My Boss Is Secretly A Softie - Chapter 34

Chapter 34: My love for you
Elara stood before the mirror slouched over with her kinky curls dripping with water.

After maintaining the same position for a while, she looked up to reveal a chilling pair of eyes with an eerie seriousness, unlike her usual cheerfulness.

On her face scattered around a bunch of glaring red marks which went on to her neck where the most terrible was—a devastatingly dark red bite mark that was especially striking and seemed to overshadow the entirety of her right clavicle.

Not only did the male bit her hard enough to leave such a devastating mark, but he had also targeted the former bite mark that had nearly faded, dashing all her hard work to pieces.

Now, not only did she have to deal with it and a couple of others, but she was also sure it’d take a long while before it faded. A very long while.

Her hands gently caressed her swollen lips, hissing lightly at the sting that came with it, causing her countenance to worsen even further.

Sighing deeply, she stepped out of the bathroom to her room, moving over to her makeup kit to prepare.

After about an hour, although difficult, she was done with her makeup, expertly covering up all traces of red on her except the faint glimmer on her neck that stubbornly persisted in its showcase.

She frowned, sure the make-up was good, yet she disliked it because of how heavy it was. Because of how expertly she had applied it, almost no one could recognize the level of skill and complication requested to craft it, making it appear like your everyday makeup.

She hated the feeling of her face being caked up from the heaviness but had to endure it at least till she found a different solution.

Sighing, she picked out a dark pink turtle neck gown with a long sleeve and a pair of simple yet elegant white sandal heels before moving over to her jewelry.

By the time she was through with her preparation, including packing up her clothes, a ring came from the door.

“Are you ready Miss Elara?” Merlin asked while diligently waiting outside for the gracefully dressed lady.

Elara smiled politely, “Yes I am.”

After the quick exchange, Merlin assisted her with her luggage and they left.

“Miss, are you sure you want to leave now?” Merlin questioned, subtly throwing a suggestion at Elara who immediately decapitated it.

“Oh you mean Terry? We’re not exactly on speaking terms now,” she responded bluntly.

“….” He shouldn’t have asked!

“Haha, don’t be so tense sir, we’ll eventually resolve it but I think we’re at that stage where we need a break from our relationship to calm down and tell ourselves the truth about what we want from each other,” Elara spoke, her voice holding a certain carefreeness but was betrayed by the coldness in her eyes.

‘Boss, you really messed up this time.’

“Can I at least get a picture of you Miss Elara? Boss’s orders,” Merlin pleaded.

Elara smiled deeply, the glacier energy in her eyes condensing to near subzero leaving Merlin shivering before she responded, “No.”

***

Their ride was silent. As if in agreement, both individuals were taciturn throughout, with only the music from the radio filling up the quietness.

By the time they arrived at their destination, Elara calmly alighted, thanking Merlin with a grateful smile before leaving with the escort who helped her with her luggage.

“Just what did the boss do that she didn’t mention him even once?” Merlin pondered before shaking his head gently, some matters were better left unknown.

***

When Elara met her coworkers, none of them suspected a thing, and although some found it odd how reinvigorated she looked despite supposedly being away doing most of the work, once she blamed her makeup, they all dropped their suspicions.

After all, who would ever guess a low-level employee like Elara would pull off a drastic move as skipping work to go for a vacation?

When she arrived, the team was having breakfast, and Elara, who had skipped breakfast due to being in a hurry to leave, agreed to join them once invited.

Their bus arrived hours late after eating and they finally embarked on their journey home.

On the bus, Elara sat quietly in a corner with her earphones lost in the calming music, which seemed to smoothen out her troubled mood.

Her mind wandered off to everything that had happened, and she couldn’t help but sigh. Everything was her fault; had she listened to Star and not jumped to the conclusion that Terrence had been merely tempted by her body, then maybe this wouldn’t have happened.

How was she to know he liked her not only sexually but romantically as well? It was ironic, really; he blatantly ignored everything her identity was against and fell headfirst for her.

Now he had completely been swallowed whole in this muddy swamp and didn’t mind destroying what they had to make her his, and romantic as it might sound, all this simply left her deeply disturbed.

She didn’t love him, at least not in the way he loved her. Her distorted definition of love was the cause of all this; she thought she finally had it all in control when she met a group of friends who understood her, but she forgot everyone was different and not all would understand her love for what it was.

Elara remembered her first meeting with Terence. She approached out of pure curiosity but when he faced her, her mind was blown away. It was like love at first sight, only, not in a romantic way.

His tears reminded her of herself back then, frail and devastated from life’s torment yet going steady with the vision of things eventually getting better.

Being betrayed and losing her ‘friends’ didn’t hurt as she knew it was merely a transactional relationship from the very start, but it hurt her to know that she had no one.

She had always thought family was more than enough for her, but during those dark stages when she had to stay strong for them, she had no one to lean on. All on her own, fighting a losing battle with life’s attacks threatening to cripple her sanity.

In the end, she was only human, a person with feelings who needed support, which she obviously couldn’t get from her family to avoid displaying her weakness and having them lose hope.

She had become their stronghold taking on the burden of their worries while having hers suffocate her to near madness. That was why she understood; she understood clearly the pain of living just for the sake of it and suffering deeply but having no one to rely on but your crumbling self.

It hurt. It really did. And so she wanted to drag him out of that hurt; she had just met him, yet the connection she felt to him was so uncanny she didn’t mind breaking all her rules just to help him.

Terence didn’t know, but before he even approached her the next time, she had determined within herself to draw closer one way or another. To be his solace and to be with him through his trials and pain.

He was an angel who had been deserted by his maker to his vicissitudes, but now he was hers. He was hers to love, comfort, and provide with all he needed until his halo returned and he flew to a better place, a more wonderful plane made for angels such as him.

But then her angel decided to sin—he wanted her. He didn’t want to fly to a better place, no, what he wanted was her.

However, that wasn’t possible! See, Elara was the kind of person incapable of eros and the only thing she had ever known and given all her life was storge and eventually philia.

Of course, she had tried being in a relationship, but everything fell through when they realized she’d only ever treat them like everyone else. No special treatment. She was fair, too fair for their liking.

She wasn’t against starting a relationship with Terrence but knew he’d regret it. She’d resist all sexual or romantic advances, always be alert when with him, and refuse all touches.

And then they’d become even worse than as friends, and all Terrence would have on her would be an irrelevant tag and nothing else.

At that point, he’ll regret ever crossing that line and would come to learn the reason why everyone who knew Elara regarded her as a doomed poppy.

He’d remain forever thirsty no matter how much he drank, he’d forever be hungered no matter how much he ate and then he’d come to hate her. He’d fly away from her not with love—but with a deep hatred. And this would make her lose her mind.

Because her angel had to be happy, her angel had to be comforted by no one else but her. As long as she existed, she wouldn’t be able to live with the fact her angel was in pain because of her; neither could she accept him being happy without her.

She was that selfish, possessing a burning love that required her to be with him one way or another.

If not, she would do something drastic, and then Terrance really would come to despise her, leading to the eventual tragic demise of their relationship.

Oh, angel, would you ever be able to understand the disturbing intricacies of my love for you? Would you ever comprehend the depths of the uniqueness of my care for you?

Would you understand me when I say—I love you, but I don’t want you?