Chloe had been watching Jeremy sleep for many minutes. She couldn't tell what she was thinking as she looked at him. Her brain was always blank whenever she watched him but she noticed he looked really pale and tired. What was wrong with him? How did he end up here? She was curious but couldn't ask until he was awake. She didn't want to trouble his sleep because he had been working a lot and probably haven't had enough time to sleep. 

After she sent him away from her office the previous night, she no longer had an appetite for food so she had gone to sleep on her couch without eating. Watching him sleep now reminded her of how she had imagined he was sleeping on the couch opposite her last night. 

If he was sick, why didn't he just call her or text her? Why did he come here? She asked herself but remembered this morning. Although she had been pissed last night, she had called first to tell him to take the weekend off and spend time with his sister even though she would have had the manager do that.

He didn't say a word after she told him that, much to her annoyance and when she was about to hang up, he asked, "I heard from the manager, he said you were letting me off?" He spoke quietly. 

Yeah, she was. She had offered to pay for the broke bottle of wine instead. He was a good employee and it would be a sad thing to just fire him like that. She thought but wondered why her PA or manager hadn't been surprised when she offered to pay for it herself.

"I told you I wasn't going to fire you." She reminded him. 

"And you aren't giving me the weekend off because you are pissed?" He asked again just to be sure. 

Chloe had noticed Jeremy was a bit distant and she didn't like it even though that was what she had always wanted. She had also noticed Katie Engels from their class was calling his phone often lately.

"I'm going on a date." She blurted out before she could stop herself. She didn't know why she had said that.

Her hand gripped her phone tightly as she waited for him to say something. 

"Okay. I'll see you on Monday then." That was all he said after a long pause before he hung up on her.

She knew it didn't make sense that she got annoyed because he had hung up like that, but she had been very annoyed.

Jeremy shifted. The couch seemed really uncomfortable for him. She said no word and watched him shift again until he opened his eyes.

His sleepy eyes settled on her for only a few seconds long before he closed his eyes again to sleep. Almost 5 seconds later, his brain Chloe was sitting right there and his eyes popped wide open as he stared at her. 

"Chloe?" He asked uncertainly. Maybe his brain was conjuring images of her? 

"If you are done sleeping, can we leave now?" She asked him quietly. She couldn't just sit there and speak with him. What if Leo returned now? It was going to he really uncomfortable. Thankfully, Jeremy's place wasn't far so they could go there instead.

When it occured to Jeremy that that was truly Chloe, he sat up.

"What are you doing here?" He asked groggily. 

"This is my brother's place... I should be asking you." She said reasonably.

He looked at the wall clock, "Aren't you supposed to be somewhere?" He asked as he looked at her with glazed eyes.

'I wonder what he's going to say when he finds out my date was Kelvin.' She thought to herself before standing up.

"We should leave before my brother arrives."

"I am not going anywhere with you." He said stubbornly before lying back down on the couch. 

Chloe looked down at him in disbelief. "This is my brother's house. Unless you want me to get into trouble, let's leave."

"I don't want to." He continued stubbornly making her sigh. 

Why was he always behaving like a baby and throwing tantrums?

"Did I... do something wrong by chance?" She asked softly but he ignored her. She couldn't believe she was actually encouraging his tantrum right now.

"Look, let's leave for your place. We can continue this when we get there." She pleaded. 

He remained quiet for a while before he sat up with his hands buried inside his hood's pockets. 

Chloe sighed in relief before heading to Mia's room's door to knock.

Mia opened the door immediately she knocked and noticed Jeremy was awake when she stepped out.

"You're awake. How do you feel now?" She asked.

Jeremy smiled a bit at her as he assured her that he was fine, much to Chloe's annoyance. He was smiling at Mia yet giving her the attitude?

"We're leaving now." Chloe informed Mia who nodded. "Yea, sure."

Mia walked ahead of them and opened the door. Chloe thanked her and stepped out first while Jeremy walked slowly behind.  

Mia looked at him with a smile on her face as she whispered. "She must have left her date for you." 

Jeremy snorted in disbelief, "Don't give me such hope. Chloe would never do that." He whispered back before stepping closer to give Mia a hug. 

"Thank you for accommodating me. Help me tell your messy-haired boyfriend that I appreciate his hospitality, and I give my blessings for this relationship." 

Mia giggled. What was with both guys and addressing each other that silly way?

"I don't think your blessings was actually needed." She said as she pat his back comfortingly. She could tell he was still in a bad mood.

Chloe, who was wondering why Jeremy was not following behind turned to see the scene behind her. She frowned as she watched them before she turned to head for the car. 

"Call me when you feel like talking." Mia said as he pulled away from the hug. 

It was surprising to Mia how she wasn't really uncomfortable or repulsed by Jeremy's hugs. 

"I will." He gave her a small smile before leaving to join Chloe in the car.

"Leo is going to get mad." Mia said in amus.e.m.e.nt as she watched them leave together. 

***********

The drive to Jeremy's house was so short that it wouldn't have taken up to 5 minutes if they had walked there. 

"So?" Chloe turned to ask him when she pulled up in front of his apartment. 

"So...?" He asked in confusion. 

"Are you ready to tell me what's wrong with you and why you look this way?" 

"I just... have a lot on my mind." He confessed without looking at her. 

She said no word but waited patiently for him to continue so he did.

"I was preparing myself for an inevitable heartbreak." He said honestly. 

"What does that mean?" She asked, slightly confused. 

"I... don't know Chloe. I think I'm forcing it too much. I know I should have listened to you from the beginning. But... I just couldn't help it." He sighed sadly. 

"What are you..."

He looked up at her and interrupted,

"I like you Chloe. I like you a whole lot. Seeing you makes me happy. And I'm not saying I like you because you are pretty and rich, but I like you for you." His eyes began to turn misty so he blinked and looked down. 

Chloe strangely felt cold and goosebumps all over her skin. She said no words because she didn't know what to say.

"I just... don't know what to do now or how to stop. It's... my first time feeling this way for anyone at all." He sniffled again and turned to look out the window  

"I actually wish I was like every other guy out there who can easy hide the way they feel or what they are thinking but I can't. It's not working!" He said in a slightly raised voice before turning to look at her with teary eyes. 

"What I feel for you is unconditional. I love you, and my selfish desires wants you to love me back even if I know that is never going to happen. If you end up dating someone else, I would still care for you as much as I do now, that is certain. And as much as I hate being this way, I can't help it and I do not regret that I feel this way about you."

"I wouldn't want you to get into trouble with your family because of me, I won't be able to forgive myself. And as much as I want to stop working for you, I can't bring myself to do that."

"I can't even say I want to fight for your affection because I have nothing. I only have myself. You are even my employer!" He added with a dry chuckle. 

"Ah! This is so f.u.c.k.i.e.d up!" He said with his hands covering his face in both frustration and embarrassment.

After breathing deeply, he turned to look at her. "I know this is really selfish of me to ask of you... but please... I can't... take it anymore. At least for now. Please fire me." He begged. "Because I cannot bring myself to resign." 

Chloe's eyes slowly widened.

"I'm going in now." He said softly and opened the door. He didn't give her any chance to say a word. He had thought he would feel better once he told her how he felt, but he felt even worse now.

He felt a tear escape each of his eyes so he increased his pace and hurried inside his apartment. 

Chloe sat there staring blankly at the passenger's seat. She remained like that until her phone began to ring. It was a call from Amara. 

She reluctantly took the call and heard Amara's voice asking her where she was. 

Chloe tried to speak but she realised she couldn't. What came out from her mouth was a broken sob which took her by surprise since she didn't know why she was crying. 

"Chloe? Are you okay?" Amara asked worriedly. 

Chloe sniffed and tried to clean her tears but she found more leaving her eyes. 

"What the hell is wrong with me?" She asked between her gales of sobs. 

"Oh my God! Are you okay? Where are you? I'm coming there now!" Amara said hurriedly before the phone dropped from Chloe's hand.