The Way to a Man's Heart

Chapter 12

A/N: The image above does not belong to me. It belongs to the person who uploaded it on the internet.

Dome's POV

The moment that Tae walked into the executive lounge I felt like a knife with double ragged edges had been plunged into my chest.

Memories of that fateful evening washed over me like some giant tsunami leaving me weak and a little dizzy.

I suddenly felt like I could not breathe. I needed to get away for a few minutes. I needed to get some air.

"Excuse me," I said standing from my seat and making my way to the door.

My father gave me a look of disapproval for my behavior but he could not stop me from leaving. He should at least be grateful that I had agreed to fall in with his plans for a merger of his and the Kreepolrerk companies.

I walked up a flight of stairs and pushed the heavy metal door that led to the rooftop of the building. I took in several deep breaths to fill my lungs with much needed air.

I stood in one position clenching and unclenching my fists. I cursed at the new giant developer that had forced my father and Tae's father to merge their companies in order to survive.

"Come back" my father texted me.

I took in several deep breaths once more before I made my way back to the executive lounge.

I didn't look at anyone in particular as I approached the table but I could feel Tae's piercing stare on me.

A unformed waiter was serving breakfast beverages but when he asked me what I wanted to drink, I asked for a glass of whiskey. Of course my father would not allow it. He instructed the waiter to give me a cup of black coffee instead.

Throughout the meeting I stayed silent no matter how much my father and Mr. Kreepolrerk tried to draw me into their conversation. I refused to answer Mr. Kreepolrerk question as to what kept me busy these days. I pretended to be busy sipping from my cup of coffee instead.

After breakfast, it was time to sign the merger contract.

"Lend me your pen," my father said to me.

Oh, for godssakes, of all things to forget to bring to a signing of an important contract. I cursed myself for forgetting to bring one as well.

At the same time that Mr. Kreepolrerk was handing his pen to my father, Tae extended his hand to me. He was offering me the use of his pen. Fuck this was one of the most embarrassing moments of my entire life.

"Thank you," I mumbled as I took the pen from him.

My fingers accidentally touched his when I took his pen. I let go of the pen like it was a branding iron that seared my skin.

Tae quickly picked it up and extended it to me again. I slowly and carefully took hold of the edge of the pen, being careful this time not to let our fingers touch.

"Thanks," I mumbled once more.

After the signing and an exchange of a few more pleasantries, we all stood up from the table to take our leave.

"Could I please have a few moments with you?" I got startled by Tae's voice sounding very close to my ears. The thick carpet had muffled the sound of his footsteps as he walked up very close to me.

"What for? Our business here is finished," I said coldly.

"You're right." he said. "I won't be discussing business. I would like to discuss something else."

"I'm afraid the feeling is not mutual," I countered, and quickly walked ahead of my father and Mr. Kreepolrerk.

Instead of waiting for the elevators like the others did, I used the stairs. I didn't care that I had a good eighteen flights of stairs to go through before I could reach ground level. I just needed to get away from Tae as quickly as I could.

I blindly made my way to the lobby and outside of the hotel building where I requested the valet to bring my car to the entrance.

I was so relieved when I finally reached my own building. I went directly to my office and unlocked my door with unsteady hands.

I tried to focus on my duties as manager of the building. Some tenant had left a note in my mailbox that there was a problem with their kitchen sink. The garbage disposal unit had stopped working. Another client had left a voice message on the answering machine of my office landline saying that their shower head was giving out only a limited spray of water which meant that the shower head had accumulated a good amount of lime. There were two other tenants who had similar problems. I sighed. At least the rest of my day was going to be hectic. I would not be able to find time to dwell on my own personal problem.

As luck would have it, the handyman for my building was available. There were days when I could not reach him because he was moonlighting in another building.

Before the end of my work day, I had managed to attend to the individual complaints of my tenants.

Although I felt exhausted I felt proud of myself as I locked my office door and called it a day.

I was walking down the path leading to my personal unit when I stopped dead in my tracks.

Waiting outside my unit were two persons who could make my blood pressure skyrocket just by being in their presence :  Tae and Pavel. What the hell did they want from me.

"My office is closed now," I said to Pavel.

Then I turned to Tae, "I thought I had told you this morning that there was nothing further to discuss."

"Who is this?" Tae and Pavel asked me at the same time while pointing to each other.