Athena happily went to Conrad Imonoyama, also known as Subaru, at the counter of this coffee shop.
I looked at Sir Charles to my right and I can see his expression flaring with intensity while looking at them. He was doing that while sipping his coffee.
He placed his coffee on the table and said "She better get back here. Her coffee will get cold."
I chuckled. "I can sense something cheesy."
"You like her, don't you?" I blatantly said.
He denied it at first but I made him confess by saying evidences I saw in the past such as suavely looking at her without making it obvious, his reaction when he saw both she and Conrad cutely fighting over some paper bag, the beer peer pressure thingy, the time she got injured and insisting she must be still part of our team for our current assigned project.
"How nosy. Yes, I did." He said this without hesitation.
I was right! He likes her! I covered my mouth and nose with both of my hands because of my excitement hearing this from him. Who would have thought this hot and popular guy would go for the simple and reserved Athena!
"Hey, IT'S.ALL.IN.THE.PAST. I don't like her anymore." Charles intensely emphasized this to me.
I removed my hands on my face and suddenly I was shocked hearing him that he doesn't like her anymore.
"Huh? Why?" I asked.
"I just gave up on her." Charles said.
I asked him to be more specific but he got mad at me saying he has no obligation to tell me why he gave up on her.
"But hey, she hasn't had a boyfriend before, you know that. It wouldn't be a reason to give her up. Also, she doesn't like anyone as of the moment, aside from her fawning over her idol Lucas... that wouldn't be a reason to give her up..." I'm thinking other possible reasons but he suddenly stopped me from thinking.
"No. That's not it." He said.
"Then what is it?" I tried to pry more on the reason why he gave up on her.
"I just gave up on her, okay? That's it."
I sighed and confronted him by saying "Okay, I got it. Everyone thinks you're just so strict to her but in my case, I interpret it as your way of getting her attention backed up with all the evidences I just told you. I'm very observant, you know!"
He chuckled and said "Wrong. It's the opposite. It's because I want her to hate me."
I was puzzled. What a weird reason he has. So it's not his way of affection or to get her attention?
"To hate you?"
"I want to forget all the feelings I have for her." Charles sipped his coffee and again looked intensely at the direction of Athena and Conrad.
I can see Athena and Conrad seated in front of each other and they are chatting quite happily.
I faced him again and said,"Did that worked for you? Getting rid that feelings for her?" I asked.
"Yeah, duh. That's why I'm comfortable being so strict with her. Otherwise, I would not be so mean to her." He confidently said.
"You really achieved Athena hating you." I said.
Sir Charles looked relieved and said "That's what I wanted."
I think he still likes her. The time when Athena got injured made him so different, he was genuinely and overly worried for her. During her absence for her scheduled checkup, he was acting a little different by frequently passing by on our work area and constantly tries to talk to me about work but I feel that he wants something from me beyond work. Maybe he wanted updates from me from her checkup.
"We talked about you when you were ordering our drinks. I gave her a hint why you were so mad at her for everything." I said.
I told him what Athena and I talked about earlier. He quietly listened and his expression was just neutral but still looking at Athena and Conrad's direction.
"What did she say?" He asked.
"It's impossible for you to like her. She already has a bad impression on you and she doesn't see you a potential boyfriend. To sum it all, she hates you now." I frankly said this to him.
He shrugged his shoulder and looked impressed. "That's good."
"Can you be more kind to her? You said you don't like her anymore so no need to be mean to her." I seriously said.
"I don't know. I already got the hang of it now, being so strict with her and all." He said this cheekily.
I got irritated at him.
"What? You're being unreasonable. Don't be childish. Be more kind to her." I said
"Chill. If I wasn't strict and mean, she wouldn't improve herself professionally. Kill two birds with one stone, is what they say. She had her taste of her own medicine to survive in this harsh corporate world." Charles said.
He's right. She improved her professional skills gradually. She kind of needs improvement in her skills related to reporting reports, being passive in participation in meetings, and the like. Charles has a big contribution for her professional growth, if you ask me.
"I really think you still have feelings for her. You know, you're so sneaky when you want to look at her. Don't deny it." I jokingly said.
He suavely brushed it off and reassured that he got no feelings for her anymore. He said that he's still being mean not only because he's now used to being mean at her but to help her improve more of her professional skills.
"You know how careless she was last time when she sent the wrong proposed poster to the printing company. Sir Mark was so considerate. If I was him, I wouldn't be that nice as she caused trouble for other people." He said.
I took a sip on my coffee and I looked at him.
"How can you explain you're intensively looking at them? Hmm?" I'm teasing him and I'm poking his arm using my index finger.
He shoved my finger and said that I need to stop implying that he still has feelings for her. He's actually serious this time.
"Alright alright." I chuckled. "Go hook up with a babe already. There are many ladies lined up for you in the company that targets you."
"Reminds me of college. Many girls would die for me to date them." He haughtily said this.
I laughed at him and complimented him that he is indeed a hot guy. Of course my boyfriend is more hotter!
While we were joking and laughing around, I saw his expression turned dark all of the sudden.
He stood up and my eyes followed to where he was going. Apparently, he went to Athena and Conrad's table.
I can see Sir Charles was talking to Athena. It looked like Athena introduced him to Conrad. They shook their hands and they were greeting and smiling to each other. Their mood isn't bad.
I got nervous when he charged towards to their table. I though he was mad. What did he saw?
Anyways, Athena would be the center of attraction if everyone would know the hot and popular Charles liked Athena. Charles denied that he still have feelings towards her but his actions just now says otherwise.
I'm pretty decent so I won't anymore insist he likes her. I'll just observe them and I'm excited to know how will she react when she confirms he likes her. I already gave her hints so it is up to her how she'll handle him.
Athena pointed me out and Conrad looked at me. He smiled and waved them I smiled at him too. Athena waved him goodbye and Conrad left the coffee shop with his drink.
Athena and Charles returned to our table. She got a hold on her coffee and complained her coffee got cold.
"Why did you take so long? You wouldn't complain like that if you returned earlier." Charles said this in an angry tone.
Athena looked dejected and said "I should have brought this when I was talking to Conrad."
"So? What did you talk about?" I asked.
Her mood got brighter and she talked about Conrad's voice acting gig. She really likes talking about voice actors. Seeing her happy like this makes me happy too.
"Hey, aren't we supposed to return now to the office? You said we have to return now when you approached us." Athena said this to Charles.
I immediately looked at Charles and he looked like he was caught for forgetting what he just said to her.
"R-right. Let's go. We still have work to do." He stood up and fixed his composture. As he walked towards the exit, I chuckled silently.
He maybe made that an excuse to separate them when he saw something unsightly between Athena and Conrad.
That man is still in love with her. It seems he hasn't moved on with her. His feelings for her are still strong that's why he still continues to be mean to her aside from helping her to grow professionally.
He continues to fight off his feelings for her by making her hate him but his feelings still stayed for her. Will he be able to get rid of his feelings for her completely? I really don't know.
I'm still curious what made him give up on her.
.
.
.
.
.
"You have something on your hair." He looked at my right side of my hair intently.
I panicked a little bit and touched my hair to where he was looking at. I asked what was sticking on my hair.
"I think it's a pollen of a white dandelion." Conrad said.
"Maybe I got that from outside. I'll go look at the mirror." I was about to stand up and go to the wash room but he stopped me by holding my wrist.
He released me and immediately apologized for suddenly holding my wrist.
"I can remove it for you. It's just one piece. Can I?" he asked.
"O-okay." I awkwardly said.
He held out his hand and reached for my hair at the right side near my temple to remove the pollen. I can feel he touched my hair. He then successfully removed the pollen from my hair.
He showed me the pollen and it is indeed a dandelion pollen.
"Athena, we need to go back to the office. Go and drink your coffee."
I looked at my right and it was Charles who spoke those words.
I totally forgot I am with Charles and Reese. I lost track as Conrad and I were talking about how the director approved his improvement for his role. He said that the recording went well and that made me feel delighted.
I apologized to Charles then I introduced Charles to Conrad.
"He's Charles Stein, acting as assistant manager in our department." I said.
They both exchanged their greetings and handshakes. Charles congratulated him for being chosen as the new ambassador of our company.
"I haven't formally introduced myself but I have seen you last time during the premiere of the ad campaign." Charles said.
"Yes, I've seen you during that time.'" Conrad said this and smiled at him.
I also said that I'm with an another colleague. I pointed out Reese and Conrad waved at her.
"I better get going. I'm sorry if I took much of your time." Conrad said.
I emphasized that he doesn't need to apologize as I was the one who approached him and took his time.
He bid his goodbye to us and he left the coffeeshop with his coffee.
Charles and I went back to Reese. Reese asked me what we've talked about. I told Conrad's doing well with his voice acting and has other gigs as well.
After saying that to Reese, I realized why we're still here talking and we need to go back to the office as Charles said when he approached me.
We all returned to the office and we returned to our work.
While the three of us are in the discussion room, we were talking about how people at all age range would love to talk about romance. That was the result of our research that people would be more inclined to engage in.
We thought that the food product that was newly created must have the theme of snacks that couples would eat together. We must think of ways to promote it with couples in mind.
The newly created food product was a bread type of snack. It's round, fluffy and medium in size with different flavors. Each pack has four pieces of bread with different flavors but you can choose one flavor in each pack. There's chocolate, strawberry, cinnamon and yam. Those flavors were also based on our research that people tend to buy.
"Both of you already have experienced eating together as a couple. Have you eaten bread with your significant other?" I said.
"Andrew and I don't usually eat bread during our dates. I only eat bread with my family." Reese said.
"I don't eat bread with my past girlfriends either. It's usually cakes during anniversaries, popcorn in movies and junk food chips when both of us were just chilling around." Charles said.
I just thought that maybe we shouldn't just focus on having a theme of romance. I thought of maybe a family theme would be nice since bread is commonly found in households. I said this to them but both of them disagreed.
Reese looked at me and said "No, we have to be different. We shouldn't just follow the stereotypical notion that bread is just a family thing."
"That's why we researched, right?" Charles added.
We've come to a point that the bread snack should be also sold in common date locations for couples, not just in supermarkets.
"The willingness of the consumers to buy the product will totally depend on the advertising department. They must be creative enough to use Imonoyama for the campaign ad so that consumers will be engaged in buying the products from the locations for dates." Said Charles.
"Where are the places famous for dates?" I asked.
Reese and Charles looked at me looking dumbfounded not in an offensive way.
"You don't know? That's easy. Amusement parks, local parks and movie houses should be enough." Charles said.
Reese grabbed and held my hand gently that was placed on the table. She was seated beside me and I looked at her looking surprised.
She looked determined and said to me "That's fine. You'll eventually have a date in those places." She then looked at Charles and said "Right, Sir Charles?"
It's not like I don't know where should couples date. I was expecting a specific answer but Charles made me like I'm ignorant. I'm a bit annoyed that he answered me that way but anyhow, I can tell Reese is trying not to make me feel bad. I really appreciate that.
"Holding hands like this-" Reese grabbed and held on Charles's hand in sitting in front of her. "-along the park walking with your cutie pie feels nice, you know."
Charles was trying to remove his hand from Reese's hand but Reese still doesn't want to let go.
"Hey Heathrow, stop it!" Charles panicly said.
"As if you have a girlfriend." She snorted. "I'm just visualizing on how will the advertising department portray a romantic ad campaign."
Charles snorted at Reese. "Look who's talking. You've got a boyfriend yet you hold my hand like this."
I suddenly laughed the both of them. I joked at her by saying her boyfriend might be furious if he sees that. I also joked on her that I'll tell her boyfriend about this.
She laughed at me and jokingly shushed me with her index finger placed on her lips. "Don't tell him."
"We should also give ideas to the advertising on how will they portray the ad campaign." Reese suggested.
All of us agreed.
"Hey, let go of my hand already." Charles is still struggling to remove his hand from Reese's hand.
"Wait a second. We're still trying to visualize for the ad campaign." Reese said.
Charles forcefully removed his hand from her hand and shook his hand.
He looked irritated and said "You have a tight grip! Is that how you hold your boyfriend's hand?"
"Ooops. Sorry." She humorously said. "Maybe I am like that with my boyfriend."
"Now you don't want to hold my hand. Now it's hard to visualize." She disapointly said.
I impulsively got a hold Charles's other hand in front of me on the table. I slipped my hand under his resting hand with his palm facing down. I held his hand with just a light grip.
Charles forcefully removed his hand from mine.
"What the-!" He looked surprised at me.
I was surprised by his reaction but I immediately regained my composture.
"I just wanted to help us visualize for the ad campaign." I politely said.
"Don't be like that, Sir Charles. It's just for work purposes. Why get sensitive all of the sudden?" Reese said.
Charles looked irritated and said "anyone would be shocked when someone suddenly hold their hand!"
He looked mad at me again. He didn't react that way when Reese held his hand. I think he's disgusted with my hand. I shouldn't have done that knowing he's attitude towards me.
I was just trying to help... I suddenly felt conscious therefore I slowly placed my hands on my lap from the table. I'm paranoid if he felt something weird on my hand. Is it sweaty? Rough? Now I feel awkward.
I saw Charles put his hand on the table in front of me with his palm facing up like he is offering his hand.
"Let's get this over with. I'm sorry I did that." Charles said.
I looked at Charles and I think he's just forcing himself.
I told him that he doesn't need to force himself if he doesn't want to do it. I suggested that he should do it with her.
"It's alright. I'm not forcing myself. Come on, give me your hand." Charles insistently said this to me while looking confident.
I slowly placed my hand on the table. As I am about to place my hand into his hand awkwardly, he instead clasped his hand into mine first.
"This is how you hold your significant other's hand." Charles said this haughtily.
I feel a little bit nervous all of the sudden because it's actually my first time holding an adult man's hand. His hand is quite large and very manly too.
"How cute! This can scene can be used for the ad campaign!"
I looked at Reese on my left and I saw her standing at the other side of the table. I think she wanted to see the whole picture from a distance so that's why she stood there.
"Imagine you're on a date at the park seated face to face and holding hands like that with the bread snack at the side. That's cute." Reese happily said this.
I'm imagining about Lucas holding my hand like this at the park. It's like I'm the luckiest girl alive if he holds my hand like this. Happily talking and laughing with him will be so special for me. How I wish that will turn into reality.
"...Hey, Barling." Charles returned me to reality and I looked at him looking confused.
"Yes?" I replied.
"Did you hear what she said?" He asked.
I just agreed that I heard Reese. I actually didn't hear what she said.
To my surprise, Charles slowly interlocked his fingers to mine.
So this is what she was saying. I just went ahead and also interlocked my fingers to his.
However, I'm feeling super awkward! My hand suddenly became tensed! I did not get myself ready for this kind of hold! This kind of hold is intense for me!
"Athena's look is so innocent right now. It's kinda cute. You really looked so innocent, Athena! If our ad model, Conrad, was holding your hand like that and you giving him that reaction of yours, he will definitely say you looked cute too." Reese said this with a teasing tone.
"This scene is also suited for the ad." She added.
I suddenly got embarrassed from her teasing words. I tried to remove my hand from him but he suddenly put a force on his grip.
Charles was snickering and said "Of course he would say that. That's what you call being considerate because they're friends."
"You don't find her cute right now?" Reese asked.
He bluntly said NO. Reese suddenly looked irritated at Charles.
"Why should I say flattering words if I don't really mean it?" Charles said this with an arrogant tone.
He let go of my hand and I put my hand on my lap with my other hand.
I was making a fist under the table so that I could regulate my mixed feelings. I'm so mad, insulted, and I feel so sad. How can he be so tactless? He should just shut his mouth if he wants to say bad things to me.
I regained my composture. I forced my smile at him and said "People have different preferences and opinions so I get what you mean."
Charles looked at Reese. "See? Even Barling understood what I meant. Don't push your opinion to me."
Reese went back to her seat beside me and then she looked at me. "You're cute so don't mind this guy. He doesn't know how to express properly."
I know Reese was just cheering me up and defending me. I really appreciate it.
I should be used to Charles's sharp tongue but I never get used to it. I should really think if I still want to stay here in this company.
"What? I know how to express properly!" Charles said this defensively.
"Anyways, shouldn't we relay now our ideas to the advertising department for the ad campaign?"
I changed the topic because hearing Charles further was so painful whenever he strikes me with his insults.
We already relayed our ideas to the advertising department. They're still brainstorming but they will take into consideration of our ideas for the ad campaign with Conrad being the model.
As we were heading back to out office, I said to them that they should go ahead as I will go to the comfort room. They agreed and both of them went ahead.
Repeat process. I went to the comfort room that people would less likely to use, locked myself inside the cubicle, and I silently cried in the cubicle.
I cried here last time when I got injured. This is already my favorite spot to cry. The cubicle I'm in is the very last cubicle from the door of this comfort room.
I have cried several times here in this exact spot whenever I experience toxic, mean, and insulting treatment from colleagues.
I try not to cry my heart out because it will take longer for my red and tired eyes to disappear.
»»»»»End of Chapter 22«««««