XVI

                                    

                                          
"Good morning, Mr-" the employee was cut off as he realized that the respectable man paid no attention to him. He turned his head towards me and gave me a questioning look which I returned back. 
"Good morning, Mr Everson. I did not know Mr Brown was expecting you," I said as my hand moved towards the phone to inform Mr Brown of his arrival. 
"I'm not here for him," he said as he gave me the sharpest glare anyone could muster up. My eyebrows rose up in surprise. 
"Is something the matter?" I asked trying to keep my calm. I did not do anything to be on the receiving end of his hostility. Not to mention it was Monday and I generally am not in a good mood on Mondays. 
He didn't say anything and threw a newspaper at me which took me by surprise. 
"What?" 
He rolled his eyes and gave me a look that said 'I don't know genius, what do people do with newspapers?'
I sighed as I picked it up and ran my eyes over the page. However, just one sentence in and I jolted my head towards him in shock. 
"What is this?" 
"Don't play dumb with me. You know exactly what this is." 
"When did they take this picture of us?" 
"I don't know, you tell me," he snarled as he raised a taunting eyebrow. 
"What are you implying?" I narrowed my eyes at him. The page consisted of a picture of us two in the social event from three days ago. It was when I almost fell and he caught me in time. To anyone who's not aware, it looks like he was giving me a hug of some sort. On top of the page lies the title which says  'Old Love Rekindled?'. Somebody took the picture out of context and decided that it would bring them a lot of clout, not thinking about the aftermath it would leave on me. Then again, people don't tend to think about others around them when their interest is at stake. 
"You told Ember to leave us to give people a chance to take a picture of the two of us together because you knew it would make a commotion that will benefit you in the long run. What is it that you want, money from being involved with my name again?" he snarled. 
"Now you're overdoing it. You know I wouldn't do that." 
"I don't know what to expect from you." 
"Not that. Your trust in me is baffling," I remarked sarcastically making him guffaw sardonically. 
"How do you expect me to trust you now when you betrayed me when I trusted you the most?" 
That was a jab that pierced deep in my heart to the point where I could almost feel the pain physically. It seemed like the universe aligned and decided to make my life as miserable as possible this past month because wherever I'm headed, I keep getting reminded of the mistake I made 3 years ago. 
"You don't know anything." 
He scoffed. "And whose fault is that? I gave you the chance to speak up back then but what did you do instead? You walked out on me which was enough to confirm everything. If I don't know anything, it's your fault for not telling me," he voiced. My breath hitched as my brain failed to come up with something to respond with.  
"However, I put it all behind now. I know enough about you now to know better than to trust you again."
Once again, I was too much of a coward to say anything to falsify his words. Not that I do have anything to say.