The Email [Yandere Boss x Reader]

Chapter 44 - The Longing

It had been days now, maybe even a week, and the strange feeling wasn't going away. In fact, it was getting worse. 

Every time I stepped out of my apartment, or away from Hayes, this suffocating, dull ache would creep into my chest. It was subtle at first—a faint pull, like the itch of forgetting something important—but over time, it grew.

Now, I couldn't go more than a few hours without this gnawing, hollow sensation inside me.

The worst part?

I didn't know why.

I sat at the café, staring blankly at the half-empty cup of coffee in front of me while Sarah and Jake chatted across the table. Their words drifted into the background, muffled, distant, as the overwhelming feeling of absence weighed me down.

What was happening to me?

"Earth to Y/N." Jake's voice finally broke through my haze.

I blinked, startled, and looked up. Both of them were staring at me with concern etched across their faces.

"Seriously, what's going on?" Sarah asked, her eyes narrowing. "You've been acting weird all week. You're not yourself."

I sighed, rubbing my temples. 

"I don't know. I've just been... off lately."

"Off how?" Jake leaned in, his usual light-hearted demeanor turning serious.

I hesitated, unsure how to put it into words. How was I supposed to explain this gnawing emptiness, this strange, aching longing that crept up whenever I wasn't near Hayes? It didn't make sense, not even to me.

"It's hard to explain," I finally said, running my fingers through my hair in frustration. 

"It's like... whenever I'm not around Hayes, I feel this... weird sadness. Like something's missing. Like I'm anxious, but not about anything specific. Just... anxious."

Sarah and Jake exchanged a look, one I couldn't quite decipher.

"You're catching feelings for him," Jake said, his tone matter-of-fact. "That's what it sounds like to me."

I frowned. 

"Feelings?"

"Yeah, you know—love, attraction, obsession," he added with a grin, though the concern still lingered in his eyes.

Sarah, however, didn't look convinced. She crossed her arms and leaned forward, her expression more serious than I'd ever seen it.

"Hold on a second. Love doesn't feel like that. Love can make you feel excited or nervous, sure, but not like this."

"Exactly," Jake nodded, agreeing. "I mean, missing someone's normal, but this sounds... intense."

I stared down at my coffee, trying to make sense of the swirling confusion in my mind.

"Maybe it's just work stress. Maybe that's why I'm feeling like this."

But even as I said the words, they felt like a lie. I wasn't sure if this was stress. It felt deeper, more all-consuming than anything I'd ever experienced before. I didn't want to admit it, but there was a part of me—some dark, nagging part—that feared something else was at play.

Jake shrugged, still watching me closely. "Whatever it is, you should talk to Hayes about it. Maybe he'll understand."

I nodded absentmindedly, pulling out my phone and scrolling through my contacts. My fingers hovered over Hayes's name before I typed out a quick message: