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A pang of panic shot through me. I knew that accepting his invitation would only encourage him, but I also didn't want to offend him and make things awkward between us at work.
I tried to smile back politely, but my heart sank as the familiar feeling of discomfort crept over me. Davis had been flirting with me for weeks, and I had been trying to brush it off, hoping it was all in my head.
"I should probably work through lunch, Davis," I said, keeping my tone professional.
"You know, Alex, I've been thinking about you a lot lately," Davis said as if he hadn't hear me, his voice dropping to a lower register. "I think you're an incredibly smart and beautiful woman, and I'd love to take you out sometime."
My stomach dropped, and I tried to find the words to respond.
"Thanks, but I'm actually engaged," I said. "I thought I had mentioned it," hoping the reminder would be enough to make him back off. Of course, he didn't need to know that the engagement was fake, a side effect of a playful bet that had quickly escalated into something more complicated.
But Davis just chuckled, his hand moving to rest on my arm. "Come on, Alex, I'm sure your fiancé wouldn't mind if we grabbed dinner sometime. It's not like we're doing anything wrong."
I could feel my heart racing as Davis leaned closer to me, his cologne nauseating. I knew I had to stand up for myself soon. He couldn’t keep getting away with it. But lighting a fire no would only cause tension, and I had to work with the man every day. I needed to be diplomatic.
"I'm sorry, Davis, but I'm not interested. I have a fiancé who I'm committed to, and I don't want to jeopardize that," I said, my voice hard.
He just shrugged. "Come on, Alex. It's just lunch. There's nothing wrong with two colleagues hanging out and enjoying each other's company."
As I sat there, shaken from Davis's advances, I heard footsteps approaching my office. The next thing I knew, Christian stepped into the room. He had a bag of takeout bag with him. Damn, and I’d thought this couldn’t possibly get any worse.
"What the hell is going on here?" Christian demanded, his eyes fixed on Davis.
Davis looked surprised but quickly composed himself. "What do you mean, Christian? I was just chatting with Alex."
"I saw the way you were looking at her, Davis. And I don't appreciate it," he said, his voice rising. "Alex is my fiancé, and I won't let you try to mess with her head."
Davis's expression turned sour. "I don't know what you're talking about, Christian. I was just being friendly."
"Being friendly?" Christian scoffed. "You were hitting on her, Davis. And I won't tolerate it."
He backed up, his face flushing. "You don't get to tell me what to do, Christian. I'm the boss here, and if I want to compliment one of my employees, I will."
I stepped back from them, my heart racing, looking from one to the other. This was getting crazy, and embarrassing. And Christian didn’t look anywhere close to done.
"That's not how it works, Davis. You can't just do whatever you want because you're the boss. You have to treat your employees with respect."
Davis scoffed. "Respect? You want to talk about respect? You're the one who's barging into my department and accusing me of something I haven't even done. If anyone's being disrespectful here, it's you."
I watched in silence as the two men continued to argue, their voices growing louder with each passing moment. It wasn’t like Christian to be so protective of me, and I felt a sense of pride knowing we had come this far, but I also felt a sense of unease. I didn't want things to get out of hand, and I knew that this argument could easily spiral into something much worse.
"Guys, please," I said, standing up from my chair. "Can we just calm down for a minute?"
Davis just rolled his eyes. "Come on, Christian, I was just trying to be friendly. You don't need to make a big deal out of it."
But Christian wasn't backing down. "You stay away from Alex. I mean it. If I catch you flirting with her again, there will be consequences."
As Davis tried to leave the room, Christian blocked his way, his arms crossed over his chest.
"I'm not finished with you yet," Christian said, his voice cold and firm.
Davis looked annoyed but didn't say anything. I really wasn’t surprised he couldn’t stand up to Christian. An angry Christian was a force to reckon with.
Davis rolled his eyes. "Come on, Christian. You're overreacting. I’ve said it before, I was just being friendly with Alex."
"I saw the way you were touching her arm and leaning in close to her. That's not friendly. That's flirting," Christian said, his voice rising.
Davis just laughed. "Oh, please. You're acting like she's your property or something. Alex can talk to whoever she wants."
