strange craving ((yandere x reader))

XXIII- an invitation

Watching the clock was near torture for Āvo. He was patting over his hair for the upteenth time and found his hand getting slapped.

"You look great, sir." Ross assured him. "(Y/n) has just been summoned so you have around five minutes until she gets here."

The fear on Āvo's face became extremely obvious in all of a second. "Call it off. I-I cannot see her." He became progressively more out of breath as he spoke. "Not now, I need... I need more time to prepare myself I-"

"You'll be fine." Agnes smiled, approaching her friend/boss from across the room. "You know what you need to say and just say it. Exactly as we practiced."

Āvo glanced at the picture of his sweetheart that sat on his desk. "But..what if she says no? What then?"

"She won't say no." Ross walked around to stand behind Āvo's chair and began to rub the tension out of his shoulders. "You're charming, you're handsome, you're powerful," Ross felt his boss grow more relaxed "and you've got this heart of gold that no one knows about that you'll show your girl."

"Plus she works for you so..." Agnes added.

Āvo's brows immediately furrowed as he tensed up again. "So?"

"So she won't say no."

"I-I don't want her to feel like she can't say no!" He bleeted out in alarm. "Oh god." Āvo swatted Ross away and buried his face in his own hands.

"No, no, no, that's the best part." Ross said reassuringly. "You give the illusion of a choice, so she feels in control of her actions when in reality yes is the only option."

"That feels disingenuous..." Āvo trailed off as a mutter.

Ross smiled and shook his head. "When has it not been? This is all for your girl's benefit anyway."

"You always say that you're what's best for her, sir." Agnes said while sharing a glance with Ross. "You can't stare from the sidelines your whole life."

Āvo, who was now sweating bullets, hastily grabbed the framed picture he had of (Y/n). He traced her face ever so carefully. "I can't see her. Turn her away. Call it off." He said in a panic.

"You've worked too hard to throw it all away now!"

The landline telephone on Āvo's desk began to ring. He lurched back like it was something alien and glanced at his close confidantes for help.

Ross, rolling his eyes as he saw that Āvo would not pick up the damned thing himself, lifted the phone to his ear.

"She's heading your way, sir." The gravelly voice on the other end immediately said.

A simple thank you before hanging up was all it took to conclude that interaction.

Ross sighed at the sight Āvo's blue eyes wide and horror filled. "Look, she's going to be here soon. So long as you stick to what we practiced then she's bound to say yes." His boss was usually a rock, hardly showing an emotion. Yet leave it to his his precious girl to reduce him to this mess.

"C'mon, sir." Agnes spoke encouragingly. "It's not as if we're asking you to confess your love for her!"

"She'll see right through me." He hissed to himself. "I can't do this."

Ross started to head for the door as he spoke. "You're keeping her waiting, sir-"

"-as you always do because of you nerves." Agnes cut in.

"Exactly. I'll send for her and this only needs to take a couple of minutes."

Āvo gave up on trying to stop it and just bit the bullet. He accepted his fate that he would inevitably humiliate himself in front of the woman he'd been desperately in love with for years.