🎶. Black Out Days (Slowed+Reverb)

It was due to the fact that there was a slight change in his behaviour that made her smirk in triumph.

A small, insignificant change, but it was present. In his actions, in his expressions, even in his eyes. The grey swirls had acquired their darkest shade, like a never-ending hollow tunnel, that would glow like a halo, compelling you to search for its unconquerable depth.

She loved it. She loved every little detail of his eyes, of his body, the clench of his fist, the tick of his jaw, the grit of his teeth, and her most favourite, the slow blink whenever his gaze would rake down her body, shamelessly burning with desire against her every inch, the raw passion open for her to witness.

He wanted her.

And she was going to make him confess that.

And if jealousy helps, then so be it.

It was nine am, and as usual, they were at the dining table. She leaned in, picking up a cream cheese chicken croissant with the help of tongs, and dropped it on her plate, lifting her knife and fork and continuing to eat her breakfast.

"Why don't you go back to your apartment?" She questioned, stalling the urge to smile when he stiffened. "I mean, for the days I'll be not here, why don't you go back to your apartment? I'm sure you wouldn't enjoy your stay here. Just a suggestion though. You're more than welcome to stay here if you wish." She added to not offend him.

His eyes lifted from the plate, meeting her brown ones.

"How about I leave and never come back?"

Siya blinked, not wanting to acknowledge the way her breath hitched at the thought. A nonchalant smile replaced her blank face and she nodded. "That sounds like a good idea." With the face he made, she was sure he hadn't expected her to say that.

Rehan nodded in response, a mirthless smile spreading on his lips. "So you're one of those?"

She frowned.

"Discarding people once you're done using them."

She chuckled, shaking her head as she leaned back and crossed her legs. "Rehan," she sighed, noticing the clench of his fingers around the fork and priding on the effect she has on the man. "What do you want to hear, darling? Tell me, so I can say it."

He snorted. "I'm not sure you would want to know that."

She leaned in, propping her elbow on the table and resting her chin on her upturned palm, a dimpled smile playing on her lips. "You underestimate me so much, it hurts." She feigned a pout, chuckling when he visibly scoffed.

He stilled in his movements when she pushed the chair back and got up. His eyes fell to her feet, rising slowly, taking her in, stopping at his favorite parts, lingering longer than necessary on her chest before finally connecting with hers.

He couldn't help the small gasp that left his lips when he saw how close she was. He lowered his gaze, biting on his lower lip and looking away when it landed on her cleavage.

Siya smiled, bending over and bracing her hands on both the hand-rest as she tried to meet his eyes.

He looked uncomfortable but made no move to push her away.

"I don't know what's stopping you, but I've stopped caring about it now." She whispered, finally meeting his uncertain eyes.

His gaze drifted towards the plate when she scooped out the whipped cream on her finger and he recoiled slightly the moment she smeared it beneath his sharp jawline. His hands on his lap curled into tight fists as she leaned in, her tongue sneaking past the plump lips to lick the cream off his olive skin.

He breathed out shakily, his eyes falling close slowly.

Her sweet lips skimmed past his jaw, dropping lower on his ear. "I'm not going to wait forever." She hissed.

His eyes snapped open and fingers twitched as the urge to yank her closer grew within his body. Defying the commands of the internal chaos, he met her eyes boldly, not letting the moment of weakness deter his confidence.

That made her smile.

"Only you can look at me this way," she murmured, lifting a finger and gently stroking his chin, traveling a path down his throat, stopping on his adam's apple. "Like you want to kill me and fuck me all at once," she chuckled when his adam's apple bobbed, his eyes blinking rapidly.

"Not sure about the fucking part." He commented.

She laughed. "God, I want you so bad." She kissed his cheek, smiling widely against his skin. "Make a move, darling, before someone else does." She shrugged, standing straighter and looking down at him with mirth.

"First find a man who can touch you without causing you a panic attack," he rested back smugly.

"You know the advantage you have, huh," she nodded with an impressed smile. "Good. Bask in it until you can, until I really find someone else to touch me unrestrained." She said, watching a muscle in his jaw tick. "I promise it'll be soon." She said with so much certainty, it almost sounded like a future moment that was bound to happen.

He looked livid when he got up, scraping the chair back and shooting her a glare before storming out of the dining room.

She stared at him, watching him climb the stairs angrily as she licked the remaining cream off of her finger. Heaving a sigh, she walked back to her chair and picked up her bag and phone, drinking the leftover juice and leaving the mansion.

Ethan opened the door for her and she thanked him before getting in.

"He is not coming?"

Siya shrugged, distracted when he strode out of the mansion and went to his car, getting in and slamming the door close before speeding off the driveway.

"Everything okay between you two?" Ethan asked cautiously, glancing at the car that soon disappeared out of the main gates.

Once again she shrugged in response.

He shook his head and walked to the driver's side, getting in and buckling himself. Soon the black Maserati was driving down the gravel driveway, shadowed by long trees and followed by another black sedan.

Fifteen minutes later, the car entered the premises of Blossom Model Agency, slowly coming to stop at the front porch. The valet was quick to rush over and open the door for her, greeting her morning as she stepped out.

Ethan tossed the car keys at the valet and took his position on her right, while Matthew stayed on her left and the other lady guard behind her.

Siya walked in through the revolving doors and was quickly approached by her assistant.

"Good morning, ma'am,"

She nodded in response.

"Stella is waiting for us on the seventh floor." He informed her.

"Lead the way," she motioned.

Ian nodded and walked ahead, leading her towards the bank of elevators. Just as they reached, the first elevator in the row opened, revealing Rosalyn's CEO and his 24-year-old son.

"Oh, look who we have here," Maxwell Huxley grinned, stepping out as he stared at Siya.

She flashed him a forced smile. "How are you, Mr. Huxley? How is Mr. Bierman?" She inquired, ignoring the intense gaze of the man on the left.

"I'm fine." He chuckled. "And how would I know about your board of directors?"

"Ex board of director," she corrected.

"Right, right," he nodded, pretending to realise his mistake. "It was all over the news, how can I forget?" He chuckled. "But then again, I must be distracted. I've a lot more important things to do."

She shrugged. "Old habits die hard, distraction has always been yours."

His smile almost slipped but he held onto it. "Uhm, by the way, did you see this young man on my right," he wrapped a proud arm around the man, patting gently on his shoulder. "He is my son and will soon take over the CEO position."

Her eyes finally traveled to the left, connecting with the blazing amber eyes.

He didn't say a word when she finally gave him what he was demanding since the beginning, her attention.

She nodded in acknowledgment.

The young man nodded back.

"Introduce yourself, son," Maxwell chuckled in amusement.

"Roman Huxley," the man finally spoke, a deep baritone lacing his young, soothing voice.

She smiled. "Siya Raichand." She said, peeling her eyes off him and looking back at his father, her actions clear enough to insinuate he isn't worthy of her attention for having no status backing his name except for his father's reputation.

She knew it aggravated him, and it was strangely fun to witness the young man feeling the burn of his ego.

"I've some business to look after, so I shall take my leave," she said politely.

"Oh, of course," Mr. Huxley stepped aside, emptying her way towards the elevator. "Sorry for holding you back."

She waved her hand in dismissal as if it was no big deal and walked inside the elevator, turning around and sparing a fleeting glance at Roman.

"All the best, young man. Don't make distraction your habit." She smirked, feeling his amber eyes burn through hers as the metal doors slid close.

"He hated you for treating him like a kid," Ian commented through his big mouth.

"He is a kid." She shrugged.

"He is 24. Two years younger than you."

"As I said, a kid." She stated.

Ian blinked. "Wait, you don't see me as a man then?" He asked in shock.

The elevator halted and the doors parted open. "No. A kid." She answered and walked out.

Ian followed with a pout, grumbling under his breath about how he was a grown-up and cooks his own food and cleans his own house.

Siya met the CEO of the agency, attending the meeting with the casting directors for the first time, and signing the altered contract with the model and the agency. She wasn't going to make the same mistake that she had done once with Cindy Agnor.

A week flew by slowly. Every morning Siya would feel like she had to drag the day by until midnight. But she was glad for the neverending work, it kept her busy from her dark thoughts and distracted from the hot math professor.

Although same can't be said in his case. As the day of her departure to Italy was coming closer, so was his patience to the edge of falling apart. For most of the time he ignored her, but his lingering glances, his heated gaze, and his subtle brushes whenever they walked past each other was enough signal to reflect his worsening attitude through his behaviour.

He looked frustrated and while she believed it was because of the lack of attention she was giving him, he would always grunt under his breath it was because of his unproductivity in the winter break.

He had nothing to do except to mope around and watch tv or eat and spend time in Gym.

"What the fuck, Ian. What are these?" She demanded, slamming the bunch of documents in front of her assistant.

"What happened?" He asked, picking up the pages and shuffling through them.

"They aren't sorted! I told you to sort them in alphabetical order, didn't I?"

He gasped. "Shoot. I think I didn't see this bunch. It was close to the sorted ones, maybe I counted it as one." He raked a hand through his dark brown locks.

She scoffed. "Do it now. I don't want to keep anything pending since we're leaving tomorrow."

He nodded and quickly got down to work.

She focused on the remaining work until then.

For a change, they were working in the living room instead of her ensuite study. Something about it being too stuffy for Ian that it made him feel sick. Siya was all open about how it offended her and threatened to deduct his salary. She was being petty, she knew that, it was her favorite feeling.

Ian was quick to apologise by shoving the typical dialogue of it's not you, it's me, giving it a slight twist and replacing the word you with the room.

Only then Siya calmed down and let him shift the workload from her desk to downstairs on the coffee table.

She looked up hearing the thick sound of pounding footsteps and found Rehan coming downstairs. Ignoring him, she looked back down at the papers in her hand, not reacting even when he came, and sat down on the other side of the couch and turned the television on.

"Oh, look, it's him." Ian stared at the television.

Following him, Siya looked at the television curiously. Her brows raised in surprise when she saw Roman Huxley on the screen. The young man was dressed sexily in a custom-made navy blue tux and looked every inch of breathtaking.

"The kid," Ian added with a chuckle.

Roman walked up to the mic and smiled at the camera. "Since the time I realised what dreams mean, Rosalyn was mine. This position was my dream. And because the company is named after my late mother, it soon became my passion, my only aim in life. I'm so happy today, and I would like to thank my grandfather for this." He glanced at the old man. "And also my father, for handling it until I was young enough to take the controls in my hands." He added as an afterthought. His father forced a smile. "I'm going to do my best to bring Rosalyn on the top." He said determinedly. "And I know you all have watched me grow, so for you, I might still be a kid, but I hope," he looked straight into the camera causing Siya to blink. For a moment it felt as if he was looking directly at her. "I hope you treat me as a man now." He ended in a deep voice, a smirk dancing on the curve of his lips.

"Why?" Ian whined when Rehan changed the channel. "By the way, do you know he will be at the party that Damien is hosting?" He leaned in eagerly, his smile widening as he looked at his boss. "I saw his name in the guest list." He added excitedly.

Siya looked away from the screen and relaxed back, crossing her arms on her chest and smiling quietly to herself.

She flinched when Rehan got up and threw the remote on the couch before striding back upstairs.

"What's his problem?" Ian muttered with furrowed brows. "Do you think he is jealous?" He looked back at his boss, sounding excited again.

Siya sighed. "Let's get back to work."

Ian's mood deflated when he looked down at the paperwork. "I hate this." He whispered under his breath but followed his boss' command anyway.

By the time the hour hand hit 11, Ian was half asleep and half on the verge of resigning. So when his boss said enough for today, he didn't know whether to kiss the floor she walks on or just lie down on it and go to sleep.

"You look bummed," she spoke as she got up and stretched her arms over her head.

He huffed, falling back and yawning shamelessly.

"Ask Ethan, he'll get a driver to drive you home."

"No! Knowing him, he'll probably tell Matthew to drive me home! All the drivers must have gone to their quarters by now." Ian whined.

"So? What's the problem with Matthew?" She asked, picking up the files and her phone.

"I don't like him. I mean, I should, considering he is my teacher, but I don't. He is just so easy to not like. As if he is asking not to be liked." Ian snorted.

"Shut up," Siya rolled her eyes. "and get out. We've to leave tomorrow evening." She mumbled and lazily strolled back upstairs.

She heard her assistant groan as he collected his belongings and stomped out of the mansion, calling for Ethan in a childish tone like a five-year-old would call his father.

Opening the door to her bedroom, she walked inside and headed to the study room to keep the files on the desk. While returning to the room, she turned off the lights and closed the door after her, turning around and almost gasping aloud when she spotted Rehan standing in the middle of her room. Her eyes went to the door and found it closed.

She cleared her throat. "What is it? Why are you here? And why didn't you knock?" She asked, keeping a safe distance between them because of the unrecognisable look on his face. "I remember you scolding me on your first day here on how to respect someone's privacy and-"

"Shut up." He stopped her rambling.

She sealed her lips shut, hating the power he has on her body and how easily it obeys his every command.

"Who is he?"

She narrowed her eyes in genuine confusion. "Sorry?"

Rehan scowled. "You know who I'm talking about, Siya."

She frowned. "No, I don't- wait, Damien?"

Rehan sighed loudly, pinching the bridge of his nose. "The count is increasing." He chuckled humorlessly.

Her frown deepened at his cryptic words. "Can you stop talking in a puzzle?" She demanded.

"Roman," he looked up at her. "Who is he?"

She tried not to smirk remembering the fit he had thrown earlier in the living room. "Uhm, a man, I guess?"

Rehan closed his eyes and inhaled a deep breath.

She wouldn't lie, it was scary the way he needed to regain control of himself.

"Don't fuck with me, Siya," he growled.

Her eyes widened. This was the first time he swore and God damnit if it didn't bring the flutter of butterflies swirling in her stomach.

She shrugged. "I'm not. I wish I could though." She added with a smirk.

His eyes blazed, a furious shade of grey that reminded her of the crying sky, brewing a storm waiting to swallow, the good, the bad, and everything in between.

"Again, for the last time, who the fuck is he?"

She rolled her eyes, loving this side of his but finding it absolutely absurd. "Why does it matter to you?" She asked instead.

"Siya-"

"Rehan," she said, taking a step forward but not closing the distance between them. He breathed harshly with his glare settled on her. "You don't see me throwing a fit when you chase other women!" She snapped, remembering the day he had gone to date with the supposedly yoga teacher and had kissed her intimately the same night. "What are we, Rehan!? Just what are we? What is your significance in my life that you've the audacity to stand in my room and demand answers from me? Do I belong to you? Am I your girlfriend? No. Then what made you believe I'll answer your stupid questions!?"

His glare hardened but he didn't dare to open his mouth, silently accepting all of her accusations.

"I've told you already, I'm not going to wait for you. Do you understand that? I'm going to test the foreign waters no matter how much it scares me. I'm not going to let you have the power over me that you think you do!" She added furiously. "And now I'm done, so get out." She pointed at the door.

Instead, he strode towards her and pinned her up against the pale wall, his hands on either of her sides.

She sucked in a sharp breath feeling his hard