Chapter Forty-five

Gwen wiped her pants to satisfaction and grabbed the poor bottle again, squeezing the last life out of it, that was if plastic bottles had lives of their own.

"Gwenny," Armani moved towards her and pulled the poor bottle away from her clutch. "Breathe."

Gwen sucked in a shaky deep breath and sat on the kitchen stool, releasing all her weight on it as she massaged her temples, forcefully pushing the bile that had risen to her cheeks.

"What happened?" Armani inquired, pulling the second stool so they could be facing one another.

"Isn't it Paris?" Gwen pointed at the door, a fresh wave of heat rushed up to her neck and spread all over her face. "He has a girlfriend."

"He does?!" Armani gasped, eyes widening as her countenance brightened up and the sides of her lips were tugged into a bright smile, one that radiated enough to lighten any dark soul, except for Gwen, who was irked to see Armani reacting differently. "I'm so happy for him." Armani clapped her hands with a gleam of delight in her eyes.

"Why would he get a girlfriend?" Gwen asked no one in particular, clenching her jaw and gripping the edge of the table.

"What do you mean?" Marni withdrew her hand from Gwen's thighs. "At least, he's over you now... You should be happy."

"No, I'm not. He got a girlfriend and didn't deem it fit to tell me, who does that?" Wendy inquired then answered by herself, "That's right, nobody!"

"What is wrong with you?" Armani frowned, gesturing with her hands.

"Why would he have a girlfriend?" Gwen asked quietly, staring intensely at her friend's confused demeanor. "It is me he likes, me."

"Ah, I see what this is." Armani quirked up her brows and took Gwen's warm hand in hers. "You like him..."

"No!" Gwen snatched her hand and held it dearly to her chest as she scowled at Marni. "I don't like him."

"Then let him be. You should be grateful he's over you and not hurting." Armani stated, standing to her feet and reaching for the bottle of water. "What exactly do women want?" Armani took off the bottle cap and gulped down some water. "He professed his love to you a thousand times and you turned him down. Now that he has found love and is happy, you want him."

"I don't want him." Gwen objected through gritted teeth as she slowly balled her palms into fists. "But how could he?"

"You're very selfish." Armani shook her head in disappointment, sitting the bottle back on the table. "You can't eat your cake and have it, you know?"

"It's not that," Gwen said, wrinkling her nose in distaste at her friend's words. "I'm not selfish."

"You are, you don't want him to be happy and you don't want anyone to have him, you just want to keep him to yourself so you could bruise him a thousand times." Armani's face was scrunched into a frown.

"Mihai hurt me and he was there for me, I thought he loved me," Gwen muttered to herself, ignoring Armani.

"Let go of the past, move on, you can't-"

"Stop it!" Gwen flipped, banging her fists on the table, earning a jolt from Marni. "You don't expect me to just get over somebody I loved so much." Veins popped up on the side of her head and stretched down her neck. Her knuckles turned white as her temper sparked and thrummed anger in her heart. "I'm not like you," Gwen said, eyeing her from head to toe and back up to her face, watching as life eluded her friend's face. "I don't get over someone I love and begin to follow his dad. Who does that?"

Armani grasped her chest and gasped, blinking rapidly with glossy eyes that did their best in holding in her tears. Hurt flashed in her eyes and she set her lips into a grim line before pushing out her tongue to wet her bottom lip. She drummed her fingers on the table and held Gwen's gaze for a minute before turning on her heels. The realization of what she had just said dawned on Gwen and it calmed the storm in her system as she parted her lips in remorse, trying to fish out words to say but they were clogged up in her throat.

"Armi?" This came out weakly from Gwen's lips and her breathing intensified as she watched the curvy retreating figure of Armani. "I'm sorry," it was weak again and she held her head in her hands, feeling a whirlpool of emotions splattering around her.

Gwen rested her head on the table and banged her first on it, feeling numb to the pain as rage surged through her. She bit her bottom lip so hard till the metallic taste of blood covered her tongue like a blanket.

"Fuck you, Mihai." She shook, scratching her hair profusely as her chest constricted, congesting her heart and pricking it like a thousand needles. "Fuck you, Paris."

Her fingers clawed at the table, and she slid down the stool till her buttocks were completely lowered to the hard and cold tiles. Her heart bled and she felt the need to puke as different emotions tossed her around like a ragged doll. Abruptly, a tear meandered its way down her cheek and lingered on her lips, burning the area she had bruised. She wiped it away with the back of her palm as her feelings overwhelmed her, placing the world's weight on her delicate shoulders. Gradually, her shoulders quivered, and her chest heaved as tears ran wildly down her cheeks. She hugged her knees to her chest and rocked back and forth on the floor with shivering lips.

"This is all your fault." She muttered repeatedly to herself, feeling a lump as heavy as a grand piano sitting in her throat.

******

Gwen tapped on the print button on the computer screen and interlocked her fingers under her chin as she listened to the sound of the printing machine beside her. Her gaze laid on the machine, watching as it pushed out the letter she had been typing for days. Wendy bit her bottom lip and her face muscles twitched at the instant burn she felt when she sucked on the sore part of her lip. She grabbed the print and ran her eyes over the words twice, making sure it had no mistakes and sounded official enough. Folding the paper and tucking it into a white envelope, a sigh escaped from her lips, and she rose gently, taking in shaky breaths.

She glanced around her office with both her eyes, brimming with tears as she packed her gadgets in her handbag and trudged out of the office. It was all too overwhelming for her, and she didn't think she could take any more hurt. Her best friend's wedding would be in the next three days, and she had to be there in two days to help her prepare and get over the marriage anxiety if she had any. Gwen halted in front of Armani's door and stared lengthily at it, wondering what was that she was doing behind the barrier that shielded her from the outer world. She glanced down at the envelope in her hands and shook her head, she couldn't face her friend. What if she was choking down on a man's meat or what if her face was the last thing Armani wanted to see?

Gwen blinked twice then turned away on her heels, taking heavy steps towards her boss's office with her heart in her throat. She halted in front of his dark brown door, repeatedly beating her palm with the envelope as she screwed her eyes shut and gathered the courage, certain that it was the right decision she was about to take. Her eyes swept over the name on his door, and she pursed her lips, chewing the insides of her cheeks as she muttered his name, "McPherson Blake, here we go."

Gwen lifted her hand and hung it in the air, balling her palm into a fist before rapping on the door and listening attentively for his response.

Nothing.

She rapped again and heard his voice from the other side of the door, asking her to come in. She balanced her weight on the heels of her red bottoms and twisted the cold knob, letting herself into the room.

"Hello." Gwen squeezed in a fake smile, gently closing the door and holding the envelope behind her. She shrugged, hating how less confident she sounded. She tossed her emotions aside and gulped then adjusted her blazers, pulling them to cover her cleavage as she pushed her chest forward and held her head high.

He typed effortlessly on his keyboard, not sparing her a glance from over his glasses that rested on the bridge of his nose. He appeared different, Gwen squinted, trying to place her fingers on what he had changed.

"I'm here to submit a letter." She lingered her gaze on his fingers, moving swiftly and making love to his keyboard, never had she ever found something so simple but fascinating and pleasing to the eyes.

"From?" He dry-toned.

"Me," Gwen replied and his typing seized as he brought up his gaze to meet hers.

He interlocked his fingers under his jaw, placing his elbows on the table and popping his knuckles as he studied her for a minute, scrutinizing her from her head and lasting his gaze on her ample breasts before sweeping his eyes down her toes. He extended his hand and motioned for her to hand it over to him. She moved forward and placed it on his palm, gripping the sides of her skirt.

Mr. Blake pulled the envelop open and unfolded the letter, adjusting his glasses on his nose and releasing his neck from the clutches of his necktie. Gwen turned to leave but was stopped by his deep coarse voice.

"You're resigning?" He asked with an emotion stringed to his voice and Gwen poked out her tongue to wet her lips.

"Yes, sir." She spun to face him, gripping her fingers behind her and watching him with an unwavering gaze, tracing the lines of concern that trailed their way up to his forehead.

"Why?" He inquired, peering inquisitively at her.

She averted her gaze to the fish tank on the other side of his navy blue office and chewed on her bottom lip, feeling her palms, turning sweaty. She took her gaze and laid it on the black tiles with white stripes and said, "Personal reasons."

"Which are?" He asked again, his concern growing like a fertilized seed.

"Sir, it's personal." She tittered, covering her mouth with her palm.

"Talk to me," he said, rising from his chair and going around his table.

"Emotional imbalance." She answered quickly.

"Want to talk about it?" He questioned, sitting down on the table with one leg and letting it hang in the air with the other still glued to the floor. Gwen shook her head and he pushed, persisting on getting over her walls.

"I need a change of environment for my mental health." She explained, letting her eyes go astray and landing on his dick print.

"We could plan a vacation for you, the bill's on the company." He sounded jovial and she dragged her eyes up to his face and noticed he cracked a small smile.

"No, A lot has happened and it's all too much for me, so I just want to leave everything behind and start on a fresh page." She gestured, feeling a surge of sad emotions run through her veins and threatening to burn pathways down her cheeks.

"Okay, that's alright. If you need anything, call me. You got my card." He flashed a friendly expression at her and she found it weird, he wasn't one to smile as he always wore a rigid expression.

With that, Gwen nodded in affirmation and walked out of the office. She grabbed a box of her things and hopped into a taxi then headed straight for Armani's.