Make Me Umcomfortable

Damar's eyes were sharp, as if he was about to get angry, but they softened when I pushed him away.

"Be careful next time," he said without looking at me.

Not wanting to hear more of his scolding, I followed him across the street. Annoying. For some reason, the scent of his cologne seemed to linger in my nose. Not just my nose—my whole body felt like it was covered in Damar's scent.

I kept sniffing in frustration, knowing that his cologne sticking to me would only make my day even more irritating.

"This one?" Damar's question startled me. Lost in my own thoughts, I hadn't realized we'd already crossed the street.

"Ah... yeah," I replied.

"Besides this Padang restaurant, there are plenty of other options along the street. If you're not interested in my choice for lunch, you can pick something else," I said. Seeing his unenthusiastic expression, I wondered if he actually disliked the food I had chosen.

"No, let's eat here," he replied, walking ahead and entering the restaurant.

I felt awkward. I rarely spent time with this man outside of work. We picked our food in silence and sat at an empty table. I should've refused his lunch invitation earlier—eating in this uncomfortable atmosphere was killing my appetite.

Taking a deep breath, I tried to focus on my meal and not be affected by the man sitting across from me.

"Are you... okay?" His question made me frown. Was my small portion making him think I was sick? It was actually his presence that made me lose my appetite.

"Of course," I answered confidently and started eating. But Damar still hadn't touched his food. Instead, he kept staring at me. Did my face look so miserable that he assumed something was wrong? If so, I should be proud of myself for successfully fooling someone with my act.

"Mieke has booked our flight tickets, and we're just waiting for accommodation details from the event organizers," Damar said after I had finished my meal.

I smiled inwardly, imagining that soon I would be attending the event I had always dreamed of. But I kept my face neutral, not wanting to show my excitement—even though, deep down, I wanted to scream with joy. I couldn't be too happy anyway, especially since I had to go with this annoying man.

"You've told your family, right?" Damar asked again. Were we close enough that I had to share personal details with him?

"I have," I replied. How long could I keep up this lie? Just when I wanted to avoid the topic, he brought it up again.

"Is that why you don't seem okay?" He still thought something was wrong with me. I took a deep breath, feeling uneasy about his repeated questions.

"I'm actually fine. I just don't want to overthink things anymore, no matter what's happening," I said, sounding like someone bragging about how carefree they were.

"Weren't your parents angry?" Damar continued. I thought he had lost interest in my broken engagement, but his curiosity made me suspicious. Was he planning something?

"Of course, they were mad. But what can I do?" Oh, no! How do I stop my mouth from lying all the time?

"Why did you agree to the engagement in the first place?" I frowned, feeling like his question was too personal. Even if it was a lie, Damar and I weren't close enough to discuss such things. Our conversations usually revolved around work.

"If you were in my position, what would you do?" I countered, unwilling to answer his question.

Before he could respond, his phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and started speaking seriously with someone.

To avoid eavesdropping, I got up to pay for my meal. I originally intended to pay only for myself, but it felt impolite to do so while he was still on the phone.

Suddenly, my arm was gently pulled back. Still holding his phone to his ear, Damar signaled that he would pay for our food. I shook my head and ignored him, heading straight to the cashier. I wasn't going to wait forever just for him to pay. Once in a while, it was fine for a subordinate to treat their boss.

"I'll pay," Damar said, suddenly appearing beside me.

"I already did," I replied, showing him the change I had received.

"How much was it?" he asked, reaching for his wallet.

"No need to pay me back," I said. I never reimbursed him when he paid for my meals, so why should he now?

Damar didn't insist and simply walked ahead, catching up to me.

"Let's use the pedestrian bridge," he said as I struggled to cross the street amid the heavy traffic. My eyes darted around before I finally followed him up the bridge.

I suddenly remembered that walking a long distance in high heels would be painful. And now, I was feeling it. I should've insisted on crossing the street directly instead of using the bridge—now my feet were killing me.

"What's wrong?" Damar frowned as I stopped walking just as we reached the bridge.

"Nothing," I replied, too proud to admit what was happening.

"It's really hot, huh?" I tried to change the subject and forced myself to walk again. Damn, it hurt so much! My toes felt cramped, making me stumble.

I rarely wore high heels to the office, only on special occasions. I knew I couldn't stand them for long since they restricted my movement. Yet, for some reason, I had worn them today—and now I was suffering the consequences.

Damar quickly reached out to steady me, keeping me from falling. But my feet, already in pain, could barely support my weight any longer.

"M-my feet are cramping," I muttered, wincing in pain.

"Hold on," he said, kneeling to remove my shoes. I felt embarrassed that something so trivial made me look so helpless. But at this moment, I had no choice but to let him help me.

"Can you still stand?" he asked after taking off my shoes. I nodded, even though my legs felt weak and unsteady. My hands gripped the bridge's railing, unable to move because my toes were still tense.

"You can go ahead. I'll be fine soon," I said, trying to get rid of him. Having Damar around only made me more uncomfortable. He shouldn't have gone as far as helping me remove my shoes—it just made everything feel even more awkward.

Damar didn't respond. His face remained unreadable. I thought he would leave me and head back to the office. After all, we had a brief meeting with Mr. Hardi after lunch. Damar wouldn't skip that just to wait for my pain to subside.

But what happened next completely caught me off guard.

Instead of leaving, Damar knelt down again and gently massaged my toes. (*)