WON'T LET YOU SEE HER

Kaye stared at the picture for a few minutes, but she couldn't really recall why it looked familiar to her. Without any other choice she continued checking the other photos. There were photos of when he was older, probably seventeen and apart from the young version of himself, none of them were smiling.

"Hmm, I'll get a picture of you smiling one day." Kaye said, talking to the pictures on the shelves.

She was getting tired looking around the place so she decided to play with her phone. The food that the assistant brought in earlier was gone - to her stomach. She's been waiting there for a while already and she didn't know what else she could do to fight her boredom.

The meeting was adjourned after three hours. Ivan stretched his arms and stood up, followed by Alex, they walked out of the room going to Ivan's office. Alex chuckled seeing the woman on the couch.

"Looks like you'll have to look after her." Alex whispered under his breath, only Ivan could hear.

"That's fine. You can go ahead. Just call me tonight about the new project." Ivan told his friend before getting inside. Alex left them alone with a wide smile blooming on his face.

Ivan walked slowly towards the couch. He felt Kaye's hair first, then her clothes and her feet. Her position will give her a sore body later. Half of her body was lying on the couch but her feet were dropped down on the floor. Ivan helped her fixed her sleeping posture to avoid getting a backache. He took a comforter from the adjacent room and covered her before he sat down on the opposite chair saying something on his phone in a low voice.

Half an hour before five, Kaye woke up from her deep slumber. She squinted her eyes trying to recall where she was, looking around the place her sight landed to Ivan's handsome face.

"What time is it? Did you just finish your meeting?" she yawned, tears wetting her lashes while asking him the question.

"It's four-thirty. Why don't you -" Ivan didn't finish when Kaye shrieked, interrupting him.

"Four-thirty? I slept that long? Why didn't you wake me up when you get here?" she was rummaging her bag, getting her mirror to fix herself.

"I thought you might be tired. I was planning to wake you up before five." his voice was low and manly with a slight tone of concern.

"Nevermind. You get up quickly. We need to leave as soon as possible." she was in a hurry, grabbing her bag and Ivan's hand on the way. She was basically dragging him outside his office but something came into her mind.

Kaye slowed down a bit, looked around the place, every nook and cranny, checking if that woman was around. 'Who knows, that guy was in the meeting room so that woman could possibly be here as well. Can't let my guard down, not for a sec.' she thought to herself.

"What's the matter?" Ivan asked her when he felt her wariness towards something or someone.

"Stay close to me. Don't speak." she led him to the elevator, still holding his hand firmly.

"You're cold." Ivan put their hands inside the coat pocket. Kaye was so embarrassed with the idea but she didn't want him to be taken away today. Not yet.

"Your office was cold." she simply stated, not allowing her nervousness become obvious to him. She didn't bother looking at the people who were staring at her with a surprise expression.

Kaye and Ivan were walking towards the exit of the building, but to her horror, the woman was standing together with other people near the entrance. Her hands were trembling from fear which didn't escape Ivan's perception.

"Kaye? I know something's wrong. Why don't you tell me?" Ivan urged her but Kaye didn't say anything, instead she walked on a different direction, finding a way to avoid the group of people.

"Is there another exit here?" Ivan didn't know why she asked him that, nevertheless, he still answered her.

"There is one. Follow me." This time, it was Ivan pulling her to leave the place. Although there was no exact reason why, he felt the sudden fear she had earlier that is now gradually disappearing.

When they were far away from the building, Kaye breathed a sigh of relief. She closed her eyes, patting her chest with her hand, calming it. Ivan was just standing in front of her not saying anything.

"Ivan, can you not ask me what happened earlier?" she asked him, pleading is evident in her voice. "Even if you would ask me, I couldn't tell you yet." Her eyes were burning, tears threatening to flow, but she held them bravely. She's frustrated towards herself for being selfish. She's disappointed towards herself for falling in love with someone who belongs to somebody else.

"Hn. Just let me know when you're ready. Let's go?" Ivan stretched his hands towards her, which Kaye took without any hesitation.

"I'm going to a fund raising event, would you like to go home first and rest or would you like to come with me? It won't take long." Kaye changed the topic of conversation to divert his attention.

"I'll come with you." he smiled at her before pulling out his phone and call someone. "Yes...now..I'm four blocks away from the building's back gate. Hn."

"Who are you calling?" she asked curiously since she didn't know much with regards to Ivan's life.

"I bet you're tired running around from earlier. I just borrowed one of the company vehicles for us."

"That's great." Kaye would've never thought that Ivan would do some things for her. In her mind, it's fine if he won't do anything, she didn't require him to love her back anyway.

This one-sided love, though it hurts, she'll treasure every moment she makes.