chapter-20: Blurry Moment

Aria Anastasia
I was brave enough to agree to my feelings. I mean, I wasn��t sure about whether I was in love or not, but I knew I liked Zaiden Storm. I wanted to decline it, but when emotions were strong, it was hard to resist it.
��Well, since you told me such an important thing, and I was quite interested to know what was going on between you and Zaiden, I will reconsider my decision on the deal cancelation,�� said Mr. Raymond, with a genuine smile playing on his lips. ��Zaiden deserves an awesome woman like you in his life.��
I could feel the heat rushing to my cheeks as I said, ��About the mistake I made����
��It��s okay. When one starts to fall in love, they stay distracted most of the time,�� he uttered.
��But I am not in love,�� I pointed out.
Mr. Raymond chuckled. ��Liking is the first stage of love, don��t worry.��
I shook my head and took a sip of my juice. ��I hope you won��t cancel the deal, otherwise, I will live in guilt forever that because of me, the Storm Fashion Industry suffered such a huge loss,�� I informed him.
He gave a curt nod. ��I will make the right decision, Ms. Anastasia.��
The lunch with Mr. Raymond went better than I had expected. He seemed okay with everything I was saying and it felt like all would be okay.
I was currently in my cabin, completing a few tasks of mine and sent the right documents to Mr. Raymond. Every time I thought of Zaiden, it made my heart flutter. I liked him, it was something new to me. I never thought I would ever see him in a romantic way. But now, even thinking of him made an automatic smile evolve on my face.
My chain of thoughts broke when I felt a sudden cold rush over my all of a sudden. I was shivering in the cold, so I changed the temperature of the air conditioner to a warm one. I think it was due to the iced juice I drank during lunch. I was thirsty after confessing to Mr. Raymond about me liking Zaiden, so I drank plenty of orange juice. Maybe a few glasses or so, and it was all iced as if I thought it would help cool my cheeks down.
I should complete my work as soon as possible and take a leave from Zaiden. If I was about to fall sick, it would be a disaster. The last time I fell sick, I ended up being in the hospital. I was the type of person who would get sick barely but when I would get sick, it would be severe.
As I was not feeling well, I had to take a leave before it got worse.
I completed some of my tasks more until Yana informed me that Zaiden ordered me to go to his cabin. So now I was on my way to his cabin.
��May I come in, Boss?�� I asked, knocking on the door which was open as his assistant left the room just now.
Zaiden looked at me and narrowed his eyes. ��If you intend to call me Boss today, then I would advise you to not come in.��
I rolled my eyes and stepped into his cabin, after closing the door. ��Did Mr. Raymond call you?��
He glanced at his wristwatch and arched an eyebrow at me. ��It has only been an hour or two after you met with Mr. Raymond. Besides, you didn��t tell me how your meeting went with him.��
��It went good,�� I said to Zaiden and took a seat in front of him after pulling a chair for myself. I was feeling cold due to the air conditioner, so I rubbed my arms, trying to keep myself warm. ��He didn��t get angry, rather he listened to me calmly.��
��What excuse did you give to him for the mistake?�� he asked curiously.
I was about to reply but stopped, realizing I couldn��t tell him the reason, not until I was sure that he liked me. If he didn��t like me, then why did he kiss me? If he didn��t like me, why did he think we were dating? Well, if he liked me, he had to say it with his mouth. Till then, I should stay quiet on this matter.
��I apologized to him saying it was my recklessness, and he seemed to be in a nice mood so he forgave me,�� I uttered and added, ��But I will be fully forgiven once I learn that he didn��t cancel the deal.��
��I hope it all went well and we don��t face the loss,�� he muttered under his breath and that was when his phone rang. I tried to look at the caller ID, wanting to know whether it was Mr. Raymond or not, but Zaiden picked up the call at that instant. So I couldn��t look at the caller ID.
��Yes, okay,�� Zaiden spoke up through the phone.
I rubbed my arms again and patiently waited for him to finish talking over the phone. My head was feeling heavy all of a sudden.
��Okay, I will do that. See you.�� With that, Zaiden had cut the call. Then he looked at me and said with a smile, ��Mr. Raymond called and said that he wouldn��t cancel the deal.��
A grin appeared on my lips as soon as he said that. ��Oh, my God, that��s great,�� I chirped in happiness.
��I wonder what exactly you told him,�� he muttered.
��You don��t need to know that,�� I retorted.
He raised his brows. ��That makes me more curious.�� When I shot him a glare, he sighed and said, ��We have a lot of work to do. Daniel will give you the list of your tasks.��
��Can you tell him to hand it to Yana?�� I inquired.
��Why? So that they can flirt during work hours?�� He crossed his arms against his chest.
I shook my head in denial. ��That��s not the case. I will start working from tomorrow.��
��But we have a lot to complete,�� he pointed out.
��I know, but I need the next few hours of leave. I am feeling unwell,�� I told him the truth.
Zaiden studied me for a minute before concern flashed on his face. ��You seem kinda pale. What��s wrong?��
��I am shivering due to the cold,�� I answered.
��Do you want me to turn down the temperature?�� he offered and I shook my head in denial at that instant.
��I need to go home and rest. I will be okay then,�� I told him.
He got up from his chair and was about to place his hand over my forehead to check whether I was burning or not. But I slightly pushed his hand away and got up from my seat. I didn��t want his touch to affect me as I was already shivering. It would make my body temperature rise even more.
��You are sure you are okay, right?�� he asked me again.
��It��s okay if you don��t give me the leave. I will complete my work as much as I can today,�� I announced and started to walk away.
��Aria, wait,�� he called me from behind but I didn��t turn, rather I kept walking, making my way towards the normal elevator instead of the private one because I knew Zaiden would follow me.
That was when my vision started to get blurry. The elevator door opened and soon, I fell into someone��s arms. The last thing I remembered was, seeing the familiar brown-eyed brunette who caught me and Zaiden calling out my name.