A Pearl In The Oyster ☑️

18. L'irresponsable - The Irresponsible

My phone on the table started to ring. I looked at it, and saw that Florian was calling me. André saw it too, and turned his head away in annoyance. The audacity this man had, even after doing something clearly wrong, was admirable.

"What are you going to tell him? He's going to be so worried." I said, but of course, his parents would never become his motivation.

"Don't even try to scare me with their name. I don't give a fuck. All of you, do whatever you want." He said, trying to go back to sleep.

"But this isn't the right way. Whatever you did, this isn't the way to go about it. You should have told your father, and then after making a plan, we would have disclosed it together. Now, you've just forced us to go according to your plan, unannounced, whether we like it or not. Is this how you work?" I asked him, hoping it would stir him up.

And it did. It actually did more than stir him up. He sat up again, and there was that familiar blaze in his usually cold graphite eyes. The air in the room shifted, and while I'll admit that I'd been nervous whenever it happened before, today, it was a bit different.

Today, I kind of wanted to incite him and rile him up like that. It would be the best payback for all the times he had insulted me and looked down upon me for me being....  me. Today, instead of being nervous, I was excited and eager to show him his place.

He stood up, crossing the table and standing right in front of me. Like this, he towered over me, and I had to tilt my head to look at him.

"What the hell do you know about how I work? And you're nobody to be putting your nose in my business. You wanted this damned marriage along with my dad, so I gave it to you. But, now you have a problem with it too? You're getting your damn money, so be happy about it."

"Ah, so as long as I get my money, I must shut up and do whatever you want me to do. And, I must listen to all of your insults with a warm heart. Is that it?" I asked tauntingly, feeling my blood pressure rise by the second.

His arrogance knew no bounds, and he was starting to get on my nerves. It was true I was here for the money, but the least he could do was treat me nicely. Even if he couldn't do so, he could at least not say anything. I would take silence as niceness too.

But no, he just had to be caustic and sarcastic every single time we met. He just had to remind me that I'm just another girl obsessed with his money, just another gold digger.

"Of course it is," He said. "When you're here for something, and you get it, you should know to be fucking grateful for it."

At this point, I saw red. This wasn't even about me taking his money anymore. This was now about how low we could get to hurt each other. It was about how sharp and cutting our words could be, and how many wounds we could inflict upon the other.

And even though I'd never played such a game, I knew damn well how to win.

"You're one to talk about gratitude. Your father gave you a good house to live in, a ton of money to spend however you like, and this position in the company that you certainly don't deserve. How well do you show your gratitude to him?"

Astounded, André stuttered. "You.... you–"

"And even if I was a gold-digger, you stating it constantly wouldn't exactly make a difference. I would just be pissed about it, that's all. So, why don't we both save our time and energy, and resort to avoiding any conversation, if possible? Unlike you, I'm going to be extremely busy in the future."

"Are you trying to show off that you get to work, which is all because of me?" He asked, eyes now burning furiously.

But, I stood my ground. The feelings I had refused to recognize, came back to me in full force today. I kept detaching myself from them, saying how I didn't care, but I did. I cared too much about each and every word André and everyone else had said. It hurt, and I refused to let go of it anymore.

"Its not because of you. It never was. You aren't your father, keep that in mind." I told him, my tongue biting and tearing everything into shreds.

It was in that moment that I realized how close we had gotten. I could smell the woody cologne and alcohol on him, and it was confirmed once again what he had done under the influence of alcohol. It was enough to make my blood boil, but it wasn't the only reason.

Our chests were almost touching, and my neck would surely have a cramp if I craned it anymore. His height reminded me just how small and vulnerable I was in front of him. I shouldn't be running my mouth like that, I thought to myself.

"That, I'm aware of very well. And I will never wanna be like him. Thank you for pointing it out, though." He said.

Although his tone was clearly sardonic, the decrease in his volume confused me. How did he go from a raging lion to a slithering snake in seconds? I blinked, not knowing what to say anymore. In that moment, someone opened the door to the office, and we jumped apart.

It felt as if we had been singed, and it just felt wrong to be discovered by someone else in our previous positions. There was nothing going on between us, and our fight was purely innocent, but it still didn't feel right. At least, I felt like I was committing a crime.

When I turned to see who had walked through, I saw Florian coming with his face red. On the other side, André ran his fingers through his hair in frustration, already anticipating the upcoming conversation.

Florian nodded at me silently, and I understood his message. "I'll take my leave now," I said, and left the office.

As soon as I closed the door behind me, a huge breath escaped my lips. This was what this man did to me – he left me panting and breathless, all the while angry and frustrated and annoyed at him. We were obviously an extremely wrong match, even though our relationship was fake. No wonder why Florian thought any different about us.

With a confused and heavy heart, and more burden on my heart than before, I walked towards the elevator. On my way out, I met Brice and told him a quick 'Thank you'. Brice then informed me how Madison left before Florian arrived, or else this wouldn't have ended so quickly. I figured she would come back for more drama, but I was relieved that she was gone for today, at least.

I could handle a little drama myself, as long as it was sprinkled out on my calendar well, instead of cramping it all on one day.

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