Chapter 39 - Inching Caterpillar (1/2)

[Previous chapter was fixed and tweaked by Swaning guys! Please check it out!]

Inside the elevator, Olivia shook hands with Fiona after their small exchange. Despite Fiona's facade where she was all smiles and acted neighborly the entire time, Olivia could not help but feel suffocated deep down with her presence.

Fiona?

Olivia replayed her name again and again in her head as she eyed the beauty from head to toe. Fiona's name surely sounded familiar but Olivia couldn't pin where she heard it before besides the time where they met at Heathrow Airport.

Reaching a dead-end in her mind, she darted her focus to the digital board and stepped closer beside Shadow to give herself more room away from Fiona's perfume when it started to assault her nose. Olivia was thankful that Maxen listened to her and didn't wear his cologne today or else there's a high chance that she'll die in this elevator just by sniffing the strong scent that wafted in the air.

Shadow, who has worked for Olivia since her eighteenth birthday, knew of her discomfort and immediately handed her boss a pocket square from Olivia's extra bag that Shadow would usually carry for her. This extra bag contained all of Olivia's ”essentials” or heavy items like water, first-aid kit, toiletries and gadgets.

Olivia gave a small smile of appreciation to Shadow before dabbing her nose just to free it from the nauseating smell. She didn't want to cover it all the way because she didn't want to offend Fiona too.

She hid a helpless sigh underneath the pocket square. Of all days, why did it feel like this elevator suddenly slowed down and shrunk in size, prolonging her stay inside this uncomfortable constricted space?

To entertain herself, Olivia darted her eyes back to Fiona and flashed the latter a fake smile to hold in the smirk that threatened to escape her lips.

Why?

Looking at Fiona, Olivia couldn't shake off the picture in her mind because the former looked like she was an inching caterpillar the entire time in the elevator; she was grinding her t.h.i.g.hs together in her skimpy dress making her h.i.p.s shake left and right plus her hands that were constantly fixing her hair and combing them with her fingers.

Olivia derided Fiona in her thoughts, why can't this lady stand still?

Fiona, who stood in front of Maxen, would occasionally glance over her shoulder on the guise of speaking with Olivia yet she saw how Fiona would steal a glance of him. Olivia internally rolled her eyes when finally, Fiona spoke to Maxen.

”Good morning, Your Highness,” Fiona greeted, the coquettish grin painted on her face didn't go unnoticed by Olivia who nudged Maxen's waist with her elbow when the latter showed no response.

”Where are your manners, Your Highness?” Olivia asked flatly. She eyed Maxen who sent Fiona a curt nod before he looked straight ahead and put on a stoic face the entire time.

Puzzled with Fiona's itching, Olivia could not help but move her gaze back at Maxen to check his reaction to Fiona's stimulations and yes, he's now looking uncomfortable; his gaze remained straight ahead and his hands dipped in his pocket. Olivia tried to figure out what would cause his discomfort and fortunately for her, her attention was caught by the only noise in the elevator: Fiona's bangle.

Gauging if it was indeed the root of Maxen's stiffness, Olivia held Fiona's hand and fawned, ”I love your bangle. Where did you get this?”

Fiona beamed at Olivia and shook her bangle one more time, ringing the bells. Just then, Olivia knew that Fiona was teasing Maxen and was intentionally jiggling the tiny bells for him to hear.

A green-eyed monster suddenly clawed its way out of Olivia's stomach when she realized the relationship between the two.

~Why? It's true. I just saw him leave with Fiona.~

Her brother's words echoed in her ears and everything about that afternoon played back in ultra high-definition starting from their chance encounter in Rockaway Tower's lobby. It registered in Olivia's mind at how she bumped into Maxen and Fiona that day and picked up the wrong key in the process thus her ending up in Maxen's suite on her way home.

Her revelation was cut short when she heard Fiona purred like a hyena, ”It's from Morocco where my father is from and he gifted this to me on my eighteenth birthday.”

Olivia faked another smile as she held Fiona's wrist in front of Maxen's face, making sure he sees the bells and hear them jiggle just to spite him.

DING!