Chapter Forty Four

"No, I received no such text." Tay answered, much to my dismay.

I tried not to seem frustrated and shrugged instead. "Nevermind. I'll get going. You can visit those places on your own if you want." I suggested him, remembering how excited he was this morning. "Then you can show me around next time."

Despite my attempt to not disappoint him, he continued to frown. "It's our first day off. How could he do this?"

I shrugged again, feeling disappointed as well. "I'll text you if it seems like it's going to take long." Putting on a smile, I gestured him to go back. "Now go and enjoy."

He shook his head. "I'll just get some groceries and go back."

This time I couldn't resist the urge to sigh. "That'll be a waste since you're already here. Ask one of your colleagues, maybe someone else will accompany you."

He shook his head again but just as I was about to try to convince him, my phone rang in my hand. The caller ID flashed Raymond's name and I tightened my hold on the phone, feeling defeated.

"You should go. I'm fine. Don't worry." Tay reassured me while glaring at my phone.

"Have fun. I'll text you." I told him quickly before running off to find a cab.

~~~

Raymond flashed me a bright smile the moment he saw me. "I hope I didn't disturb you on your day off."

Putting on a facade, I smiled back without answering.

"I was looking through the forms regarding the new employees. But yours seems to be missing among these. Did you perhaps forget to hand it in?" His sickly sweet smile was turning my stomach in an unpleasant way and I felt a shiver down my spine when he started approaching me.

Of course I didn't. I remembered handing in mine along with Tay's after the very next day we were asked to do so. But since he had only called me, Tay's must be in there. I had a few hunches about mine and I sincerely hoped that none of those would be correct. Though looking around myself and finding no one else only heightened my concerns.

I took a few steps just as he stopped close to me, way too close than what I thought was professional.

His gaze snapped on the ground for a quick second before he widened his smile. "You can go back as soon as you fill this up." He barely had to extend his arm to hand me the form.

I took the form from him and stepped aside to find a desk to put it on and fill it up as quickly as possible.

He followed me to the desk in the corner and sat down on the chair beside mine with the smile still on his face. My heart was pounding in my chest just feeling his lone presence around me. I wasn't sure if I was overreacting but the quiet eerie atmosphere was starting to scare me.

"Here. You don't look like you brought one." He placed a pen on the table and pushed it toward me after he had seen me trying to find a pen in my pockets.

I picked up the pen with a quick 'thank you' and focused on the paper in front of me.

"I was supposed to fax these to Mr. Santos in the morning. But I couldn't since yours was missing."

His words stilled me for a moment and I could almost feel him smiling in triumph.

"I'm sorry about that." I apologized without looking at him but trying to sound as sincere as possible.

"It's okay. Don't worry about it. Though I probably ended up ruining your plans for today, if you had any." Despite his polite enough words and voice, my body refused to relax.

"No, no. I should've been more careful." I tried again.

"I'm sure you were careful enough. It's just fate sometimes has other plans, you know."

Just hearing the word 'fate' was enough to grate my nerves. So far it had done nothing but mess with my plans and I couldn't help but be bitter about it. If fate did exist, I was more than sure that it definitely wasn't favouring me.

"Maybe we were supposed to spend this day together, here."

His words continued to push me over the edge and I was struggling to stay balanced instead of falling over. The fact that I was sure that he not only hid my form from the stack, he also called me out on my first day off just to talk about these things with me wasn't helping. My calm facade was cracking and I needed to get out of there before it shattered completely.

"Done." I exclaimed, putting the cap back on the pen he had lent me. I pushed the form and the pen toward him and hurriedly stood up.

He hummed quietly and picked up the form, flipping through the two pages as if reading everything.

"What about the documents you were asked to attach?" His sickly sweet voice stopped me in my tracks just as I was about to take the first step toward the exit.

I sighed, remembering the lots of documents I had attached the last time I submitted the application.

~~~

"I can't do this anymore." I complained the moment I entered the apartment and saw Tay lying on the couch. I unceremoniously threw myself on the ground beside him and covered my face with my hands.

"Can't do what?" Tay asked without even bothering to move his leg placed right beside my head.

"This job. I just can't deal with Raymond anymore." I whined, pushing my palms against my closed eyes in frustration.

Tay scoffed before I felt him place his leg back on the couch. "What are you even talking about?"

"All I was supposed to do was fill up a form. A few sheets of paper and that took me all day." I tried to explain while struggling to keep my voice low.

"Well, it's not like he made you do everything on your own. His day off was ruined too."

This time I was the one to scoff. "That's exactly what he wanted."

"What's that supposed to mean?" His tone made me realize that he was genuinely confused and it helped me keep my temper under control.

"It's going to sound weird but I don't feel comfortable around him. And no, it's not because of the hug. That's just a part of it. I just feel like he's-"

"Interested in you?" Tay completed the sentence for me and I nodded.

"I really hope I am wrong but I just can't shake off this feeling that he is."

"He didn't say it? You're just assuming then?" The couch creaked and I figured Tay had sat up.

"He asked me if I have a girlfriend. How's it any of his business even if I do?"

"Well, he's your project head. He was probably just trying to get along with you, get to know you as a member of his team."

I shook my head, feeling frustrated again. "Did your project head ask you anything like that?" When Tay didn't reply, I continued. "Isn't it weird that he even helped us get this apartment? Why us? He had no reason to pick favourites before we even started working."

"So, he had an ulterior motive right from the start?" Tay asked in disbelief.

"I don't know. Maybe." I shrugged.

"I'd still say that he just did that to help us. Like, anyone would. If it were me, I would like to help someone as well."

I shook my head instantly. "Not like this. I hope not."

I heard him sigh before he spoke again. "Did you tell him you're gay?

"Of course not."

"He's definitely not hitting on you then." He stated, sounding sure of it.

Removing my hands, I glared at the ceiling. "What about this gut feeling of mine?"

"You're obviously overthinking this. Just relax."

"Tay…" I started, already feeling defeated. "I don't have a good feeling about this."

He leaned forward, blocking my view of the ceiling. "Oh, come on. What even are the odds of someone hitting on you right after you got a boyfriend? As far as I know, no one has ever done that before, right?"

I nodded quietly.

"You're probably just missing your boyfriend or being paranoid because of the distance." He pulled his head back before continuing. "This is why I told you to ask him to shift here or at least somewhere closer."

I stayed quiet, not wanting to start another argument, not when I already felt frustrated enough with just about everything happening in my life. Gritting my teeth, I just quietly stood up and headed toward my room.

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