Swapped Feelings | ✓

■ Payback

It was not easy to stand still if you half ran-half walk till fifteen floors of a building. I was dying inside.

I was panting so loudly my chest was hurting. It felt like it would break into pieces now. My head was burning. I rested my hand on the side cabinet gasping for breath, steadying my pounding heartbeat and closing my eyes before bending down on my knees, my face in my hands.

"Sit down and have some water, Allison," Jared said quietly, not in a condescending tone.

If I didn't know him well, I would even go as far as to say he sounded concerned for me.

"Heh?" I asked, not sure if I heard him right.

"You and your hehs and huhs. Do as I say, Allison. I don't have loads of time," He rolled his eyes, looking somber and cold as usual.

I got up and sat down, gulping down the entire water kept in the glass for him. He waited patiently as I regained my breath, staring intently at me the entire time. It felt awkward. The only sound was my loud pantings and the clock ticking as I closed my eyes, trying to keep my adrenaline under control. It was almost after a proper five minutes when I felt my body state going back to normal. I opened my eyes to see him staring at me with curiosity.

When he saw my breathing had composed into the usual state again, he leaned back on his chair with his fingers on his lips and elbows on the armrest.

"So..." He started.

"I am fired. I know. I will pack my stuff," I said dejectedly, still exhaling heavily.

He smirked, "Well, after what you did yesterday, you deserve to be fired. But I wasn't gonna say that. I was actually going to say you look like crap," His smirk grew wider.

Uh oh, I could sense danger sign. That smile was creepy and scary. Something was about to come.

"Sorry, hangover," I mumbled, waving my hand in air, "You won't fire me?"

"Why do you drink so much if you can't handle?" He ignored my question, tilting his head and smiling but his eyes looked serious. Now, his smiled looked sexy.

Oh, a hell lot of sexy.

"I got carried away," I said truthfully.

"By what?" He pressed.

By you, genius.

I kept quiet, fidgeting with my fingers and staring at anywhere but him. I didn't know what to say.

"Let me guess. By your asshole, jerk, meanie, shitface, donkey poop, monkey faced pig's butt, nincompoop boss," He finished with that smile still plastered on his face, as if he was having the time of his life.

I blushed deep red. Did I really say those? Oh dear. He must have some really bad things in my store if he wasn't firing me.

"Yes, you did," He answered my thoughts.

How come he remembered each word? His face held pure amusement and he was trying to stifle a smile.

Weird. Shouldn't he be angry? Shouldn't he fire me or murder me? What was with the smiling?

"I am sorry. I don't know what came over me. I was really drunk," I apologised, "I am so sorry."

"You said what you really felt, I can't blame you really," He sighed loudly.

Someone please kill me. I beg of you. God will do good to you if you listen to me.

"Who is Wade? Your boyfriend? I can't remember what you said about him last night," He suddenly asked, leaning forward and grabbing the paperweight.

"Um, no. He is my roommate and my best friend," I said, confused about the change in direction.

Why was he asking about Wade? He can't be jealous or... not. This was not the time to think of that. Concentrate on holding onto your job.

"Roommate...bestfriend..." He mumbled to himself, as he rotated the paperweight in his hand, deep in thoughts. His face had a blank look again and I couldn't say if he was jealous. Nothing gave him out. He was testing those words as he stared at the paperweight and I was thinking what he would do now.

"He shouldn't have let you drink so much. That's not a nice friendship then, is it?" He said slowly.

"He told me not to drink and drove us home safely. He figured I was old enough to handle myself. Teenage years are long gone. I was not acting like an adult. Its not his fault," I defended.

He looked at me, expressionless. He was pondering on what I said. He stared at me for a good ten seconds as I fidgeted under his gaze. The air seemed to vanish as he looked like a predator wanting to hunt it's prey.

I looked around before focusing on him again as he darted his tongue out and wet his lips, slowly and agonizingly as he looked at me. I gulped slowly, blinking rapidly now.

I wished I could read minds.

"Ms. Marshall, take these files. Check them and find the errors and correct them. I need them by today," He suddenly straightened and pointed to a mountain of files lying on a side table. There were some more files on a flat platform next to it because it didn't fit on the table.

My eyes widened as I saw the pile. He was joking, right?

"Consider this as your punishment. Its a simple punishment," His evil smirk returned.

"But... but, this will take whole day. No... more than that. I can't finish it one day," I shook my head violently, "It will take a normal person two-three days. I have to check and tally all the numbers and then mark against them."

"Too bad then. You should have thought about it before you called your boss such lovely names. No lunch break for you today. Even if it takes the whole night, you will stay here and complete it," He ordered, signing a document, "This building is very safe and it has workers dorms too in case if you stay behind tonight, so you don't need to worry about anything."

My jaws were literally hanging. He kept the pen down, again leaned forward and with his middle finger under my chin closed my mouth. His finger was rough and hard against my skin. His eyes held pure malice and wickedness.

"Go on. You may leave," He said, shooing me off.

I got up, took the files and left the room, trying to balance the files. I could swear he was laughing behind my back.

"You can call someone for help if you can't carry all of them by yourself!" He shouted behind my retreating figure.

Certified asshole.