16.

-HER-

“Cybele,” He breathes. My heart stops momentarily before it starts to race again. His eyes darken on me as he drinks in my appearance. I shiver when I see the possessiveness and intensity in them.

“Yes,” I mutter after gulping silently. He is sitting on the chair behind the huge table. His body looks tensed for some reason. I forget to breathe when he finally stands up.

He is tall... way taller than me. I don’t understand why I am so affected by his presence. We met just moments ago. I spent so much time in the library with him yesterday. I swear I was okay yesterday.

I resemble a statue as he stalks towards me. I have to contain myself from stepping back to put distance between us when he steps in front of me. I have to tilt my head back slightly to look at his face.

He looks different. It is now when I notice that he is wearing different clothes too. His eyes never leave me. They are straight-up black and mesmerizing. The more I stare into them, the more they mesmerize me.

“Did you vandalize my office?” He asks gently. His deep and smooth voice gives me butterflies. I chose this moment to finally tear my eyes away and look past him. The place is still a mess. He knows. I couldn’t lie now.

“Yes…” I answer and see him cock an eyebrow at me before he folds his arms on his chest and leans on the edge of the table. His moments are so smooth and graceful, they seem so unrealistic and animated.

I have to remind myself every minute not to stare at him. He is so perfect; he shouldn’t be here. What makes me confused about him is that he has a strange effect on me. I swear I did not feel this overwhelming attraction towards him yesterday. I was anything but annoyed by him yesterday.

Also, I shouldn’t be attracted to him. He has a girlfriend, or maybe two. This is a strong enough reason to resist him, right?

“I’d like to know what called on you to do this,” He said as he pointed to the mess. His eyes are still on me, watching me so closely… like a predator. To some point, it makes me uncomfortable but also makes me want to edge closer to him.

“Wait, are you from the opposition’s lobby? Did they make you do this to get back at me?” He enquires further while I am left standing dumbstruck. I am hesitant. I shuffle on my feet and look around the office.

The place is still a mess but I could notice the attempts that had been made to bring the place in order. Though it looks to have failed.

“No, I don’t know anyone from any lobby,” I answer.

“Then why did you do this?” He asks patiently. There’s something in the way he speaks. It’s like he is musing internally.

I take a deep breath before gathering all of my thoughts. I need to get diplomatic here, “Look, I apologize for what I did. I am ready to accept the consequences of my action but I cannot explain this to you,”

It takes a great deal for me to speak straight like this. I am afraid that my anxiety could be heard in my voice. He doesn’t say anything, neither does he moves.

Though the interest in his eyes increases even more. The tips of his lips are turned up into a smirk as he continues to look at me. I try my best to not stare at his lips even though they look very tempting.

I feel so exposed in front of him, I want to hide from him. He is looking at me as if he knows something about me that I don’t. It’s making this worse for me.

He seems to be enjoying this though he shouldn’t right? I mean, I vandalized his office with Lisa. He should be angry at us but he looks anything but angry.

“You did this to frame Holly. Didn’t you?” He asks after some moments of silence. He pulls out an ID from his pocket. I know right away that it’s Holly.

“No,” I try to lie. It makes him smirk even more.

“What’s the deal with Holly? Did she do something to you?” He continues to ask me questions about the subject that I want to avoid the most. I shake my head at him as I press my lips in a thin line.

The knowing look in his eyes tells me that he knows I am lying. He knows many things.

“I don’t want to talk about her,” I simply tell him. He nods, letting the topic drop but something tells me that he would be asking me about her later again.

“Now, what shall I do with you?” He muses. All the blood rushes to my cheeks as his eyes grow intense on me. The air around us charges with tension. My stomach dips as some lusty thoughts take over my mind.

His eyes darken even more on me as if he could read me. It makes the situation even tenser. I lick my lips wet and try to compose myself. His eyes fix on my lips momentarily before flickering back to my eyes.

“I accept the consequences,” I mutter. He pushes himself off the table and stalks towards me. This time, he stands so close in front of me that our toes are touching. I manage to catch a strong whiff of his musky scent. He smells amazing.

His stares deep into my eyes before lifting his hand. My heart is drumming in my chest while I feel myself turning redder.

I sigh deeply as he takes a strand of my hair and gently wraps it around his finger before letting it go. It’s the only time he is not looking me in the eyes. A small and genuine smile climbs on his face, which confuses me.

“Cybele,” He says gently. It’s almost a whisper. It makes me want to edge closer to him but I do not.

Though he takes me by surprise when he steps closer instead. My heart is wildly beating in my chest. I don’t think this is healthy for me but I am excited to know what happens next.

“So, you’ve met her finally,” A voice snaps us out of our daze. He closes his eyes and sighs.

“Brooke,” He mutters. It makes me turn around to find the brunette. This must be his girlfriend. I step away from him unconsciously as she steps inside the office.

“So, you vandalized the office with Lisa?” She asks me with too much enthusiasm which I doubt no one would generally show if they come across the person who vandalized their office.

These people are somewhat weird.