It had been over a week since Lilac started working with Ryke, six days since she started giving him a cold shoulder.
The blue in his angel’s eyes were icy, almost lifeless every morning she came in to drop off his coffee, like right now, and their fingers brushed as he took it from her, sending sparks flying through them. Ryke would have sold his soul to see those orbs light up again whenever she looked at him.
“It’s good,” Ryke remarked after taking a sip of the hot drink, rushing to get the words out before Lilac could speed out like always.
He didn’t expect a response, this was always the case since she started subtly ignoring him. So Ryke was very shocked when Lilac let out a soft “Hm”.
‘Hm’? That was progress, he supposed. Anyway, Ryke couldn’t stop his eyes from dropping, trailing down her form to her thighs in that skirt. Fuck. That sexy fucking skirt… It sent flashbacks of that night at the club flying through his head, something precious he was never going to get because of their new professional, work relationship.
Or maybe he even had a chance, the opportunity for something secret to kindle between them. But he’d fucked it up. Still, how was it his fault for doing his job as a superior?
Ryke decided he wasn’t going to let this keep going on. “Okay, don’t you think it’s a little immature? This attitude you’re giving me.”
“I’m not sure what you’re talking about.”
Lilac was right. As long as she did her job as she should, she didn’t have to relate closely or amicably with him. But she knew what exactly Ryke was referring to, and Ryke was going to push because of that.
“You’re really mad at me because I scolded you.”
“That’s a very wild claim, sir.” Lilac replied stubbornly and Ryke sighed. He stared at her until she could avoid his gaze no longer, then spoke,
“Do you know what I hate most in the world?” Lilac didn’t respond, but Ryke was having none of that. “Answer me, Miss. Evans.”
“No, sir.”
“Liars. I hate liars, even more than I hate people who cheat. I asked you if you had rested well because you looked visibly tired, and you lied to me that you had, that you’d stayed up all night.”
“So it wasn’t even about my ‘incompetence’, huh?” Lilac’s eyes flared up, full of emotion like it used to before she shut down on Ryke and yes, it was filled with anger directed at him, but it was something. He reveled in it.
She continued, “And why do you even care about my wellbeing?”
Lilac was right. Why did he care so much about her wellbeing? Why did he find himself behaving differently towards her than everyone else? It wasn’t far from the truth to say that he was still heavily attracted to her, that he still felt undeniably romantic emotions towards her.
But Lilac didn’t feel the same in any way, judging by how quickly she promised to keep things professional. She swore that nothing would happen between them again, and so Ryke should have no reason to care about her. Yet just because she wasn’t interested didn’t mean his feelings were going to disappear just like that.
Even then, Ryke respected her. He was neither a creep nor a man who couldn’t take no for an answer. She wanted ‘professional’, he’d give her ‘professional’.
“Miss. Evans, it’s not that I care about your wellbeing, but when you don’t rest well, during the day when you’re supposed to be most efficient, you’re dragged down by tiredness as it was that day during the meeting.”
Lilac’s pretty lips downturned, like something he said didn’t sit right with her. But she didn’t say anything. So he continued, “I believe you understand where my anger came from that day, but I’ll be more respectful when correcting you next time. Is that okay?”
Lilac sighed, “Yes, Mr. Kolynsky. And I’m sorry for the attitude.”
Ryke grinned, “So you admit you were giving me an attitude.”
Lilac frowned cutely, blushing and rolling her eyes. They were back to normal. Thank heavens, Ryke thought.
As Lilac was leaving the office, hand already on the door handle, Ryke spoke again, “Oh, and by the way, if you don’t know how to use Microsoft Excel, just say so. Or if you think you won’t be able to meet a deadline, tell me next time, and ask for an extension. Honestly will get you everywhere.”
Lilac nodded meekly and shut the door behind her. As she did, there it was once again, the feeling of eyes on her body. Every time she left Ryke’s office, she could feel the heat of it, but she never dared to turn back to check if he was looking.
And it puzzled her so much.
That was nothing important though. Ryke’s words played over and over again in her head. ‘It’s not that I care about your wellbeing’.
Lilac sighed. She wished she didn’t have these feelings for him because if it were anyone else, she truly would not give a fuck. But hearing Ryke say that to her, it really felt like a knife in her heart.
***
The rest of the day, work went on smoothly as usual. The tension between employer and employee had dissipated, except that one lingering, heated tension that would draw tight with certain interactions.
When Lilac was handing off a file, the moments when Ryke’s eyes would flit uncontrollably to Lilac’s neck, waist, other parts of her body. The tone he took when speaking with her, almost as if he was… flirting. But, Lilac was probably just reading too much into these small actions.
She would only gain a world of hurt from indulging her wishful thinking.
The work day had drawn to a close but Lilac stayed a little later to finish up something. Ryke had already gone much earlier, leaving her to close up the place. But she was surprised when just as she finished and was shutting down the computer, the door opened and there Ryke was again.
It seemed he didn’t expect Lilac to still be there because he looked surprised.
“You’re still around?” He asked with a frown. “I hope you’re aware that overtime isn’t compensated for.”
“Yep. But don’t worry, I wasn’t intending on staying very late. I just finished as you can see.” Lilac was indeed already packing my things into her tote bag.
“Alright. I left a file I need behind so I’m just going to pick it up.”
By the time Ryke was ready to leave again, so was Lilac. Because of this, walking through the hallway together to the elevator was inevitable.
As the two rode down, a sound growled in the quiet space. It was Lilac’s stomach! Lilac’s face bled into a violent red and she blushed in embarrassment. She tried to maintain her facial expression, acting as though she hadn’t heard the sound. But Ryke chuckled, multiplying her humiliation even further.
“Miss. Evans, are you hungry?”
Lilac’s first instinct was to lie. But Ryke hated lies, and doing so when it would be obvious would be the best way to piss him off again. So Lilac just nodded stiffly, “Yes, Mr. Kolynsky. But that’s why I’m hurrying home to make dinner.”
“You’re leaving later than usual today, meaning you’ll have to be hungry for longer if you do that. Why don’t you come with me? We can grab some food and I’ll drop you off at home.”
“Oh. I… Uh…” How could she say she was too poor to get whatever type of expensive food Ryke was probably thinking of getting, or eat out in general. “I can’t really afford…” Lilac trailed off, hoping Ryke would get the gist of it without her having to complete the sentence.
“That’s okay. I’ll handle it.”
Lilac looked up, watching the side of Ryke’s face gently. Before she could say anything, the door to the elevator opened and both of them stepped off. As they walked through the almost empty officescape, Lilac murmured, “I don’t mean to impose, sir. I’ll be fine, my food at home’s already been prepared, I just need to—”
Ryke didn’t break stride, casting her a sidelong glance with a smirk. “Impose? Don’t flatter yourself, Evans. I’m doing this because I can’t have my assistant collapsing from fatigue on the job because instead of resting once she got home, she spent hours cooking. If you’re useless tomorrow because you’re lightheaded, that’s on me.”
Lilac, not wanting a repeat of the week-long issue they resolved only just today, snapped her mouth shut and nodded. “Alright.”
Ryke led the way to his car which was parked just outside and helped Lilac in the passenger’s side before getting in the driver’s seat. As Lilac was entering, she could’ve sworn she heard a sharp click, like the sound of a camera going off. But when she looked around, she couldn’t see anyone.
Shrugging it off, she got in and soon they were on their way.
“Where to?” Ryke asked, giving her free rein of where they could get dinner. Lilac panicked. Should she suggest somewhere expensive? No, that might give Ryke the wrong idea that she was trying to freeload, but she also didn’t want to suggest anything below his caliber.
Wait!
“GoldenSpoon Cafe.” Lilac suggested, recalling that he’d mentioned having patronized my former place of work.
“I expected that. Alright, let’s go.”
And that was how Ryke and Lilac found themselves looking forward to spending an evening together. In Lilac's mind, she remembered her friend’s suggestion to try to seduce Ryke. Maybe this was a good opportunity. Even as ridiculous as it sounded.
Still, she wasn’t going to let this evening go without trying something.
