"Ha! You of all people?" Verona exclaimed. Her eyes rolled as she eyed her cousin.
Emily couldn't blame her. "It's true. What can you possibly loose? Just let me set you guys up. I know you like him, or am I wrong?" Emily sat up straight and watched Verona fail to hide the lust in her eyes.
Verona sighed, a heavy one. "What can you possible do? How would you set us up--"
"Don't worry about that. Just wait for my signal. I'll set up a date or you know, just put in a good word for you. I can do that." She emphasized. "If you get a date with him, then you'll let me keep my job."
"Oh dear Emily, if you are mocking me right now..."
"Don't worry! I promise you, I'm not. So, do we have a deal?" She said a waited for a positive reply.
***
The next day at work, Emily knew she had to be creative. All through the previous night she had been thinking of the perfect way to make Jake notice Verona.
"Oh come on, Emily. He's your ex husband. What does he cherish!" She muttered to herself as she walked in to her office. It was a wide room with many other staff. She would be attending every department in the company.
That morning and for the rest of the week, she was with the Spare Part department.
"Good morning, Emily." A young lady said to her.
"Oh, good morning Lara." Emily quickly said. A few others welcomed her nicely and she returned the greeting.
That morning, all she basically had to do was watch how they worked, and ran so many errands.
"Here, give this to Mr. Jake--"
Jake?? Oh God no, she was not ready to see him!
Emily swallowed. "Okay."
Lara blinked. "Okay?"
With confusion written on her face, she frowned. "Oh, I'm so sorry. You said to give this to Jake--I mean, Mr. Jake..."
"You need to listen to me when I'm talking, Emily." Lara said, suddenly sounding bossy.
"I'm so sorry about that." She quickly apologized.
"You know what? I'm a little bit jealous of you." Lara said, causing Emily to stare in disbelief. " Mr. Jake has been my crush all my life and you just come from nowhere, captivating his heart." She said.
A fake smile worked its way over to Emily's face. "Oh no, there's nothing between Jake and I."
"See, you call him by his name!" Lara yelled.
"I-I mean, Mr. Jake." It felt awkward for Emily calling him Mr. Jake.
Lara said nothing but glared even more seriously, then she gave a shrug. "Whatever. Give this to him to sign."
Emily collected the file from her. "Okay." She was already leaving when she heard Lara's voice again.
"You know, he's asked management to make you his P.A after a week. Can you believe that? My dreams, suddenly becoming yours?!"
Emily did not hear her clearly. "His P.A??
She stormed into Jake's office forgetting to knock.
A petrified face stared back at her with a loud gasp. "The fuck, Em! Why would you barge in like that?" Jake exclaimed.
"You were asking to be your P.A?" She said, ignoring his muttered complains.
Jake's lips was still half parted as he glared at her. Then his head tilted slightly and the gaze in his eyes became a seductive kind.
"You keep getting pretty and pretty, Em." He said, eyes still all over her in admiration.
Emily blinked, straightening her posture. She adjusted her dress, pulling it down again. Everything she'd been meaning to say suddenly vanished like a magical portion was dusted on her face.
"And yes, why can't I make you my P.A? We're not technically yet divorced, are we? And I would still love to keep you close to me--"
"Are you trying to flirt with me, Jake?" Emily had to ask.
He smacked his lips. "Why did we ever have to get divorced?" There was a glint of authenticity in his eyes, but then again, Jake loved to tease a lot that it was hard to say whether he was serious of not.
Emily sighed. "Just sign this. Lara must be wondering what is taking me so long anyway..."
"I'm serious, Em. You just...left. How could you do that with no remorse in your eyes at all?"
Emily paused to take a better look at him. He was serious. Again, she stood tall, diverting all her attention to him. "You took me for granted every damn time, Jake. You left, for two days. You didn't call, leave any text!" Her body was shaking as she spat out her rage.
She didn't care if she was rude or not. "And then, you just want me to keep my mouth shut while you continue to disrespect me? For two years, Jake. You made me feel miserable! I yearned for your love and affection, but I just wasn't worth that much to you, was I?"
There were a lot of things she was willing to say but she feared that if she wasted any more second there with him, she would burst out into tears. Her legs were eager to leave already but there was something in his eyes that told her to stay still.
Don't you go anywhere...his eyes said to her. She understood him loud and clear and stood still.
Jake made his way over to her, not taking his eyes off her...
Emily's chest beated twice as fast as every second passed by. Her skin crinkled to the air around her. It was cold.
The distance between them was no farther than a step. Jake's eyes never left hers. Emily feared he could hear the pounding in her chest by now.
"I can't protect you if you're not near me." He said, his voice soft and warm to her ears.
Her eyes closed as she tightened her lips to a pause. She could still feel his eyes on hers. "I don't need your protection."
The warm feeling of his hands on her cheek sent a shiver down her spine, forcing her to slowly eyes open.
"We are over, Jake. I-I," the words were forced and dragged. "I don't need--"
His breath was warm against her face. Suddenly, Emily realized she had forgotten the taste of his lips and was yearning to remember...
Without resisting, she remained in position as his lips slowly pressed into hers. Without resisting...their kiss turned into a sensual play with their tongues, earning a soft moan from Emily.
For the first time in a long while, Jake was into her and there was a strong yearn that lived rent free in his eyes. There was a way his hands held her closely to him like she was too valuable to him.
"Emily, I--"
Whatever he was going to say was suddenly robbed off by a sudden knock on the door.
Jake and Emily alternated perplex gazes, then the door knob clicked and the door was wide open with Verona waiting by the door.