THE BILLIONAIRE WHO LIVES NEXT DOOR

Emma

I sucked my breath to the point I was almost convinced my lungs began to squeeze in. It wasn't a deliberate act, the tension that had grown with just two people looking at each other had caused me to be this way without knowing what made it worse was Liam walking toward us. Certainly, the two men were not on good terms, Liam was disgusted by Charles's existence while Charles…

I couldn't understand what his problem was with Liam, but I could guess it had something to do with his pride.

At that moment, both men were facing each other. Liam was far taller, my guess was Liam could be around six feet. That's why it was so easy for him to loom over me. Charles on the other hand, was just a few inches taller than me, yet he had his pride over the roof.

I tugged at Liam's suit—a silent warning for him to not be rude. Charles was our boss regardless, and only a fool would take my problems and make it theirs. He should have a better office life than mine yet he decided to take my issues into his hands.

"Are you just going to stand there?" Charles yelled. His voice echoed through the walls and caused everyone to shiver in fear, however, Liam was an exemption.

He pulled his hands out from his pocket and only then did I realize his fingers were balled into a fist. Just as I was about to interject, Liam did the unexpected, sending whispers and gasps around the office as he bowed ninety degrees before Charles.

Charles's eyes widened just like mine. I guess everyone in the room was thinking the same about Liam. He seemed powerful and untouchable, like a well-off man who just come here for fun or a sort of internship. Hence, witnessing the one we all were so sure was much richer than Charles, bowing to him was not ordinary happening.

Charles was the first to regain his composure as he nodded with pride, before taking his seat and waving Liam off.

"So long as you know your position in this office, we won't have further problems. Now leave" Charles states with irritation. For some reason, something felt off at the moment. I could swear Liam switch wasn't ordinary but I had to push down those senses. Besides everything had gotten settled, there was no need to drag it any further and Liam had begun to walk ahead of me.

Could he be feeling bad or embarrassed? He just bowed to the one he detested, which would have hurt him a lot, I understood that because I was also in his shoes.

I rushed to him and pulled him by the arm to the break room, failing to notice his expression until we were in the break room.

"We already toured this room" He stated behind me while I walked over to the counter, grabbing two of my favorite cookie sachets before I handed one over to him. I never shared my cookies with anyone, not even Charles. It was more of a happy pill, the sweetness of the chocolate flavor mixed with rough texture made me forget about my worries most times.

And I thought it would help with making Liam feel better, even though it was just for a while. However, he eyed the cookie sachet with uncertainty and a hint of disgust which caused a tug in my chest.

"It's okay if you don't want to have it, I'll return it" I opened my palm for him to drop it, but he did not instead he tore the sachet and shoved it all into his mouth.

"Oh my-" I exclaimed and stifled a peal of laughter. Even I had never taken it as a whole into my mouth, for a sweet tooth like mine, I got to admit, that cookie contained a lot of sweetness, and taking it as a whole was a lot and I watched as he struggled to chew it.

Liam reached out for the bottle of water behind me, impatiently turning the cap open before gulping half of the bottle into his mouth.

"You hate sweets?" I teased, happy to see my distraction was working.

He shook his head and gave me a thumbs up, while he calmed down from his high of sweetness.

After a while of silence, I decided to bring it up, curious about how he was feeling.

"You didn't have to bow to him, a word would have been enough, you know,"

"It doesn't matter, he wanted his ego filled and I did just that hopefully he doesn't say a word to you today" Liam shrugged as if what he had just spilled was nothing but mere words. He didn't even sound upset.

"You're not upset?"

 "Why would I be?" He questioned, casually closing the cap of the bottle and dropping it on the table behind me while I felt a strong urge to smack my head.

Did he really do that for me? To get him off my back? The same Liam that clearly detested Charles. It was almost unbelievable. And thinking about it was driving me insane.

"You did that for me? Why?"

I watched as his face turned serious and again he dived his hands into his pocket resting on the table behind me while his gaze flickered between mine.

"I want to be close to you" He blurted but I shook my head. I knew nothing about him and he didn't seem like a straight person, getting close to such a person was a big risk. But his effort. No one had ever put much effort just to be close to me.

"I'm sorry if I'm taking things too far and being in a haste with you, but I truly want to be close to you," Liam confessed, voice so soft, I was almost convinced he was begging.

After a while of silence and contemplation, I nodded.

"Fine. But you need to tell me all about you"

His gaze shifted but I didn't stop. If there was one thing I always hated, that was liars, my father was one, Charles was the next, one more lie and I don't know if I would be able to handle the heartbreak.

"And if I find out one day that you lied to me…"

"I would sever all ties with you."