EIGHTEEN

To say that Klyde threaded through the holidays peacefully would be a lie. A huge one at that. Because he didn’t. The memory of their kiss on the Christmas eve is still haunting him, and every time he closes his eyes, it’s as if he can still feel the alpha’s lips on him. And Klyde feels very frustrated because of it. Even now, as if on cue, the memories of that night flooded his mind again.

They both walk back to the party, Klyde walking ahead of the alpha. His lips are still tingling both from the cold and the kiss, and he still feels quite breathless because of it. He bit his bottom lip to stop himself from replaying the scene in his head, but it only made him remember the kiss more. He casted a brief glance to the alpha walking behind him. He hates how Wade looks relaxed and unbothered, while he is nearly freaking out.

When they entered the venue again, he released a breath in an attempt to calm himself. It already happened anyway, no need to beat his self up about it. All he needs to do now is forget about it. Forget it never happened.

But he can’t.

Every time he looks at the alpha, his eyes automatically fall to his lips and the kiss plays on his mind again. It did not help that the alpha seemed to be aware of his dilemma, if the glances and the smirks he’s shooting the omega is any indication. But if he’s thinking about it too, why is Klyde the only one panicking about it? Is it really not a big deal? Is Klyde really freaking out about nothing?

The rest of the party passed by with Klyde feeling like he’s floating. Kez eventually made his way back to their table and the alpha immediately asked him if he was okay.

“Huh?” Klyde asked back, missing the question.

“I asked you if you’re fine?” Kez kindly repeated his question. He genuinely looks worried, and Klyde feels bad.

“Of course,” he chirped, not really sure if he’s convincing the alpha or himself.

Kez slowly nodded, unsure, but he let him be. It continued like that. It did not help that Wade once again has his arms draped at the back of his chair. The alpha looks too casual and laid back while he is almost hyperventilating.

Later that night, as they both step into Wade’s car to go home, it was beyond awkward. At least for him, because the alpha still looked almost too relaxed for his liking. He drove quietly back to his apartment, where he said another thing that added to Klyde’s reasons that kept Klyde awake all night.

They both quietly walked to their respective rooms. And since Wade’s room comes first, the alpha stopped first. Klyde stopped too.

“Your coat,” he said quietly, removing the coat from his shoulders to hand it to the alpha. Wade watched him quietly, face blank as he accepted it.

“Thank you,” he said. And when the alpha did not say anything, he internally cringed at himself before walking to his door.

From his peripheral, he could still see the alpha standing outside his room, the coat slung onto his arm, as if waiting for him to get inside first. He blushed at the thought but immediately willed it away because what the fuck is there to blush about?

He grabbed the handle of his door and twisted the knob, opening it. But before he could step inside, he heard Wade call his name. And he hates his self for responding embarrassingly fast.

“Rehan.”

“Yes?”

Klyde cringed at himself for the nth time that night.

Silence ensued between them that Klyde almost thought maybe he just imagined the alpha calling him.

“Wade?” he tried to call out. The alpha remained quiet still, and just turned his back, opening his door as well. Klyde’s brows furrowed. What the hell?

He was about to walk inside his room again when the alpha finally spoke.

“You looked really good tonight,” he said almost nonchalantly, and then quickly entered his room. The sound of his lock clicking snapped Klyde out of his shocked state.

Rest assured that that night, when he finally entered his room. He stared into the darkness of his space, and did not get a wink of sleep. He took a shower before going to bed, a really long one at that, wanting to scrub his body off of the rainwater and coffee for the sake of his sanity. But as he laid on his back, surrounded by his blanket and his own scent, he thinks he could still smell a hint of the alpha’s scent on him. Is he losing his mind finally? He tossed and turned until the first ray of sunlight grazed his room, and eventually, when exhaustion became too much for him—he passed out. May he also add that it went on until the new year, breaking his plan of working through the holidays.

They never really spoke after that nigh too. Klyde opted to stay in his room instead, refusing to go out unless it was to grab the takeout he ordered. He makes sure to order for the alpha too, of course. He doesn’t want to be disrespectful; he’s living in his space. But mostly, he really just stayed in his room, he went to his company every once in a while, since it’s holiday and their hotels are busy so he goes to check on them, but other than that, he worked at home. He doesn’t know what the alpha was up to either, but often he would hear his bedroom door open, his footsteps around the house and just that.

Klyde groaned at the memory again. How many times does it have to cross his mind? It’s been almost two weeks. Two whole weeks! And he’s still acting like this. But why did the alpha have to do that? Why did he have to tell him he looked good? Why did he have to kiss him that night?

Klyde groaned once again, hands coming up to pull at his hair as he repeatedly hit his head on his table. What does he have to do to make those memories go away?

“Sir?”

He yelped at the sound of his secretary’s voice. He sat straight on his seat, hand clutching his chest as he looked at her with wide eyes. She’s standing a few meters away from his table, and she has an unsure and almost worried look on her face.

“Are you okay, Sir?” she asked.

Klyde slowly pulled his swivel chair closer to his table, awkwardly fixing his hair and the papers that he unconsciously messed up.

He cleared his throat.

“How long have you been there?” he asked.

“Not too long, Sir. I came to inform you about your meeting,” she answered.

“Oh, ah, right,” he said. Pull yourself together, Klyde!

“I’ll be there.”

“The meeting starts in ten, Sir. Please proceed to the conference room shortly.”

She gave him a small bow before turning around to walk out of his office. When the door clicked shut, Klyde released a distressed whine as he sagged on his seat.

Klyde! He screamed at himself in his mind. What the fuck is wrong with you?! You can’t continue being like this, okay? Stop worrying about the kiss!

He sat up straight once again, inhaling a lungful of air to steady himself. Get a grip, Klyde. You have a meeting to attend to, you can’t go out there looking like that. He kissed you because he wanted to shut down Lawryn. He told you he looked good because you did. You always look good! Don’t think too much about it, okay?

He released the breath he’s holding before standing up as he collected the papers he’ll need for today’s meeting. Right. there’s a meeting he has to attend.

When he got everything he needed, he walked to the door of his office where a full-length mirror is standing beside it, checking himself one last time before walking out.

Klyde continued to take calming breaths as he walked down the long hallway from his office to the conference room. He carefully opened the door and is glad to see that everyone seemed to be already there. He’s aware of the way that they are all watching him, so he made sure he stood straight, chin up and face blank to not give away every emotion he has, especially his not work-related dilemma.

“Good morning,” he greeted and as usual, he was met with just silence. Some had the decency to at least greet back though, and those were the few omegas and betas. He would never expect anything more from the alphas.

He started the meeting. The company’s chief financial officer, an omega, stood in front of them to discuss the current standing of their company.

“The company has shown a great sign of recovery. The hotels are also doing great so far, guests are starting flock again especially during the past holiday season,” he said, gesturing to the graph he had projected on the screen in front of them.

“Regarding the investors that left, new ones are starting to replace them joining the ones who decided to come back after a while. All in all, we can say that the company is slowly getting back up and will be stable again in no time.”

He finished the presentation and Klyde gave him an appreciative nod. The rest of the board talked amongst their selves as Klyde recalled the presentation by looking at the physical copies handed to him. In the midst of it, someone suddenly cleared their throat. And Klyde shouldn’t have been surprised that it was, of course, Mr. Wong.

“Yes, Mr. Wong?” Klyde asked politely, although he already has a hunch on what the man is going to say. It was always the same thing anyway.

“How sure are we that the company won’t suddenly drop again?” he asked, his tone is challenging, and he is also once again releasing pheromones. What’s with alphas and their obsession to assert dominance?

“We’re not. We just have to make sure and watch the statistics so it won’t happen again,” he answered. The man scoffed, looking at the board members beside him as if looking for allies.

“What I don’t understand is, how irresponsible can you be to lead your company in such state?” the man taunted. Klyde pushed his lips into a thin line, hands clenching on the papers he’s holding.

“You should be careful. If this happens again, the board members won’t hesitate to replace you.”

“Of course, Mr. Wong. I’ll make sure this will never happen again,” Klyde said through gritted teeth. The man stood up, a smug look on his face as he waved the others to stand up as well.

“This meeting is adjourned. Right, Mr. Taylor? Oh, I mean, Mr. Curtis?” he taunted once again.

“Sure. I wouldn’t want to take more of your time,” he answered.

He watched them leave, sat on his chair and still holding the papers. They all walked to the exit, some shamelessly looking back with something aching to pity in their eyes while Mr. Wong smelled rotten with pride and arrogance. Klyde does not fucking need their pity. He’ll show them what he is capable of, by pushing this company further.

Eventually, he stood up from his seat and once again gathered the papers. He’ll have to review them. A construction of a new branch of their hotel is due and he has to make sure that everything goes well with it before the construction finally starts.

He strutted back to his office. His head is mildly aching from the meeting but it’s not something he can’t handle. He just has to take a medicine after eating. Right. He needs to eat. One look from his wrist watch and it says that it’s already past lunch time. He did not expect the meeting to go that long. Maybe his head is aching because he hasn’t eaten anything too.

Louis is oddly standing by his door when he arrived. She usually just stands on her desk outside his office so he gave her a questioning look.

“Something wrong?” he asked. The omega shook her head before stepping aside.

“Nothing, Sir,” she said, eyes on the floor as she held the door’s handle.

“Mr. Curtis is waiting for you inside.”

“Wade?” Klyde spluttered, eyes widening in shock. His emotions are going 360 degrees today. What is he doing here?

“Yes, Sir.”

“How long has he been there?” he quickly asked, eyes darting from her face to the closed door of his office. He’s panicking. But wait, why is he panicking in the first place? This is his turf.

“Not too long, Sir. He arrived moments before the meeting ended, I suppose.”

Klyde sighed. What is he doing here?!

Don’t get him wrong, he has every right to be here. With their companies merging, this is essentially becoming his company too. (That thought irked something within Klyde.) But why did he have to come by unannounced? Klyde still hasn’t recovered from the dilemma he caused almost two weeks ago! Just when he thought he successfully avoided the alpha (for obvious reasons) some week ago, and now he’s suddenly here?

Klyde groaned and his secretary gave him an odd look, probably bothered by the way he’s acting since earlier. He gave her an awkward smile.

“Thank you for telling me,” he told her. The omega just bowed at him and attempted to open the door but Klyde stopped her.

“Wait, wait,” he rushed. Louis looked at him weirdly again, but it was obvious she was trying to hide in. Trying to respect him still. But his scent is probably going haywire with his panic. “I’ll do it myself,” he whispered, hoping she would understand. Eventually, she nodded and walked away to her station, casting him a bewildered look again.

Klyde inhaled a lungful of air once again, gathering the courage to face the very reason of his sleepless nights.

It’s fine, Klyde. Everything is fine, he tried telling himself as he closed his eyes to inhale some more, steadying himself. That was already two weeks ago, okay? I bet he forgot about it already. You’re a grown ass man, no need to beat yourself up over some kiss like a virgin.

But I am a virgin—no, no! That’s not important right now.

He wants to strangle his self for his train of thoughts right now, but eventually, he calmed down. He put his game face on as he grabbed the handle of his office door.

No big deal, Klyde. You can do this.