I'm Not Daria
Keep your distance

After breakfast, I intend to antagonize Devan once and for all, but Mr. David's voice stops me. He signaled for me to come into his office.

When I came in, he was at his desk, working. For a moment, I could imagine Devan being old, yet still dedicated to his work.

"Daria. I heard it from Devan. You go to work and stay there all day?" He asked as soon as I sat in front of him.

My smile broadened and my eyes widened when I realized Devan was raving about me to him.

"Why did you do that? She complained to me that she felt your presence was disturbing and made her uncomfortable. What explanation?"

"Aaaa-akku," stammered and blushed in embarrassment.not expecting her to tell dad everything like a little boy did to his parents.

"I feel like he purposely avoided me on the job. I've tried to ask him a few times about it but he's always dodged my questions. So there was no other way but to force an answer from him. If he's going to involve dad in this, he better know the truth about the situation or my actions will be misunderstood".

"Dad doesn't know what happened between the two of you, but I don't want you to interfere with his work. Personal problems should be solved at home. And how could you be so careless? What if someone recognizes you and takes a photo? Didn't you say you weren't ready to face the media"?

"I'm not ready! I'm not ready yet. And I'm sorry for acting so reckless and obnoxious.I promise I won't repeat it again".

"good. Devan is here to learn from me. Dad doesn't want him to be distracted or distracted by anything and dad wants to be a good host and guide him. From tomorrow he will accompany father to the company and father closely observe how it works and how he arranges everything."

"Yes, I understand," I nodded gently.

"good. Now if you want something, go and buy it." He kicked me out before slylyly adding, "Except humans."

I groan. I doubt anyone in this house will let me forget the one thing that happened but didn't actually happen. I don't need to check if Devan's gone or not because I'm sure he's gone.

Chasing him is exhausting. No matter how fast, he was always one step ahead of me. Not to mention it started hurting my pride because I wasn't the type to chase someone.

So I decided that I would make one last attempt to discuss the matter with him and if he still chose to be childish and avoid me, I would not pursue him anymore.

....

When night falls, I wait for Devan to show up at dinner but he doesn't show up. I took that as another sign that something was not right between us.

I waited in my room, my ears listening to every voice that could tell me of his presence.

Just half an hour after midnight, I heard soft footsteps from the hall that sounded closer and closer.

I got out of bed and calmly walked towards the door. When he opened it, Devan met me at the door of our room. He looked a little surprised, probably wondering why I was still awake.

But he turned around and was about to put a hand on the doorknob to open it when taking a few steps towards her.

"Devan." I said, grabbing the doorknob before he could. His back was facing towards me, my nose was almost touching his shoulder.

He turned slowly to look at me, his scent enveloping my body

"What's wrong? I'm tired, I want to sleep. I'll talk to you tomorrow." He said but did not move to leave.

I had expected something like that would happen. But I ignored her reason and got straight to the point, I knew very well that if I didn't say what I wanted quickly, she would run away again.

"Something has happened between us. It would be stupid if I didn't notice it and I'm sure you're aware of it too. I want to talk to you without you trying to escape for the second time on this topic".

He said nothing and kept looking at me

"I don't know what makes you avoid me at all costs. It's actually starting to hurt me. What the hell's going on? What have I done wrong? I noticed that you've been like this since the wedding. Did something happen at the wedding that made you start hating me again?" He did not answer and I continued.

"Oh, so it took me two months to realize that I stopped talking to you and avoided you? I must be a very insignificant thing in your life if you take that long to realize that something is wrong". His words were cold and his face showed nothing

I shook my head at him in panic. "It's not like that. I'm just busy with a few things"

"With your girlfriend, Mario? Don't worry, I get it." His words were mixed with sarcasm but there was pain in his eyes.

I narrowed my eyes at him as he cut my words.

"Mario's not my boyfriend. I don't know how she feels about me but I don't see her that way. And you never meant anything to me. I was really busy with some things and had no time for anyone, even Anna who was also busy with her affairs. Now will you tell me what the problem is?"

Devan did not reply, but he looked somewhat relieved.

"But why would it be a problem for you if Mario was my girlfriend or not? Why does that make you so angry?"

He started to look a little panicked at my question and avoided my gaze.

I hesitantly stepped closer, removing the distance between us. He took a quick breath through his nose and looked at me. I put my hand on his heart and felt his heart racing under my finger. I thought I was just imagining the sound, but it was really Devan's heart beating fast and hard.

"Your heart beats so fast. Looks jumpy. Am I making you uncomfortable?"

He gulped with a clear-sounding voice. We stared at each other until she held onto my shoulder and pushed me slightly back to put some distance between us.

I couldn't help but grin. "I'm flattered to know it could make you react that way."

Devan didn't say anything, but I could see from his eyes that he felt exposed. After a while, he returned to his former self. There were no signs of nervousness that had previously appeared within him. Unexpectedly, he started to approach me.

"What are you doing?"

"The same thing you just did." Now it's his turn to grin. I feel like a little animal cornered by a predator.

My back touched my bedroom door and I fumbled the doorknob, but Devan quickly blocked me from escaping by putting his hand on it.

"Didn't you feel a little uncomfortable too?"

"No! It's just a little hot in here," I gasped for breath as I fanned my face. I really hate how I change in just a few seconds.

He kept watching me which made me restless and weakened my legs.

Suddenly he was closer to me than before. She wrapped her arms around my waist and pulled me closer. Her other hand cupped my cheek and she brought her face closer to mine. His nose tickled the outside of my ears, sending a pleasant tingling feeling throughout my body and his warm breath blowing into my neck. It felt as if we were trapped in a closed space, just the two of us. I struggled to breathe regularly, trying my best to look undisturbed by our intimacy

After a while, he whispered into my ear. "This closeness bothers you too, doesn't it? We shouldn't be like this. We shouldn't feel this way about each other. Do you still want me to be close to you?"

And then he let me go and took a few steps away from me

"Don't it feel good to put some distance between us? Doesn't that make you less nervous when we're not close?"

I didn't answer, but he could see that my answer was yes.

Yeah, it feels a lot better for my heart now that she's not so close to me. I feel my heartbeat slowing down to normal that I didn't realize before.

"Is that why you're avoiding me?"

"The reason is not just that. There's a much bigger reason."