Chapter 14

“Why didn’t you reply to my text?”

“Reeves?”

“I asked a question,” Reeves beautiful voice came in again.

“What did you expect me to say? It was an apology to me, I have the right to do what I please with it, don’t you agree?” I asked him.

Reeves looked from me to Stephen, took in a light breath and nodded.

“Enjoy the rest of your lunch,” Reeves ran his fingers through his hair and walked away from the table.

“Okay?” Stephen cleared his throat.

“Just eat your food,” I blocked off his attempt to find answers.

“Did your self-worth realization have anything to do with him?” Stephen just had to ask.

I took my eyes off my plate to Reeves who was talking to one of waiters. It looked as if he was trying to get his table changed, because he kept pointing at the one opposite the one Stephen and I sat on.

I took my eyes off him and let them settle on Stephen. He had asked me a question about Reeves.

“In a way yes,” I replied.

“And he’s the guy you talked about the day we went out?” Stephen asked.

“Yes, he is,” I pressed my lips together.

“Damn mama, you really know how to get your men,” Stephen laughed. I smiled at Stephen and let my eyes wander to Reeves. He was already seated at the table opposite ours, and he had his eyes on me.

What was his problem. I took my eyes off him immediately. Way to go Universe, you just had to make Reeves come to the restaurant, especially after I said I wasn’t going to see him for a few days.

“You good though, right?” Stephen asked, he had a worried look on his face.

“I’m a big girl, I can take care of myself, you know,” I smiled.

“I know you can, I just wanted to hear you say it, so I won’t be worried,”

“You shouldn’t be, not unless you’re helplessly in love with me,” I joked.

“I’d rather kill myself,” Stephen retorted. I slapped his hand as we laughed.

I don’t know why I did, but I looked over at Reeves again, and as predicted, he was looking at me, it felt like he didn’t even take his eyes off me since the first time I caught him looking at me.

This time though, I kept my eyes on him. He had no right to make me feel uncomfortable, especially when I did nothing wrong. So, if he was going to keep looking at me, fine! Let the best man win.

“I think I should maybe excuse the both of you. It seems like he wants to talk to you so badly, and you want to hear whatever he has to say,” Stephen interrupted my stare.

“What? No. I don’t have anything to say to him, I really don’t,” I rolled my eyes, adjusting the collar of the silk shirt I had on.

“You…then why do y’all keep looking back and forth at each other? What really happened?”

“Nothing. You and I came to have lunch, and I guess he did too,” I pressed a smile.

I looked over at Reeves again, he wasn’t looking my way, instead, he was looking at his lunch date, a tall fine man, who only just walked in.

Stephen and I had finished our food by now, and lunch time was coming to an end, but for some reason, my very bad habits started seeping in, I wanted to cause some type of drama that would bring attention to me.

“Wang, I’ll meet you in the car, I have something to do,” I flashed Stephen a smile.

“Don’t do anything you’ll regret. I’ll be waiting in the car for you,” Stephen let out a sigh and got up from the table. Stephen’s action divided Reeves attention, and for the first time since Reeves date came in the picture, Reeves looked towards Stephen and me.

I flashed a small smile at Reeves to cause more distraction, but I think he caught on. Reeves looked away before I could successfully finish smiling. Fucking cunt.

I have the upper hand!

I gathered my belongings on one hand and cat-walked gracefully to Reeves table.

“Hey darling,” I flashed a bright smile at Reeves, as I cupped his beautiful firm and chiseled jaw in my free hand.

“I’m sorry for interrupting your lunch,” I turned to the other guy. The man had a firm face, but he smiled when I talked to him. He liked the drama.

“Melanie...,” Reeves strong warning voice came in.

“What? I thought you wanted me to come over. Isn’t that the reason why you kept looking over at me?” I asked him.

“Stop this,”

“Ugh Fine. Don’t get mad at me when I don’t reply to your text messages though,” I smiled and walked away from the table.

It was one of those things I didn’t have to do, but I did it anyway. You may call it childish, but I call it having fun.

If there was one thing I lived by, it was living life the way I wanted, the way it suited me. I didn’t want to have anyone in my life who would dictate to me what’s right and what’s wrong. I knew how to take care and fend for myself more than anything. You could even call it a strong trait.

“Hey,” Stephen waved at me when I exited the restaurant.

“What did you do?” He asked.

“Nothing to make you worry about me. Let’s go, I have to get back to work,” I said and entered the car.

“For someone who’s so passionate about gold digging, you care about your job a lot,” Stephen added.

“Oh please. Like you men are dependable. When women show a little vulnerability, y’all take it and make sure she regrets doing it for the rest of her life. Yes, I’m a gold digger, but having something to fall back to is nice. Plus, I love my job, I’m the best at it in the whole company,” I rolled my eyes.

“Damn, calm down woman. No need to go all women empowerment on me. I was just trying to rile you up,” Stephen defended.

“Let’s go!” I laughed at the scared/worried look Stephen had on his face.

My phone’s notification tone went off. I had a message.

I want to see you tonight Reeves.

Now that’s what I’m talking about.

I texted back five minutes later:

Why?

I want to have dinner with you.

Reeves.

His reply came almost instantly.

Too bad, I’ll be busy. You can send your secretary with dinner to my office though. I’d like that very much.

It felt good to have the upper hand. This was payback time; payback for having his secretary send food to me.

OK -Reeves.

His reply came later than usual. Not my problem.

My good mood was back, it made the drive back to work seem like I was on a road trip.

“So, I guess this guy is doing and saying the right things. This is the most excited I’ve seen you be about something that is not diamonds or money,” Stephen smiled.

“Go straight to the point sir, what do you want to know?”

“You’re falling for him, aren’t you?” Stephen wiggled his eyebrows.

“He wishes. I’ve told you countless times, that love thing with humans doesn’t work for me. I’m in love with money and properties,” I said as a matter of fact.

“You don’t know that yet. You’ve never been in love, so you can’t conclude.”

“If I haven’t been able to fall in love for all these years, shouldn’t that tell you something? That love is not for me?”

“Look, lunch break is over, and I have work to attend to, so I’ll see you around. If you want to see me before I make up my mind to see you, you have my account details and address, you know what to do,” I blew Stephen an air kiss and went on my way.

I swore once that I wasn’t going to fall in love with anyone. It was a decision I made that Stephen knew about, which was why he was trying to get me to fall for him then. But seeing as it wasn’t working, and his mother wasn’t in support of me, he had to move on from me to someone else. I knew in my heart of hearts that Stephen wanted to see me head over heels for someone just so he could tell me, “I told you so.”

Love is just a weak excuse to be stupid and risk your all for one person. It’s something that felt impossible to me because I hated the thought of making one person my all. Humans aren’t worth it.