Chapter 56: Chapter 56

Despite my bewilderment, I keep a straight face.

"Good evening, sir," I greeted him.

He didn't respond and just continued staring dead at my soul. He's creeping me out.

Thank heavens, the doorway is wide enough for me to pass by despite him being a huge obstruction.

I walked past him silently. However, I haven't taken two steps when he abruptly pulled my hand, almost bowling me over.

I looked at him with furrowed eyebrows. "Do you need something, sir?"

"Do you like my cousin?"

His question caught me in the hop. I'm pretty sure the words "what the fuck" are written all over my face.

I don't know what's up with him. He was ignoring me the whole week, and now he's on my way just to ask that ridiculous question. Have he lost his mind?

I tried to take my hands back, but my efforts were in vain because he didn't even badge.

I laughed awkwardly. "W-What do you mean?"

By all means, I know what he means. I could've answered no because that's the truth. I don't feel any romantic affection with Enzo. But I choose to act oblivious because I'm weirded out.

Why does he care if I like his cousin or not? It doesn't concern him in any way.

His jaw tightened. "Do you like that motherfucker, Cleo? I'm asking you a simple question."

He speaks calmly, but the fire blazing in his eyes tells otherwise. It's like even a swift touch of it could burn me.

Garren is acting differently right now. I've witnessed a couple of moments of his absurdity, but this is the first time that I've seen that emotion in his eyes. He looks mad and frustrated at the same time.

I swallowed the lump in my throat. "W-Why did you even think of that-"

"Just answer my goddamn question!"

My entire body trembled in fear when he shouted at the top of his lungs. His voice broke the silence of that tranquil night.

I wince as his grip on my wrist gets tighter and tighter.

"L-Let go of me," I groaned in pain while doing my best to take my hands from him.

As if my of cry of pain took him out of his bubble, his eyes widened and he let go of my hand.

My face crumpled looking at my reddened wrist.

Much to my surprise, Garren once again held my hand. But this time, in a much gentler way.

“Does it hurt?”

The worried tone of his voice while scrutinizing my wrist surprised me. It sounds foreign to my ears.

I rolled my eyes and pulled my hand back. “No, it’s not. I’m perfectly fine," I said sarcastically.

I don't give a damn right now if he's my boss. For fuck's sake, he was gripping my wrist as if he wanted to crush it. It's excruciating as hell.

He heaved out a deep sigh. "I’m sorry, Cleo. I was just carried away by my emotions."

My heart skipped a beat. “W-What?”

He opened his mouth, so I expected him to say something, but after a minute, there's nothing but dead silence.

"If you have nothing else to say, I'll go now."

I turned my back on him, but for the second time, he held my right hand.

“Cleo.”

His voice sent shivers down my spine. It almost sounds like a plea, like he’s begging me to stay.

I took a deep breath before I faced him. “What?”

"I'm taking back what I said. I don't want to see you meeting Lorenzo or even talking to him."

My jaw dropped to the floor. I looked at him incredulously, processing what he said.

I heaved out a frustrated sigh. "We already talked about this, sir. And my point still stands. You're not in any position to tell me who I should be friends with. Unless you can give me a valid reason why you don't want me around your cousin, then that's the-"

"I hate it."

The words were left in my throat when he cut me off. I gave him a befuddled look.

Suddenly, he took a step closer to me. As if my feet had a mind of their own, I also took a step back.

"I hate seeing you with Enzo."

He once again took a step towards me, and so I did the same thing. I can feel my hands breaking in cold sweat.

"I hate seeing you being all happy when you're with him. I hate how you smile at him as if he's the most amusing person you've ever seen."

I could no longer bear the step back bullshit that he set off, so  pushed him away. As luck may have it, he finally stopped.

"Sir, are you drunk?"

His forehead creased. "W-What?"

"Are you drunk?" I repeated my question.

"What? I'm not!"

I looked at him flatly. "Then why are you acting like you're jealous of us?"

It was too late for me to realize the words that I spoke. But when I thought that I already said the most ridiculous thing, he answered.

“Because I am."

For a couple of seconds, everything around me had faded into blur. I can't see anyone but Garren and that peculiar emotion on those ocean-blue eyes. I can't hear anything but the rapid beating of my heart.

Suddenly, that night where he was wasted occurred to me. He was prattling about jealousy... was that really meant for me?!

I quickly disregard that notion. No... he whispered Celestine's name... but what is he rumbling about right now?!

"W-What did you say?” I finally found my voice.

Despite the turmoil inside my head, I clearly saw how apprehension passed through his eyes. He shook his head, as if he’s having an internal battle with himself.

“Forget what I said."

He turned his back and walked past me while I stood there motionless, attempting to swallow what the hell just happened. I stared at the stairs where Garren walked off. The frustration in his voice and the fear in his eyes are still vivid to me.

I shook my head. “You're giving me headache."

I walked towards my room lifelessly. That night, I had the hardest time sleeping. I already counted sheeps in my head, but it was not effective.

I told myself that what Garren has done is nothing and I shouldn't fret over that, but I still can't help myself.

He's not really jealous... right? Maybe he just misheard or misunderstood my preposterous question, and he answered out of impulse.

The weird, almost horrifying, things that came out of his mouth kept ringing in my ears, and they're ticking me off. They wouldn't leave my system. I convinced myself that everything he said didn't mean anything, but obviously, I still ended up pondering over them.

Hence, when morning came, I woke up with a puffy face and dark circles under my eyes. I was reluctant to come out of my room, but I recalled that it's Monday and Greyson has classes, so I have no choice.

With that in mind, I let out a deep breath before exiting my room. As I walk through the hallway, I keep casting chary glances around, looking out for that insane man whom I don't need to name who.

Although I know that it's inevitable that our paths will cross, no matter how much I hate it, I'm hoping that it won't happen right away. I don't think I'm ready to face him now, when  everything is still etched  in my mind.

I won't be able to look at him without remembering a single thing of what happened. Last night night will haunt starting this day.

"What are you doing?"

My heart jumped when Cynthia appeared out of nowhere. I turned around and shot daggers at her.

She put her hands on her waist and began berating me. "Why were you prancing like a horse? If I don't know you, I would have thought that you're a thief."

I looked away so she wouldn't see the apprehension on my face. This is all Garren's fault. That demented man did nothing but to stress me out.

"I was looking for Aunt Esther because I have something important to tell her, in which you're not allowed to know," I responded dismissively.

I already cut her off before she asked more questions.

She huffed. "Fine. Whatever."

I thought I'm already free from all this inquisition, but then she suddenly frowned while looking at me.

"What did you do last night, and you're looking like a panda?" She pointed an accusing finger at me.

I coughed. "I had a hard time sleeping last night. I took so much caffeine yesterday."

Cynthia squinted her eyes at me, and I put on a calm facade. Fortunately, she didn't ask more questions. We treaded to the kitchen.

I haven't seen a glimpse yet of our boss, which gave me a sense of relief.

But I know that it's only for a moment because, hours from now, I'm pretty sure we'll be seeing each other as he drives his son to school.

Or so I thought.

"Garren had already left an hour ago. He has a two day business trip to attend." That was the first thing that Aunt Esther had told us when we came across each other.

A smile made its way onto my lips. I felt reassured!

God... two days without him. two days without seeing his face and bearing with his presence. I have two days not to overthink the weird things that he did and said last night.

This only means that I have two days of peace and quiet to relish. This calls for a celebration.

That news brightened up my day. I could not erase the smile etched on my face after that.

"Dad should've woken me up so I could say bye to him," Greyson grumbled while pouting when I told him about his father's departure.

I ruffled his hair. "Don't worry. Aunt Esther said that he gave you a forehead kiss before leaving."

He crossed his arms, still sulking. "A kiss doesn't count when I'm not awake. I want to talk to dad right now."

The smile on my face disappeared in a matter of seconds.

I laughed. "Stop sulking now. Your dad didn't want to interrupt your deep sleep. Don't worry, you can tell him once he arrives."

He contemplated for a while and sighed afterwards.

"Fine. But I still want to talk to Dad. Can you call him, Cleo? Pretty please?" He clasped his hands and made a puppy face.

As much as I want to refuse, I know that Greyson won't stop nettling me.

I sighed. "Fine. But make it quick. You still have classes."

He rejoiced. I took out his tablet and opened Skype. I handed it to him when it began ringing. After a few seconds, the devil's face appeared on the screen.

There's a faint smile on his face. But I don't know if I'm just seeing things, but he doesn't look genuinely happy.

I drove those thoughts away. Why am I bothering myself over him?

I stepped out of the frame to ensure that he wouldn't see me.

"Dad! Why didn't you wake me up when you left?"

I heard Garren's laugh from the other line. "I'm sorry, bud."

Greyson then began sulking at him and telling his father how he can appease to him, and as usual, the latter has no other choice but to say yes to his beloved son.

"That's all! Before I forget, say hi to Cleo!"

A string seemed to bind my body because. I clenched my fist, uneasiness slowly creeping into my chest like sentient vines suffocating me.

Greyson, I love you, but why do you have to drag me into this?

But I knew that I have no choice, so I forced myself to face the camera and mumbled a silent "hi" to Garren and smiled, to which he replied with a mere nod.

When Greyson turned the tablet back to him, I mumbled silent curses.

He looks unbothered and calm. Don't tell me he doesn't remember a single thing from last night, despite being completely sane and wide awake?!

Does that mean I'm the only one who's getting worked up here? Curse you, Garren Montreal!