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CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: THE AFTERMATH
last update2026-10-25 01:12:12

Tuesday morning came too quickly, Victoria stood in front of her bedroom mirror for longer than usual. She'd changed her outfit twice, she'd brushed her hair like three times, picked up her bag.... Put it down then picked it up again. Her mind kept replaying the same scene.

*********

Perez wasn't having a much better morning either, he'd barely slept.... Everytime he closed his eyes he'd remember the look on her face before she ran away. He'd spent half the night questioning himself.

*********

Victoria stepped out of the elevator and immediately saw him. He saw her too.... Their eyes met for less than three seconds and then they looked away and she continued walking.

The morning passed painfully slowly, Victoria buried herself in work or she tried to.... She even became annoyed with herself....  Perez wasn't doing much better, he'd reviewed the same document three times without absorbing a single word, his coffee had gone cold and his tablet remained untouched.

He was beginning to hate this and by mid-day he finally had enough.

Victoria was typing when his shadow fell across her desk. Her fingers froze above the keyboard "Mr. Perez"

"Can we talk?"

She saved her document "Of course" she said politely

He gestured towards one of the conference rooms. People minded their business as always, that was the good atmosphere in Aurex.

**********

He closed the door behind them then immediately realized he hadn't planned what he was going to say. For someone with a guarded heart this felt quite ridiculous for him.... But it was her, and not someone else.

Victoria folded her arms "You wanted to talk?"

He nodded, then shook his head, then nodded again.... Words were hard for Perez.

Victoria almost smiled.... She remained calm.... She found his behavior cute.

"I'm sorry" Perez finally said "I shouldn't have confused you"

He looked away "I shouldn't have followed you"

"And I shouldn't have kissed you without knowing where we stood"

"And where do we stand?" Victoria asked

He opened his mouth, then closed it, because he didn't know.... Victoria lowered her eyes, Perez realized she wasn't angry, she was hurt.

"The problem isn't the kiss" she said "The problem is that none of this makes sense"

"The distance doesn't make sense.... The way you ignore me doesn't make sense"

"And my feelings definitely don't make sense"

Then she shook her head "No. Forget it, this feels embarrassing"

"Victoria...."

She immediately took one step back, out of self-preservation... Then she nodded "It's okay"

She turned towards the door

"Victoria"

Her hand paused on the handle "I don't think I'll be worthy enough to be defined by you"

Then she walked away.

Perez remained in the empty conference room.... He exhaled slowly. This was exactly why he'd built walls, why he'd promised himself never to let his guard down again.

He leaned back against the conference table and laughed quietly.... He felt glad it had happened because for the first time Perez was protecting his heart and was losing the battle.

*********

Later that evening, Perez found himself sitting across from Lockwood in one of San Cordova's quiet lounges. Just two men sharing a drink after another successful quarter.

Lockwood leaned back comfortably "You've been distracted"

Perez raised an eyebrow "No, I haven't... I'm fine"

Lockwood chuckled "That's exactly what people say when they aren't fine"

After a few moments of talking about the latest import arrangements between Lockwood Enterprise and Aurex Systems.... Lockwood casually mentioned Amara.

"Amara's become a very busy woman lately"

Perez looked up, because both of them knew exactly what wasn't being said "I'm sorry"

Lockwood shook his head "You've apologized before"

"And I'll apologize again...." Perez cut in

Lockwood laughed "You give yourself too much credit"

Perez frowned "Amara made her own decisions"

"None of that was your responsibility"

Perez wasn't entirely convinced, because regardless of how things had ended, he still carried some guilt.

Lockwood took another sip of his drink "Besides, she's doing fine, she has to be"

Perez nodded

"How's Aurex?"

Perez relaxed "It's growing"

"They usually do when you're involved" Lockwood replied, he crossed his arms

"What about your media division? I promoted some outstanding articles few weeks ago"

Perez' mind immediately drifted to one name, Lockwood noticed and smiled.

"The media department is doing well" Perez said "We've had stronger engagement"

"Mm-hmm"

"The company's public image has improved"

Lockwood nodded "Good"

Perez looked down at his glass "The writing has helped"

Lockwood raised an eyebrow "The writing?"

Perez nodded "The person behind it understands people"

"Interesting"

Perez continued "Most journalists focus on success" "But she doesn't"

Lockwood smiled into his glass "Oh?"

Perez ignored him "She writes differently'

"How differently?"

He thought about it for a moment "She writes about people, she pays attention to details most people miss"

"Mhmm"

"She understands emotion"

"Mhmm"

"And somehow......" He stopped

Lockwood's brow raised

"The entire media team has improved" Perez diverted

Lockwood almost laughed.... "Of course Perez"

Perez narrowed his eyes "Stop looking at me like that

Lockwood laughed openly this time "I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about"

For a few moments, they sat in the comfortable silence. Then Lockwood said something that caught him off guard

"You know, success doesn't always make people stronger"

"What does it do, then?" Perez asked

Lockwood shrugged "Sometimes it just makes them better at hiding"

Perez looked away

Hiding.

That word stayed with him.

"She's a good writer..." He blurted

Lockwood chuckled "I don't think we're talking about writing anymore"

Perez immediately reached for his glass "We're talking about Aurex"

"Of course we are"

But they both knew that wasn't true.

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