Chapter 36: Chapter 36

I enter my office and close the door. About a hundred million thoughts are going through my head which I need to put away if I want to make it through today work but all thought is forgotten when I see someone standing in my office.

I stop on my track when I see that I'm not just seeing things and that someone is standing close to my window, and pulling at the cotton to peek afar off into the big city. I can't make out his face because his back is turned towards me.

I calculate who it could be and when I come back blank I wonder how I could have worked for Paris for four months and yet no know anything about her, it can be her older brother or younger. I don't know! Oh God, have mercy.

Maybe you should walk out quietly and wait until the stranger is gone before coming in.

Yes, that's exactly what I'm going to do. And slowly I turn my back about to start going when my hand hint the keys at the door making them jiggle noisily.

Really? Clumsy much? Today of all days? Oh God make him deaf for at least five seconds.

My prayer isn't answered though cause he seems to have heard the noise and turns around to look at me with cold and hardened eyes.

Rory.

Seriously? Any day but today, get out.

That is what I want to tell him, but I hold my mouth shut because the Rory that is standing before me doesn't seem to be interested in any nonsense either.

He's dressed in a black suit which is looking to have been thoroughly iron, his blonde-brown hair which for the while we were together was messy and unkempt is now trimmed and combed stylishly, but some still stand rebellious. My eyes scan down to his shoe and I see it's also has been polished and is sparkling.

I think he's trying to send a voiceless message.

I don't realise that while I got so caught up gawking at him, he is also looking at me. His head tilts from side to side as his eyes rake my body not from want, but dissatisfaction.

What is he even doing here?

This inspection gives me the impression that the Rory I've been with the last two days may not be the man standing before me. This for a fact might be the other side of Rory, the side that hates me, the side that scares me, the side I do not like.

Something tells me Jason mean words is not going to be the only bad thing I have to deal with today.

I swallow hard and lower my eyes down to my feet which suddenly become fascinating and I fiddle nervously with the hem of my dress.

"Je deteste pas arriver en retard." He says with his eyes still cold and reproving.

I'm confused as to what he's saying, but a little part of me tells me he's talking about my lateness today and I don't know how or what I should say to him because there is no tangible reason I can give now that will matter.

So here I am, standing awkwardly in front of a man who is treating me far less than a stranger, whose green eyes are fixed on me like I'm a monkey that is going to steal his bananas if he doesn't keep looking at me.

"I sorry." I finally mumble in dismay.

"Look at me!" He snaps, and my head shoots up straight and I look at him.

"J'aime les cheveux."

"What?"

"I love your hair, hun." He interpreters, his green eyes glittering in amusement.

My eyes furrow all the more at what he's saying, but before I know it, he walks from the window to where I am and without warning, renders a deep, sensual kiss to my surprised lip and slips his hand around my waist. I do want to rebel and tell him this can't keep happening, but I swallow it all when his tongue sweeps over my bottom lip into my mouth and he hungrily deepens the kiss. I kiss back and my hand runs into his hair and tug on it hastily, moaning loudly and carelessly as he lifts me unto the desk.

My brain goes blank as his lips caress my neck and I try to control my reaction to his assault, but that isn't so possible.

"I love the fact that you wear so much clothes because you give me a hard time wondering what you'll look beneath them." He breathes into my ear before pulling away and cupping my face in his large hands.

I shiver inwardly, but I stop myself from showing too much reaction.

"What are you doing here?"

He twirls my hair around his fingers and he smiles. "I missed you and you kept me waiting."

"This is working hours, Mr..."

"No Mr Gate, at least not unless we are not alone."

I lower my head and pull his hands away from my face and get down from him and walk to my seat.

"What's wrong, Taylor?" He asks, his voice filled with concern as he follows behind.

"This. What we are. What is it?" I ask, looking up to get the reaction on his face.

"What do you mean?" He frowns.

I sigh and grind my teeth hard against themselves. "Jason thinks I'm lower than a whore-"

"That dickhead!" He curses in fury balling his hand into a fist. "I'm going to bash his face in the next time I—"

I hold his hand and he slowly loosens it to my touch. "I know that what he's saying is not true, I know that. I just want to know what it is we are."

He closes his eyes briefly and then opens them deeply in a dilemma. "I don't know what we are either, but I love you, that's all I know and that's all that matters."

I let go of his hand, "Sometimes love is just not enough, and it certainly isn't for someone like me." I walk away wanting to be further away from him.

He grabs me and turns me to face him, "This is difficult for me as it is for you, don't forget that ." He reminds me.

I don't doubt that. "But I have more to lose than you do." I retort, "I can't be foolish for love, I don't have the luxury to be."

We fade into silence the next minute and though the look on Rory's face says he has a lot of contradiction to my words, then he doesn't say anything.

That's what I expected.

"Quit your job here then." He blurts out, after a quick thought.

"What?" I ask, raising an eyebrow even though I heard what he'd said.

"Quit your job, that way you won't have to be afraid of what might happen in the future and I'll make sure you'll not need to ever want."

"I'm not quitting my job to become your full-time liability." I retort.

"I don't think I'll see you that way." He counters. "I just don't want to lose you."

I want to fall into his arms and tell him he's never going to lose me, but even I am not sure of that now. "You can't have me and Paris, I don't want to be your other woman, I told you from the start."

"Marrying Paris is not my decision, it was the family's arrangement." He grumbles in dismay.

"I know."

He grunts in frustration, "I don't know how to convince you anymore."

"Then don't try to." I cup his face, and his hands hold my hand in possession. "Be happy with Paris and I'll try to do the same with someone else."

He doesn't seem to like that idea, because I grow red. "Is that what you want?" He asks, his eyes not weaving from mine.

I know my answer to the question is going to determine our future and I do not want the type of future I see us having.

A love that cannot be expressed, is better not felt.

"Yes." I lie, of course, it isn't what I want, but it's what I need. To move on from him, this way I won't be hurt and maybe Mycole's vision won't come to pass.

"Okay." He says with a smile that doesn't reach his eyes. He lowers my hand from his face and his hand squeeze it in a quick moment and he then lets go of it and walk out of my office.

I feel a part of my heart leave with him as he walks away from me and I take a moment to recollect everything that had just happened. Something is for certain though, there is no future for us so why hope?

I regain myself minutes later and I'm about to go to my desk when I hear a gasp and small talks outside the door. Side gossip and talk have never been my thing, as the workers were always saying something bad about me, or about the way I dress, but today I am a little pulled to listen and I curiously walk closer to the door to hear clearly.

"Miss Allen, you didn't tell us you were coming back today," Jason says and my eyes almost pop out of their socket in shock.

"I didn't know it would be this short either, but here I am." Replies the voice assigned to none other but Paris.

Paris is back.

I open my door and walk out to see Paris walking towards where I am and possessively guided by Rory. Jason follows them behind and when she gets to me, she stops and gives me a bright smile. She's in a pink sleeveless top and a white jacket on a black mini skirt cut across her thigh that displays her flawlessly perfect long legs in her stilettos.

Why do I feel so imperfect now?

I give her a little slight smile before it vanishes. "Welcome back, Paris."

"Hey, Taylor, I missed you." She admits, batting her long eyelashes at me.

I missed you too, you were the one keeping me away from making a terrible mistake.

"We miss you t—" I almost complete when she pulls me into a bone-crushing hug.

"I almost went crazy in Italy, next time always remind me to take you with me." She whispers in my eyes.

I giggle lowly, "Hmm yes, next time I'll remind you."

She pulls away which I thought she did, but then I see Rory arm drawing her closer. I try not to let my anger get the best of me, but I can help but glare at him and him in turn grimace.

"We should get in, you must be exhausted." He tells Paris although his eyes don't leave mine.

"Yes you're right, but there are things I need to do here." She says, turning to Rory to give him a cute face.

He shrugs, "Sure."

She then turns and begins to talk to Jason

"I'll be in my office," I say, walking back.

"Okay, sure!" She replies, giggling and blushing at something Rory whispers into her ear.

I do not hesitate to slam my door after that and hurry up to my desk. I do have a lot of work to do and straight away I begin to work on the papers and the schedules I couldn't work on the last two days. I take the next couple of minutes re-shovelling the papers on my desk in the right places and assign the right files needing Paris signature and approval to a side on my desk.

I'm grateful for the works on my desk which are incredibly small, making me finish up in time.

My desk phone rings and I pick it and seeing it's from Paris' office I answer it. "Hello, Paris?"

"Please bring this week's schedule to my office so I can properly look at it and see what can be done about some."

"Okay, give me a few minutes and I'll be there." I hang up and quickly finish the last briefing and it takes twenty minutes to finish but once done, I pick up the schedule file which I was wrapping up a while ago. I put together the other documents I've been able to work on in the twenty minutes minute and I walk out of my office.

I walk over to her door and knock but no answer comes forth and I knock again when I still get no reply, I turn the doorknob and open the door and enter. I walk to Paris' desk and keep the documents I've worked on and files she had requested earlier.

The door of her restroom is open and although I hear nothing coming from there and all my senses keep telling me to leave that I'm not welcome, but instead I walk over to the opened door and peep my head through the door and there they are cradled together on the bed, in nothing but the bedsheets...