Contractually Yours

16• Make it Right

🔹️🔹️Adrien Russell🔹️🔹️

"You will not work with that man." My voice boomed across the room. Crystal flinched at my tone and I clenched my eyes tightly to control my growing annoyance.

"I do not like him, Crystal. I don't like it when his name is mentioned, I don't like his presence, and I hate you being around him." I said through my gritted teeth. With a confused frown, Crystal stood up from the chair.

"Why would you say that? What is your issue with him anyway?" She sounded offended.

Of course, she'd be. I just said that I dislike her 'friend'.

"I don't know, Crystal." I stood up and growled. "All I know is that I don't trust him with you. Not after what happened at the party."

"Evan is nothing like what you think." Her voice rose up.

"How do you know that? I ran into him in one of my hotels today and--"

"I know what happened. He told me." She yelled loudly. "But that, Mr. Adrien Russell, does not give you the right to judge him." She stomped towards me with angry eyes.

"Let me remind you that you and I were once seen in the exact same situation. You shouldn't be judging him if you don't want to be judged." She stabbed her finger in my chest. "Hypocrite." She muttered under her breath and tried to walk away.

Her accusation added fuel to my already burning anger. Before she could go farther, I held her wrist and yanked her closer with a harsh force. She winced when I pushed her against the table and caged her between my arms as my palms held the edge of the table.

"Our thing was different, Crystal. Don't you dare compare it to that." Her wide eyes stared into mine as I glared at her. Her ragged breath fell on my lips and that's when I realized our proximity. There was barely an inch between our faces and looking into her chocolate doe-like eyes, I felt my anger pacing down.

"I don't care, Adrien." She gritted back. "He is my friend. I don't care if you don't trust him but I do." She said firmly, pushing me a little back with her palm on my chest.

"I trust Evan." The surety in her voice lit a fire in my heart. "And whether you like it or not, I will work with him." She walked past me straight to the room and I heard the door shut with a bang.

This woman has been testing patience.

I did not bother to see her after that. I went straight to my study and engaged myself in work for the next few hours. When Aunt arrived, I opened the door for her and came back to the study. I did not plan on going back to the room. I slept in my study on the couch itself.

When I woke up in the morning, my body felt like it was run over by a truck. I was greeted by some bad pain in my back and neck. The couch in the study was smaller than the one in my room. And too small to fit me in. As I rubbed my neck to relieve the pain, my mind ran back to Crystal. Her hands held magic. The way her fingers undid the knots of my body with a single glide, it had goosebumps arise on my skin.

Shaking her thoughts away from my head, I looked at the clock. It was 9 already. The good thing was, it was Saturday and I didn't have to attend the office. I made my way out of the study and glanced around to find Crystal sitting on the dining table and having her breakfast while talking to Lily.

She didn't even wait for me.

Ignoring them, I went inside the room and hopped into the shower. While I was inside, getting dressed, I heard some noise in the room, concluding it was Crystal.

As I came out fully dressed, unlike what I expected, she wasn't in the room. I wiped my hair roughly with the towel and threw it on the bed before making my way outside.