C14 Weird Questions

Chapter-14: Weird Questions

Aria Anastasia

“Ma'am, don't worry. I'm here to help you. I'm sure that if the two of us work together, we won't have to stay that long,” Liam chimed in with a bright smile, but his smile faded away as soon as Zaiden glared in his direction.

I wondered when he got onto this floor since I told him to go to Mrs. Regine. Oh, how could I forget that Mrs. Regine worked on this floor? This was why Liam got here in the first place.

I ignored Zaiden's strange behavior and turned towards Liam. “That would be a great help. Thanks—”

Zaiden cut me off and spoke up, “Did you forget, Ms. Anastasia? We don't make our interns do the hard work for us. They came here to learn, not to help out their superiors.”

That was new to me. Usually, everyone would make the interns do the troublesome work. I had no idea Zaiden didn't like making our interns work. But was that the only reason or there was something else bothering him?

I gave Zaiden a quizzical look, and he shrugged me off before continuing, “And you, intern, you will go straight home when the work hours are over if you want to continue your internship here.”

“Yes, Sir.” Liam was clearly frightened. The poor thing. It was his first day here, and he already got on his boss' bad side.

“Don't worry. It will be alright.” I gave a pat on Liam's shoulder.

“Thanks,” Liam said with a small smile.

Zaiden cleared his throat and said, “Ms. Anastasia, it would be nice if you didn't forget about your overtime tonight.”

“I wouldn't dream of it, Boss,” I responded in the same professional tone he was using.

For the few moments he was standing there, refusing to meet my eyes, there was an awkward tension in the air between us.

“Get back to work, everyone,” Zaiden ordered and shoved his hands in his pockets before continuing his round.

I sighed and went back to explaining the works to Liam after getting the correct file.

___

Later at night, when I was working all alone in my cabin, my cell phone rang up all of a sudden making me flinch slightly.

As soon as I pressed the phone to my ear, Zaiden's deep voice echoed from the other side, “You should come work in my cabin. There's no one else in the office.”

He didn't even bother listening to my response and hung up the call. Releasing a sigh, I picked up my belongings and the necessary documents. I knocked on Zaiden's cabin door once I reached there.

Hearing a faint 'come in', I stepped in. He was sitting on his usual chair, reading some files. I was about to put my laptop on the coffee table but he spoke up, “Sit in front of me.”

I arched an eyebrow but didn't question him. I set my belongings on his desk and sat on the chair across him. Once I had settled down, I was typing on my laptop, yet the awkward silence was bothering me.

“Zaiden, is there something bothering you?” I finally spoke up.

“What makes you say that, Ms. Anastasia?” Zaiden replied, not looking up from his file.

“You are still calling me formally when there's no one around. You told me to call you by your first name, now you are acting all professional with me. This is not done.” Now I was understanding how weird Zaiden used to feel when I called him 'Boss' in a professional manner.

“Fine, Aria,” he grunted.

“Say it nicely, not as if you're spitting out poison.”

“Okay.” At last, he looked up and met my gaze. “Aria,” he said softly.

“Yes?” I responded. I loved the way my name rolled off his tongue.

“Get back to work,” he deadpanned.

“Oh, right.” I looked down at my laptop screen again and continued making the report I was working on earlier, yet I felt the need to talk. “What did you think of the new intern?” I started speaking.

It didn't take me long to understand what a wrong question I had asked. “He doesn't seem very capable. He is also loud. He's the type that distracts dedicated people like you from work. We are definitely not hiring him as a full-time employee,” Zaiden said in a breath as if he already had it memorized in his mind.

“How do you know he's not capable? I'm telling you, he's a great guy. He helped me a lot with my work,” I defended Liam. Of course, I couldn't let Zaiden badmouth Liam in his absence, that too without properly knowing him.

“Don't I help you with your work as well?” Zaiden said out of the blue.

“What?” I let out in confusion. “Where did you come from?” I saw him gritting his teeth and puffing his cheeks slightly. So, I chuckled and said, “However, there's no comparison between the two of you.”

“You mean I am a better option than him?” he asked with a tint of excitement in his voice.

I didn't understand how I was supposed to take that question. What did it mean, anyway? Was he comparing himself with the intern all this time? Why would he do that unless he felt something for me?

No, no, don't think about that, Aria. Focus on your work.

I shook my head and tried to focus on my report. But why did I think that would be possible when Zaiden was in no mood of working?

“So, Aria, I have been wondering about this for a while now. Since you know my secret, I should know something about you too,” he said casually.

I nodded, encouraging him to ask whatever he wanted to. “I think I will make some coffee for myself. You want some?” I asked him, and he hummed in response.

I stood up and went near the counter where the mugs and the coffee machine were arranged. I was waiting for Zaiden to ask his question but rather I felt his presence behind me.

As I was about to turn around to ask whether he needed something or not, my back collided with his chest, immediately making my breath hitch.

Zaiden placed his hands on the counter on both of my sides, caging me in between his arms.

“Zaiden,” I breathed out, blood rushing to my cheeks. “Aren't you a bit too close?”

“No,” he replied and brought his face closer to my neck, resting his chin on my shoulder gently.

On the other hand, my heart was literally going to beat out of my ribcage. I couldn't form any coherent words in my head; that's when he asked, “How many boyfriends have you had until now?”

Did he have to come this close to ask that stupid question?

“That doesn't necessarily have to be a secret, you know?”

“Then tell me.”

“Why are you even curious about it?” I inquired, still intoxicated by his closeness.

“Do I need to have a reason to be curious about the only person who knows my secrets outside of the Mafia?” he retorted. He really was giving all sorts of weird emotions nowadays. “Not that I will die without knowing,” he added quickly.

I sighed. “Fine. I had one boyfriend back in high school.”

“No one other than that?”

“Yes. I didn't want anyone distracting me from my goals.”

“You are completely over that guy, right?”

I shot him a glare from my peripheral vision. “It has been years since I got over him.”

“Oh, that's great,” Zaiden said. I could feel him twitching his lips as if he was trying to hold back a smile. However, he seemed way too happy to do that. “That also means that you won't pay too much attention to the new intern. He will distract you from your work.”

“No, it's fine. He's a friend like you,” I told him.

“Friend?” he let out.

“Yes. You both are my friends.”

“I told you before that I'm not your friend,” he stated.

I straightened myself up, finally able to organize my scattered thoughts. “You have been asking me all sorts of weird questions tonight. Now, can I ask you a question?”

“Sure.”

I pursed my lips and thought about my decision of asking him this question. But it was now or never. I took a sharp breath and let out, “If we are not friends, what are we?”

Chapter-14: Weird QuestionsChapter-14: Weird QuestionsChapter-14: Weird Questions