled. “Miranda, not here, please.”
“I'm aware,” she replied, drawing closer. “But maybe she needs the reminder.”
She leaned forward towards Ava.
“I don't know your motive, but whatever it is,” Miranda motioned between Ava and Ethan. “I'll be sure to crush it completely.”
Her smile never fading. Her expensive perfume clung onto the air like a threat.
Ethan turned to her.
“You should leave, Miranda.”
“I'm just looking out for you, darling.” She purred. “You know how things could get when boundaries blurs, especially with employees.”
Her words stung Ava like venom, she felt like a prey circled by a predator.
So small.
He gently dragged her outside with him while Ava watched them leave, he didn't want her to say another word.
The night at Ethan's penthouse was cool, Ava sat on the couch staring at the dark sky, as if all hope had been lost.
Ethan had barely spoken since he returned and went straight to bed.
At some point, it was chaos again.
A sharp and choking sound was heard. It was coming from the direction of Ethan's room.
Immediately she rushed towards his room, his door wide open; he was sitting up in his bed, chest rising and falling, and his body was damp with sweat.
Ethan's breathing was rough.
“Shit.” He muttered.
She approached him slowly. “Mr. Ethan.”
He didn't look at her; he was somewhere far away, but she sat beside him.
“Hey, look at me,” she whispered, touching his shoulders, and he did.
He broke; not into tears but something deeper.
There was silence so raw it felt like the night itself held its air.
“My mother,” he said quietly. “I remember the news of her death. It… it still haunts me, I… I..” his voice broke, fragmenting.
She didn't touch him at first, she just stayed there, present and not moving.
Then slowly, she reached out to him, placing her hand lightly on his cheek.
He looked at her like she was the only thing that existed around him.
“Ava,” he whispered.
She didn't know who moved first, maybe the both of them.
Their lips found each other; their movement was not gentle.
He fondled her tongue with his, desperate and claiming, making it impossible for her to pull away.
He was hungry and desperate for it; he had been containing it for far too long.
His hands slid at the back of her neck, pulling her closer to him while she tugged at his shirt like he would disappear if she let him go.
The need was intense.
He pulled apart, and they were both gasping for air.
“I shouldn't have…” He closed his eyes, tightened his jaw. “I lost control.”
Ava swallowed hard. She was silent, and she couldn't say anything as feelings overwhelmed her.
He turned away from her like he had been exposed to a crime.
She stood up to leave before she said quietly. “You don't always have to suppress it.”
Then she closed the door behind her.
Outside, she leaned against the hallway wall. Her lips still tingled from his kiss. Her heart raced. There was no going back.
Inside his room, Ethan stared into space, his fingers touched his lips, he still felt the ghost of her kiss.
What had he done? Yet, he would very well want to do it again.
- Writer
