Irresistible Boss Succumbing to Your Touch (Maria Anita) novel Chapter 468

Manuela’s POV

I had just arrived at the office and had not even sat down in my chair when Rick appeared behind me like a ghost, making me jump with fright.

"Manu," he spoke in a hollow voice, and I screamed in surprise.

"Aaaaahhh..." I looked back and saw him with dark circles under his eyes and disheveled hair. "You scared me, Rick!"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you," he said, hanging his head.

"Hey, what's wrong?" I asked, lifting his chin with my finger.

"Have some coffee with me?" he asked like a child.

"Come on, let's get some coffee." I took him to the break room and poured him a coffee. "What's going on?"

"Tess is leaving," he blurted out.

"What do you mean she's leaving?" I asked.

"She said she's not happy, that she needs time and distance to decide if she still loves me. She's going to live with her parents," he said, wiping away a tear that rolled down his face.

"What do you mean?" I asked, shocked.

"I don't even know, Manu. But she doesn't want anyone to know. She said she hasn't made a decision yet and doesn't want friends calling and trying to make her come back. She'll return when she decides what she wants." Rick could no longer hold back his tears.

"But everyone will know she's gone," I said, not understanding.

"She's going to say her father is sick and she needs to go take care of him," he explained, head down.

"And you agreed to this lie? Actually, you agreed to this 'time' thing?" I was shocked.

"I agreed to everything. She's my wife, Manu. I love her. If she has doubts, what can I do?" Rick was lost.

"But is this time indefinite?" I asked, barely believing this absurdity.

"Well, she didn't say how long, so I guess it's indefinite," Rick sobbed.

"And meanwhile you stay here being a good husband and pretending everything's fine?" I found the situation absurd.

"That's right. She said she's going to resign to Henry and catch her flight this afternoon. When I get home, she won't be there anymore." Rick was so sad that I really didn't know how to handle the situation.

"But what happened for her to make this decision, Rick? This must have come from somewhere."

"She just told me she doesn't know if she still loves me, that she's not happy and needs to distance herself to think, and as soon as she makes a decision, she'll let me know." Rick sighed as tears fell from his face.

"Rick, you need to tell the truth, at least to the guys. You need all your friends right now." I really thought one of the guys, with more experience than me, could help him better.

"Please, Manu. You're my confession vault, remember?"

"Are you distracted, Big Guy?" I tried to sound playful.

"It's work."

"Well, I'll be quick, I just wanted to ask you and the guys not to bombard him with questions and try to distract him and cheer him up. Can you do that?" But he didn't answer. "Flavian, can you do that?" I asked again.

"Sure, sure. Sorry, I have important work on my desk. But don't worry, we'll distract Rick."

"Thanks, Big Guy. I won't bother you anymore."

I hung up the phone with a nagging suspicion. What was going on with Flavian? He had never spoken to me like that before, with such little interest - he didn't even say goodbye or send a kiss, nothing. Was he getting tired of me? Would he do the same thing to me that Tess did to Rick? A million theories swirled in my head, and in none of them did he stay with me.

I barely had the energy to go to the girls' meeting, but Sam was so excited about her engagement and wedding ideas that I wouldn't be a good friend if I wasn't there for her at this moment. So at the end of the day, I put on a smile and went to meet my friends.

I left the girls' meeting early, claiming I had a headache. Since I had my car, I didn't even call Flavian. I went to the apartment and, as I had expected, he hadn't arrived yet. I took a shower, lay down, and thoughts came like a storm in my head - nothing good, all possible scenarios were tragic in my mind.

Lately, Flavian had been acting strange, spending too much time at the police station, answering mysterious calls. And now he started being distracted, seemingly distant from me.

The apocalypse was happening in my head when I heard Flavian's footsteps in the bedroom. He went to the bathroom, and I heard the shower running. Twenty minutes later, he lay down beside me, ran his hand through my hair, and stayed quiet. I kept my eyes closed. No kiss, he didn't pull me into his embrace, nothing. He simply lay down and fell asleep.

The end was near, and I was sure of it. Maybe he hadn't broken up with me yet only because I had moved in with him and he thought I had nowhere else to go. But I could rent another apartment and solve this. Yeah, I could ask Sam if her brother could rent me a room in her apartment that he was occupying; that would solve my problem of having nowhere to go.

I was immersed in my thoughts in the middle of the night when I heard Flavian's phone vibrate on the table. He got up, left the room to answer it, and when he came back, he didn't lie down. Shortly after, I heard the apartment door open and close. He had gone out again, in the middle of the night.