The atmosphere turned awkward for a moment. Matthias was coming up with an explanation, but seeing her in the flesh jumbled up his mind. Heather stayed silent too, so they stared at each other for a while. In the end, Matthias said, “I was just passing by. What a coincidence.”
Heather knew it was just an excuse, though she played along with it. “It is.” She gave him a polite smile.
Matthias knew the encounter would end soon if he stayed quiet, and he was not letting that happen. “Wanna grab a bite together?” he asked.
Heather gazed at him. It would be inappropriate to refuse, and their agreement still stood; she wasn’t someone who’d break promises easily. It hadn’t been rosy on her side either. The more she thought about her relationship with Matthias, the more confused she was. She wanted someone to tell her what to do.
She thought nothing good would come if she got herself entwined with a dangerous guy like Matthias, and her instincts were always spot on. She didn’t want anything to do with him, since it wasn’t her nature to risk herself.
“Sure,” she answered politely, putting some distance between her and Matthias. They went ahead in silence, and they had lunch together without saying a word. Matthias wanted to break the ice, but no matter what he did, he couldn’t say a word.
Heather, on the other hand, felt guilty when she saw Matthias at a loss. She was trying to come up with a way to approach him without risking herself. And they weren’t teenagers anymore. Acting sheepish made them look like children, and the thought annoyed her. She then started eating faster because she needed to get back to work, and she couldn’t stay in a room with Matthias like that.
Matthias noticed Heather’s reluctance, so he went for it without reservations. They had a deal, after all, and he wanted Heather to uphold it. “You’ve been avoiding me,” he said calmly, trying to hide his nerves.
“I was busy with work,” Heather explained. She knew it was flimsy, but she was actually busy with work.
Matthias stared down, hiding the look on his face. The mystery weighed down on Heather, since she thought she was doing something wrong. She wasn’t asinine enough to think that Matthias was just being shy with her. That’s impossible. But she didn’t know why he was staring down either. Heather could never understand men and their machinations, since she was a woman after all. Ultimately, she could never fully understand him, though she reflexively wanted to put some distance between them.
“We’re straying from the agreement. I want to put us back on track,” Matthias said. All he had left now was the agreement they had. He had no idea how to win her back otherwise.
“But there aren’t a lot of people who know about us. No matter how much we try to act as a couple, nobody’s going to see it. Honestly, is there a point to that?” Heather pointed out the crux of the problem. Since not even Blake told the Langstons anything, barely anyone knew Matthias was “dating” her. She didn’t want to bond herself with Matthias either, since she thought she was working well with the status quo. Heather didn’t think she needed to get serious with him.
Even if someone did know about them “dating,” acting like they were madly in love when they were just starting out would look too suspicious. It’s fine. I’ll put some distance between us, and being scared of him just confirms his charisma.
Deep down, she was worried she might actually fall for him. That would be a tragedy if it ever happened. Mushy romance was something she eschewed, so she didn’t want to get into this mess. And Matthias wasn’t what she had in mind whenever ‘the one she liked’ was mentioned.
Women were always sensitive to begin with, but Matthias didn’t think of that. He instinctively wanted to be closer to Heather. He didn’t care how much he had to do or how much he had to embarrass himself, as long as he could do what he really wanted.
It took Evan a long time to finally convince Matthias to be himself, but Heather wasn’t making it easy for him. Her reluctance to talk was a blow to Matthias’ confidence, but it wasn’t enough to stop him. “We have an agreement. We’ll have to follow it.” He stared calmly at her, as if he was talking about business.
So he’s not giving up, huh? She smiled sardonically. This is getting weird. She didn’t hate Matthias, but she didn’t like him either. Eventually, she stopped smiling and shot him a polite stare. “What do you want me to do, then? Elaborate.” She wanted to know what he had in mind.
It’s just an agreement, not like I sold myself off. She thought it was funny that Matthias took it so seriously. What on earth is he thinking? Complex relationships weren’t her cup of tea. She had too much stuff on her plate, so she didn’t want more to deal with.
“I want us to act like a proper couple,” Matthias answered.
Heather nodded. “If that’s what you want, then fine.”
Matthias thought he had made a fool out of himself. She doesn’t even care. Why’d I even ask her out in the first place?
“I’m done.” She put her cutlery down. The conversation killed any appetite she had left. Just when she thought Matthias was a decent guy, he turned back to his old self. If that was the case, Heather didn’t see why she should keep talking to him.
Everything he did earlier left a bad impression on her. They got off to a bad start, so she knew the relationship would only worsen down the road.
“We are partners, Heather. I expect you to work with me because I gave you everything you asked.” Matthias looked at her coldly. Heather wanted to retort, but she couldn’t, for everything he said was the truth.
“You’re forcing me to do something I don’t want?” Heather shot back. She hated it when anyone threatened her, but Matthias didn’t say a word. All he did was look at her. She was in a bad mood to begin with, and Matthias’ request only served to annoy her further.
“You saw the contract. You should know where you stand,” Matthias growled. Since he was going all out, he wouldn’t hold back.
“Thanks for the reminder. I will uphold my end of the deal, but not today.” Heather stood up, glowering at him. The negotiation ended in failure.
Matthias saw her off and smiled sadly. He wanted to talk it out with her, but it broke down. He noticed the change in Heather ever since Valentine’s Day, and he wondered why. Women are fascinating creatures. Getting to his feet, his face fell. Heather had crossed the line that day, but Matthias did the same thing to her too, so none of them could take a step back.
Heather came back to the company feeling down in the dumps. She knew she had a lot to do, but all she felt like doing then was to shred all the documents to pieces. Because of the rectification that morning, she couldn’t even get any of her work done, so technically, she was just starting work in the afternoon. The project manager was a fussy middle-aged man who could never be on the same page with her. Thanks to that, she made little to no progress. There were times she wondered if the project manager was working for Blake. She needed to deal with him, but she had no way of doing it at the moment.
If I can’t do it the right way, then I have to bend some rules. No businessman is innocent. She was trying to find a legitimate way to break through. If she bent the rules, Blake could use that as an excuse to make her life harder. She had a feeling it was a blatant trap just waiting for her to spring. Every step she made was done with careful consideration, for one false move could cost her everything.
She couldn’t bring herself to work through the mountain of documents, since all she could think of was the meeting with Matthias. She wondered how she should deal with him after the negotiation’s breakdown. I shouldn’t have signed the damn contract. But she had no way to turn back time and reconsider her decision.
She didn’t want to think about the talk with Matthias, nor did she want to stay in the office, since it was too suffocating. In the end, she decided to get some fresh air. I think I’ll call Myra. She hit Myra up and asked her where she was. Myra wanted to talk to her about the marriage with Tony, so they agreed to meet up and vent.
It was already three when they met up. It was the perfect time for an afternoon tea, and that was what they did. Heather blew on the steaming hot tea before taking a sip, but the scalding tea made her stick her tongue out like a child. She could always be herself around Myra, sometimes to the point of being childlike. Myra was also amused by her antics, and she chuckled.
“Is something wrong, Heather?” She winked at her. They could forget about everything and be themselves around each other.
“You’re a lady. Are you sure you should laugh like that?” Heather beamed. She felt more at peace with Myra around, and she could even tease her friend.
“You never call me out in such a hurry. Spill it. It’s been half an hour, and I’m sure it’s important.” Myra wanted to get to the meat of the topic, but Heather was still hesitating, much to her vexation.
“It’s hard to talk about.” She bit her lip. Heather couldn’t talk about her agreement with Matthias, but she needed to vent to someone. For a moment, she didn’t know how to even begin the conversation.
