23.

-HER-

“I think we should prolly stop,” I tell Lisa.

“I think we shouldn’t Holly get away with this so easily,” Lisa says instead and I sigh. I surely made an adamant friend in college. I sigh and give up before turning in to what was being taught in today’s class.

“Are you free this weekend? Come hang out with us. You don’t do that much after freshers,” Lisa tells me. To some extent, she is telling the truth.

“I… I don’t know. I think I’ll stay home this weekend,” I tell her as we climb downstairs.

“Alright. Text me if you change your mind,” She says before walking the other way. I want to go home now but I’d have to go to his office. I groan internally and drag myself to his office.

This is just the second day and I regret doing it very much already. I could have slept peacefully or just read some books if I had the opportunity to go home.

He is already in the office when I enter. His eyes are instantly drawn to me and he stops what he had been doing to look at me properly. He scans me from head to toes before his eyes rest on my face. I instantly feel the butterflies in the stomach.

“Cybele,” He breathes. My name rolling out of his tongue sounds like an enchanting spell. It makes my heart race. I oddly feel happy and content for his exclusive attention.

“What am I supposed to do today?” I ask, looking away instead. I could still feel his eyes on me. I am finding it hard to look at him. He is looking absolutely breath-taking today. I am going to have trouble concentrating today.

I did not feel anything like this when I saw him in the morning. I was only surprised and confused. Though I don’t feel that now. I feel an entirely different bunch of feelings for him. Most of them are not very good.

“I don’t know. Whatever you want to do,” He tells me and I nod, still not looking at him.

“Are these sorted,” I ask him, pointing at a stack of paper resting on the desk.

“No,”

“I’ll work on them then,” I mutter before settling with the stack. Meanwhile, he is busy with some files. I notice a couple of books on polity and economics. They seem to be related to his major. He has his laptop with him too. He seems to be very busy today, not only with office work.

“I have a term paper to submit,” He informs me when he catches me looking at his books for the second time.

“I am sorry to bother you,” I tell him and instantly see a smirk climb on his face. There’s again that knowing look on his face which has been haunting me all this time. His eyes gleam with mischief. It makes my stomach dip.

“I don’t really mind you being in my office,” He speaks, never letting the smirk slip off his lips. His words make me forget what I was doing so that my mind could process them properly.

What does he mean by that?

I want to ask this question out loud to him but for some reason, I choose not to. I need to go home early today. I couldn’t use the same lie again and again for consecutive days at home. They'll catch me if I do.

“Ok,” I mutter, shifting in my seat before going back to my work. It takes me a moment to remember what I was doing. I feel his eyes on me a couple of times before he continues to do his work.

“Is there a certain amount of time I am required to work here?” I ask him after a long stretch of silence. He turns his attention to me instantly.

After giving me a prolonged look, he asks, “Why? Are you in a hurry?” I am caught off guard at his question. The tone with which he asked me, makes me feel sort of guilty.

“Yes,” I answer anyway. He reacts to it by narrowing his eyes at me and giving me a pointed look before pressing further, “It’s Friday. Do you have any plans to go out with someone? Are you seeing someone?”

All his questions make me sit up straight. His eyes are blazing with possessiveness and his jaw is clenched. He looks stern and angry for some reason. The air around seems to have grown dense suddenly.

I could see that his body is tensed. His eyes intensify on my face. I unconsciously lean back in my chair to put some space between us.

“No?” I blurt out like an idiot. He relaxes visibly instantly but not before cocking an eyebrow at me.

“What is that supposed to mean?” He asks headedly, leaning over the table. I gulp.

“I am not seeing anyone,” I tell him and he nods after giving me a prolonged look.

“So, why are you in a hurry to leave then?” He asks gently this time but I do not miss the undertone of urgency in his voice. His eyes are focused only on me. This gives me those damn fuzzy feelings that I am trying so hard to ignore.

“I just want to go home. I am kinda tired,” I answer honestly.

“Why?” He asks gently, supporting his face in his palm as he looks at me fervently. The butterflies in my stomach are replaced by the whole damn zoo. I feel the blood rush to my cheeks as they heat up. His eyes are able to notice everything.

He is taking too much interest in me than I am capable of managing. His questions seem to dig deeper into a personal level as if he wants to know me more and I wonder why.

I started this by vandalizing his office and now, I am helping him set this in order. This should end this but he seems to be interested in taking this further than that. I don’t know how to feel about that or even react to that.

“Just trouble sleeping,” I mutter before giving my attention back to the stack of papers I was sorting. Silence follows my answer before he breaks it with a deep sigh, “Ditto,”