New flame

Chapter 46

She groans loudly and exhales, trying to control herself.

"We shouldn't be having this conversation, Mickey. We have agreed to be just friends," She responds and pulls my arm off her. "See you around," She adds and starts walking out of the room.

After watching her leave the room, I veer to lie back on the bed, gazing at the ceiling. Probably, I shouldn't have asked her about it. It seems I can't even control my feelings for her.

What is wrong with me?

Was I even ready for a relationship? A long-term in particular? I let out a deep sigh, thinking about Ren and me.

No sooner than my phone chimes for a notification. I reach for it to see Jeff's message, asking me to come to see him in his office. I wonder what he wanna talk about.

I instantly get out of bed to put on my pants and t-shirt, then I leave the room to go meet him.

I knock at his office door and I step in, opening the door to see him working on his laptop.

"What's up Mike," He greets, taking off his glasses as he raises his head to stare at me while I make my way to sit on the chair before him.

"I'm great!" I answer and he stretches his arm toward me to give me a fist bump.

"Why am I here?" I inquire after tapping his clenched fist with mine.

"You know exactly why I want to see you, Mike," He replies, giving me a cunning smile while I chuckle a little.

I should have guessed in the first place.

"I thought he wanna have a face-to-face conversation with me, so why sending you to me," I shrug with my shoulder.

"Chief is kinda busy with some meetings, he asked me to see you thinking you might have gone back to Scott's before he returns,"

"Well, do not waste your time dude, there is nothing to talk about,"

"There is a lot to talk about,"

"He just needs to step down and also return 3 million dollars to Mr. Ademola, that's it,"

"That's it?" He questions in surprise and he gets to his feet. "Come on Mike, where do you want him to see that huge amount of money at this time,"

"I don't care,"

"It is his past, you should let go,"

"His past is fixable and he needs to fix it, he must," I interjected and he veers to sit on the table, close to me.

"Okay, relax. I know you dare not tell Karen about it..." He is saying and I cut in.

"Who told you I haven't told her about it?" I say, playing along and he chuckles a little.

"I know you, Mike, you wouldn't hurt her emotionally that way," He expresses and this makes me calm down.

He got me with that, how am I supposed to tell her that my dad was the reason behind her dad's 20 years of imprisonment? I even want my dad to return the money secretly to her dad without her knowing.

I could remember her telling me that she wish the culprit was already paying for what he or she did.

"Why don't you just cut the relationship with her since you said there is nothing serious between you guys?" He states in a persuading way and I scoff a little.

"What about you telling me that love is a beautiful thing and I should open my heart to it,"

"That was when I thought you are interested in her," He shrugs and I burst into a laugh.

All of a sudden, he was convinced I am not interested in Ren. Sometimes, I do wonder why he always stands by the chief no matter what, this at the same time makes me recall that he is paying his debt by living his life for dad after he helped him.

I wish I could tell him this but he is also a victim. I would rather wish he found a way out of my dad's den because the part of Jeff I know won't be defending my dad or taking his side despite knowing all he did.

"I'm into her," I made it clear to him and his brows raised in shock while he is short for words.

"Back down Jeff, my dad must fix this," I say and get to my feet.

"He can't afford to pay that amount of money," He tries to stop me with that. "What about him taking care of Karen's responsibility henceforth while the past dies down?"

I scoff a little, trying to reason with him. This is not even about Ren, it's all about her father who suffers despite being innocent.

"Then Karen doesn't have to know anything about the past and you guys can go on with your relationship, no distraction," He adds to convince me. I let out a deep sigh and he holds my shoulder.

It is so hard for me to resist his words and say no. A part of me does not want Ren to know what happened between our parents. I do not wish for that because I can't even withstand seeing her hurt again.

"Think about it guy," I hear Jeff say as I snap out of my thought. I begin to leave his office, having nothing to say.