Chapter 4

What did you do, Mae? Are you not thinking?

Mae talked to herself while standing in front of the mirror. She even hit her own head because of the foolish thing she did earlier. Since she arrived home, she had locked herself inside her room and did nothing except stare at the mirror and scold herself.

She did not know what entered her mind and why she allowed that to happen. Why did she let that man kiss her? This was really not right!

No matter how hard she tried to think of a reason, she could not find one. She screamed in frustration.

“OMG!” she shouted again. “Are you really going crazy?”

She almost kept hitting her head just to wake herself up from her madness.

She looked at the mirror again and asked herself why she allowed it. She did not even fight back! Even though she could have kicked Kent until he rolled on the floor in pain. But what did she do?

She really was not thinking properly. No normal woman would allow a man to kiss her if he was not her boyfriend. She truly was not thinking.

Her eyebrows met while standing in front of the mirror in her room. She bit her lip and shook her head again.

“Oh, Lord God. Please bring me back to my senses.”

Why did she allow Kent to kiss her? Why did she let him do that to her? No one had ever kissed her lips before. Not even once. She screamed in frustration again.

She scolded herself again and buried herself with questions. Why did she allow Kent to do that? Why? Why? Why?

She stared at her reflection again and her eyes slowly moved to her red lips. Her lips were naturally red, so she never needed lipstick or anything to make them redder.

She got that from her mother.

Without thinking, she touched her lips and felt their softness. Even now, she could still feel the kiss she shared with Kent. It felt like he was still kissing her. She shook her head again.

The way his lips moved, almost inviting her to move hers too.

She let out a deep sigh.

Stop, Mae. Stop. What you are thinking is wrong, very wrong!

She stepped away from the mirror and tried hard to remove everything that happened between her and that Orquina guy from her mind.

He’s a playboy. He probably kisses many girls, Mae.

She jumped onto her soft bed and closed her eyes. She really needed to think about something else. That man was a bad influence.

Suddenly, her cellphone rang from under her pillow. She was not expecting any calls, so she curiously grabbed it.

The number was not registered, so she did not answer. She placed the phone back under the pillow while it kept ringing. She was not in the mood to talk.

She closed her eyes again when the phone suddenly rang once more. Annoyed, she grabbed it and answered the call.

“Hello! It’s my rest day today. What do you even need—”

“Mae?”

Oh no. How did this idiot get my number?

Because of shock, she quickly ended the call and covered her face with both hands. Even though she only heard him say her name, she already knew who it was. Just from the way he said her name, she recognized him immediately.

God, why won’t Kent leave me alone? Does he not have anyone else to bother except me?

She opened her eyes and looked at the mirror. She sighed many times and suddenly wanted to cry.

I should not fall for this, she whispered before lying down again.

---

“CHIEF, Sir Chester recruited a new member. Did you know?”

Monique’s voice immediately welcomed her the moment she entered the Blossom office.

A new day, a new life. She wanted to return to her senses, so she did not want stress today. She barely slept last night because she kept thinking about what happened. That was why she planned to stay in the office since she had no classes this morning.

She shook her head.

“No. Our staff is already complete, so why is there a new recruit?” she asked in confusion. Monique only shrugged.

“I don’t know. There are rumors that Aldwin is leaving as our literary writer. It’s not even sure yet if he will really leave, but our adviser already found a replacement.”

Mae sighed before walking to her table and looking back at Monique.

“Does Aldwin already know about this?” she asked. She still could not believe Aldwin would leave because he was such a good writer. He was the type of writer whose stories you could never stop reading halfway.

“That part, I don’t know.”

“So who’s the new recruit? I just hope I won’t go crazy from editing his works,” she said while laughing as she remembered Aldwin’s first days in Blossom. They struggled so much editing his works back then. But later on, she became the one suffering because she could not sleep until she finished reading his stories.

“Maybe not.”

Mae frowned because of Monique’s answer.

“They said he’s a blogger. He also has a F******k page for poems, short stories, and epistolary stories. I don’t think you’ll have a hard time handling him, Chief.”

Mae nodded slowly.

“Looks like he’s already experienced.”

She faced her computer again and started typing. She still had many things to do. Aside from the literary works submitted by students, she also needed to finish an editorial article.

She took out her reading glasses from her bag and was about to wear them when the office door suddenly opened.

Confused, she looked at the door. Who would stay in the office at this hour? Usually, only she and Monique were there during this time because they worked. It was already surprising enough that Monique had the same free time as her this semester.

After wearing her reading glasses, she looked at Monique with questioning eyes. Monique winced, probably because she also did not know who opened the door.

Their schedules were all different, so they rarely worked together. It was actually a miracle that Monique and Mae had the same free time this semester unlike before when Mae always worked alone.

A few seconds later, the person who opened the door finally entered.

A man?

But Aldwin was the only man in Blossom.

Mae’s heartbeat suddenly became faster when she realized who it was.

“Kent?”

Mae’s last class that day ended at three in the afternoon, and she decided to stop by the Blossom office afterward. It was still too early to go home, so she thought she could finish the papers that needed editing.

The hot weather immediately wrapped around her, making her eyes squint while walking toward their office. She forgot her umbrella again, but thankfully she brought a jacket, so the heat did not fully burn her skin.

Even before getting close, she could already hear loud noises coming from inside the office. She clearly heard music from a guitar. Slowly, she walked closer to the door and pressed her ear against it. It sounded really nice. Whoever was playing the guitar was very good.

Why are they so noisy today? she wondered while listening. Who could be inside?

Maybe someone brought another visitor to the office again. She only shook her head. Her staff really had too much free time. It looked like she still would not be able to work if the office stayed this noisy. Maybe she should just change her plans because clearly nothing productive would happen today.

She took out her cellphone when she remembered Vanessa. They planned to go to the library together to borrow books, but it was already three o’clock and Vanessa still had not sent a message.

Maybe her cousin forgot again. What did she do to Sir Gian this time?

Mae shook her head before putting her cellphone back in her bag and opening the office door. She would just stay here for now. Since she had no more classes, she would finish the paperwork she could not finish yesterday. Even if it seemed impossible to work in the middle of all the noise.

“I want you to know that I love you…”

Mae could only stare at the five staff members inside the office singing while Kent played the guitar.

Melody noticed her first and elbowed Monique, who quickly looked at her too. Everyone stopped and stared at her, but Kent recovered first.

Kent placed the guitar on the table and walked toward her. Mae stepped back immediately. Why was this idiot coming near her?

Her body suddenly felt cold again when her eyes landed on his lips. She remembered the shameless thing he did yesterday.

Oh, Lord God, please have mercy on me, she whispered to herself. Please keep Kent away from me.

She forced herself to calm down and looked away from him. Out of all the people her staff could bring, why did it have to be this annoying man?

“Hi, Amor. How’s your day?” he asked, causing the whole office to become noisy again.

Mae glared at Kent. If looks could kill, this man would already be lying inside a coffin.

She truly could not understand what his plan was. Or maybe he just enjoyed annoying her. Or maybe he had no other girl left to bother. She walked past him and rolled her eyes. She had no time to talk to him.

“Well, well! Looks like Chief finally has a love life,” Monique laughed, making Mae raise an eyebrow.

Her? Having a love life? Hello?!

She even heard her staff cheering loudly while some of them hit the tables like they were truly excited. Her irritation only became stronger, and she glared at Kent again.

“Finally!” Evelyn said while clapping. “Good thing you finally decided to have a boyfriend, Ate. Maybe that will lessen your nerd side. All you do is study.”

“What she really means is that Chief always scolds you because your writing is full of mistakes,” Monique teased.

Mae rolled her eyes and ignored them. She quickly walked toward her table and sat down. But unfortunately, Kent followed her and sat in front of her desk.

“What are you doing here? I thought you failed the interview yesterday?”

Kent was one of the applicants she interviewed yesterday to become part of Blossom before the kissing incident happened in the comfort room. Aldwin already seemed serious about leaving the group, so they had no choice.

They really needed to hold interviews because being a literary writer was not easy. They did not want another difficult situation like before, and Kent happened to apply too. But of course, Mae did not allow him to become part of their group.

“And correction, my name is not Amor,” she added while rolling her eyes again.

Of course her name was not Amor. This man was just naturally flirtatious and even invented a nickname for her.

“Our gossip-loving Editor-in-Chief is growing horns again,” Melody joked while returning to her desk and pressing her monitor buttons. When she looked at Mae, she made a peace sign and smiled. “Chief, I said nothing.”

“You failed me, but I passed Sir Chester,” Kent answered proudly while acting cute toward her. He even winked and puckered his lips playfully.

Damn! He really tried acting cute in front of her! But no matter what he did, it would never work on her.

“Oh really? Wow,” she answered sarcastically while dropping the book in her hand loudly. “Clean up this mess. You seriously can’t do anything properly,” she ordered before putting on her earphones.

“I sang for you last night, and now you’re saying I still can’t do anything right? That hurts, Amor,” he said dramatically while holding his chest.

“Wow, so there was singing involved too?” Their staff laughed again.

“Why didn’t you invite me?” Monique asked them, but Mae ignored her.

She grabbed her stapler and threw it at Kent. He never sang to her. As far as she remembered, it was not singing. It was kissing.

Damn it!

“Stop making stories, idiot! The nerve of you!” she answered angrily, but Kent only laughed, which irritated her even more.

Damn it!