✔|Entwined With You|

Chapter 34.

"Gabriella Steward?"

"Yeah.."

"So what did you do?" I asked looking down at our entwined fingers.

"What could I do? She was so confident, acting so sophisticated. She had all the qualications. I selected her."

"What happened then?"

"She-" He realised that he had been holding my hand a bit too tightly so he softened his hold. "She tried to seduce me at first. With some short revealing clothes and all that. I-I honestly didn't know. I was affected by it. I was knew at business then, the business was growing rapidly everyday....she took the advantage."

"I'm so sorry." I whispered.

"It was on one night when I had been working late. She came over telling me she had forgotten something. God knows how and when, she had herself landed on my lap."

"Oh God!"

"Yeah..I tried my best to refuse her, to push her off me. But the next thing I knew, she was shedding tears. She then blamed me for harassing her."

"How can someone-"

"Yes, I ask myself the same question several times. Still, I haven't found the answer by now. But the news, we'd gotten it removed from the entire media. How did Koch get them?"

"He can do anything when it comes to the people he hates. And now that it involves me, he'd go to any extend." My palms sweated at the mere mention of his name.

"Oh yes...How could we forget about him? Come on now, tell me your story."

"It's a bit...I'll make us some coffee first."

"Okay. Take all your time, but you'll be telling it all today."

I want into the kitchen and dried off the sweaty palms on my pants and ran a hand through my hair. Then, I fetched the coffee from the cabinets and started mixing it up with the drop of water.

"Cold coffee?"

"Anything will do." He entered the kitchen opening his tie and two top buttons. His suit jacket was already lying discarded on the couch outside and this...will be really distracting.

I dumped the coffee, milk and ice cubes in the mixture and turned it on and motioned him to bring the mugs. Filling the mugs up to the brim, I brought them back outside and set them in the table.

"So?"

"He- I don't know where to start from?" I groaned and buried my head in my hands.

"Shhh. Relax, start from the very biggining." He kept an assuring hand on my shoulders.

"So, I-I was very young when I joined him for work..as his PA. Nineteen or Twenty maybe. Well, it started of pretty fine. But then-"

A loud sob I didn't know I had been holding on to escaped from my mouth. He instantly grabbed me by my shoulders and engulfed me in a tight hug.

"Shhh..Calm down Isabella. Nobody can hurt you now. You are safe with me. Deep breaths. One at a time." He murmured through my hair andrubbed small circles over my back and softy rubbed it as my sobs disappeared and I pulled back.

"You want some more time?" He asked in a soft voice and wiped off my tears using the back of his hand.

"No-No..It's high time I share it with you."

"Take your time. I'll not hurry you into this." I grabbed the coffee mug from the table and took a big gulp and adjusted back on the seat.

"It started off pretty well- he was paying me fine, I didn't have much work to do...But then came the flirting." I saw Julian's hands tighten around his mug.

"After flirting followed accidental touching." I swallowed a sob, recalling the disgusting feeling I used to experience.

"Why didn't you complain?"

"I did not- I did not know. I was young and stupid and- and I thought maybe I was over thinking. Maybe it wasn't what it looked like."

"But you had been wrong."

"But I had been wrong." I agreed. "Soon he would yell at me when I would make mistakes. Several times ge insulted me in front of clients. He-he slapped me once."

The hand grasped the mug tighter, so tight I could see the vein up his forearm. "And just like that one night of yours came mine. He was working late and told me to assist him. And then he tried to-"

I couldn't form anymore words as another son followed. I heard the clatter of the mug he had been holding at it landed on the table. The big didn't fall down but balanced itself and a few drops dropped on the table.

"That son of a bitch tried to force himself on you?"

"Yes." I couldn't control the emotions I've been holding on to since long, so I landed on to his chest and cried miserably, till it was all out.

"Feeling better now?" He asked after a few minutes as I pulled back from me.

"Thank you. I needed this." I noticed his damp and crumpled white shirt. "I'm sorry about that shirt." I pointed.

"I don't care about the shirt. Now, listen to my plan."

***

"But there's a problem."

"What?"

"I-I don't wear the, you know...flimsy dresses." I looked down on my hands.

"You don't need to worry about that. I will take care of that." He waved a hand.

"Thanks...But will you make sure it's not too..."

"I know Isabella, don't worry." He smiled and stood up.

"I don't think we have enough time to cook some dinner. Should I order some pizza?"

"Pizza?" I couldn't help but curve my lips in a smile.

"Yeah?"

"Okay." I smiled.

"Any allergies? He asked as he dialed.

"Nope. Nothing."

After he was done with giving the order, he came back and sat next to me.

"I feel so bad. You know, you have recovered now and yet I'm living in your house. And now with Koch around...it's like I'm a burden."

He turned towards me and brushed a strand of my hair behind. He bent closer to my ear and took a deep breath in.

"Listen. You, are anything but a burden." He pulled away and looked intensely into my eyes. "And about Koch, you don't want to know how much hapiness I'd get after getting him kicked out of your life."

~