16 Trouble in Paradise

Her eyes were blurry as she walked quickly down the sidewalk trying to find a taxi. Chloe could feel her heart beating fast and the adrenaline burning in her veins.

When she finally found a cab, she got in without looking back as if she was running away. She was only able to breathe again when she realized the car was taking distance from that restaurant. From him. Her mind was a terrible mess with a mix of unknown feelings.

Chloe reached Bailey Industries’ building in minutes. When she was ready to lock herself in her office, Brianna came running asking what was wrong.

“Chloe, what happened? Why are you pale?” Brianna was worried.

“It’s him, Bri…” Chloe said tearful.

“Come on, seat here and tell me everything!” Brianna pointed to the chair.

Chloe closed the door and seated in front of her friend, with her head down. She told Brianna everything that happened, including Victor’s disgusting proposal. Brianna listened to that carefully, and her facial expressions made clear what she was thinking about all of that.

“I don’t even know what to say, Chloe.” Brianna was shocked. “Victor is a jerk! He always was. Mr. Bailey hates him deeply, and now I can see why.”

Staring at that brown-haired woman with sad eyes, Brianna continued:

“I’m sorry. I know this is not what you thought it would be. I mean this relationship. Actually this is not a relationship but an arrangement, and that’s why I should tell you to be careful.”

Chloe lifted her eyes to glance at her friend, trying to understand what her point was. As Brianna didn’t complete the sentence, she asked cautiously:

“Be careful about what?”

“Your feelings, darling.” Brianna smiled sadly. “This feeling inside of you now… it’s jealousy. You’re too worried about his feelings for you and how you’re gonna make it work, that you’re not realizing you’re falling for him.”

Chloe widened her eyes as if she was awakening from a bad dream. That option crossed her mind once but she pushed it away since it made no sense to her. That was the kind of feeling Chloe would not like to consider. Not so soon.

“Ms. Rodriguez!” that thick voice sounded in the room.

Brianna got up quickly and Chloe just lowered her head, predicting what would happen. Mr. Bailey was standing in the doorway, totally ignoring Brianna. His angry eyes were fixed on Chloe.

“I want you in my office right now.” he didn’t give time to answers. Mr. Bailey left the room right away, shutting the door loudly.

“Take a deep breath and go, darling. I’ll be here if you need me.” Brianna sounded like a careful mother.

Chloe nodded and followed her way to his office trying to control her feelings. She would never let him realize how much she was affected.

“Mr. Bailey” she said in a professional tone.

“Why the hell you left the fuc**ng restaurant without a word?” he asked furiously.

Evan was standing on his feet, near the glass window. He stared at her with anger. He could not believe Chloe left him in the restaurant with no further explanations. That was the first time a woman left him in the middle of a date.

Yes, that was kind of a date, Evan thought. They were getting to know each other, but Jill ruined the moment.

“I searched for you everywhere! I tried to call but your phone was turned off.” he spoke nonstop.

“What kind of game are you playing, Evan?” Chloe couldn’t hold herself.

She felt him falter for a moment, showing confusion through his eyes. Chloe wondered if he was confused by her unexpected behavior. She had her hard eyes on him.

“What are you talking about? That was nothing planned! I was as surprised as you were when I saw Jill there!” his nervousness was visible, almost palpable.

“Surprised? Were you surprised?” Chloe took a deep breath. “So imagine how surprised I was when Victor came to tell me what you and Jill were doing.” she kept a low and cold tone of voice.

“What? Did Victor dare to speak to you?” Evan asked discredited. He gave a step forward towards her and clenched his fists.

“Yes. The same way you dared to kiss your ex-fiancée in front of me.” Chloe simply said.

Evan swallowed hard feeling the intensity of that statement.

After that, how could he deny?

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