Do I Have the Right to Be Angry?

A girl kissed him and she was terribly jealous.

When Phoebe saw the bruise-like love bite on the lowermost portion at the left side of Evandros' neck, she immediately stood up. Evan, however, caught her arm and pulled her back to the floor.

"Phoebe," he said, trying not to let her escape from his grip.

Truly dismayed, she jerked her head to the other side and pronounced, "While... While I was thinking about you the whole weekend, you were actually making out with someone..."

"This is... nothing..." he said. Why did he want to explain to her?

"Nothing? It's gross!" she said, still not looking at him.

"Look at me, Phoebe," he appealed. He wanted to tell her what happened. But how could he tell her that he got tempted with Phaedra last Saturday night?

"I can't look at you right now... especially with that mark on your neck. What kind of girl is she? A vampire? Or a werewolf?"

Evan finally released Phoebe's arm. He expected her to stand up this time but she didn't. With her not moving by his side, he began to believe that she wanted to listen to an explanation.

He raked his hair with his fingers. "Give me a reason why I have to explain this to you."

She looked at him shockingly. She wanted to reason out but he was absolutely correct. "No, I don't need an explanation, Mr. Xenakis," she finally said, now deciding to stand up.

Evan once again pulled her down to his side. "Phoebe, I'm sorry..."

Facing the other direction, the girl bent down her head and pressed her right cheek against the coffee table. She felt a terrible pain in her heart.

For minutes, she had been doing that. She didn't look up.

Evan felt disappointed of himself. If he had just worn his suit shirt, the collar must have concealed the hickey. She might have not seen it and he wouldn't have hurt her. How could he be so careless about it?

Slowly, he touched Phoebe's hair. "I'm sorry."

"Who is the girl?" she asked, feeling his hand combing her hair.

"My ex," he said, very briefly.

Hearing it, she finally raised her head and faced him. "Ex? You made out with your ex?"

Evan saw tears in the girl's eyes. "You're crying..." he mused, feeling guilty.

"I'm jealous. I am... really," she revealed frankly to him.

"I went home last Saturday, met my ex there and we kissed. It was supposed to be a kiss on the lips only but she went wild."

His ex went wild? She asked herself. Phoebe couldn't imagine herself to be biting a guy when making out. She could never do it. That woman must be some sort of a vampire and... did he actually allow her to do that to him? Did they do more than that?

"Went wild? You slept with her?" She was so disappointed that she wanted to shove him out of her room.

"No, no, no... I didn't, okay? We didn't... We just kissed..." Evan obviously was hushing the girl like a baby and he was speaking the truth. "Come on, that girl and I are completely over now since a long time ago. We just really kissed and I swear it won't happen again."

He pleaded to her with his eyes. Why was he even explaining to this girl? As far as he knew, he was just her tutor and she was his tutee. Yes, Phoebe honestly told him that she admired him, but it was just that. There was nothing more than in between them. He knew he wanted more but he knew the consequences if he would even try.

"Next time, when you make out with others, please don't show me some proof, Mr. Xenakis," she said, wiping her tears with her hands. She tried to make herself beautiful today... and he only made her cry.

Trying to forget what she just discovered about him, she began to scan her book. "Let's start the lesson, Mr. Xenakis."

"It's Evandros, Phoeb, not Mr. Xenakis," he said softly.

With that sexy voice of his, how could she forsake him?

"Okay, on one condition," she said.

"What is it?" Here she went again with her conditions, he said to himself.

She got a ball pen on the table and gave it to him. "Write your phone number here," she said, pointing a page on her algebra book.

At last, he felt relieved. He took the ball pen and wrote about three sets of numbers on the sheet.

"Why a lot of numbers?" the girl asked.

"The first is my phone's. The second is my office's. The third is my pad's," he said.

"Great," she mused, feeling relieved, too, as she saw the numbers.

"What else do you want to know. E-mail add? Bachelor's pad address?" he asked, now trying to tease her.

She rolled her eyes at him. "You can write those, too, and all your social media accounts if you like," she said, kidding, but also hoping that he would do what she said.

Surprisingly, Evan scribbled once more on her algebra book. When he finished, he showed it to her.

Phoebe was amused seeing what he had just written. He really took her requests seriously.

"That's all of me," he said, smiling now at her.

All of him? How she wished he really would give his all to her!

"Great but I still have one more condition," she said.

Evan raised his brows to her.

Getting a notebook from the table, she tore a blank pad out of it.

"What's that for?" the guy asked, confused.

She just smirked and gave the piece of paper to Evan. "Cover your neck with this paper. It really looks gross and I can't concentrate studying while I can freely see it."

Evan smiled as he accepted it and squeezed her hand in the process. "I'm sorry if this makes you uncomfortable."

"I don't want to see anything of that sort again," she reminded him.

"Okay," he said, totally amused of the girl. He inserted one side of the paper in his neckline and let the other side cover what was supposed to be covered. For sure, the sheet would annoy him physically but, for Phoebe, he would bear it.

"Great. Now, you teach me on this topic, Evandros," she said, scanning now her algebra book.

♢♢♢♢♢♢♢

"We'll be dining out with the Rozenas. I expect you to choose the best dress for tonight," Julie informed Phoebe one morning.

"With the Rozena family, Mamá?" she echoed, just wanting to confirm what she just heard.

She was taking her breakfast with Julie in the family dining room. She was just preparing herself to school.

"Yes," her mom replied. "Your Ba-ba want to have some time with them before the family go to Milan. They're starting to establish chain of hotels there and they're planning to stay there for good."

"Really?" she replied. "Is Zarkos going with them?"

"No, Phoeb. He's staying for university and for their company here. Will you be sad if he'd go as well?"

Phoebe blushed all of a sudden. "What do you mean, Mamá?"

"Zarkos is a nice guy, Phoebe. Your Ba-ba and I would like to see your future with him," Julie told her frankly. "I know that guy likes you a lot so I really hope you like him as well."

If these words had been stated before, she would have been very happy. Well, she tried to sense some feeling from her heart about Zarkos. Would it still be possible for her to have a future with Zarkos now that she felt something sweet for her tutor?

♢♢♢♢♢♢♢

In one of the Rozena's restaurants, the dinner was held. Truly, the Rozenas were all present. Mr. and Mrs. Rozena, Zarkos, and his two younger brothers.

When they arrived the place, Zarkos immediately offered Phoebe a seat beside him.

"I'm sorry if everything is hastened, Hector," Mr. Rozena, settling in the right end of the ten-seater table, apologized to Phoebe's father when everybody had been seated.

Hector was sitting at the left end of the long table. Julie was adjacent to him, at his right. Phoebe came next with Zarkos at her right. Next to him was his youngest brother. Across them sat Mrs. Rozena and Zarkos' other sibling.

"It's okay. Anyway, the papers have been prepared and we both look forward to this since we became friends. I'm glad that we will be starting this partnership, Acesto." Hector replied. "By the way, my executive secretary/trustee will be joining with us tonight. I requested him to come because he's in-charge of the papers and he also needs to join the discussion," he then announced to the group. "We have no more other time for this. Right, Acesto?"

"Yes, Hector. I'm really sorry," the other man replied.

"I also apologize to everyone that we have to mix dinner with business," Hector said.

"It's okay, hon," Julie said, clasping her husband's hand.

"Oh, there he is! Just right on time!" Hector suddenly announced, looking at someone who had just arrived.

Phoebe turned her head to see who was joining with them for tonight's dinner and there was a happy swell in her heart when she saw who it was.

"Kalispéra," Evan's baritone voice was then heard.

The group greeted him back.

"Take a seat, Evan," Hector offered the chair at his left with a signal of a hand.

Evan sat there, thus sitting across Phoebe's mother. The guy brought an envelope with him and placed it on the table to his left where no one was settled, just across Phoebe.

Evan glanced at Phoebe and she naturally detected it. She gave him a smile. He smiled back but it was brief and very reserved.

While waiting for their food, the men discussed about their transaction. Phoebe learned about some partnership on putting more restaurants in five of their cruise ships.

While listening to the conversation, Phoebe was glancing once in a while to the man on the other side of the table. She didn't see him looking at her much. Evan was busy listening to Hector and butting in the conversation when his opinion was needed. Every time he would speak, Phoebe would always be amazed at how he always had a command on the topic. It looked like he knew everything that was going on in their business. Her father, on the other hand, appeared to have valued all words said by Evan. It only made her more amazed of the guy and his brilliance.

"This is going to be the start of all that we have planned, Hector," Mr. Rozena spoke happily after signing some papers. He then raised a wine glass for a toast. "A toast to our foreboding partnership!"

"Stin iyá mas!" Hector also raised his wine glass to the air.

When the food was served, the talk was diverted to the Rozenas' transfer of residence to Milan. Mr. Rozena was obviously very excited as he shared his plans on the business venture there. Mrs. Rozena appeared just as excited as her husband.

"But Zarkos will be staying," Mrs. Rozena announced. "Apparently, all the hotels here will already be managed by him. Anyway, he's already graduating. I'm really proud of Zarkos."

Zarkos smiled. "Thank you, Mamá."

"University is almost over. So, perhaps, you can now start asking Phoebe for a date, Zarkos," the proud mother suggested. "Don't wait for some other guy to steal her away from you."

Hearing the woman's words, Phoebe blushed hard. Both she and Zarkos turned their faces to each other. Zarkos' cheeks also turned red.

"Look at them, file mou," Mrs. Rozena said to Julie. "They are both blushing. They really look good together."

Julie chuckled and said, "Phoebe, don't reject Zarkos when he finally asks you, okay?"

Both fathers laughed at the exchanges of words.

Zarkos was blushing but also smiling. Phoebe couldn't decide what to say.

Evan, while listening to the happy conversation between the two families, felt so out of place. He actually thought he didn't belong in the dinner. When he heard the teasing addressed to the eldest son of the Rozenas and the only heiress of the Perkos family, Evan became even more unwanted. He saw how Phoebe blushed and gazed at Zarkos. Right that very moment, he felt he wanted to stand up and walked out. But, who was he to do that? Who was he in Phoebe's life? He was just her crush that she would soon forget... just a guy whom she had temporarily admired.

With that painful truth, he managed himself to stay and pretended he didn't hear anything or saw anything. He focused on his food and didn't anymore look up.

"I... I...am still..." Phoebe fumbled for words. She wanted to say she was not yet ready for dating not because it was the truth but because Evandros Xenakis was there and she didn't want him to get the idea that she actually liked the teasing.

"Let's go out some time, Phoebe," Zarkos said amidst the joyful laughter of the group.

Phoebe felt like the world was suddenly dropped on her shoulders.

She tried to catch a glance from Evan. In her chagrin, the guy from the other side seemed to do not care on the current conversation.

"Sure," Hector answered on behalf of her, "Phoebe will always be allowed to go as long as it is you who ask her out, Zarkos."

"Ba-ba!" she exclaimed. She didn't expect her father to say that.

"Now, don't be ashamed, kóri," Hector said, looking at her. "Look at you! You're blushing hard."

Oh! Phoebe thought to herself desperately. I'm blushing hard, Ba-ba, because the guy whom I admire so much is with us yet you're teasing me to someone else!

After making her and Zarkos the subject, the parents moved on to talk on another topic. Phoebe couldn't anymore comprehend everything. Her mind was thinking of the guy on the other side of the table. Deep inside, she was dying to talk to him. It was like a torture to her to see him this way yet she couldn't talk to him or even defend her side.

♢♢♢♢♢♢♢

So the night ended and they said their goodbyes. Evan excused himself first for he couldn't understand anymore what his heart had been feeling. No matter how he convinced himself secretly that he shouldn't be affected of the teasing, still he felt like having a fever. His heart had been aching. Why did he feel that the pain was even much graver than his first ever heartache?

When Evan started to leave, Phoebe and her parents were also preparing for their way out. She went closer to her Ba-ba and pleaded, "Can I go outside ahead Ba-ba?"

"Why?" Hector asked.

"I've just forgotten that I have to ask Mr. Xenakis a very important question. There's just one particular item in my algebra homework that I failed to answer. It's going to be submitted tomorrow. I need his opinion about it. This is just going to be fast, Ba-ba," Phoebe lied.

"Go ahead," Hector assented.

With that, Phoebe started her strides as she made a walkathon to catch Evan. She made it through the lobby and saw that he was just going out. Running after him, she finally caught him outside the exit doors.

"Evandros," she called him out, too desperate to get his attention.

When Evan heard the voice, he stopped walking but he didn't turn around to face her. He was just a bit shocked why on earth the girl followed him.

Phoebe didn't waste time. She walked fast past him so she could stand at his front and faced him.

"A-About the teasing..." she started. Honestly, she didn't have any idea how she would defend herself.

Evan looked at the girl.

Why are you doing this, Phoebe? Don't you get the situation? Zarkos is the guy that your parents want you to marry! Someday, you're going to forget how you feel for me and embrace the fact that Zarkos Rozena is the right man for you! He wanted to yell these words to the girl in front of him but he knew he didn't have even the slightest right to do that to the heiress of his employer.

"The teasing... I... I just want you to know---"

"It was nothing for me, so don't worry," he finally said, biting his lip after.

Phoebe couldn't understand what he meant. Nothing... Did that mean he wasn't affected at all because he knew it was him that she liked? Or did it mean he didn't care for her at all?

"What do you mean 'nothing'? You're not angry with me then?"

He forced himself a smile. "Do I have the right to be angry, despinis?"

Phoebe was surprised for he called her 'despinis' again. Lately, he had been calling her through her name, not despinis or any other title.

"Evandros..."

"I am just your tutor. What's my right?" It was softly spoken but it was like a dagger in Phoebe's chest.

Preventing herself to shed a tear, she shut her eyes.

"Go back to your parents now, despinis. They might be looking for you now. See you tomorrow."

Phoebe opened her eyes and she saw frustration in her tutor's eyes.

"Evandros..."

"Go back in there. It's where you belong," he stressed and made big strides away from her.

♢♢♢♢♢♢♢

A/N

Awww... ouch! When you're beginning to fall for someone and it's going to be this complicated, how is it now?

Not a very good feeling, right?

VOTE, COMMENT, SHARE.

Alwayz,
(sapphiregirl22) ~_^

Translations:
Kalispéra - Good evening, when arriving
Stin iyá mas! - Cheers!/Toast used in drinking, plural including self
file mou - my friend
kóri - daughter
despinis - Miss