Someone to hate

The next day, late in the afternoon, James Terry's BMW had slid into the driveway of Cecilia's house and stopped at the front entrance as she was in her library and kept busy with a stack of files on the table in front of her. She was examining the lists of new arrivals of cosmetics to her newly-opened cosmetics company. There was a knock on her door and she saw it open and Mrs. Mary's face peek in it.

"Mr. Terry's just arrived and wants to see you, Miss Cecilia," said Mrs. Mary.

Cecilia frowned and gave a sigh of frustration.

"As you know I'm so busy now and I don't want to see him. Tell him that I'm so busy," ordered Cecilia.

Mrs. Mary nodded quickly and went down to tell James

Terry that Cecilia couldn't see him because she kept busy. But a few minutes later, Mrs. Mary got near her again. Cecilia glared up at her.

"Mr. Terry says…," began Mrs. Mary but paused instantly as if she didn't dare continue.

"What did he say?" asked Cecilia.

"He said he would wait until Miss Rodney came down and met him," said Mrs. Mary slowly.

"WHAT!" roared Cecilia. Mrs. Mary gave a gasp of terror as Cecilia jumped to her feet and slammed down some of the files in her hand against the table. Cecilia strode out of her room and shut the door behind her violently.

Going down the spiraling staircase, she twitched the corner of her mouth, thinking that James Terry was the very last person in the world she wanted to see now, and saw him sitting on the sofa in the grand living room, looking up at her and watching her descend the stairs.

"Well, Mr. Terry," said Cecilia. "Did you come here to show me the lists and the accounts of the company, didn't you?" she asked, looking at the files laid on his briefcase by his side on the sofa and taking a seat on the one opposite to him.

"Yes, of course," said James with a quick smile. "We should check on these at least once in a month, shouldn't we? I don't think it's hard for you to do these things."

A quick flash of displeasure quickly passed through in Cecilia's eyes. "Aren't there accountants and manager in your company?" asked Cecilia. "I think you're paying salaries for them to do these things," she added sarcastically.

"But, you know, I shouldn't let their hands on everything in the company, should I?" asked James, winking at her. "If I closed my eyes and let them do everything they want to do, we'd exactly face the loss of money, wouldn't we?" His gaze fixed on her intently so she shifted uneasily on her sofa.

"So it means that you always keep your eyes on the profit and the loss of the company?" asked Cecilia with a tense expression on her face.

"Sure," said James with a smirk.

Hateful smirk, Cecilia thought.

"Is that exactly what I should do, isn't it?" asked James.

Cecilia curled her lips but said nothing. James Terry reached for something that had been laid on the coffee table beside him. To her surprise, it was a bouquet of beautiful yellow roses tied with pink ribbons. She hadn't realized before that it was there.

"It's my gift for you," said Terry, handing it to her. "I picked out the color of yellow. Yellow means my adoration for you," he said, his eyes flickered over her pretty delicate face. There was a slightly teasing sound in his voice, but she knew there was also an odd expression in his eyes she'd never seen before.

Cecilia found herself pressing her own lips tightly. She didn't take a bouquet from him, instead she reached out her hand and took the bottle of green ink on the table and poured down on that beautiful yellow rose bouquet.

James was startled by her strange behavior. Before he could think of anything to say, Cecilia shot a look of pure hate at him, who looked still numb all over his body with humiliation and shame.

"It's my gift for you," said Cecilia with a smile, her eyes threateningly sharp.

James Terry stared at her with wide eyes; he couldn't hide that she'd given him quite a shock.

"Take it back," said Cecilia. James gulped. "Take that bunch of green roses back. Then you should know what my reaction is, okay?" she said, sounding as if she were the conqueror and he were the loser.

A trace of smile appeared upon James's lips, icy smile, and then he nodded and nodded, and set the bouquet back on the table and got to his feet.

"Well, I've left some of these files for you," he said as if nothing had happened between them.

Cecilia shifted her gaze from him to the portrait on the wall, willing him to leave as quickly as possible. Unexpectedly, James came nearer to her. Cecilia gasped with surprise and jumped to her feet.

"By the way, I want to ask you," he began softly and looked down at her with a smile that set her nerves tingling. "Why didn't you consider me even a second?" he asked coldly.

Cecilia shot him a stabbing glance and said, "Because I'm not totally interested in you."

He chuckled as if she were saying the funniest thing. She threw a hateful glance at him again and began to turn away from him, but he seized her round the wrist and pulled her roughly to him. Cecilia was so startled that her breath caught and gazed up at him.

"Well, I'm interested in you, Miss Rodney. Yes, I really am," said James, his eyes became flittering with enthusiasm. "I want to have you, Cecilia, forever."

She scowled at him. "What the hell are you talking ab – ?" cried Cecilia, but her words were interrupted, and she trembled a little because he suddenly scooped her up in his strong arms, her heart skipped a beat and her cheeks tingled with the shock of his sudden behavior.

"How dare you…how dare you do like that?" she stammered furiously. He didn't give any answer but gazed down at her intensely as if his eyes gave her a warning threateningly that he could kiss her in any second while she was in his arms; her heart gave a jerk – what if he kissed her… with his such hard lips, Cecilia thought.

"Let me go, let me go," cried Cecilia, but she knew that he wouldn't let her down so easily because the daring look on his face showed it.

"Mrs. Mary! Mrs. Mary!" called Cecilia, her eyes filled with panic.

James Terry chuckled again and seemed to enjoy her

fright. "You didn't see her go down to the ground, did you?" said James.

Cecilia was surprised. She didn't know when Mrs. Mary had gone. All of a sudden she felt a hot surge of panic growing in her chest, making her heart pounding so fast.

"But I did," said James, staring down at her, drinking in her beautiful face closely. "Me, James Terry, doesn't love every girl he meets and doesn't kiss," he said quietly. "But I find myself in disbelief wanting to kiss you passionately," he added. Cecilia felt a chill run down her spine.

But she tried to pretend not to look too startled. "You brute! You must be the man who can easily be interested in every woman at first sight. I don't believe you and won't think highly of you. I'm certain so much that you're a liar," she said with a grimace but it didn't wipe off his sardonic smile on his lips. "Let go of me," she cried, trying to be free of his arms.

James Terry chortled.

"DON'T laugh at me, YOU HATEFUL MAN!" bellowed Cecilia wildly. "Let me go. Don't take a step on my house again from this day forward. I don't need you or your advice."

He still lifted her in his arms and looked down into her eyes intently. "I'm a gentle man, Miss Rodney. I didn't do anything that would make you furious, did I?" said James, dropped her slowly onto the sofa. Picking his bouquet up from the table, he swung away from her and marched out of the living room, down the front steps.

Cecilia was left with anger, tears stung the back of her eyelids. How ridiculous of him to want her even when he had been Ken's best friend! How different he was from Ken, with his daring face, piercing look, and bold touch that held no tenderness. Hateful man! Cecilia thought.