Chapter 17 I Will Not Accept Him

• “Mr. Holloway, are you alright?” one of the technicians asked again because he failed to get any response on his first attempt.
• Meanwhile, Lionel was gluing his brooding eyes onto Yasmin. There was a complicated mixture of emotions hidden in his eyes, as though his soul was being weighed down by secrets that he could not tell her. After a while, he finally loosened his grip on her as he took a few steps back. Looking at Yasmin who was visibly relieved, he answered the technician in a deep voice, “I’m alright!”
• At long last, the elevator door was pushed open. Outside the elevator stood a crowd of people which mainly consisted of technicians, security officers, and some employees who happened to clock in for work early that day.
• They immediately wiped away the cold sweat on their forehead the moment they saw Lionel. As much as they tried to hide it, the fear and anxiety on their faces were still evident.
• Matthew was the only one who was staring at Lionel with amusement in his eyes. Just now, he peeked inside the elevator through the slit out of concern. Never in his wildest dreams could he imagine that he would get to witness something as mind-blowing as what was taking place inside the elevator earlier.
• Matthew wished that he could share the information with the group chat right away.
• Once on shore, he prayed no more - he clearly did not learn from the lesson that he had received the previous night. To punish him for being a blabbermouth, Lionel ordered him to work overtime for the entire night. Just as he thought of getting some sleep at the crack of dawn, he was ordered to rush to the company together with Lionel, waiting at Starbucks for two hours until Yasmin finally appeared. Then, they pretended to bump into her in the lobby, so that Lionel could spend some time with her in private.
• The breakdown of the elevator was not part of their plan. Fortunately, the dangerous situation ended up being the icing on the cake by giving Lionel a chance to play the hero who had saved the damsel in distress. Without the unexpected occurrence, Yasmin would not have thrown herself into his arms.
• As soon as Lionel stepped out of the elevator, he was immediately escorted by a throng of people who were showering him with questions to ensure that he was fine. Lionel took no notice of their gestures, and his icy aura sent chills down everyone’s spine.
• Yasmin stepped out of the elevator after Lionel. The space in front of the elevator became deserted at once after Lionel left. Only Matthew and a few of the technicians remained.
• “Jonesy, are you alright? Did it give you a huge fright?” Matthew approached her and asked.
• The technicians could not help but be somewhat surprised to see Matthew, who was supposed to be one of Lionel’s entourage, caring so much about a mere employee of the company.
• Although Yasmin’s face was pale, two rosy patches were visible on her cheeks. She plastered a stiff smile on her face as she answered Matthew, “I-I’m fine.”
• In fact, her legs still pretty much felt like jelly as she had yet to recover from the shock. Compared to the breakdown of the elevator, Lionel’s forced kiss on her was more terrifying.
• “Why don’t you take a sick leave and head back home to rest?” Judging from how flustered Yasmin looked, Matthew was sure that Lionel’s kiss had given her a huge fright.
• After some contemplation, Yasmin shook her head and refused, “It’s not necessary. I just need some rest to feel better.”
• As much as she wished to go back home to rest, she would rather not do that and let the incident affect her work, especially when she had a feud with Ms. Ingram. She did not want this incident to become something that Ms. Ingram could use against her.
• “Fine then. If you really feel too unwell to stay, just tell your manager that your sick leave has been directly approved by me.” Matthew patted Yasmin’s shoulder soothingly and immediately felt someone’s baleful gaze on him. His hands that were on Yasmin’s shoulder froze at once before he quickly retrieved them. “Since this elevator is out of service, and that one is going to take forever to reach here, why don’t you come with us?” he proposed to Yasmin.
• Yasmin knew that Matthew was inviting her to take the elevator that was exclusively used by the President with him and Lionel. She cast a glance at Lionel, who was still surrounded by a thick crowd, and found that Lionel happened to be looking at her too. Her heart fluttered the moment their eyes met. Out of embarrassment, she quickly lowered her head to avoid his eyes.
• At that juncture, some of the higher-ups of the company rushed to the scene after learning about the incident. They were eager to show their concern toward Lionel, and they were quick to offer their apologies to him. Yet, Lionel, who looked distracted, did not seem to be listening to them.
• “I think I’ll pass. As my department is only a few floors away, I’ll just take the stairs.” Yasmin quickly turned Matthew down, balked at the prospect of spending time with Lionel again. Without waiting for Matthew’s response, she turned around and walked away.
• “Let me join you!” Matthew ran after Yasmin to join her. He would rather spend time chatting with Yasmin than face Lionel’s poker face.
• Yasmin was wearing a pair of high heels that day, and she was absent-minded after the kiss with Lionel. Thus, she nearly sprained her ankle several times although the journey to the Human Resources Department only consisted of four to five flights of stairs.
• “Jonesy, what do you think of Mr. Holloway?” Matthew thought that it was the perfect opportunity to find out what Yasmin thought of Lionel.
• “Huh?” Yasmin was holding her coat which she had removed because she had started to sweat. She was truly taken off guard by Matthew’s abrupt question.
• “I’m asking this out of pure curiosity - would you date Mr. Holloway if he pursues you?” Matthew did not beat around the bush.
• Sensing Yasmin’s hesitation, Matthew quickly reassured her, “Don’t worry, I’ll keep your answer between us.”
• “I wouldn’t!” Yasmin answered after pondering over it.
• “Why wouldn’t you?” Matthew was evidently taken aback by her answer. “Not only is Mr. Holloway good-looking, rather he has a hot body too! He’s a nice guy who values his family and he’s very faithful to his woman. Most importantly, he’s loaded. Why don’t you find such a perfect guy like him attractive?”
• Matthew shamefully blabbered on about all of the compliments that he could think of. Yasmin couldn’t help but feel sickened by what he had said. There was one thing in particular about Matthew’s words that she found unacceptable - Is Lionel Holloway even qualified to be called a nice guy? If he’s a nice guy, why does he always wear a poker-faced expression, giving out an unapproachable air everywhere he goes?
• On top of that, the way he speaks is way too harsh to make him a nice guy.
• “Jonesy, please be truthful with me here - if Mr. Holloway fancies you, would you accept him to be your boyfriend?” The way things had been going was totally contrary to Matthew’s expectations. At first, he assumed that Yasmin would be an easy target for Lionel. To his utter surprise, it turned out that she was not interested in him at all.
• Matthew dreaded to think about how Lionel would respond if he were to discover Yasmin’s thoughts on him.
• “I wouldn’t!” Yasmin replied after a moment of silence.
• “Are you seeing someone at the moment?” That was the only possible reason that Matthew could think of to explain Yasmin’s indifference to Lionel. However, he soon dismissed the idea as unlikely. If she already had a boyfriend, why would she even have gone on that blind date?
• “I’m not seeing anybody at the moment.” Yasmin paused in her tracks to gaze out of the window. “I wouldn’t accept Lionel because he can’t give me the sense of security I need. A relationship with him just seems too... surreal for me,” she answered in a gentle voice.
• The fact that Lionel was a good-looking man with a rich family background did not mean much to Yasmin. She would rather not date a man like Lionel again because the last time she did, it did not end well.
• “Hmm...” Matthew was left stumped because he actually agreed with what she told him.
• No one knew better than him how many admirers Lionel had. All of them had fallen head over heels for him and were relentless. If Lionel were up for one-nighters, Matthew was sure that Lionel could sleep with a different woman every night for a year.
• “Mr. Col... Well, Matthew, I’ve reached my department.” As Matthew was continuing his way upward, Yasmin tugged at the sleeves of his shirt as she uttered this sentence.
• “Should I escort you inside?” Matthew was pleased with how Yasmin had addressed him. Seeing that Yasmin had shaken her head, he did not insist. He merely nodded at her and advised her with a smile, “Just go back home and rest if you feel unwell. Also, don’t worry about what you’ve just said because I will keep my lips sealed.”