Jane
I stared at him, Adonis in human form. It was difficult to process the words coming out of his perfectly sculpted lips. Very rarely had I ever truly admired a man. My perfectly logical brain had always warned me: Why waste your time? Why feed hope that will only lead to rejection?
Rejection doesn't just sting,it fractures something deep inside. A crack in the heart. A bruise on the soul.
Since childhood, I'd always been the ugly duckling. Growing up surrounded by fair-skinned, slim, and effortlessly pretty cousins while I stood out with my darker complexion and chubby frame was no fairy tale. The taunts were frequent, the whispers cruel, the laughter always just loud enough to hear. And with time, they started to make sense. I began noticing it everywhere. At school, in the workplace. The world tilted slightly more in favor of the beautiful. The pretty girls got smiles, second chances, and open doors. I got skepticism, judgment, and battles to fight alone.
But I had made peace with that or so I thought.
Now, as I stood facing this man. This irritatingly handsome specimen with broad shoulders, eyes like molten gold, and a scent so sinfully masculine it should be illegal. I felt my carefully constructed emotional fortress start to crumble. I have seen handosme men before but never felt like this. Maybe it was the intimacy in the setting we both in right now but man! He wasn't just easy to look at; he made it difficult to think.
Snap out of it, Jane.
I forced myself to push aside the bitterness of the past and focus on the present. I had a job to do, and this man, whoever he was, was a complication I didn't have the emotional bandwidth for.
I took a deep breath, closed my eyes for a moment to regain control, and then looked him squarely in the eye.
"I'm here to meet Mr. Alexander," I said, willing my voice to remain steady. "The one who owns Greenfield Laboratory."
There. Professional. Polite. Unshaken.
Except I wasn't unshaken. Not at all.
His lips curled into a small, knowing smirk as if he could read every single thought racing through my mind. The ones I had no business thinking.
Emilio
So she was here for my father.
" You are here to meet my father. His office is down the corridor" I said. She stared at me for what felt like an eternity. Damn! Who is this woman?? Her light fragrance was playing with my nerves. Not that I did not notice her occasional glances towards my half naked appearance but instead of being appreciative, it was a if she was being scared... damn! I never had a woman behave like this around me and why are we even stretching this matter....
I motionned towards the door so that she may leave but then I saw her eyes round in fear as she got closer to me and said
" Monsters....out there". Ok now i think she is crazy... As if sensing what i was thinking she continued
" I am terribly scared of dogs. They are still out there".