Chapter 10 letting me go

As I raised my head to see who it was, my eyes narrowed in astonishment seeing Noah standing before me.

"What are you doing here?” I inquired.

Raising his index finger, he mumbled, “one second.” Then pressing his hands against his knee he bent a little, catching his breath.

When his breath got back to normal, he got up and smiled at me.

“Now tell me what is going on here?” questioning, I folded my arms.

"Nothing much, I was just playing a race with the elevator and checking out who could reach the ground floor first. And guess what?”

“What?” I raised my brows.

“I am the winner,” he said, stroking his chin proudly.

"Great congratulations..." I clapped my hands and then twitching my lips to the side, walked away.

"Quynh, I am sorry..." he said, following me behind.

"I forgive you!" I said not sparing a glance to him.

"Why are you not staying then?"

"Because I don’t want to stay with a person who leaves without any notice. I am not ready to bear the same pain as in the past.”

The silence hovered around and not hearing any reply of him claiming that he wouldn’t leave this time kind of pierced my heart. Even though he would leave I wanted him to say something that would ease my heart, but sadly nothing came from him.

Walking a few steps ahead, I came to a halt and turned around to give him one last glance, but strangely he was not behind me.

‘Okay, so this time also he left without saying goodbye,’ I mused and turned around.

Seeing him standing in front of me flinched and made me jump back. “What the heck?” I rumbled and punched his chest. “Why are you scaring the hell out of me?”

He rubbed his chest without saying anything.

“Why the heck are you not saying anything?” I grumbled as his silence was pissing me off.

Suddenly, he gripped my arms and looked deep into my eyes.

“What? What are you doing?”

"I am not going to leave this time, Quynh. I promise," in a solemn voice, he mumbled.

"Why? Want to ruin my dates again?" I raised a question not believing in his words.

"No, I won't do that again. I was naive and also a jerk to pull such a prank on you. Now I know how you might have felt. But trust me Quynh, I didn't know what it felt to be with the person you love until..." he paused.

"Until what?" I raised my brows out of curiosity.

Letting go of my arms, he looked away and replied, "until I fall in love."

As my jaw dropped, I covered my mouth in disbelief. "Wait, what? Did I hear it right? Noah, the greatest jerk of our time for whom love was just a joke, is actually talking about love? You must be kidding me."

"No, I am not. My feeling for her is definitely not a joke. I know I love her and have no second thoughts about it.” I was amazed seeing him dead serious.

"Who is that unlucky girl, Jerk?” Folding my arms, I tapped my feet and added, “I am sure she must be the most unlucky girl in the world to be loved by a Jerk like you." I giggled.

"Um! Maybe… or maybe not. If I get a chance to be with her, then I will try my best to keep that beautiful smile on her face for eternity, " he replied with no hint of jock in his tone.

"God! I think I am in my dream. How is this possible? Noah, who always used to make fun of me for having a crush on Cristopher is actually being dead serious and talking about love? Things have really changed to the highest point," I tried to provoke him by giving a witty smile.

"Same goes to you, Miss Worth. Who would have thought Miss Worth who was always late for class would actually show up fifteen minutes earlier on her first day of job.”

“You…” I pointed towards him but shoving my hand away he added, “Also Miss Worth, who was always so fierce and exploded out every time when things didn't go according to her would actually stay calm even knowing the job given to her is provided to another."

"Stop it!" I rumbled in a threatening tone.

"Also, the most important point, Miss Worth, who used to love innocent, smart, and committed boys would actually fall in love with a Pervert."

Suddenly embarrassment arose inside me as he suddenly pulled up the subject of my ex-boyfriend Joe.

"It was you who called me yesterday?" I questioned.

Without replying, he fetched his cell phone from his pocket. Then all of a sudden he started to read the text I had sent him the other day and it added another pile of embarrassment.

“Noah, stop it,” I rumbled but he kept on reading it till the end.

Then averting his gaze towards me started to taunt me with his mock, “I cannot believe you can actually sound so polite. Miss Worth, who never gave any respect to me actually apologized to me. I am going to print this out and hang it on the wall. This is the biggest achievement that I have achieved till now.”

“I am so done now. Goodbye,” I roared in anger and took a step but suddenly he stood in front of me and extended his hand to block my way.

“Sorry, sorry I was just kidding. Don’t take it by heart. Please stay with me,” he requested in a pleading tone.

"I am not staying,” I replied coldly but as soon as it escaped my lips I regretted it.

Even after knowing how badly I was in need of a job, I still showed my attitude and was about to walk away from such a wonderful opportunity of working by the side of my best friend.

Also, nothing could be done now as I have said it out and there was no chance of going back. In this condition only one hope was there, he persuaded me to stay back. But there was a slim chance of it as I was not that useful to him.

Clenching my fist, I waited for him to say something that would make me stay back but the thing he said totally broke my heart.

“I respect your decision.”

‘What does he mean by that? Is he letting me go?’ I mused with a fret heart.