tangled with the assistant

Another boring party-until she ruined it.
Alina Malik. My boss's sister. A disaster in designer.

She stumbled toward me-barefoot, heels swinging from her fingers, eyes red-rimmed and wild. Makeup smudged. Hair a mess. Dress slipping off her shoulder like she was begging to be seen.

"Oh, abs," she giggled, clinging to my arm like she had any right.

I didn't move. Didn't return the smile. Just stared.

"Why have you been ignoring me, jerk?" she slurred.

My jaw tightened. "You know why."

"No, I don't!" she snapped, voice cracking. "I told you I liked you-and you blocked me! Who does that?!"

"Someone who never wanted to hear it," I said flatly. "Now let go."

She ripped her hand away, eyes blazing. "Why don't you like me?!"

I didn't blink. Didn't flinch. Looked her dead in the eye.

"Because there was never anything to like."

She froze.

"You're loud. Immature. Clingy. You create chaos and call it love. You throw tantrums like a child who's never been told no."

Her mouth parted, stunned.

I stepped closer, voice like ice. "You weren't special, Alina. You were tolerated. Only because you're my boss's sister. If it weren't for him, I would've shut you down the second you opened your mouth."

Her eyes filled with tears.

"Every message. Every fake smile. Every pathetic attempt to get close-I let it slide because I didn't want to lose my job. Not because I cared."

Her lower lip trembled. "You don't mean that..."

"I never liked you. Not for a second. You were a walking headache. A spoiled brat playing pretend in heels."

She looked like she couldn't breathe.

"You built a fantasy out of my silence and called it love. That's not my fault-that's your delusion."

She blinked, searching for anything kind in my face.

I gave her nothing.

"You were nothing to me, Alina. Not then. Not now. Not ever."

A tear rolled down her cheek.

"So save yourself the embarrassment. Stop chasing shadows. And leave me the hell alone."