Chapter 13

Kyra’s POV I was half-listening to Chris's apologies about the bouquet incident, but my attention kept drifting to where Nathan stood across the hall. I couldn’t help but glance in his direction and every time I did, I’d always catch him looking at me as if he was waiting for me to look at him. "He rejected our bond for Sophia," Sylvia growled me sharply. "Stop looking." Yet I couldn't help it. Chris's voice pulled me back. "I didn't mean to cause trouble with the flowers." I gave Chris an awkward smile. " I just hope we can clarify our relationship next time because, you know, it will create a misunderstanding." “Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention, please? Good evening…” Our conversation was interrupted when my assistant went up to the mini-stage and greeted everyone. She’s the one in charge to be the host for tonight’s party. I reached for a cocktail, the hesitated. I was pregnant. So I grabbed an orange juice and sipped on it before looking at the mini stage again. “We are pleased to have everyone in this important event. Tonight is the 60th anniversary of ADE. Cheers to another year!” I smiled and lifted my glass. I smiled at Chris too before sipping on my juice but I coughed in shock when I found Nathan’s eyes on me again. I can’t believe he’s still watching me. Even Sophia is looking in my direction now and I feel like she noticed that she’s talking to the air for the whole time now. "You okay?" Chris offered a handkerchief. I shook my head and wiped my lips with my own handkerchief. I noticed Chris’ problematic expression as he stared at my lips and that’s when I realized that I was not wearing my kiss-proof lipstick because it was still missing. “Uh…your lips…” He said, almost a whisper. Before I could react, a familiar minty scent enveloped me. Nathan snatched the handkerchief from my hand, his touch startlingly gentle as he wiped the juice from my mouth. "Give me your lipstick," he ordered, voice low. "You're going onstage." Sylvia bristled. "Since when does an ex-mate give orders?" Yet my traitorous fingers obeyed, passing him the lipstick. Nathan tilted my chin up, his thumb brushing my lower lip.He did it very slowly and carefully while his eyes were focused on what he was doing as if a little distraction would ruin the masterpiece he was painting on my lips. What is he doing again? Why is he here? Why did he look mad? He’s really confusing. I don’t know why he’s acting jealous when clearly, he wants Sophia more than me. He loves Sophia and I’m just his best friend. I want to believe that. God knows how much I want to believe that he doesn’t have feelings for me but he’s showing me the opposite. Should I hope? Should I take another risk? But I’ve been taking the risk all these years and look where it got me. I’m still his best friend. When he let go of my chin, that’s when I realized I was holding my breath all the time he was putting lipstick on my lips. His eyes stared down at me for a few seconds before I looked away nervously. He grabbed my bag and put the lipstick back inside before he started walking away like nothing happened. I swallowed hard. My heart is still racing like crazy and even when I could feel Sophia’s sharp glares, I didn’t give her a damn glance. I stared at Nathan’s back until I felt Chris nudge me. I gasped and looked at him, “Y-You were saying?” He smiled but it didn’t reach his eyes. “If it’s too much, you should give up. You’re just hurting yourself, Kyra.” “Chris—” The call to the stage saved me. “Let us call the Vice President to the stage for a heartwarming message. Miss Kyra Monroe, everyone, the Vice President of the ADE.” I pressed my lips together and started walking towards the stage. I smiled at everyone when I got the microphone. "Good evening, everyone. First of all, thank you for attending this important event. As the Vice President of ADE, I am so proud to have all of you as part of the company…Without your support, I don’t think I can do my job properly. That’s all. Thank you and happy anniversary.” I gave the microphone back while everyone was clapping and as I slowly walked down the two steps stage, Nathan was walking towards my direction. And once again, I felt the carnal desire, the burning sensations as we walked towards each other in the middle of the crowd. The distance keeps on shortening and shortening. He was one step away from me when darkness suddenly consumed the hall. It was like a switch. All the beautiful feelings I had inside disappeared and got conquered by the pitch-black darkness. My hands started sweating and trembling. The crowd around were becoming noisy but I couldn’t hear them properly. It’s like my brain shut down and I can only feel extreme fear. My lips trembled and my knees weakened. The pitch-black surroundings got me so scared that I lost my balance while slowly losing consciousness. Thankfully a pair of warm arms caught me before I fell flat on the floor.