Cold Feet (COMPLETED)

Prologue

Hello again my dear friends!

So nice to be back from a little time out to attend to adulting in the real world. I'm back with a new fic that I hope will entertain you as much of not more than my past two stories. I hope to see you all in the comments section, sharing your thoughts like you always do.

As usual, I hope to tackle real-life with lessons in this story, can't wait to hear from you all again! And with that, please join me on this new journey, as we venture into the world of Richard and Dei, of dealing with ghosts of their past and facing challenges alone and together, here in COLD FEET.

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Richard closed his eyes for a moment, rubbing his fingers gently against his eyelids to get a little moisture into his tired eyes. It's been a long day, and all he wanted to do was to go home and sleep. No dinner, no conversations with Shayne, just sleep. But he had one more meeting, an interview with an applicant, actually.

Since the past week, they placed an ad for a Digital Marketing Strategist. They haven't had the luck to find someone good enough, or maybe he was too particular in his search for the perfect candidate. It's just that having digital marketing experience was not enough, he needed someone whose knowledge was deep enough to be good at creating strategic campaigns for their clients, someone who had the creativity to match, if not overwhelm the competition. He knew of only one person who could pass his standard, but of course it would be impossible to work with her again.

Thoughts of her invade his mind and heart again. Three years and he still gets that jolt of pain. He should be over her by now after what she did to him; after the embarrassment, the awkward explanations he had to dish out as an aftermath of what she did. There was still a tinge of pain and anger, this was why he refused to answer any of her calls or messages on any of his social media accounts. He had totally wiped out her existence in his life. What she did to him was unforgivable.

He took the folder from his incoming tray to take a look at the applicant that Celine, their HR Director, was so excited about. She said finally, their search might be over because she found someone that was an exact fit for the role. He opened the folder and looked at the name on the resume. He felt his eyes playing tricks on him and read the name again. Unbelievable.

It was her. He wondered how much she knew about his agency and if she was willing to work with him again, considering how they parted ways three years ago. Or should he be asking himself that question? Was he even willing to see her again? Out of curiosity, he was willing, to be honest.

He stood up to go to the bathroom installed inside his office. He splashed cold water on his face, checked himself in the mirror. Not bad, for someone who was working since six in the morning. He laughed ruefully at himself for his vanity. Was how he looked to her really that important?

He did a quick check of her resume and was impressed. She'd been busy these past three years, did well with her time away from him. But even before checking her resume, he already knew she was a perfect fit for the role. It was just a question of his readiness to work with her again. Steeling himself for their meeting, he goes out to meet her in their conference room.

He enters the room and finds her suddenly standing as the door opens, visibly taking a deep breath before she faces him. Her hair was still the same long, silky mane he loved running his hand on, her body now more womanly, filled out in the right places. She still had that same haunting look on her face whenever she looked at him expectantly, the parted full lips he liked to nibble on, the adorable cleft on her chin, and the same doe eyes he fell for, the first time they met.

"Sorry to keep you waiting. Please sit down."

"How have you been, Jay?"

"Funny you should ask me that. Make a wild guess."

She flinched, her hands clasped together in her lap. There was no justice in this world. She looked good, damned good. 

"I deserved that. I'm really sorry for everything, Jay."

"What exactly are you doing here? You have your own agency, you've been doing well in Vietnam. Is this another impulsive decision you will regret later on? I need a commitment from whoever I will choose to hire. And honestly, your word doesn't hold much water anymore."

"I tried to contact you before, Jay. I tried to explain but---"

"Stop. We're not talking about the past. This is about the job. Let's keep the discussion on that because the past is a moot point."

"I want to work with you again."

"Why?"

"I want to make up for everything I've done. I want us to be friends again."

"And you think working together will do the trick? Not possible, sorry."

"I sold my business in Vietnam, I have nowhere else to go."

"That's not my fault. See, yet again, you made another impulsive decision, not knowing what the outcome of working here might be."

"Look. You need my services, don't you? No problem on the compensation, I'll take whatever you offer me."

He stared at her, trying to gauge her motives. This was the woman he was supposed to marry, who backed out three days before their wedding, leaving him with the chaos and embarrassment of explaining to everybody why she left.

"Jay......if you can't be friends with me, at least work with me. We were good as a team. Please?"

He stood up, about to leave the room but she blocked his way, standing between him and the door. They were standing so close, less than a foot apart. He could smell her subtle flowery fragrance, his eyes drawn to the softness of her parted lips.

Her hands tentatively wrap around his middle, her head leans on his chest. There's a tightening in his chest as his hands involuntarily wrap around her. Hugging her still felt like coming home, it was so unfair that she could still awaken these feelings in him. The feeling comes flooding back like it never left, and his chin rests on top of her head. But even before their bodies warm up to the embrace, he disengages and gently pushes her away.

"I'm sorry Dei. Not this time."