WHISPERINGS AND WARNINGS
1081 Words
CHAPTER 15
Sun rays crept over the glass exterior of the Halenito headquarters.
From outside, the building looked calm, nothing like the storm inside it.
Ava walked through the lobby, it buzzed with clicking heels, suffocating scents and whispered judgement.
“Did you see the articles? They are everywhere.”
“Mr. Ethan and Miranda looked so perfect.”
“Where would the secretary fit, then?”
The stares clung to her skin like heat. She lifted her chin higher, refusing to let them see her flinch.
If she showed even a c***k, they would tear into it. Her chest ached, like she was holding her own ribs in her hands.
She kept walking. She didn't owe anyone an explanation. However, their whispers followed her like a shadow.
But she still felt hurt, she had let what they said get to her, like they defined where she belonged to.
Before she reached the elevator, a familiar voice came from behind.
“Funny, isn't it?” Lucas murmured. “How the world gets to choose who stands beside someone.”
She stiffened. His presence had always felt like a cloud, slipping up to her. It felt unwanted.
“You know, I can understand you better.” He added, but Ava wasn't ready to let him fall back into her life again.
She didn't look at him, because she didn't want to show any sign of weakness.
“I'm not interested on your commentary, Lucas.” She said plainly.
“You don't have to suffer alone in their world, Ava. I'm here if you need me.”
His voice dropped low, in a way that used to comfort her.
Her heart pounded.
She remembered when his voice used to mean safety not danger.
Funny how love could rot into something sharp.
She stepped into the elevator and the door closed between them.
Quiet tension filled the air.
Ava knocked on Ethan's office door before entering with a document in hand.
He was seated behind his desk; once he set his eyes on Ava, they were filled with longing.
She placed the documents on the desk. “Your meeting with Adrian Cross went well.”
“Uhm...yes.” He said but his voice wasn't steady.
His fingers twitched like he wanted to reach for her wrist, just lightly, just enough to feel her warmth again.
A part of Ava wished he would stop her. Just once. Just enough to confirm she wasn't assuming the tension between them.
But he still forced himself to stay still, control was the only thing he had left.
The distance between them was loud.
“Does it matter to you?” He added.
She inhaled. “Yeah, it does.”
Before he could say another word, she left the office.
OUTSIDE THE COMPANY
Around noon, Ava stepped outside the company to pick up a delivery for the company.
She met Adrian Cross outside.
“Miss Sinclair.” He called her.
‘Mr. Cross.” Her face faltered and her eyes widened.
“I thought we could finish our conversation.” Adrian said.
“But we never started one, sir.”
He stepped closer. Confidently near, enough for his metallic cologne to fill Ava's nostrils; Sharp and distorting.
“You work at the heart of a powerful empire, Miss Sinclair, that requires…” He paused and looked at her, like he was assessing her weak point.
“...awareness. You wouldn't want to get swallowed up.”
His eyes weren't warm. They were calculating like a man measuring pieces on a chessboard.
She straightened her shoulders.
“I'm not trying to fit in, I'm just here for work.”
His eyebrow lifted. He was amused.
“Be careful then.” He said and left.
Adrian Cross isn't like a regular investor she had seen. They wore their ambition openly, but Adrian's was different - cold and merciless.
Ava stood there, her eyes blinking several times than normal.
Her palms were damp. There was something in his tone she couldn’t decode; a threat dressed as advice.
She turned to leave but stopped.
Ethan stood several feet away, watching them.
His gaze was steady. This time it wasn’t jealousy but recognizing danger.
“Mr Ethan?” She muttered.
“Don't let men like him close to you.” Ethan said sharply as he moved towards her.
A muscle rising in his jaw.
“You think I can't handle myself?” She retorted with her glaring eyes.
She knew what he meant, but she had preferred to distance herself from him, rather than let her feelings swallow her up.
“No, no...that isn't what I meant. Men like him are dangerous.” He tried to defend himself.
The noise in the city blurred, like it was just the both of them.
“Why does it matter who I talk to?” She asked.
“Because, I do not want you to get hurt.”
“Why?”
He refused to say. He refused to admit it. The truth sat heavy on his tongue, burning him like a hot coal.
He only knew he couldn't stop wanting her.
That forbidden attraction that grew in his heart. The relentlessness of it grew by the day.
He didn't admit it.
“Exactly. No reason.” She snapped.
Ava felt her chest tightened.
“It's a lost cause.” She murmured to herself.
She walked away into the building, her footsteps feeling heavy with every step she took like, she was walking away from something she had never been allowed to hold.
“s**t!” He yelled as he drove his fist into the brick wall of the building, the pain shot through his knuckles severely.
The one thing that's stopping him from embracing her completely.
Admitting his feelings for her.
“What is she doing to me?”He asked no one in particular.
He rubbed his palm on his face and walked into the company, barely composed.
Upstairs, Ava sat at her desk, staring at her computer screen.
She had typed and deleted the same sentence three times before she decided to give up. The cursor blinked at her.
Ava pressed her lips together to keep them from trembling.
She wanted him.
And she feared wanting him more than anything. Because loving Ethan Hale didn’t feel like falling.
It felt like drowning; slowly, beautifully and helplessly.
Outside her office window, the city moved on, honking taxis and people rushing. The world hadn't stopped for her heartbreak.
- Writer
