What the hell? I scowled at the black device before picking it.
"Hello," I snapped into the phone, still irritated at whoever was on the other side for scaring the shit out of me.
"Did he get it?" The voice on the other side demands impatiently, sounding a little too eager.
Assistant, not a vampire who can read minds. How the fuck do they expect me to know who the fuck they are if they don't introduce themselves first?
These days, people and manners are becoming strangers to each other.
"And you are?" I drawl, doing my best not to sound sarcastic, but not succeeding quite well.
"Anisa! Don't act like you don't know me," the voice on the other end barks at me, letting me know who I was dealing with.
How can I? When she is the only one on planet earth who can't seem to get my name right.
I rolled my eyes at the blonde, once again calling me the wrong name.
"Hello, Ms. Crawford," I greet the blonde in my very best professional assistant voice. "How can I help you today?"
I could almost hear the blonde boiling over with impatience. "Did Ryan get the flowers I sent him?" She demands again, acting as if she is speaking to her servant.
Of course, only a bat shit crazy person like you would send such an outlandish gift as a grand gesture.
Before I answer, a naughty thought occurs to me, and I grin devilishly. Time to pay Ryan back for dumping this hideous thing on me, I glare at the box of flowers and then return to the phone conversation.
"Oh yes. He loved it, I tell Melissa sweetly. He even asked me to call you and ask that you meet him in his office."
Take that, Ryan.
"Really!" Melissa exclaims giddily, and I could picture her jumping up and down like an excited dog.
Really, I say, while grinning inwardly at my perfect payback. That would teach him never to mess with him.
"I am coming!" She screams, nearly deafening me. I clutched my ear while responding to her words.
"And he would be glad to see you."
After the call, I went back to Ryan with an innocent expression, pretending as if I had nothing cooking for him.
We carried on with the meeting, the earlier kiss and tension all but forgotten. Maybe not forgotten, but pushed back.
Just as we finished going through his business for the day, Ryan's door flew open, and Melissa sashayed inside, dressed so exquisitely and flashily.
Shit! She got here so quickly. What did she do? Waiting downstairs for me to confirm that Ryan is waiting for her?
I looked at Ryan, and he had a scowl perched on his face. His expression looks stormy.
A giggle escaped me, and I quickly covered my mouth.
Ryan's head snaps in my direction, and he narrows his eyes at me suspiciously, to which I reply with an innocent look.
"I knew you couldn't resist me. To think the flowers did the trick. Who said bigger isn't better?" Melissa drawls in what she believes is a sexy voice, while she throts toward Ryan with a slow, steady twist of her hips.
"No one says that," I mutter inwardly, while watching Melissa move toward Ryan like a peacock in heat.
I gasped when she made a beeline for his lips, kissing him like she owned those thin lips.
My enjoyment at this prank quickly disintegrated as I watched her kiss Ryan. Jealousy flared hot inside me, and I realized that I couldn't watch them for a second longer.
I go to rise from my seat, but Ryan pushes Melissa away from him, wiping his lips as he glares at the blonde.
"What the fuck are you doing here, Melissa?" He demands acidly, his voice harsh.
Melissa flinches as if Ryan slapped her, a hurt look on her face. Maybe my joke was a little costly. She looks from Ryan to me and back to Ryan, her grey eyes full of confusion.
"Anita told me you wanted to see me."
I clenched my fist, annoyed at her getting my name wrong again.
Ryan looks at her, confused. "Who is Anita?"
"Your assistant!" Melissa snaps, scowling at Ryan impatiently, as if blaming him for not knowing her assistant's name and wasting her time.
"She told me you liked my flowers and wanted to see me," the blonde whined, staring at Ryan with a pout.
Ryan cast a quick look in my direction, and I leaned back in my seat to avoid his glare. Maybe it's time to walk away and let them handle their issues on their own.
Ryan returned his attention to Melissa. "I'm sorry, Melissa, but I never want to see you under any circumstances related to our relationship. That's over."
Shit! That must sting. I started feeling sorry for the blonde as Ryan set her straight, wondering who I had pranked.
Ryan or Melissa?
"But Samira said," Melissa tried to argue, sounding a little desperate, her gray eyes imploringly fixed on Ryan, but he stopped her before she could finish her protest.
"First, her name is Lyra, and I'm sure you must have misheard her," Ryan explained patiently, with a deadpan expression. Looking at him, you'd never think he once had an emotional connection with the woman.
Melissa looked both confused and flustered, unsure what to do. "What about the flowers?" She looked around his office as if searching for them.
I was about to stand from my seat and make my escape when she asked about the flowers, and I froze midway up from the seat.
"Lyra liked them, so I gave them to her."
What! My eyes widened in shock at Ryan's answer, and I collapsed back into the seat.
I am dead.
I waited with my heart pounding in dread for Melissa to lambaste me for taking her precious flowers, but the blonde has her rage-filled eyes fixed on Ryan.
"You gave my flowers to another woman!" She yells, invading his personal space. "Who is she?! Your mistress!" She demands.
At her words, I stare at her, confused. Does she not know that Ryan is talking about me? He just told her my name a few seconds ago.
Ryan also looked baffled at what was happening. He shakes his head at the blonde as if he doesn't know who to blame for her stupidity.
And then he calmly answers the blonde's question.
"No, she is not my mistress, but the woman I am in love with."
"What!" Melissa and I exclaim together, hers louder and masking mine.
My heart thunders in my chest while I stare at Ryan in disbelief. Did he mean it? Or is he trying to piss off his ex-fiancée?
Melissa stares at Ryan with murderous rage, to which my boss replies with an unflinching stare.
"Well, tell her this: no one takes my man from me. You belong to me, and so does your heart. I will kill any woman who dares to take you from me," Melissa tells Ryan, her tone very serious.
After her threat, she sweeps out of the room like a whirlwind, leaving Ryan and me in a pool of thick tension.
I didn't even know which to address. The fact that Melissa is out for my blood, even though she might not know who she is attacking, or Ryan's confession.
I will go with the more dangerous of the two.
"Did you mean it?" I ask Ryan, my voice low, as if I am afraid to ask.
I am.
I am afraid of what his answer might be, because whatever he answers would be a complication for me.
Holding my stare with unwavering conviction in his eyes, Ryan replies to my question.
"Yes."
As soon as the word left his lips, I became claustrophobic, like the walls were closing in on me. I couldn't breathe.
"I am sorry, I can't do this," I tell him, and run from the room.
I needed a private place to catch my breath and sanity, so I headed for the bathroom.
I was so glad to find it empty and rushed inside. I went to the sink and poured cold water on my face as if to jar me back to reality.
With water dripping down my face, I stared at my expression in the mirror. My golden orbs stare back at me.
I try to decipher the complex emotions in their fire-flecked depth. I could see my pain, the sadness, the rage, but hidden underneath these negative emotions is a little spark of hope.
Am I really glad that Ryan is in love with me?
And the revenge? Does this change anything? What about me? Can I fall in love with a man who raped me years ago? Does it matter if he had changed?
Can I bear to let him touch me, fully knowing what he did?
All these questions swarm in my head, leaving me in so much torture that I feel as if my head is about to explode.
I needed to expel the frustration crippling me inside.
"Ah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" I let out a blood-curdling scream, one that came from the pit of my belly.
Amidst my frustrated wail, someone walked into the bathroom, and they froze at the sight of me screaming like a crazy woman at the mirror.