18.

-HER-

I looked away and tried to concentrate on my work. I felt her eyes burn on me while Theodore acted as if I wasn’t there at all. From my peripheral vision, I watched them walk towards Mr. Toles’ office.

I couldn’t help but feel anxious all of a sudden. There was so much tension in the office all of a sudden. I wondered who she really was and what relationship did she have with Theodore. Although the way the woman was clinging to his arm, she must have some importance in his life.

A chill ran down my spine at the way she had looked at me. Her cold blue eyes had the intensity to burn holes in me. Although the way she had looked at me, it was sure that she remembered me from that night. I didn’t know how to feel about it but I was definitely sure that she wasn’t very pleased to see me and neither was I.

I didn’t want to acknowledge the jealousy that I felt internally. I kept reminding myself that I had no right to feel that way, especially upon seeing Theodore with another woman. He wasn’t mine and I hardly doubted that he wanted to do anything with me because he already had a much hotter woman on his arm.

Although I was finding it hard to forget all the things that happened between us the night Mr Toles had arranged dinner for the new clients. Whatever had happened that night, it only proved that he was not serious about it. He already seemed to be with that woman and it was a good enough reason for me to stay away from him.

I was slowly starting to learn this from my experience with Derek. Derek had already caused me enough trouble. I didn’t think that I’d be able to afford another Derek in my life. He hadn’t answered my texts and calls. I had decided to call him again today evening and apologize to him.

I was sure that I wouldn’t be able to see him for the next few weeks because Amanda would be with him. I didn’t think that I’d want to do anything with him further. I didn't have any energy left to run after a man. I was so worn out. I wanted to give up and move on but a huge part of me wasn’t very happy with the idea.

I sighed deeply at my thoughts and returned to the present to concentrate on work. I was soon called up by Mr Toles. I took shaky steps towards his office because I knew that the woman was going to be there. I didn’t want to see her… with him.

With a deep breath, I pushed the door to Mr Toles’ office open and stepped in. I instantly felt three pairs of eyes on me.

“Mr Toles,” I greeted him. He nodded at me in acknowledgement.

“Annelise, since the deal has been finalized and our client is planning to move in, I think we should start working on the house interior,” He spoke. My plan of staying away from Theodore was instantly threatened by Mr Toles’ words.

I did my best to maintain my calm on the surface while from the insides I was burning. I took the seat next to the woman before all the discussion regarding the interior of the house started.

From the conversation, I picked up that she was Theodore’s friend’s sister but the way she looked at him and batted her eyelashes at him, I knew that there was more to them than I could read on the surface.

Meanwhile, the tension escalated slowly as the conversation continued. Whenever I spoke, I was interfered by her. She acted like I wasn’t there in the room at all. On the other hand, I tried my best to be polite to her… especially in front of Mr. Toles and Theodore.

“Alright, I’ll talk to Mr Adams tonight and ask him to send one of his designers to the houses with Anna tomorrow. How’d be that?” Mr. Toles offered. A deep frown climbed on the woman’s face while Theodore confirmed, “That would be alright,”

That meant that from tomorrow I’d have to go to the houses to look after the work. This increased my probability of seeing him every day and hence my plan of staying away from him was successfully murdered. I wanted to curse out loudly at this.

A headache danced on my forehead as I thought about it. I was getting tired of this and wanted to stop seeing him as soon as possible but at the same time, I wanted to find out about his horns. They were one of the reasons that kept me awake at night.

This was already messing with my head so much. I wanted this deal to end already. I generally loved this job but this deal was making me consider quitting.

I was deeply relieved when the discussing was over. It had already drained so much energy out of me and that woman’s behaviour made me feel like shit too. I wanted to have a couple of moments alone to collect my thoughts and prepare myself for the rest of the day in the office.

As soon as I stepped out of Mr. Toles’ office, I headed straight to the restroom. Fortunately, it was empty. I took my time to do my business but I wasn’t ready to find that woman standing in front of the mirror applying lipstick when I stepped out of the stall.

It was odd because I didn’t hear her walk in. I froze on my tracks when our eyes locked in the mirror reflection. Her vibrant blue eyes stared me down, just like in the meeting, as I dared to walk to the sink next to her and washed my hands.

“What’s your name?” She asked as her eyes scanned me from head to toe while a judgmental look decorated her face. I was surprised that she was asking me my name even after Mr Toles had called me by my name many times during the discussion. Then I remembered that she blatantly kept ignoring me. She might have missed my name on purpose.

I decided to answer he nevertheless, “Ann-“

“Whatever it is, stay away from my man,” She warned while she didn’t even let me finish. This took me off guard for a second but judging by the way she was acting in the office, I wasn’t surprised.

With one of her eyebrows cocked, she added, “I don’t understand how someone like you could even think themselves to be worthy of attention from a man like him?”

“I have nothin-“

“Just shut that ugly mouth of yours already,” She snapped at me this time. It was odd how I could feel her anger radiating off her. I unconsciously took a step away from her after silently washing my hands.

She glared at me as I dried my hands off. This woman seemed to be another level of insane than what I was anticipating.

“Who do you think you are?” She questioned. I found her question ironic because I should have been the one asking her that but nonetheless, I chose to keep my mouth shut in the tense situation. I knew she wouldn’t let me speak without interrupting anyway.

“Whatever you think yourself to be, don’t make the mistake to think yourself to be worthy of his attention,” She spoke, keeping her lipstick away, “If I saw you anywhere near him next time, I wouldn’t leave you alone,” With that, she turned on her heels and walked out of the restroom.

Meanwhile, I kept standing by the hand-dryer with my arms crossed on my chest and staring at the tip of my shoes. My mind kept repeating her words to me until I realized that she had just threatened me.

She sounded stern with her words and I knew that she had an affluent background to be able to deal with me even without directly getting involved. I paced in the restroom as I thought about it.

Should I be scared? I asked myself. My logical part answered that I should be.