Delusional?
How are he call her delusional?
She wasn't delusional. All Tessa could be described as was a passionate reader who wished she could find the kind of love the female characters in her books had. But he was rude enough to be an asshole. Here she was, thinking he was a sensible human since he was one of the smartest students in her erotica writing class.
Her jaws clenched. "Stupid Darell Powers."
She glanced at her wristwatch, which catapulted her heartbeat to a frenetic pace. Late - an unforgivable sin in the fast-paced world of social media marketing, particularly when working for an Erotica publishing company where deadlines were sacrosanct.
Desires Inc. It was one hell of a company.
She could already envision Oscar Hernandez, her notoriously stern boss, with his furrowed brows of disapproval. The thought scattered shivers down her spine. Oscar had this compelling presence, his handsome features accentuated by piercing blue eyes and a head of neatly styled blonde hair, which somehow amplified the intensity of his displeasure. He was the cliche book boyfriend, Darell had described earlier.
Tessa's footsteps echoed a frantic beat as she hurried through the bustling streets of the city; each second ticking away seemed to echo ominously in her ears. The whirlwind of colors and sounds swirled around her in a disorienting haze as she desperately flagged down a taxi amidst the ocean of people.
Her breath came in quick bursts, heart pounding against her rib cage as if mirroring the chaos of the urban jungle. She finally managed to hail a cab, almost throwing herself into it in her haste. "Please, can you go as fast as possible? I'm extremely late," she urged, anxiety lacing every word.
The taxi swerved into the stream of traffic, skyscrapers looming like giant sentinels watching over the frenzied activities of the city dwellers. Tessa felt the urgency knotting tighter within her as they neared the iconic building that housed her workplace. This towering entity stood as a beacon of creative pursuits and unyielding demands.
Squeezing through the throng of people was akin to wading through a turbulent sea. Each step seemed to be a battle, as she forced her way towards the monolithic structure that held her destination. She could feel beads of perspiration forming at her temples, her breath coming out in erratic puffs as she tried to navigate through the crowd.
Once inside, the elevator seemed to offer a brief sanctuary, a tiny moment to catch her breath before facing the storm that awaited her. Yet, as the doors slid open on her floor, she felt the familiar piercing gazes that seemed to bore into her skin, scrutinizing the patchy patterns of vitiligo that adorned her complexion. Faces twisted in concealed disdain, their silent judgments echoing louder than any spoken words. Tessa cast her eyes down, a bitter cocktail of shame and anger pooling in her gut.
As she reached her office, a wave of trepidation washed over her. There, occupying her space with an air of expectancy, sat Oscar Hernandez. The morning sun accentuated his almost ethereal looks, adding an unsettling grace to his stern demeanor.
Tessa could feel her heartbeat in her throat as she stood at the doorway, unable to find words. Oscar’s eyes met hers, and in that fleeting moment, Tessa couldn't decipher if the flicker in his blue orbs was that of annoyance or something softer, tinged with an understanding that transcended spoken reprimands.
Breathing felt like an effort as she awaited his verdict, bracing herself for the storm that was about to unleash. It was a race against time, a frantic chase for approval and understanding in a world that seldom paused to embrace the beauty in imperfections.
"Boss, I can explain," she said.
"Please do."
"I ran into some delay."
"Like what?"
She couldn't start of with; Hey boss, I met a really cute smart guy who turns out to be the biggest asshole. So, she went with a lie instead.
"My dog died."
"Your dog died?"
"Yes."
"Shouldn't you be with him?"
"No. We already buried him."
"So, how did he make you late?"
"I was grieving in my bathroom."
Oscar narrowed his eyes and patted a file on the desk. "This is a manuscript of a book I need advertised today. It's over one hundred and fifty thousand words long. Get it read before noon, and I need at least fifty preorders for it by tomorrow."
"Okay, Boss."
He rose from the seat and walked out of the room, his harsh perfume tightening Tessa's stomach. What the hell was wrong with her? Did she want to lose her job? Settling her bag on her desk, she rested her face in her hands. She had more of troubles to deal with. If Oscar found out she was making no progress with the erotica class he enrolled her in, she may lose her job. Every staff needed to attend and pass the exams.
"I'm no way near passing the exams."
She opened the manuscript and read the first paragraph of the chapter.
I arched my back and let him eat my pus—
Shutting the book with wide eyes, she gulped. "Jesus Christ. Straight to it already."
This was going to be a long day for her. Sighing, she got onto reading, each word confusing her the more. She got to a point that she had to take a breather.
"What's with the confusing positions?" she asked, scratching the back of her head. "And what does she mean by his eyes darkened? Is that even humanly possible?"
"What are you talking about? The girlies go feral over that."
Tessa looked up from her book to find her friend, Hariya, leaning against the frame of her door, her long dark hair falling over her shoulders in waves. They had both met in Major English class at her university, and now both worked at the same Publishing company.
"It seems Oscar didn't tear you apart when you came late," Hariya said, entering deeper.
"I explained myself to him."
Hariya sat on the desk. "How come you were late? Aren't you like the earliest bird in your family?"
"I met an asshole on my way here."
"A cute one?"
Tessa rolled her eyes. "Is that all you want to know from the story?"
"Yes."
"He's cute. Black guy, tall and has a nice afro hair. Kind of the type that Michael Jackson had when he was in the Jackson five."
Hariya grinned and leaned forward. "Now I'm interested."
"But he's an asshole."
"That's every MMC in dark romances." Hariya pinched Tessa's cheeks. "And we work in the den of dark romance. By obligation, we should only be obsessed with assholes."
"Only you, please."
"Such a bore."
"At least I'm still a virgin."
Hariya gasped, smiling. "You bitch."
Tessa chuckled and shook her head at her silly friend. She had to finish this book she was reading, or Oscar wasn't going to be very happy about it.
"How are your classes going?"
Tessa pursed her lips and shrugged. "Fine, I guess."
"You guess?"
She dropped her head back, groaning. "I haven't learned shit."
"Well, give it some time."
"I don't have time. At this point, I'm never going to be a successful author."
Hariya sighed and rounded the table. Standing behind Tessa, she wrapped her hands around her neck and kissed the crown of her head.
"I have said this countless times: You don't need to write sex scenes for a book to sell. You just need to be you."
"Well, being you doesn't bring home the autographs, book conventions, and millions of dollars. Look at fifty shades."
"I have my own controversial take on that book."
"Even that book with Zade Meadows."
"Only mentally sick people read about a man calling a girl little mouse."
Tessa knew Hariya was only trying to comfort her. In the romance book industry, writing sex scenes had become a requirement for most best-selling books. And if she didn't learn any soon, she was bound to lose her job and never make it as a writer.