Zaria was taken aback by his blatant request. A frown settled on her face as she took a step back to get farther away from him. "No."

He was expecting such an answer from her facial expression and pretty much everything else including the fact that she now had Desmond in her life and was ignoring him. Most importantly, he had confessed his feelings to her, and like a loser, he had broken the innocent friendship they had between them all these years.

Despite all of this, he still tried to push his luck. "Just a few seconds. A friendly hug?" He pleaded firmly yet not trying to force her. He reached out to hold her arm, but she swatted his hand away.

"Ryan, don't push it." She snarled. What friendly hug could there be between a woman with a boyfriend and a man who had feelings for her? Heaven knew he could pretty much use the so-called friendly hug to create uncalled for trouble between her and Desmond.

"Zaria…" He stood in her way before she could leave.

"Desmond?" She suddenly looked behind him with a gasp of surprise.

"Huh? Is he the reason why you forgot all about our friendship?" He asked bitterly, knowing that he was right. She had become distant ever since she met him.

"No he isn't." She shook her head at his silly question. "I have to go."

She pushed past him and when he turned, he realized that Desmond had arrived at some point and was standing behind him.

"D...Desmond?" She called his name out nervously. The man didn't look happy in the slightest, which made her certain that he had witnessed what had happened with Ryan just now. Who knows, he might have even misunderstood it. She suddenly didn't know what to say.

"My love." He smiled as he averted his gaze from Ryan who was glaring fireballs at him. Aren't you happy to see me?"

"Of course, I am!" She had thought that he would misunderstand her and was ready to explain. His enthusiasm caught her off guard but she was in relief as she threw her arms around him in a hug.

"Dad woke up." She dropped the good news, using it to divert Desmond's attention and hoping Ryan would get the hell away.

Desmond held her waist and patted her before he pulled away. "He finally woke up. You should stay with him more to keep him company. The hospital can get lonely at times."

She nodded and grabbed his hand. "Let's go."

He shook his head. "I guess I'll leave."

"Aren't you coming with me?" She was confused by his behavior. Didn't he want to visit her dad anymore?

"I don't think I'm one of the people he wants to see especially after waking up from a coma." He reminded her that he had never been one of the people that Theodore would tolerate breathing the same air with. One of them might just end up dead, and it was uncertain who it would be.

Zaria finally realized what she had overlooked. Desmond had been helping her watch over Theodore while he was unconscious, it made her forget that the situation would not be the same if the latter was awake all that while.

"I'll see you at work then?" She smiled to bid him goodbye.

"Aren't you going to console me? My feelings are hurt." He pressed a hand against his chest. Even though he claimed that his feelings were hurt, he smiled as he licked his lips slightly in anticipation for a goodbye kiss.

She rolled her eyes at his childishness and tiptoed to hold his neck as she pecked the corner of his lips. "Does that soothe you?"

"A little." He said as his eyes begged for more kisses.

She pecked his lips for a few seconds then pulled away. "How about that?"

He thought about it for a while and then nodded. "A little more."

She chuckled and patted his head as though placating a child. "This is a hospital. I'll soothe you more later."

"I'll take that as a promise." He grinned happily after finally getting a sweet promise that made his heart race.

"Alright. I'll go feed my dad." She flew away to Theodore's room, leaving him in the corridor.

Just as he left, he caught sight of the nauseated Ryan who looked like he wanted to puke his guts out after witnessing his interaction with Zaria. Didn't he leave? Perhaps he was looking for tips to win Zaria's heart?

He laughed internally and looked at the fuming man, grinning as he mouthed the words "she is mine".

….

Zaria returned to work a day later, and Desmond was waiting for her near the executive elevator.

"Welcome back." He handed her four stalks of red roses. "For every day you were away. The oldest one is four days old, I kept one each day hoping I would not end up with a gigantic bouquet."

"You sound as though you had missed me." She took the roses and naturally took in their scent, amazed that he had taken good care of them. They were all fresh.

"Of course, I have. I have always missed you." He resisted the urge to grab her hand and let her enter the elevator before he did. To his actions, she laughed slightly when she noticed his hands that were clearly holding back. According to him, it was perfectly alright to give her flowers in public but holding her hand in the presence of the same people was wrong?

The elevator was yet to close when they overheard the chatter of the employees. "Oh, Miss Williams is back. I thought she had been fired."

"Fired? She was on a break." The receptionist corrected the long-haired young woman who had hypothesized about Zaria being fired.

"The rest of us will never get a break." Another hummed sadly.

"That's one of the perks of being the CEO's sex toy." The long-haired young woman rolled her eyes with a sneer.

Desmond pressed the button to keep the elevator open.

"Des, don't. Leave them alone." Zaria whispered beside him. It was not worth it to argue with them. Besides, they didn't exactly lie. Although she was not Desmond's sex toy, she was his girlfriend and was certain that their relationship had something to do with her recent break.

"No I won't." He exited the elevator with a frown that most of the employees had forgotten about.

Anger emanated from his eyes and Zaria had to follow him lest he destroy someone.

"Who is your manager?" He solemnly asked the long-haired woman.

She trembled in fear. She had thought that Desmond and Zaria were too far to listen in on her, and her anger towards Zaria had clouded her judgement.

"Sir…"

"Who is your manager?" His tone turned colder as he interrupted her and she could only stammer.

"It's… Mr. Eric, sir." She was on the verge of tears.

"Call Eric here right now." He commanded the current receptionist who called the man immediately.

As soon as he arrived, Desmond looked at him gravely.

"Your subordinate will never get a day off from work." He announced strictly.

"But sir, the employees are rewarded with days off if they work hard or in case of emergencies." Mr. Eric tried to remind him but gave up and shut his mouth when he received a deadly glare.

"Did you hear what I said?" Desmond was fuming in anger, and Mr. Eric nodded. "I don't care who is dying, don't give her a day off. She has to work overtime everyday too. She can only leave the office at 8pm."

The long-haired woman felt like she would die when she heard the second part of the punishment. She almost fell on her knees. "Sir, please. I'm sorry."

"Am I the one you should apologize to?" He glared at her, making her shudder.

She pressed her palms together in front of her face as she pleadingly turned to Zaria. "I'm sorry Miss Williams. Please forgive me."

"It's great that you realize your mistake. But the punishment is not up to me." Zaria responded. She knew that if she said it was alright, the punishment would no longer make sense. The woman had not just offended her but Desmond too, which was becoming more of a trend. The employees would no longer respect their CEO if they could get away with saying such rude things about him.

"Sir, please don't do this to me, I beg you." She cried, knowing that she would not get forgiveness through Zaria.

The man glared down at him. "You are welcome to resign if you want to." He then led the way to the elevator.

"That kind of punishment is too much, don't you think?" Zaria reasoned out when they were alone. "The working overtime part…that wasn't really necessary, was it?"

He turned to face her, wondering why she was still speaking up for the women who often defamed her out of jealousy and hate. "No it wasn't. But it wasn't necessary to call my woman names either."

___

AN:

I have been giving coin vouchers randomly on a first come first serve basis but to be more fair, I will dm the codes to the most active commenters instead. Check out the next chapter's Author's notes for more details.