Crashing into an Old Flame
Chapter 107: Friends, huh?

Chapter 107: Friends, huh?

The door was half ajar and Diana was not the kind of person who eavesdropped on people’s conversations.

It was just against her morals to participate in something like that.

But her ears apparently lacked morals as they perked up on their own.

Maxim and Nora had not walked far away.

And Diana straightened her back, her ears stretching a few inches as she calmly tapped her heels on the floor.

’’So, is she the reason we can’t continue our thing?" Nora crossed her arms in front of her chest.

’’These are two different things. She has nothing to do with it,’’ Maxim sounded a bit bored with his reply.

When Diana heard it, she was glad that he clarified, or else, she would have done it herself. What did she mean by her being the reason behind their breakup? Diana remembered that Maxim was single during her first week in the US. How did it have anything to do with her?

’’I bet it’s her,’’ Nora sounded persistent, her voice irked, ’’Look at her fashion sense and all that. In what way do I not compare to her?"

Diana felt like puking a mouthful of blood when she heard that. The woman could have said that she was ugly or uncultured and she would not have batted an eyelid but fashion sense? Girl, I was trained about pairing my outfits since I was barely five or six.

’’She is just a friend,’’ came Maxim’s calm voice.

Diana: "_"

Diana looked around, feeling the intense urge to grab a flower vase and slam it at these people. First of all, he did not defend her fashion sense. Secondly, what the hell was ’just a friend’?

Friend is friend. What the heck is just a friend?

Was she being unreasonable? Yes.

Did she care? No.

Diana wrapped her arms around her knees and she sulked there.

There were no voices from outside for some time until Nora said, ’’You... Damn it, I am not arguing with you!" the sound of retreating footsteps was heard soon after.

The half-ajar door was pushed open and Maxim stepped inside the office.

When he found Diana sitting on the couch, sulking and pouting, he frowned, ’’What’s wrong?" he walked towards her before he squatted in front of her.

He held her hands and gazed at her face.

Diana glared at him, without bothering to respond.

’’Does your hand hurt?" Maxim remembered that that woman had gripped her wrist earlier, ’’Who is she? And why was she targeting you?" It has been barely a few days since she started working here yet she had provoked people.

’’Nothing hurts,’’ Diana said calmly, ’’I was just getting bored sitting here but I could not go out. You and your girlfriend were standing right outside the door, blocking my path. I am sure it would have gotten pretty awkward...’’

For the first time, Maxim was quiet.

He did not even correct her when she said ’girlfriend’.

Diana was speechless, ’’Hey, I just said something...’’ she trailed off when she noticed that his gaze was fixed on her hand, ’’I told you I am not hurt...’’ the remaining words lodged back into her throat when her gaze landed on the tattoo on her wrist.

She pulled her hand out of his grip and pushed herself to her feet, ’’Now that she is gone, I should leave. I have work to do...’’ she waved her hand and calmly turned around to leave.

But she had just taken two steps when an arm wrapped around her waist and her feet were lifted off the floor as the man twirled her around.

A gasp escaped her mouth but before she could say anything, Maxim placed her down on the opposite side of the door, blocking her path.

’’What was that?" she glared at him.

’’Ex-girlfriend,’’ Maxim said, ’’Mom wanted to set me up for blind dates with marriage in mind and Nora had some situation on her side. So, it ended up like this. We pretended for a few months until I backed out and she is upset about that.’’

’’Fake dating trope, I see,’’ Diana nodded.

’’Trope?" Maxim blinked.

’’Oh, you don’t read novels anymore, do you? Hm, you used to read them before just because I forced you,’’ she looked at him in contemplation before she mocked him, ’’Let me explain it to you word by word. Fake dating trope means two people start dating each other under pretense due to circumstances but it turns real over time.’’

His eyes narrowed slightly as he took a step towards her, ’’The last book I read for you was some friends-to-lovers thing. Care to elaborate?"

Diana choked on her saliva as she coughed, ’’Alright, I get it. I don’t see the point of why we are wasting time here like this. Fake dating or real dating, girlfriend or not, it has nothing to do with me,’’ she saluted him, taking her stance to walk away again when he closed the distance between them.

She took two steps back.

’’Why has it got nothing to do with you?"

’’What do you mean why? You...’’ Diana was speechless for a moment. She wanted to glare at him but when her eyes met his, she sucked in a shuddering breath. His dark eyes were looking at her intensely, ’’But we are friends. You said it. I... know it. We both know it,’’ at this point, she did not bother to hide that she had eavesdropped on their conversation.

’’Friends?’’ he strode towards her, his gaze never once leaving her face.

’’Y-Yes...’’ If you ignore the indecent ways in which you occupy my mind, we are very much friends. Close friends. Best friends. Whatever but friends. She staggered when there was no place to retreat anymore.

Her back was one step away from colliding against the wall.

Maxim thrust a palm right next to her body while his other hand reached to lift her blond tresses from her face.

’’If we were friends, I wouldn’t be thinking of doing this to you,’’ his fingers treaded inside her hair as he leaned closer, his lips hovering over her neck. One tilt of his head and a kiss would land right there, ’’I would not be daydreaming about how you look, how you smell, how you smile, how you sigh... how you will feel under me.’’

Diana’s eyes widened, her face flushed and her breathing turned ragged when she heard his words.

A shiver rolled down her back as his palm glided around her waist, easing her back onto the wall.

He lowered his head till his mouth hovered right next to her ear, ’’Friends, huh? The kind of thoughts I have for you ruins every damned morality and definition of friendship.’’

’Thump’

Diana’s lips parted, and her vision grew hazy as she raised her hands and clutched his shirt in her fists. ’’You are crazy,’’ she breathed against his neck, ’’What you are suggesting is... is insane,’’ her vocabulary was better than that but her mind was not in sync today.

’’Crazy... Insane...’’ he clicked his tongue, ’’Yet you are turning red, panting and gasping for every bit of oxygen just because of my suggestion. What does that make you, psychotic?"

’’Maxim!" she narrowed her eyes at him, trying to calm her rapid breathing.

’’It sounds better. Much better than just my surname. You should call me by my name more often.’’

His expressions were aloof, his tone was aloof but she could sense every bit of cockiness and smugness that the man was oozing out, ’’You don’t know what you are doing,’’ she frowned, ’’Didn’t I tell you that I have someone? What if I have a boyfriend, Warner?"

’’The boyfriend... that you thought of when you kissed me yesterday?" Maxim’s thumb drew a casual arc on her waist and even through the layer of clothes, his touch left sparkles in its wake.

’’Yes.’’

’’Give me a name,’’ he said.

’’Why would I?"

’’Because your actions make me wonder if I am just that irresistible to you that you kiss me despite having a boyfriend or if your boyfriend resembles me so much that you can’t make out the difference between us?"

Diana bit her bottom lips, not meeting his gaze. There was no way she could admit to the former option.

’’If it’s the latter...’’ Maxim spoke up, breaking the trail of her thoughts, ’’Then aren’t you just low-key obsessed with me? You found yourself, my impostor, in my absence?’’ He shook his head with a soft sigh, ’’Just how unhinged is that?"

...

A/N: So far, there has been no response from NovelFire service regarding the mood board comment that disappeared (to think that they claimed they will sort the issue with a week or so) and I think it’s pointless to expect a solution so I will be posting the moodboard on my IG tomorrow-@auroraboooks~ Be there for Daddy Max ahem ;)

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