You Need Me

Chapter 50

"I am confused too. For a moment there, I thought he had lost his mind." Tom was talking to Viola on the phone. "Are you coming to see him, Madam? These past 2 weeks, he did nothing besides eating, sleeping and reading books. I am worried because he isn't acting like himself..." The Leonard Oliver he knew prefer checking presentation slides rather than sleeping.

"I don't want to upset him, Tom. Did you say he will be discharged tomorrow?" Viola asked.

"Yes, if he doesn't change his mind again." Tom complained. Viola laughed.

"Who are you talking to?" Leon came from behind, startling Tom.

"Mr. Oliver!" Tom quickly cut off the line, apologizing to Viola silently. "What... what are you doing here, out in the garden?" The assistant asked.

"I just come out to get fresh air. Are you done? I need you to do something for me later." He sneered at the nervous assistant.

The next day.

"Does the Chairman know you are returning to the company today?" Tom asked as he did a final check on the room, making sure nothing was left behind.

"I have called him this morning." Leon adjusted his tie on the mirror. He finally got rid of those ugly hospital gowns. "Let's go."

Leon walked out of the hospital building and was standing alone at the entrance, waiting for Tom to pick up their car. 50 meters away from where Leon was standing, Viola stood behind a wall. She stole a glance of him from afar and let out a sigh of relief. Looks like he had fully recovered. After her cake caused a big ruckus, her guilt towards Leon grew deeper. How could she not? He was hospitalized for two weeks because of that!

Viola wanted to apologize to him directly but she was afraid he would reject her again like last time. She leaned against the wall, staring at the passing city dwellers. What should I do? Should I visit him at a later date? But... what if he thinks I'm annoying? Should I just send flowers? Write him a letter??? Ughhh... Viola crouched down on the sidewalk as she tried to come up with a less intrusive way to apologize.

"What are you doing?" Leon stood beside Viola, who was caught pulling her hair.

"Aaaa!!" Viola panicked and almost lost her balance. She almost had a heart attack.

Leon frowned at her reaction. He cleared his throat and held out his hand to her, which after a moment of hesitation, accepted by Viola.

Viola fixed her posture. "Surprised to see you here, Leon!" She tried to sound cheerful. "Congratulations... urm... for leaving the hospital! It must have been boring inside... without having anything to do... and..."

Leon watched her, unamused.

Viola shut her mouth. She wished she could stop talking foolishly when she was nervous. She lowered her gaze to the floor. "I'm sorry..."

"What for?" Leon retorted.

"I heard about the cake..."

"And?"

"It's my fault."

"So?"

"I'm sorry..."

"That's all?"

Viola lifted up her head. Her emerald green eyes met with Leon's eyes. Leon turned his face away.

Viola twisted her fingers. "I don't know..."

"He is here." Leon could see Tom getting out from the car, looking for him by the entrance. He grabbed Viola's arm and dragged her with him.

"Where are we going??"

Leon did not answer. He opened the car door. "Go in." She quietly obeyed.

"Madam? Why are you..." Tom was surprised to see the couple back together.

"I thought you invited her today?" Leon questioned his assistant in a mocking tone.

Tom did not dare to look at his employer. He slid into the driver's seat and started the car engine.

Both Leon and Viola were silent throughout the journey to his office. During that, Leon did not let go of her hand, or more like he refused to let go of her hand. And that made Viola nervous as hell. She pretended not to mind Leon's fingers stroking her hand by forcing herself to focus on the city view outside the window. Leon was aware of that but continued to do so. He enjoyed seeing Viola being awkward around him.

They were still walking hand in hand when they entered the Uni Infinitus building.

"Your face is red. Are you sick?" Leon asked when they were inside the elevator.

"I'm not!" Viola replied. She brushed her cheeks with her other hand.

"Good." Leon grinned.

Mia, Leon's secretary, got up from her seat when she saw her boss came out from the elevator.

"Mr. Oliver!" Mia cried. She lowered her head. "I... I'm terribly sorry for what I've caused. Please... please forgive me for my carelessness!" For the past two weeks, Mia had worried about being blamed for forgetting to notify her employer about the cake in the fridge.

"It's alright. It was partly my own fault." Leon said, but his eyes were fixed on Viola who was standing beside him. He smiled meaningfully at her. Viola averted her eyes.

"You have a meeting scheduled in the afternoon, Sir. Do you want me to rearrange the time?" Mia asked. She tilted her head and smiled at Viola.

"No. She won't be long here." He playfully interlocked his fingers with Viola's. Viola pulled her hand away angrily. Leon chuckled. "Please prepare the materials for the meeting with Tom. I'll call when I need you." He added. Mia nodded in understanding.

"Let's go." Leon led Viola into his room.

"Drink?" Leon asked as he took off his suit jacket and hung it on the coat hanger stand.

Viola shook her head. "I'll leave soon."

Leon walked to the cabinets where Viola was standing by and raised his hand, close to her ear. She avoided his hand unconsciously.

"Are you... afraid of me?"

"No... I just..." Viola did not mean to avoid him. She was just startled.

"It's okay. After what I did that night... I can understand..." He laughed, but his expression was all hurt. He reached for the glass behind her, poured himself a glass of water and drank it all in one go. The atmosphere felt stiff. Both did not say anything for a while. Leon then pointed to the sofa in front of his working desk, inviting Viola to sit. Viola sat with her back facing the entrance while Leon took the seat across her. None of them knew what to say. Leon were just staring at her.

"What..?" Viola finally asked.

"Aren't you going to tell me what you were doing just now at the hospital?" Leon clasped his hands together.

Viola lowered her gaze to her hands that were resting on her legs. "I... just wanted to see how you are doing." Leon did not say anything. Viola continued. "Is your body alright? Do you still feel unwell somewhere?"

Leon shrugged his shoulders.

"I'm sorry for being a total disaster."

"What are you going to do?" Leon asked.

"Eh?"

"You are not thinking that your verbal apology is all it takes, are you?

Viola had a bad feeling about where the conversation was moving to.

Leon got up from his seat and walked to his working desk. He picked up two folders he had asked Tom to bring with him and placed them on the coffee table in front of Viola. The folder looks familiar, Viola thought. And then, the memory downed on her.

"I warned you before." Leon smiled, pleased with himself.