To Color Your Life - Chapter 78

The man was standing opposite, leaning lazily against the wall. A sports T-shirt with bare shoulders was very tight and highlighted an already impressive chest.

Emily felt like a small hobbit next to a huge orc. Only this orc was quite cute and smiling sweetly. The latter was especially frightening.

“Why do you, Miss Hayes, first you eavesdrop on other people’s conversations, and then pretend that it never happened?”

“I don’t understand what you are trying to say, Mr. Denver.” Emily turned away. Hmm, what an unusual pattern is on the wall. She hadn’t noticed it before.

“Are you sure? Because the smell of these pastries let me know that you were somewhere near long before I even came to you.” Christian shoved his hands into his trouser pockets. He looked unusually pleased, although Emily didn’t think there was much to be happy about.

“Well, are you going to keep pretending that you don’t understand what I am talking about?” the man chuckled when the girl gave him a displeased look.

So this is how it is. Then it’s no surprise that she was discovered so easily.

“What are you going to do with the Pharaoh magazine?” she asked bluntly.

Denver raised his eyebrows in surprise, as if he hadn’t expected Emily to move from defense to attack so quickly.

“Why do you care? You’re just a regular intern. You said so yourself.”

“Yes, I do care. People who work in the department put their soul and time into their work.”

“Do you care about the future of these people? Or the reputation of their boss, Miss Hayes?” Christian tilted his head to the side, studying the girl’s reaction, “I heard recently that Justin Evans had a girlfriend from among his subordinates. And I think I know who we are talking about. It is unlikely that an ordinary trainee would have access to the upper floor, and even received treats personally from the boss’s mother.”

“It’s none of your business,” Emily replied coldly.

“Well, why not? It’s very much my business,” the man pushed off the wall and took a step forward, “I, you know, have an extremely negative attitude towards office romances.”

“Be so kind as to keep your personal distance,” the girl held out a container of cakes in front of her. Denver’s overwhelming aura was too vast for such a small space.

Emily jerked to the side, but the man blocked her with his hand. “Did Evans send you to me? Confess!” Christian squeezed her shoulder painfully.

“Are you out of your mind?! What do you think you are doing?!” Hayes hated boors and those who used their position to humiliate others.

Oh, no one will be able to imagine how much she wanted to throw the remains of pastries into his displeased face. It’s a pity to spoil the treat prepared by the boss’s mom with such love.

“Are you saying that you accidentally bumped into me? Do you think I’ll believe it?! Even the eyelash was stuck in your eye so naturally. And the strangest fact is that you fell from the clouds right a week before the shareholders’ meeting! What for? To get my attention?” the man laughed, and that laughter made Emily shrink, “Congratulations. It worked. What’s next?”

What the hell is this idiot talking about?! Maybe he also hurt his head along with his leg?

Emily yanked her hand out of his grip, “What the hell are you talking about?! Maybe you will have a look at yourself first? You seem to be a grown up man with smart looks, but turn out to be such a blockhead in reality! Ha, look what an important peacock I am! The little girl almost killed me! Enemies, enemies everywhere! Have you tried to change your attitude towards people? You walk, puff like a disgruntled hedgehog! First you prick, then you apologize. Big uncle, and you behave like a capricious child!”

Oh, he shouldn’t have pissed her off. That was such a bad idea.

“Well, what an original tactic for wrapping my mind! Instead of a frightened and pitying look, you decided to show me what claws you’ve got?” chuckled Christian, “Miss Hayes, you know how to stand out from others. I really appreciated that. And got impressed. Ok, I gotta admit, I was even fascinated! What’s next on the menu? Sudden stop of the elevator and a heart-to-heart talk?”

Emily rolled her eyes. This brainless here has probably spent all the neuronal cells on muscle building or what?

“Mr. Denver, you clearly have a sick fantasy. I have no idea-”

The elevator jerked and stopped.

The couple exchanged glances and looked at the scoreboard. The stop button has not been pressed.

“What the?”

The next second the lights went out.

“Miss Hayes!”

“It’s not me!”

God, what are you doing?! You got bored up there, and you decided to throw me a joke show like  the one with a hidden camera, choosing me and this blockhead as victims?!

“Not you?! Yeah, right!” Denver’s displeased growl in the dark was scary, but not so much as if Emily had seen his face as well, “You better press whatever you need to press there, and do not meddle with me anymore!”

“I told you that it was not my fault! Don’t you understand human language?! The lights had to be turned off today due to some kind of maintenance procedure. This is what happened most likely! Now the spare generator will start working, and we will move on.”

“This elevator is not connected to a backup generator! Damn…” Christian moaned. “How long will it take to for these damn technicians to get the electricity back?” asked Denver from the opposite side. He returned to his spot, but the man’s breathing became somehow heavy.

“How should I know? Half an hour, maybe less, maybe more.” Emily pulled out her phone to turn on the flashlight. Better than sitting in complete darkness.

“Turn it off.”

“What?”

“Turn this thing off,” he asked in a hoarse voice and added, “Please.”

Emily put the phone back in her pocket. What’s with him?

“Mr. Denver, are you feeling bad?” It was definitely not good for him, considering that the man breathed as if he could not breathe air.

“I’m fine,” he replied in a whisper that Emily barely heard him say, “Is this really not your doing?” He asked, and in this question there was such hope that the girl was momentarily confused.

“Lord, I told you that one hundred times already. It’s all an accident!” Why is it so hard for him to believe this? What must happen in a person’s life to make him so suspicious?

“Are you afraid of the darkness?”

If he really had such a phobia, then it’s good that he wasn’t stuck here alone. Emily was terribly afraid of spiders and almost died somehow when she saw a little one on her pillow early in the morning.

The man chuckled bitterly, “If it were dark, Miss Hayes.”

And then what? Not her, right?

The more Emily talked to this person, the less she understood him.

“They say our fears come from childhood. If you analyze them from an adult position, then they become not so scary.” She read it in some psychology journal. True, this did not help her herself. But who knows, maybe it might work on him?

Christian clicked his tongue, “Yeah, you really are something.” The man’s breathing became more even. Emily took that as a good sign.

“Apparently, you were very loved as a child,” he added, “It’s good. Not everyone is so lucky as you. Appreciate this. And forgive me for being rude.. Again.”