chapter-25: An Occurrence

Aria Anastasia
I wanted to stab Zaiden to death innumerable times.
Yes, he was my boyfriend, but that didn't give him the right to call me into his cabin repeatedly during work hours.
Now I was on my way to his cabin just to hand him my fountain pen because I forgot where he kept his one. I wonder what he would do with a fountain pen right now when he could simply use a fucking ball pen.
I barged into his cabin without knocking on the door.
"Just because you are my girlfriend now, it isn't right to not knock before entering," came his voice.
Rolling my eyes, I retorted, "Just because you are my boyfriend now doesn't mean you will treat me like a servant."
He stopped looking at the screen of the laptop and glanced at me. Arching an eyebrow, he asked, "When have I treated you like a servant?"
Putting my hands on my hips, I questioned him, "Is it right for you to tell me to bring silly things like a fountain pen to your cabin during office hours?"
He feigned giving a pitiful look and said, "Oh, sorry. Shall I call you after office hours then? But you won't be at the office at that time unless you work overtime."
Not bothering to answer him, I placed the fountain pen on his desk and was about to leave. Suddenly Zaiden grabbed my hand and made me sit on his lap.
"You look cute," he mumbled and pecked my lips.
I looked at him in disbelief. "Have you gone crazy? It's office hours so we have to be professional, Zaiden."
"Oh, is it so?" he asked innocently.
I got up from his lap and said, "We have already embarrassed ourselves in front of Daniel and Mr. Oliver."
I remembered how flustered I was when they saw Zaiden and me sleeping on the couch. Without even having eye contact with them, I simply dashed out of Zaiden's cabin in the morning. It felt so awkward and thus I have assigned Liam to someone else. I was unable to face him.
"So what?" Zaiden questioned me.
"So what? Zaiden, it was so awkward. Didn't you feel awkward and embarrassed?"
He furrowed his brows. "Was I supposed to?"
Sighing in disbelief, I got out of his cabin and reached my floor. It was pointless talking to him regarding these issues. If he could, he would roam with a t-shirt having my picture on it to let people know we were a couple now.
I was in my office, doing some work until I heard faint knocks on the door.
"Come in," I said and the door opened. I saw Yana entering with a big grin on her face. Definitely, Daniel told her about what he saw. Oh, dear God.
"Here is the pastry you wanted from the cafeteria," Yana let out and handed me the chocolate pastry.
"Thank you, Yana." I opened the packet and took a spoonful of pastry in my mouth. When I realized Yana didn't leave the room yet, I arched an eyebrow. "Do you want to say something?"
Yana nodded and asked with excitement lingering in her voice, "Are you and the boss dating?"
I frowned, hearing her question. I was expecting a question related to work and here she was, questioning me whether I was dating Zaiden or not.
"Yana, it will be better if you focus on work," I told her politely.
Her grin didn't leave as she further spoke up, "It's okay, Ma'am, you don't have to hide it. Everyone in the office already knew something was going on between you guys and after Daniel and Liam saw something in the morning, it cleared our doubts."
I gaped at her. What did she mean by everyone in the office already knew?
"How did everyone know from before?" I couldn't help but ask.
"How couldn't we?" Yana said in an obvious tone. "Only you can call Boss by his first name and he does the same. Also, the way he looks at you is so admirable."
Were Zaiden's emotions that much visible? Did he like me way before I realized I might feel something for him in a romantic way?
Wanting the answers to my questions, I got up from my seat and marched to Zaiden's cabin. I didn't bother to knock because Daniel said Zaiden wasn't busy now.
Once I opened the door, I heard Zaiden say, "I didn't even tell you to bring something for me now and here you are. You can't stay away from me even for a while, can you, Aria?"
Avoiding his remark, I said to him, "Why are you so obvious, Zaiden?"
He was confused at my question. "Obvious on what?"
"Everyone in the office guessed something was going on between us, all thanks to you. You like me and it was visible to all," I grunted.
Zaiden shook his head with a smile. He said, "Two years. I have waited for two years to tell you that I like you. Everyone could see it but you because you were engrossed in work."
I gasped. "What? Two years means you started liking me ever since I joined the company?" I asked, bewildered.
Zaiden got up from his seat and wrapped an arm around my waist. "Yes," he replied.
I couldn't believe he liked me for the past two years. I realized I liked him a few days ago, and he realized it way before. In which era was I living to not notice Zaiden's feelings?
I felt so silly for not noticing it before. I was such a dumb-headed person.
"Aria," Zaiden's voice brought me out of my trance. I waited for him to continue speaking so he asked, "Will you go on a date with me today during lunch?"
I thought about my schedule and I was fully free, so I agreed saying, "Sure. Where will we go?"
"Great then. I'll pick you up, don't worry," he informed me.
That was when I remembered something. "Zaiden, I have to submit a file to the Storm showroom and it has to be done by me only. So I will submit the file and then come for lunch directly."
He pursed his lips. "I will text you the location then. Be there soon, okay?"
I nodded my head. "See you later then," I mumbled.
Zaiden placed a small kiss on my forehead. "Take care," he uttered and went back to sit on his chair.
I walked out of his cabin and completed my other tasks.
I just got out of the Storm showroom after giving the file. I checked my phone to see the text sent by Zaiden, which has the location where we were supposed to eat lunch.
I was on my way to the car while looking at the screen of my phone.
All of a sudden, someone placed a hand over my mouth and I could feel a sting on my neck.
I didn't realize when I lost consciousness, without even seeing who was doing all this with me.