"Are you okay?" I whispered in his direction.
Startled, William snapped out of it as he looked at me in surprise. "I'm fine. Just some business I need to deal with..." he replied with a smile that didn't reach his eyes.
I wanted to press on the matter but held my tongue once I remembered that we have company across from us. In reply, I gave him a brief nod.
I turned back my attention at the siblings, feeling a little shy at the current situation. "Are you staying with us for lunch, Evan?" I asked, shifting the conversation.
There was no point being cold to him since he obviously read the atmosphere. From the way he kept on glancing between William and me, I knew he had connected the dots. I started to get worried at how the number of people that knew about our relationship was increasing rapidly.
"Ah... I don't know," he replied with a look of uncertainty as he made a quick glance at William, who was beside me distracted by the papers that Evan handed to him.
"You can stay and eat with us. We wouldn't mind," I said on William's behalf, which finally caught his attention.
William glanced away from his work and looked at Evan. "I think he could get by fine. He needs to get back to the office. He has some things to finish there," he stated with a tone of finality, which put a frown on Evan's face.
I glared at William, a little annoyed at his sudden change of attitude. "It's lunch for goodness sake, William. Let the man eat so that he can work proficiently," I grumbled on Evan's behalf.
William turned towards me seriously, his face unreadable. "He is my employee. It's not your business how I would treat the people who works for me," he pointed out without flinching, and turned towards Evan before I could argue back. "If you need a ride back, you can ask Mark to give you a quick lift back. He is outside," he instructed swiftly. "You may go now."
I glanced up on the opposite side of the table, feeling their lack of response. I watched the two siblings eye William in disbelief. Annoyance crossed Sydney's face while Evan nodded in reply to William's instruction and got up from his seat.
"Don't you dare get up from that chair, Evan," I threatened angrily before turning my anger towards William, who was back to reading the papers that Evan handed to him. "What is wrong with you?"
William remained indifferent for a second before he sighed heavily and looked at me. "Please don't interfere with my work, Andy. I respected your decision when you went and worked for that magazine company. I offered you a job and asked you to hear me out, but you didn't, and I respected your decision. I expect that you would do the same."
I gaped at him, taken aback by his statement. I knew it. It's eating him up inside that I rejected his offer. I could see it in his eyes whenever he picked me up at work. "This and that are two different things," I countered harshly. "It is lunch time, William. Give the man time to eat. If you don't want to pay for his meal, then allow me," I added sarcastically.
I looked away from him and turned towards Evan, who remained standing awkwardly in front of our table. "Sit down, Evan. I will buy you lunch," I instructed and gestured with my hand for him to sit down.
Evan looked surprised by my actions. Across from me, I heard Sydney's muffled chuckles. I made a quick glance at her direction and gave her a tight-lipped smile. I tried to suppress my amusement at her reaction.
"Fine, but he is taking an extra time tonight, and you aren't buying him lunch," William finally agreed in exasperation as he looked away from me.
"Whatever you say," I replied in a dead tone.
I felt Evan's eyes on me at that moment, making me look up towards him. He looked surprised, yet there was something else from the way his eyes bore into mine. Then his lips perked up into a grin. I smiled back in reply, but I quickly dropped it and took a cautionary glance at William's direction. I internally smiled that he didn't notice Evan and mine's exchange. It would only fuel his anger.
Throughout lunch, there was a lingering silence between Evan and William. It was deafening and cringing to watch. I was glad that Sydney had no qualms about William's opinion of her. From the way she was glancing at his direction whenever he interjected on our conversation, It was obvious that she was pissed at him. I couldn't blame her. William had belittled her brother in front of her. Knowing her close relationship with Evan, blood-related or not, she had the right to be pissed at him.
I was a little indifferent towards William. Though I felt bad that we were ganging up on him, I didn't want to give him the idea that what he did was okay. He needed to be considerate towards others and not just me.
When we were finished eating, I watched both siblings relax as William voiced out that we are heading back. As we walked towards the exit, Evan and Sydney walked side by side as they talked about some topic about visiting their parents. Since I didn't want to intrude, I stepped back and walked behind them with William trailing beside me.
I peered through my lashes and snuck a glance at him. He looked passive as he walked straight ahead, his eyes in the direction of the door. His lips slightly turned into a grim line when Evan called out to me. I didn't know I had zoned out, mesmerized by William's eyes.
"Andy, if you are free.. do you want to come with us this weekend?" he asked timidly as Sydney jumped in excitement.
"That is a good idea! You should come with us! The beach house is awesome, and we can relax and party together," Sydney added, walking towards me and taking my hand in hers. Her eyes were sparkling with eagerness.
I beamed at her, finally grasping what they were offering me. I was about to give her my reply when William cut me off.
"She can't. We already have plans this weekend," he replied in my stead. His brows are set as he glared at Evan for a moment before glancing down towards me. "We are heading to Italy early this Saturday."
I watched him with my mouth hanging wide open. When was he going to tell me about this? I knew that Alexandra's wedding was fast approaching, but I didn't know that it was this weekend.
"Oh, god. I almost forgot," I murmured softly to myself. I looked at Sydney apologetically. "I couldn't go. I'm sorry. I already have plans so it seems," I said a little sad about turning down a good invitation.
"Don't worry about it. You can come next time." She gave me a light pat on the shoulder before glancing up at William. "You should come too, Mr. Maxwell," she said to him, catching me off guard.
I looked at William to see how he would react to her offer. He looked a little startled, but he was able to recover his expression that same second. "Thank you. I will see to it that Andy and I wouldn't have any plans by then," he replied with a brief nod.
I gaped at his reply. What the hell? Where did that come from?
William noticed my reaction and turned to look at me nervously. "What?" he asked, looking at me in question.
"Nothing," I replied quickly as I looked away from him, a little embarrassed for some reason. "Well, that's that. Let's go. I think we've exceeded our break time for lunch," I stated after clearing my throat, changing the topic quickly.
"Ah! We are going to be in trouble. Let's go," Sydney agreed in alarm, grabbing my arm as she pulled me towards the door.
I looked back at William for a second out of instinct. I was glad I didn't stop myself from doing so, or I wouldn't have enjoyed the short moment of seeing his smiling face. I grinned at him, feeling his momentary happiness. After seeing that smile, I felt a little spark inside of me, my heart suddenly picking up its pace.
When we got back, I asked Sydney to wait for me for a moment before I turned around to face William. I closed the door after Sydney got out of the car to give us a little privacy though it was hardly private inside with Mark and Evan sitting silently at the front, trying to look invisible.
"Thank you for lunch today," I softly said, glancing quickly at Evan and Mark's head that was turned away from us.
"It was nothing. I'm glad you enjoyed it though there were some complications," he replied as his eyes quickly bore at the back of Evan's head.
I saw Evan stiffen at his words. His shoulder became rigid for a second. I looked at William and scowled at him, warning him to not give Sydney's brother a hard time. "Don't be sour about it. I will talk to you later," I stated under my breath before turning towards the door on my right.
As I was about to get out the car, William grabbed my waist, pulling be back inside. I turned my head in his direction to ask him to let go, but before words could come out of my mouth, his lips crushed into mine.
I softly gasped at the unexpected turn of events. The kiss was brief, but that didn't stop me from blushing profusely. Whoa, what was that?
"I forgot to kiss you last Saturday when I left and today when you got in the car. I think I owe you that," he whispered smugly before letting go of my waist.
I felt myself flush even more as he stared at me. I looked away from him, stopping for a moment before I opened the door. "I'll call you later, so be sure not to make me wait again for half an hour before you answer it," he instructed aloud, his voice stern. Just like that, the sweet, romantic William is gone
I looked up at him as I got out the car, holding the door for a second. "That depends. Don't call me during office hours." I grinned back playfully before closing the door on his face. I faintly saw his jaw set at my reply.
I felt relieved that the car drove away as I closed the door. I didn't want to have a round of argument with him. I watched as the car turn at the pavement until it was gone in my line of sight. I forgot that Sydney was patiently waiting for me.
"Are you done being love-struck with your own boyfriend?" Sydney teased as I turned toward her.
I grimaced slightly, but smirked at her words. "I'm not," I denied smoothly, walking ahead of her towards the lobby of our workplace.
"Yeah, right. I know he kissed you in there." She chuckled as she walked beside me, keeping up with my pace. "Actually, I felt bad for those two guys, especially my brother," she trailed off as her voice turned sour. "I didn't know Evan was under your boyfriend's beck and call. He seemed to be really rash with how he treated him. I couldn't seem to get that image out of my head."
"Don't worry about Evan. He seemed to handle William just fine, and if William crossed the line, I can talk to him for you," I said softly, feeling responsible for William's lack of regard towards her brother.
"It's okay. I think he had it coming from what you told me last time. Why I didn't connect the dots that he was working as his secretary, I don't know. He tends to give me very vague answers whenever I ask him about his job," she replied in a grimace.
"Working for people like that, it would be hard to discuss it with anyone. I know. I had been in his shoes once," I defended Evan, feeling sympathetic again.
Sydney glanced up at me and grinned. "Don't let him hear you say that about him. He would get it on his head and overthink it."
"I know. That was why I don't directly give him any sympathy," I playfully agreed with a chuckle.
When we arrived back at our cubicles, our worked had piled up again. We pushed aside our chitchat and concentrated on our own assignments. That was what we did for the most part of the afternoon. When the day came to a close, we couldn't help doing some lightweight work while we waited for the right time to head home.
"Is William always that domineering towards his employees?" Sydney asked as we casually talked about today's lunch again.
"Remembered how I met him?" I asked with a grin. I've been constantly reminded about it today.
"Right. I will take that as a yes, then," she replied with a chuckle, shaking her head in disbelief. "How did you handle him so easily? I would have blown up and quit right away the moment those words come out of his mouth."
"I didn't. I reacted the same way. He didn't fire me since I was working for his sister, Alexandra. She has this weird fondness towards me..." I replied, trailing off as I remembered our conversation a month ago at the charity gala.
"Ah, right. I forgot that bit, but still, you always saw him at work. He would have at some point said something that would make you want to get out of there," she stated in awe.
"You couldn't believe how many times we clashed back then. I sometimes miss it," I admitted with a faint smile.
"From what I saw, you like ticking him off, but he doesn't really mind. He looked like he wanted you to always question him based on my observation this afternoon," she pointed out with a grin.
"Ah, yeah. I'm sorry about that," I apologized shyly.
"No worries. It was quite entertaining to watch."
We chuckled at William and I's mindless argument as we started to gather our things and head out, but my phone on the desk started to vibrate. I beamed while studying the caller I.D.
"Prince Charming awaits!" Sydney announced as I clicked the answer button. "I will head out first. I will see you tomorrow," she added.
"Okay, see you," I replied before placing the phone on my ear.
She winked at me before leaving me by my desk. Whenshe was out of earshot, I turned my attention towards the grudging sound ofWilliam's annoyed voice.