Touch Of Solicitude

CUARENTA Y TRES

It felt embarrassing as we walked together; with all the awkwardness that I was feeling, I started to walk a little bit faster, but with his long legs, I immediately felt his presence beside me, "Let's go get some fresh air," He went ahead, as I followed him, guiding me to the company rooftop, "What?" I questioned.

As we stood face to face, his eyes glistened as if we were kids, seeing me for the first time. His face showed how delighted he was to see me. Sparks were flying all over, "Sunny," He uttered. What am I even doing here? I should have packed my stuff and went home as soon as I talked to the company, "Now that you've seen me, what do you want? Are you done avoiding me? Hiding from me?" He laughed out.

"I wasn't hiding nor was I avoiding you," I rolled my eyes, "Yes, I know, whatever and I don't care,"

Silence filled the large space; Luigi seemed to be feeling the awkwardness when he cleared his throat, "Have you been well?" He asked; I took a deep breath, composing myself, "I'm fine and well,"

"That's great to hear. The magazine's stock rose up from what I saw, it seems like everything really is doing well," He rubbed the back of his neck, "Congratulations,"

I smiled back, "I've been busy since then so I don't have too much of a spare time to do other things," I retorted, "What brought you here?" I stood stunned.

After he led me here- no, to be honest, I only followed him, "I just talked to your President as you saw, I'll go home now," I was about to leave, when he grabbed my arm, "Stay here, I like you here more,"

My face instantly brightened; this is not fair; he purposely avoided me after a week on what he did, "Like I said, I've been busy, I don't have time to talk to you," He nodded as if he agreed on what he said. "I still have things to do, I'll go,"

I ran out of the rooftop, as I was about to go down, I looked behind me expecting that the man was running after me, as I expected, he was not there. I prepared in my mind for what I had to say to him.

However, as I saw his face, all my thoughts and words disappeared as if my mind went blank; I even forgot to thank him when he congratulated me, after all, he is a big help that led the magazine sales to go up.

I panicked and felt flustered even with his simple gestures; feeling worst after what he had done, I immediately hailed a cab and went to the nearest restaurant, not to eat but to drink. Dialing in my phone, I called Lina, telling her to drink with me.

After drinking for a while, she soon arrived, panting, "Miss Kim," Calling out for my name, "I'm here," She took a deep breath and ordered her drink.

"Did something happened while you were away? It's rare to see you asking me to drink with you," She commented; what she said was right; it was a rare sight for me to ask someone to drink, "This is not the usual case, right now, I just need someone else to share a drink with me,"

"Did you see each other?" I lowered my head and looked at the drink, spinning my forefinger around the cup, "The President called the man to his office, we talked a lot, and I left, yet he didn't even attempt to chase after me, what's wrong with me," I ranted, snickering.

"He kissed me at the after party, I was expecting him to make his move," I mumbled, "He confessed his love to repeatedly, on the other hand you, Miss Kim, kept on rejecting the man," She shook his head and drank up.

"You can't expect the man to keep chasing you after you rejected him several times," I took a deep breath, "I don't even know what am I doing or why am I doing this. However, after kissing me and disappearing like sea foam, he dares to act as if nothing happened,"

I chuckled, "Nor did he contact me," I drank up and ignored the stingy sensation of the liquor, "Luigi must be toying me from the start. He should've told me that since then,"

She chuckled, "You really do like him after all, Miss Kim. You were pushing him everytime, I think now's the time to show him that you can finally accept him," My forehead creased as I heard her statement, "What do you mean?"

"Mister Ferreiro is always bold, and he always showed you how much he loved you, but he now treats you differently," She continued, "It's now your turn to show your affection to him, ask him out if you want to know the answers to your questions,"

"You should stop beating around the push and move forward to your destination if you want to go there," I heaved a sigh, "All right,"

The liquor must have taken a toll on me, "What?" I stood up and rummaged through my phone, immediately dialing his number, "I'll ask him,"

She stood up, assisting me, "Right now?" I nodded; my phone started ringing, with the line continuously ringing, "Luigi!" As soon as the other line answered, I called out his name.

I could not hear what he said after when someone suddenly snatched the phone away from my grasp, "Mister Ferreiro, please forgive us for bothering you at such a late night, she drunk so much," She stopped for a while with several nods; she exclaimed, "Yes, I would like that, please take her," The call soon ended.

I knew that I was not thinking clearly because of how much I had drunk; after guiding me to the restaurant front, all I remembered next was a man carrying me in his arms, taking me inside the car carefully, as he slowly kissed my temple.