The Man She Betrayed

12. A Spoonful Of Pettiness

Clara

My ankle was throbbing with pain and my breaths were coming out in gasps. Climbing up and down almost twenty floors with a sprained ankle was not an easy task to do, certainly not for someone like me who hasn't seen the face of gym in five years.

But what hurt more than the ankle was the satisfaction in his voice. It hurt the deepest part of my soul to know that he despised me so much that my pain gave him pleasure.

I hadn't realised that I had wetness on my cheeks, the unshed tears had somehow streamed down my cheeks. Rubbing my cheeks in a hard manner, I pulled out my to-do list and started working on the important assignment that I was supposed to submit Amber by tomorrow.

It was almost 11 when I heard soft knocks on the door. I asked the person to come in and when I found Aaron standing in between the doorframe, I immediately straightened up.

His eyes trailed to my feet peeking through the gap in the desk and his eyes softened. He stepped towards me, stopping right in front of my desk, his eyes looking around my office instead of meeting my gaze.

"Do you need anything?" I asked when he didn't say anything for a moment. His presence was unnerving me with his dominant aura and his masculine scent.

Hearing that, he looked into my eyes and once again, I couldn't move, it felt like he had somehow pinned me to my position with his gaze. "How's your ankle?" he asked, more like whispered.

This is not what I had imagined. I thought he was there to scold me or ask me to go to the first floor once again. So when instead of all this, he sincerely asked me about my ankle, I couldn't speak for a moment.

"It's fine." I answered as soon as I realised that I had been staring too long.

He was about to say something else when my phone started ringing. My attention diverted to the picture of Mark popped on my phone screen. Picking up my phone, I cut the call and once again turned my attention to Aaron.

But instead of the softness, I met with a clenched jaw and hard eyes. "If your ankle is all better, I'll advise you to focus on your work, instead of gossiping around with your acquaintances."

I couldn't figure out what happened to him suddenly. Just moments ago, he was asking me about my injury and now, he was storming out of my office with balled fists.

...

I stayed till 9 in the office, working on the analysis of the Manhattan project. Forgetting about eating or taking a small nap, I kept my focus on all the data that I had collected from this morning. The only thing remaining was to tabulate the data and make a powerpoint presentation out of it.

From the slit in the window of my room, I could see the lights in Aaron Vincent's office. Most of the building was empty by now and the only voices that could be heard were of security guard's or Aaron's.

When it became too difficult to keep my eyes open, I gave up and left my office to get a cup of coffee for myself. While walking through the hallway, I could feel Aaron's eyes on me but I chose to not let my attention divert.

In the deserted floor, I found my way to the Intern's lounge where the coffeemaker was kept. After preparing coffee for myself, I treaded back to my office and gasped when I found Aaron inside.

"What are you-" I stopped when my eyes fixated on the mess on my desk. Black ink was spreaded all over the files, turning them into a pile of ruined mess.

"Shit." I ran towards it to check if the file containing all the collected data was ruined or not. An agonising grunt escaped my lips when I found out that everything was hidden under the layer of splattered ink.

"I'm sorry Miss. Avery. I just wanted to borrow the ink." he said in a smooth voice, with a devilish smirk on his mouth.

"It took me two days to gather it." I whispered to myself, looking at my hands which were also covered in ink now. Even if I used ink remover, all my work would be removed with these stains and I would be back to zero.

"I apologise for the inconvenience." he cast a sarcastic glance towards me and I tried my best not to burst out crying in front of him.

"It's fine." I managed to say, still staring at all my effort that was in vain now.

It's not fine.

His smirk instantly wiped off, as if he wanted me to react violently. A part of me felt pride in myself for not giving him the satisfaction. His anger was fair but what he did not only harmed my position but also the PowerPoint that Amber needed to give her next presentation. And that was a petty thing to do.

"Are you sure it's fine?" his gaze was calculating.

"Yes. I'll do it once, I'll do it again." I put a faint smile on my mouth, despite my insides churning at the thought of completing the work within the deadline.

After he left, I called Ava to pick me up. Gathering all the files, I took them with me to our apartment and spend whole night working without a wink of sleep.

By the next morning, I looked like a zombie because of my dark circles yet I still failed to make the PowerPoint presentation. I decided to admit to Amber that I failed to complete the task and all I could do was assemble the data in tabular forms.

Hiding my dark circles with insane amount of concealer, I left for work with Ava. She dropped me off to our building and I hurried towards the elevator. By the time I reached my office, I had already a text from Amber, asking for the task. Embracing myself for my first insult by my boss, I picked up the work I had done and made my way to her office.

"Good morning." I said as soon as I entered the office. My anxiety heightened when I found Aaron inside, probably here to enjoy my insult.

I turned my attention to Amber. "I am here to apologise. I couldn't finish the task and I am really sorry for not being able to prove myself as a competent secretary." I said, lowering my gaze to the floor.

"What are you talking about? Aaron already gave me the PowerPoint presentation. He told me how he accidentally spilled ink on your work and that's his way of making things right." Amber said in her signature sweet tone, smiling at my standing figure.

My eyes shifted to Aaron who had incomprehensible expressions printed on his face. After Amber got busy in another phone call, he walked towards me, towering over my short height.

"You aren't more important than this company, Miss. Avery. Don't worry, I would never try to jeopardise its dignity." he said and after glaring into my eyes for almost a minute, walked out of the office.

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