Chapter Twenty

James was shocked to hear her say that. Why would she want to resign? He couldn't think of any logical reason as to the reason. He was never going to accept that from her.

       He wasn't ready to let go of the prey. Never will he be ready. "And you come here thinking I will accept that? What will you do if you resign?" Concerned filled his tone but not only that. Worry, too. Assuming she were to leave,where would he start from? He didn't want to start hunting all over again just when he had thought he'd stopped.

        "I will just call Philip to look into a job for me. I won't care if the salary is high or not. I just need to get out of here." That was a big lie. She would never get a job that its salary is lesser than her present one.

      This new hunter has bewitched her, he thought. Was he more handsome than him?

        Joyce didn't seem to notice his weird physical response as he pondered. "I have his contact in here." She raised up her cell phone only for him to snatch it from her.  She struggled to retrieve it but he didn't allow that as he turned his back and started moving from side to side and even made a round about turn just to hinder her from reaching the phone.

           The flower vase that was on his desk fell and turned to pieces on the floor. Joyce screamed at the realization but her boss didn't seem to mind even though he had always asked her to water that beautiful plant everyday.

           James moved away from the broken pieces of the flower vase so as for Joyce not to get injured by stepping on it. As predicted, she followed him to where he now stood by the three seated chair in his office where visitors sit. She was very stubborn and persistent. She was still trying to get the phone from him. He raised his hands up and started scrolling through her contacts. Fortunately, there was just a single contact there named 'Philip'. If not, he wouldn't hesitate to delete all Philips without caring whether they belong to one or hundreds of Philips.

          With satisfaction after deleting the contact, he turned back around only to see Joyce so intimately close. She was practically hugging him, trying to retrieve her phone which he held up with a hand above his head. He was silent and studied her face which was creasing in a frown. His eyes strayed to those lips that parted and closed more often than usual as a result of the struggle. He felt the sudden but strong urge to taste those again. He became thirsty of a sudden and those luscious twins seemed to be the perfect water to quench his thirst.

        He swallowed hard at the thought.

        Joyce was so oblivious to his predicament. She jumped, stood on her toes, tried to draw down his hand but to no avail. So, she gave up. What was the point of trying to get what you can't in a million years and that was ONLY because he was taller. That was the only advantage he had over her.

        She sighed and took two steps back. "Okay, fine. You deleted it, right? Then, give me back my phone," she said in akimbo, looking up at him.

       He made no reply. He only took a step forward and held her shoulder. The hand with her phone climbed  its way down and slid onto her waist, pulling her more closer to him which forced out a sharp intake of breath from her but nothing more.

       Neither did she protest nor try to stop him when his other hand got to her chin gently and his lips descending in a very slow motion, giving her room to back out if she wanted to.

         Just when their lips made the slightest touch —

BOOM!!!

         "James?" None other than Vivian's voice was heard and they separated.

      Was she born to be an intruder? James wondered and then made a mental note to discipline the receptionist for not informing him before allowing her in.

          He got really mad that his action had been cut off. Why did she always have to be interrupting?

         "HI, love,"she didn't seem to notice their previous positions as he smiled broadly to James and pecked him on the lips.

         James was startled but Joyce wasn't. She only looked away the moment she kissed him and started walking out on them. It seemed they needed some time alone to finish their business. What made her think she could win her boss's heart in the first place? Such a futile effort!

        "Joyce, wait —," he called but she was already out of the room so he vented his anger on Vivian. "What did you just call me? Love? Are you out of your senses? I am sorry but are you.... Are you okay? You understand me, Vivian. You are an old friend. You know me better than anyone yet you're doing this?" He was angry but his voice was calm. He didn't want to shout at her.

      "That's because I love you, James. I am so sorry that I rejected you back then. I regretted it but now I am here, pleading," Vivian pleaded.

        "You just want to use me as a replacement, is that not? You know that. You'll be nothing more than a friend to me and if you can't, I will be forced to throw away the years we spent building our friendship,"he uttered in a finalized tone.

       And that was it. It was enough to make her give up. He knew James to be a man of his words. She could not have him. Not anymore and there was nothing she could do about that. But that didn't mean she would give up that easily. He would have to try harder if he wanted her to.

        After she left, James sat down in depression. "Joyce," her name came to him and he thought he felt calm at that moment. The anger had vanished, replaced with worry.

       Where did Joyce go? He wondered. He had hurt her again. She would possibly be convinced now that he was going out with Vivian.

       Vivian could sometimes be something he could never imagine. Such an intruder! Both at his parents' house and now in his office.

       He held Joyce's phone tightly in his hand and sighed.