RED

Sweet pea (part 2)

"I'm going to be late to work. I might even get fired." She complained, hoping he would understand and like a civil person, let go of her hand, but he did none of that.

"That would be great. You should work just for me, that way things would be easier for you." He commented as he took a look at her. She stared at him with contempt for a while, before deciding to forcefully get his hand away from hers, even if it meant hitting him, but her struggle grew futile as Enrico came to a stop.

"Stop. Do you really want to do this in public?" He asked as he turned to her, then looked left and right. Her eyes followed and that's when she realised they weren't the only ones on the street. Right then, everyone was minding their business, venturing wherever they were off to, but one dramatic scene from them and all eyes would focus on them.

She shifted her eyes back to him only to meet a broad smile.

"Just a few minutes. That's all I'm asking for, besides you can't say no to an ailing man." He added, before turning away from her and moving forward, dragging her along with him.

Ailing man, my foot!

It seemed like forever that they had been walking nonstop heading nowhere in particular. Kiana looked down at her hand locked within his. It felt a little strange, but at the same time, nice. Looking back up at him, she couldn't help but wonder if he actually felt nothing while holding her hand. Did he feel a little strange, weird, awkward, nice just like she was feeling? Her breathing was barely in place. Her heart thumped so loudly and she had to take a deep breath at intervals to calm herself down a little. She convinced herself several times that it was just holding hands, nothing else, but deep down, that wasn't really the case.

As she stared at Enrico, she hoped to see a sign that he was feeling a little unease like she was, but instead, she found nothing. Eventually, she looked away from him. How could she have forgotten he was a Casanova? Obviously, he was so good at using his sweet talk to women into falling for him. She thought of all the women he might have held this way without actually feeling anything close to special. It made her feel pathetic for thinking she was a little special and different from the rest. Walking by his side, hand in hand, made her feel stupid.

"The few minutes you asked for are up." She stated, as she suddenly came to a stop, causing him to do the same. He turned to her.

"I really have to leave." She told him as she attempted to withdraw her hand away from his, but his grip remained the same whilst he stared at her with a blank expression on his face. She didn't know what to conclude of his thoughts at the moment. Kiana readied herself on giving him a good piece of her mind before looking up to him. Before a word could escape her lips, suddenly he released his grip on her hand, taking her by surprise. Eventually he withdrew his hand and buried it within the pocket of his sweatshirt. She stared at him, eyes slightly widened. She hoped for this, but she hadn't expected it to come this early. He gave up quite easily. She hadn't thought he would. It made her wonder if everything was alright with him. Staring up at his face, slowly a simple smile drew across it.

"See you later, Kiana." He told her in a calm and composed tone. His sudden change of decision, attitude, seemed a little puzzling for her. She blinked several times, as if trying to jump back into reality. Gulping down, she finally looked away from him for a second.

"Okay." She managed to reply, as she took one more look at him. The expression on his face remained the same. Cool and subtle. Nevertheless, she turned and began walking away from him. Her pace was a little slow and unsure. She had wanted this, for him to let her go, but when he actually did, deep down, she didn't want to leave anymore. She slightly turned her head and took one more look at him. He still stood in the same position and posture staring at her. A simple smile played on his lips. She turned her head away from him and back to its normal position. She lightly bit her lower lip as she stared down at her hand which he held a few seconds ago. A heavy sigh escaped her lips.

Snap out of it, Kiana!

She told herself and with that mind-set, she hastened her pace and went further away from him.

Enrico eventually looked away from her. Deep down, he felt truly sad which normally shouldn't be so. Who was Kiana to him? His assistant, maid, old acquaintance. What exactly was the right definition for her? Why did he do all that he did today? What exactly was the word to describe his dilemma? Perhaps, he might never have the right answer to his questions. Just perhaps.

* * *

"Kiana." Macy called, as she approached Kiana's desk with two other women tagging along.

Kiana looked up to her, away from the screen of her computer. A simple smile played on her lips.

"We're off to have lunch. You're coming with us, right? And I won't take a no once more for an answer." Macy asked, with a cheeky smile on her face.

Kiana let out a sigh.

"I'm sorry, Macy..."

"Oh, come on, Kiana. You have to come with us. There's a new restaurant down the street and rumours has it that the chef is drop dead gorgeous. Who knows? You might hit the jackpot with him." One of the women with Macy spoke up, trying her best to persuade her further. She put up a charming smile at the end of her speech.

Kiana tried her best to remain polite with a simple smile, hoping they would understand the fact that she just didn't have the money to spend at a new and probably fancy restaurant. Thinking of fancy, she recalled the one Enrico took her to yesterday. A simple smile played on her lips.

"Perhaps, next time..."

"No, not next time. You've been saying that since you started working here. Fine. Don't you worry about the bill. Today, your lunch is on me, so let's go." Macy stated, as she drew closer and urged her to get up and no matter how much Kiana tried to tell her she didn't have to do that, the young woman just wouldn't pay heed.

At the end, she found herself in the recently talked about new restaurant seated at a table of four, alongside the women she came in with. The decor was pretty classy and neat, but not just as fancy as the one she had been to the previous day.

Oh, just stop it, Kiana!

She exclaimed within her mind as she rolled her eyes. Yes, she admitted the fact that she enjoyed herself yesterday and might probably never feel the same way ever again. Enrico had been rather normal when he got to work this morning. He made his usual order of coffee and had been rather... professional, since then. No extra works for her and no strange comments. She should be happy, right? But no, she, sort of, wasn't. What looked perfectly normal to others in all this seemed perfectly abnormal for her. She felt really bothered.

"Oh my God, guys! Act normal. The chef is coming this way." Kiana heard the woman seated opposite her exclaim almost in a whisper. They all acted a little funny as they quietly composed themselves and took strange poses. Kiana couldn't deny her curiosity of seeing what the chef was causing so much ruckus really looked like, so she turned away from them and unto the direction they stared at.

Her eyes slowly widened as she stared at the blonde haired man in a plain white chef's uniform, an apron wrapped around his waist approaching their table.

"Good afternoon, ladies." He greeted, with a cool and simple smile decorated on his face.

"Good afternoon." The ladies chanted their reply almost at the same time that Kiana had to take one look at them, before shifting her eyes back to the Chef whose eyes were fixated on her.

"Hello, Kiana." He greeted, still with the same facial expression. She hesitated a great deal, before responding.

"Hello, Nicolas."