Shocked.Confused .Yes I was confused but shocked too . 

Shocked Why ? Mark was here . Confused why? Why Mark was here .

 I swear to god if it will be one of his drunken adventurous I will kick his delicious Ass to hell personally not bothering about my job. But even in my turmoil of emotions I couldn't help but notice his appearance .

It was not like he made a lot of effort to get ready , it was his natural beauty but my misery .Wearing a black button down and his signature rugged denim he stood in front of me with all his glory taking away my sunshine . Yes!  Mark had that effect on me don't know why. It's not we knew each other well but it felt otherwise . 

His evening stubble and messy golden brown hair made him look so hot, it was difficult to take my eyes of him specially when his greyish green eyes  were boring holes into my skull.

Those eyes were sparkly and full of emotions but I couldn't point out one . They were look familiar like I  had known someone with same eyes filled with those emotions but no matter how much I try I couldn't put a face to those eyes except for Mark's. The intensity of his gaze was intimidating but I had to stand my ground .

 Standing straight in front of him trying not to trip over the thick tension between us   I spoke " Why are you here Mark ? " with as much composure  as I could muster .

He took a step forward which made me step  backward . His face dripping in what appeared to be guilt and sadness . He spoke " You have to back down in front of Ed the latest assignment I gave you ."

It made me more angry than confused  confused " Back down ? Why ? Why in front of Ed ?"  Why was he so adamant on this topic. Why should I ?

" You cannot be part of it, this assignment is too dangerous . I wouldn't have given it to you in first place if it wouldn't have been involving so many powerful people who were pressuring us to take up this assignment and  play James Bond ."

He said, in a deep and husky voice with mild irritation which made my heart flip but my frogs resisted the urge to somersault because I was frustrated too . It was plain wrong .

" But this is  part of my job . I have to do this . " I yelled . Where was he getting ? 

" Yeah ! But you will get plenty of opportunities in future to showcase your talent . Trust me you are that good . Just back down for this particular assignment . " He spoke with desperation growing in his voice.

In normal circumstances I would have cooed at such a concerned gesture but coming it from him after he kissed me one night and threw his fiance on my face  the next only made my head boil with anger, result of which I snapped

" And why do you care ? Your cousin will be there too ?"

He ran his fingers through his golden brown hair messing them further in sheer frustration " Why can't you just do as I say . Trust me for once ? "

Now that was hilarious . I laughed sarcastically " TRUST YOU ? Seriously ? Can you stop humoring me for once. " The venom in my words stung him hard, which made him flinch  back, his shoulder tensed  and whispered 

" I'm sorry " His voice growing deep and husky again .

I spat " For what ?" 

He looked at me with guilt smeared across his face " For everything, for not -" . But he was cut off by Janet and her impeccable timing  who was standing by the half open door shouting at the top of her lungs not realizing mark's presence .

" Bec come on, Dinner is ready and Jo is annoying the hell-" She stopped abruptly finally taking in the godly presence besides me and smiled  "- I didn't know you invited a friend too but that's a good thing . Jo made so much extra food in excitement that it will be impossible to store. "

"No ! " I yelped " He was just leaving " I spoke pressing more  calmly realizing the confused expression on Janet's beautiful wrinkled face . Mark turned towards me, gazing intently before turning back to Janet and spoke " Yes ! I was just leaving ."

But Janet had to be old, sweet, intoxicatingly happy Janet and insisted him to stay for dinner . He agreed after much hesitation  eyeing me to approve, I just shrugged my shoulder at the  inability to control this whole situation .Janet was one of those people who didn't budge easily .

So here we were sitting at the dining table in awkward silence sharing a meal . Janet sat on the head chair with Jo besides him, I was sitting next to him across Mark who was sitting besides Derek who was wiggling his eyebrows at Mark  and me  from time to time trying to annoy me and was doing a fine job  .

Jo and janet used to organize dinners like this from time to time but it only consisted of us minus Mark . Derek's uncle was invited too, but thank the seven kingdoms of westeros   he never actually showed up . He was a very creepy man, stripping me with his eyes whenever I was around .This was also one of the biggest reason I avoided going to his coffee shop and if at all only prefered to go late at night when only Derek used to be there . That man was just plain disgusting.

The whole situation so awkward that everything seemed hilarious especially Mark . The uneasiness of the situation was so evident on his cocky face that I had to suppress my laugh in order to avoid being tagged crazy . Janet was asking him different types of uneasy questions which he politely dodged . But  then what she asked made my heart beat shoot up like a metallica concert  .

" So, since when are you guys dating?"

He was caught off guard, I choked on my own saliva . Derek cracked a small smile and started to say something ( which I suspect was about the night we had coffee at his shop ) but I cut him off  in between blurting out

" No ! He is my boss Janet . " I could feel the blood rushing up to my ears . Janet shot me an apologetic look . But Jo being a total weirdo laughed out loud which shifted the  centre of attraction from us that we didn't have to answer the follow up questions . 

We finished rest of the dinner in silence with  Jo's occasional fits of laughter.

Mark surprisingly stayed throughout the dinner and even volunteered to do the dishes despite me signalling him to go. I guess atleast he respected old people if not others  . Derek had to go back to his shop. Janet and I were making coffee in the kitchen while jo as usual started renewing his coin collection in the study later being joined by Mark .

Janet spoke " You know I didn't mean to put you in  an awkward position back then but the way Mark was looking at you it painted a totally different picture . "

I laughed sarcastically " I'm sure he looks at every other girl that way, by the way he is engaged or going to be. "
Janet mouthed an  'o' and spoke " But the way he looks at you, trust me when I say that I know that look. Jo looks at me like that ."

I was surprised to say anything would be the least so instead I started  mixing cream to my coffee quietly  while my anger was mixing  with confusion towards him.

Janet and I went into the study where jo was showing Mark his coin collection proudly . Mark was listening to him keenly, he looked adorable looking like a child with dimples coming up as he smiled through the conversation .

Jo and Janet as usual started bickering about their dates when they were still in high school and that was my cue to leave them alone before I got caught in the middle of yet another argument . Mark followed me .

" They are an adorable couple " mark stated as we walked out in the balcony.

" Yes they are. " I smiled not quite  looking at him . I focused on the noisy streets below us instead  . But I could feel him staring at me . He sighed and began to  whisper loud enough for me to be able to hear it.

" I'm sorry for leading you on . I should have told you about Anna . I cannot justify my actions . Ending up drunk at your house wrong on my part . I shouldn't have and I am in no position to say anything but you need to understand that this assignment is dangerous . I think you should"

I wanted to say something like what he meant by saying those words that night ' I shouldn't have you, I couldn't have you ' ? Why is he giving me an explanation if he wants to marry another girl, why was he pestering on this assignment but all that came out of my mouth was 'hmm'.

After much of a mental debate I turned to look at him and smiled instead . Why to keep complicating things . He kissed me that night he regrets his actions and he is apologizing, that's fine by me . It's not like we were going to marry each other for anyway.

" Let's just move past all this  unnecessary complications okay ? And for the assignment I can't back down it's my final decision . " I said firmly . He frowned at first but then sighed and merely nodded .

And we stood there in silence watching the world move at it's own pace . He left after sometime and I came back to my empty apartment .

After changing into my pjs I flopped on my bed looking up at the ceiling thinking about today but my attempt was futile . The dinner exhausted me rather than energizing that left me   too tired to ponder on what little of words I exchanged with him . So, instead of thinking more I just drifted off to sleep hearing   the traffic sound coming from outside .