chapter 30: Jealousy

Blaze could feel the stress hormones inside him creating a ruckus as he watched Diva chatter away happily with a guy, whom he recognized to be a fellow game developer named Taurus Gibbler.
Blaze waited for a good minute while tapping his foot. The employees that passed by him spared their CEO a weird look and pretended not to notice him there because they were scared to lose their job.
I do so much for this girl, and she is just happily chatting with that guy, showing no symptoms of gratefulness. The least she can do is smile at me. But no! She is flashing that cute smile at him, Blaze thought, trying to remain as calm as possible.
After another minute, Blaze decided to let his presence be known to Diva as he called her out in a meek tone, "Diva?"
Much to his dismay, Diva didn't hear him.
"Diva," he called more firmly.
"Wait." She waved her hand dismissively and continued talking to Taurus, thinking it was someone else.
Blaze gritted his teeth and pulled his lips into a thin line. "Diva," he tried once again, in a louder voice.
Diva glanced over at Blaze and turned back to Taurus, saying, "Wait a minute, Blaze."
Blaze opened his mouth to say something but gulped his words back as he tilted his head back, letting out a frustrated groan. He started observing his wristwatch, waiting for it to complete a whole circle.
As soon as one minute passed by, without wasting another second, Blaze took a hold of Diva's hand, saying, "Lina is calling."
Cutting her off in the middle of her sentence, Blaze pulled her along with him as he made his way out.
"Blaze, I was talking to him. Lina's call can wait," Diva protested, squirming under his hold. "And where are we going?"
"I left my phone in my cabin," he lied swiftly.
Diva found his behavior extremely out of character, even so, she didn't voice her words out.
Reaching his cabin, he let go of her hand and closed the door. The thud of the closing door reached his ears, realization dawned on him.
He lied to Diva about Lina's call, now what?
Diva was looking around his cabin since it was the first time she had been there. The cabin was very spacious and classy, filled with a hint of dullness and work pressure. Taking that as an opportunity, Blaze's hand traveled to his pocket where his phone was as an idea popped in his head.
He moved closer to his desk and placed his phone there. He knocked over the glass of water over his phone and exclaimed, "Shit! My phone!"
Diva hurriedly glanced at his direction and gasped, going near the spilled glass of water.
"Ugh! My phone is damaged. So many important documents were in it," Blaze said, pressing his phone tighter in his hand, letting the water soak inside.
"Be careful." Diva sighed hopelessly and muttered, "Clumsy."
That's the first time someone got the opportunity to call me clumsy. The things I'm doing right now are ridiculous, Blaze thought.
"I think I should call Lina with my phone since your one is��" Diva stopped midway, a strangeness tugging her. "Wait, Lina called in your phone?"
Blaze's eyes widened.
I'm such an idiot! Blaze scolded himself, begging the earth to swallow him once again.
Seeing Blaze's brazen reaction, a knowing smile formed on Diva's face. "Did Lina actually call you?" she inquired, trying to hide her smile.
"Of course. Why would I lie?" Blaze turned away his embarrassed face.
"Maybe because you wanted to talk to me badly?" Diva let out in a singing voice, tilting her head at Blaze, closing the gap between them by taking a few steps closer.
His blood pressure spiked at her words as he started to ramble, "Who would want to talk to you? You're the one who is always talking and talking. You enjoy talking, especially with that guy��" Blaze twitched his lips before he could blurt anything more.
Diva arched an eyebrow and said, "But he is a game developer. I need to talk to him because we are teammates. Who else will I talk to about my game?"
Blaze crossed his arms over his chest in a childish manner. "You wouldn't talk to me, of course."
Why is he acting like that? Diva wondered.
"He is my colleague, and you are my friend, Blaze. Just so you know, I am not the type of person who gossips over with her friends while at work," she replied.
Blaze sucked in a deep breath and responded calmly, "Diva, I'm your colleague too."
People got stupid in love��that was Blaze's condition.
Diva let out a laugh. "More like my boss," she joked.
"I believe in equality in the workplace."
"What equality? Does equality only apply for me and you?"
He retorted, "As if I'm that biased."
"Oh, really?" Diva was finding Blaze's behavior quite interesting. He was arguing with her on equal footing. It was a rare sight, indeed. Usually, he wouldn't even bother replying to her. "Would you let me sit in your chair in the boardroom?" She raised her eyebrows bemusedly.
"Yes, I would," he replied firmly.
"Then, would you let a clerk sit in your chair as well?" Diva suppressed a grin.
"You and the clerk aren't the same." Blaze scowled.
"Why not? We are both your employees. Plus, we are colleagues. Where is the difference?"
"You are my wife, and he is not," he breathed out.
Diva opened her mouth to reply but closed it, finding no other counter. She let her shoulders slump down in defeat and said, "I get it. But still, I don't want to waste my time talking to my friend during work hours."
Something about that sentence irked Blaze. First of all, she told him he was wasting her time, which was true. Plus, she was still calling him a friend.
"Don't call me that," Blaze told her curtly.
"Call you what? A friend?"
"Yes, that," his voice was laced with disgust for that word.
When Diva first befriended him, Blaze would hate to admit but he was happy. He was over the moon to finally have someone whom he could count on as a friend, yet now that word was itching him.
Blaze didn't want to be her friend anymore. He wanted to be something more��not just someone he could count on, but someone whom he could entrust his life to.
"What should I call you, then? Comrade?" Diva jostled, and he rolled his eyes.
"That's even weirder." Blaze scrunched up his nose in disgust.
Diva let out a sigh and reasoned, "But what should I call my friend if I don't call him a friend since he's my friend?"
That sentence totally fused Blaze's brain and stabbed his heart like an arrow. He couldn't bear hearing that word once, and she just friend-zoned him three times in three seconds in the same sentence. "Ugh! I told you not to call me that!" he exclaimed in irritation, placing his hand over his ear, to tune out the cursed word ringing in his head like a flute.
Diva placed her hand on her hip and asked, "Then, you tell me, what should I call you?"
"I'm your husband, dammit," Blaze blurted out and instantly regretted.
Diva's body stiffened for a second. Before she could ask him anything about his sudden change in behavior, as though why he was so adamant about their marital status all of a sudden a knock on the door stopped her.
"Diva, you're needed here. If you're done talking to sir, please come back to work," said Taurus from outside the cabin.
Blaze wanted to strangle the guy, which he couldn't because Diva was in front of him, still glaring at the doorway.
Diva sighed before hollering, "I'm coming!" Diva turned to Blaze, who looked annoyed beyond the limit. "I will talk to you later, Blaze. Bye," with that, she was gone.
It took a minute for Blaze to realize what had just happened. "Did she just abandon me, her husband, for that dude?" he muttered under his breath. Blaze felt like he was at a complete loss. After all, that was what jealousy felt like.