Chapter 7 : Harassment

• -=Yesha's Point of View=-
• I awoke terrified because I feared I was still in the hotel room, but when I looked around, I realized I was in my own room.
• "It was just a dream, Yesha," I reassured myself.
• I checked the time on my phone and saw that it was only 5:30 a.m. and that I still had plenty of time to spare, but I chose to leave my room.
• I looked at Dustin's closed door and assumed he was still sleeping, so I decided to give him a few more hours.
• "You're up early; why don't you take a bath first? I'm almost finished preparing our breakfast; is your half-brother still sleeping?" She inquired, and I couldn't believe how casually he spoke the word "half-brother," as if he comfortably accepted Dustin as my half-brother.
• "I guess he's still sleeping," I replied, my stomach grumbling as I smelled my mother's cooking.
• She was cooking garlic rice and longanisa, so I went back to my room to get my toiletries so I could take a bath, and when I was done showering, I went straight back to the kitchen, where Dustin was already sitting comfortably.
• When I watched how my mother pampered Dustin as if he were her own son, I couldn't help but frown.
• "Wait a minute, who is the biological child here?" I mused to myself, but I didn't dwell on it too much as I sat in my usual seat.
• "Good morning, big sis," Dustin remarked, his normal charming smile on his face as if nothing life-changing had happened the day before.
• "Morning," I answered back.
• Before eating, I washed my hands first; with this type of food, I really enjoyed eating with my hands, so after drying my hands, I began enjoying the food that my mom had prepared.
• I fought not to laugh when my eyes fell on Dustin; he was trying to imitate the way I eat, and it looked sad; because of the way he eats, I was reminded of an old Filipino commercial with a famous football player.
• "Dustin, you're doing it wrong. Take a look at how I do it," when I couldn't take it anymore, I said.
• The way he looked at me, it was as if he was trying to learn something really important; he is so cute while being so serious.
• It took him several tries until he got the hang of it, and I could tell he was having fun.
• I decided to leave for work after finishing my meal, so I brushed my teeth and changed into my work clothes.
• "I'm going to work," I told my mother when I found her watching TV in the living room.
• "Be careful, don't drive too fast," she said, not even glancing at me.
• I was about to depart when my eye was drawn to Dustin, who was still wearing his shirt.
• "Where do you think you're going?" I asked, and as I saw his sheepish smile, I dreaded the thought that was racing through my head right now.
• "I'm coming with you; I'd want to see where you work," he replied, smiling.
• "For your information, mister, I'm heading to work," I said firmly.
• "I know, that's why I wanted to see where you work," he replied, still smiling.
• I had no choice but to bring him with me; he was persistent, and he wouldn't stop unless I agreed to bring him along, and my mom had ordered me to do so.
• Again, who is her biological child here?
• The way he acts simply demonstrates that he is still a kid, and sixteen is still a child in my perspective. He was maybe 5 inches taller than me, so if you saw us, you'd assume we were the same age.
• I took extra precautions because I wasn't used to riding with a passenger, and I could hear him having a good laugh as we neared EDSA.
• It took us 1 hour and 30 minutes to get to my office, where I dropped him off.
• "As you can see, you are not allowed to enter, so what are your plans while I am working?" I asked.
• "In fact, I was considering going to Starbucks while waiting for the mall to open and waiting for your lunch break so we could have lunch together," he cheerfully replied.
• I didn't react quickly when he suddenly seized my phone, and when I looked at what he was doing, I saw that he was keying some numbers in my cellphone, and then calling his number with my phone.
• "Now that I have your cellphone number, you can check on me without worry," he remarked before heading to Starbucks.
• I watched him until he entered the coffee shop, at which point I decided to drive to the building's parking area and park my bike.
• "Good morning," I greeted everyone on our team, and when the clock hit 7 a.m., we immediately got to work.
• I was so preoccupied with my work that I didn't notice Xavier's arrival, and it wasn't until after 10 p.m. that I realized someone was staring at me.
• I was taken aback as our gazes locked, and I could see the yearning in his eyes, so I averted my gaze.
• I nodded to acknowledge his presence and returned to my work, but I couldn't ignore the way he was looking at me.
• I remembered Sally mentioning Xavier getting an office on our floor, but I didn't expect him to be operating in our actual office.
• I tried hard not to look at him, but I couldn't resist the temptation, so I peered, and there he was, reading the proposals we filed yesterday before the shift ended.
• I had the freedom to watch his every movement because he wasn't looking in my direction, from the way he caressed his chin when deep in contemplation, to the way he grimaced when he read something he didn't agree on, to the way his adams' apple moved when he drank his water.
• I was so engrossed with observing his every movement that I didn't notice him looking at me.
• "Shoot!" When I noticed a knowing look on his face while looking at me, I swiftly diverted my eyes and returned to my computer.
• But, after a few minutes, I couldn't stop looking back at him and noticed that he was engaged with his work, but there was a broad grin on his lips
• that suggested he was laughing, probably at me.
• I tried hard not to look in his direction and to concentrate on my work. Thirty minutes had passed when Sally called my attention.
• "Yesha," she said, "Xavier wants us in his office."
• The rapid hammering of my heart made me worry if Sally could hear it as well, as I followed her to Xavier's office in silence.
• Sally knocked on the door three times before we heard Xavier's permission to enter.
• "Good morning, Mr. Fajardo," she said respectfully.
• "Please have a seat, and remember what I said about calling me, Mr. Fajardo?" He asked with a big grin on his lips, staring directly at Sally as if ignoring my presence, which irritated me.
• "Right, sorry about that, Xavier," she replied nervously.
• This is the first time I've seen Sally act this way; she was always confident, but suddenly she seemed nervous.
• "No worries, now let's get down to business; I simply want to talk to you both about the proposal that I believe Yesha proposed," he remarked as he examined the papers I had submitted yesterday.
• I couldn't stop worrying when he mentioned my proposal; after all, Sally had requested everyone to submit a plan that would be sent to Xavier, so I'm not sure why he was bringing our attention to mine.
• "Did he finds fault with it?" I wondered.
• "Yesha, could you please come here?" he asked, and I get a bad feeling about the way he smiled at me.
• I had no choice but to move to his side to see the papers he had in front of him.
• When I felt his palm brush over my bun, I gasped, and when I looked at him, his expression seemed unfazed, as if he wasn't doing anything wrong.
• "I want you to look at this part," he said in a deadpan tone.
• "Sir, yes," I tried to shift my hips away from his grasp, but he just kept pushing.
• In Sally's position, she couldn't see our boss's harassment of me unless she moved to the right, where she could see the disgusting thing this guy was doing to my butt!
• "Yesha, are you all right? Why are you so tense?" He asked innocently, but I could sense a challenging undertone.
• It seemed as if he was waiting for me to respond negatively, and it appears that he was expecting that kind of reaction, but I will not give him the satisfaction of seeing me lose my cool, but instead.
• "Ouch!" When I pinched his palm while snatching my bun, I heard Xavier cry.
• "What's the matter, Mr. Fajardo?" I asked, pretending to be clueless, but deep down I'm already rejoicing, serve him right for harassing me, what a jerk!
• But he doesn't appear to have learned his lesson, because I felt his hand on my bun again, and it was already inciting pleasure from me.
• "You looked uneasy, Yesha; do you want me to get you a glass of water?" Sally asked, worried.
• "Yes, please," I answered, trying not to stutter.
• I waited for Sally to leave the room, and when she did, I had the opportunity to confront the devil himself.
• As if on cue, "What the hell are you doing here?" I screamed.
• I'm furious right now because of what he was doing earlier, but I'm even furious with myself for enjoying his advances toward me.
• My brain tells me I shouldn't feel anything, but my treacherous body begs me to differ.
• "I'm not sure what you mean," he said innocently, which annoyed me even more.
• I'm on the verge of losing my rationality, and I may slap him at any moment now for harassing me.
• I was already thinking about it, but it was a good thing Sally came back with a glass of water, which she handed to me.
• "Thank you," I said after drinking.
• While we were discussing my proposal, I tried to keep as far away from Xavier as possible. I would not give him the satisfaction of messing with me and touching my buttocks again.
• We finally came to a resolution about lunchtime, and after a few small revisions, Xavier finally allowed us to leave, but before I could even get out of his office, he summoned me back.
• I forced a smile at Sally and strolled over to Xavier's table after she left.
• "What?!" I asked, angrily, dropping any pretense I was displaying when Sally was around.
• "Would you like to go out to lunch with me?" He asked as if he hadn't done anything wrong.
• I was about to say no when my phone began to ring, and when I realized it was Dustin calling, I immediately answered it.
• "Hello, Dustin? Yes, I'm almost done here, just wait for me in G5," I answered when he ask me if I'm already on my way.
• He was checking in on me because we had planned to meet for lunch, but when I saw Xavier glaring at me, an idea struck me.
• "Yeah, I know, I'm sorry, babe," I responded lovingly, and I could tell Dustin was confused with the way I talked to him, and because of that, I heard him calling me weirdo on the other line.
• "I'm so sorry, Xavier," I responded, smiling at his smug expression, "but I'm having lunch with a special someone."
• I didn't wait for his response as I left his office, but as I left, I noticed a domineering expression on his face that I completely ignored.