Chapter 88 - Losing The Courage

Allie could no longer count the times she was wailing bitterly but seeing the two in broad daylight caused her utmost pain she had never felt before. Her prolonged wailing eventually made it difficult for her to breath, adding to the pain her heart had been tormented with. She then felt lightheadedness and the spinning sensation followed. Afraid to get caught, she pulled out the neatly folded pieces of cloth under her drawer and wrapped one to cover her hair and another to cover her face so that only her eyes would be revealed. She then grabbed her trenchcoat to conceal herself if ever Ajie would insist to help Cherry. Despite the muscle spasm in both her hands and feet, she still managed to call Cherry up.

"Che, I need help. " Cherry abruptly stopped her presentation and hurriedly ran towards Allie's office.

"Bring me a paper bag. "Allie said as soon as Cherry's head popped out.

"My goodness, what happen to you?"

Cherry leapt forward to her side in fear instead of complying her request. Her knees trembled as she wrapped Allie's hands with hers, not knowing what to do.

"Paper bag... " Allie repeated her request as she saw Cherry trembling beside her.

"Ah, yes. " She replied while panting in fear and then ran out swiftly from the room.

Ajie saw Cherry's horrified looks and her pale lips that he grabbed her arm as she ran past him. "What's happening? " He asked as his heartbeats also accelerated when he felt that she was shaking.

"Miss Kiamko..."

"Why? "

"I don't know. " She answered while she rummaged into the pantry cabinet.

"Che, please calm down and let me help you. " Ajie demanded in a loud voice which somehow calmed her down a little abruptly.

"Miss Kiamko asked for a paper

bag."

"Hyperventilating? " Ajie knew well about this as they were also trained in giving life - saving first aid interventions.

"I don't know. " Due to panic, she had not seen the stack of paperbags in the top compartment of the pantry. Ajie pulled it himself and ran towards the room without asking first for her permission.

Seeing Ajie ran inside the office brought Cherry back to her senses. Her fear was instantly shifted to her worries that Zheena may not like to see a stranger on her current state.

"Adrian, gave it to me. " She yelled and Ajie turned obediently towards her. He then handed her the paper bag and Cherry placed it in Allie's hand, wondering what that piece of paper could do for her. The latter gestured for both of them to go out.

"Are you sure, Zheen?" Ajie asked her, setting aside the formalities he knew he must address her for being the principal shareholder of the company.

Zheena nodded and answered him with a deep and hoarse voice.

"Please. "

The two went out as requested and Allie tried to calm herself down. She breathed into the paperbag slowly until she felt better.

Ajie, on the other hand, was bothered why Zheena was covering herself with a face veil when she was not a citizen of the country. But then she remembered that a great part of the population in this country were Muslims and they were expected to wear hijabs and face veils. He concluded that this Hayri Cherry was referring to was requiring her to wear that. He may had not understood their culture but that was the closest thing that came to his mind. Or, perhaps, she was not allowed to show her face to a man.

Thinking about it more, he was getting annoyed, most of all because she was just one partition apart from them. She was already having a breathing difficulty, why did she still need to cover her face? And to hell with whatever other reasons she had, why would she let them go out?

Apart from that, as he may not admit it openly, yet, after those five long years of being chat friends, he was already curious of how she looked.

"Che, stay by her side. I'm afraid she'll faint and we will not know it. "

He said with glints of danger in his eyes which scared Cherry even more.

"Okay. " With this, she sprinted towards Allie's room without giving him a second glance.

Meanwhile, inside Allie's office...

"Che, I need to go home. Please stay with our guest. He is such a big loss if we won't be able to secure the contract from him. "

Cherry hesitated. "What about you? "

"I'll be fine. I'm feeling a little better already. I'll just have to rest. "

"I'll drive you home and I'll just arrange another meeting with Mr. Gonzaga. " Cherry sincerely and worriedly offered.

"No. Just send someone else to drive for me. "

"No. You can't argue with me anymore about this. So, you better allow me to go home with you. "

"Okay. " Allie finally conceded as Cherry would not be relieved from her worries if she wouldn't give in.

Cherry went back to Ajie to excuse herself but when she went back inside Allie's office, he followed behind. He saw Zheena stood up with her keys and bag but Cherry took it away from her. She then looked up and met his eyes and dear skies, those eyes seemed familiar! She hurriedly looked away and proceeded to the exit door. As soon as she opened the door, she stepped sideward and he knew instantly that she got dizzy.

Ajie leapt forward to catch her and lifted her in his arms. He heard her gasped in protest but in the face of a life - threatening situation, he would never budge.

Cherry ran ahead to open the car and she hurriedly opened up the door to the passenger's seat. He laid her down gently and placed a throw pillow behind her head. He also saw a folded blanket above the back rest, so he spread it up to cover her.

"Hop in, Adrian. Fast! " Cherry demanded as she slid behind the steering wheel to drive.

"Miss Zheen, are you comfortable? "

He paused for a while to check her.

"Yes. " Allie still tried to project a hoarse voice or else she would be caught.

As she heard the sound of a closing door, she breathed deeply and cursed silently. Dear heavens, how she missed those touch, that wonderful feeling of being in his arms! Tears slid off from her eyes once again. He was just so near but knowing that he loved Cherry more than her, made her lost all the courage to reveal herself.