Chapter 83: So all we did meant nothing to you?
Augustine took a step back as if Charles’s words had physically struck him. His jaw tensed, his fingers twitching at his sides.
"Wait... hold on," he stammered, his voice laced with disbelief. "What are you truly trying to imply?"
His frown deepened, searching Charles’s face for any hesitation, any sign that this was just another one of his moods.
Charles bit down gently on his upper lip, eyes fluttering shut as he gathered the courage to speak.
"I want us to end things, Augustine," Charles finally admitted, his voice quiet but firm.
Slowly, he opened his eyes, meeting Augustine’s gaze head-on. "I can’t keep living in this... fake relationship with you."
The room fell into a tense silence, the weight of Charles words settling between them like an unbearable storm.
Augustine stood still as he watched Charles in complete silence. "Do you want me to upgrade our relationship from a fake one to an actual real relationship?" He inquired because he was still confused as to what Charles was truly trying to imply.
Unfortunately, Charles shook his head sideways. "I just want us to break up. I don’t need a relationship upgrade status, Augustine. I don’t want any of this anymore." Charles stated with a firm voice.
Augustine once more found himself completely silent. "Is this some sort of sick joke?" he inquired after finally processing Charles’s words. "Why are you playing with my feelings when you know that I like you?" Augustine added, his voice laced with frustration.
Charles inhaled sharply, his fingers curling into the fabric of his the suit he wore as guilt swelled inside him.
He had expected resistance, but hearing the hurt laced in Augustine’s voice made his resolve waver.
"This isn’t a joke, Augustine," Charles whispered, his voice barely above a breath. "I just... I don’t want to keep pretending. This was never supposed to be real."
Augustine let out a humorless chuckle, shaking his head as he ran a hand through his hair. "Not supposed to be real?" His amber eyes darkened with frustration. "Then what the hell have we been doing all this time, Charles? Because it sure as hell feels real to me."
Charles averted his gaze, his chest tightening. "That’s exactly the problem," he admitted, voice quivering. "It wasn’t meant to."
Augustine exhaled loudly, stuffing his hands deep into his pockets as he stared at the ground, scuffing his feet. "I barely managed to pull myself together after everything that happened today at my company, and now you want to shatter the little bit of happiness I just found?"
"Come on, Augustine. We were never a thing, so why are you acting like this?" Charles questioned, his voice laced with a cold indifference that sent a sharp sting through Augustine’s chest.
Augustine exhaled loudly, his jaw tightening as he struggled to keep his emotions in check.
He refused to let his composure break, but deep down, the weight of Charles’s words pressed heavily against his heart.
"So, does this mean that everything we shared truly meant nothing to you?" His voice was quiet, almost fragile, yet there was an underlying intensity in his words.
Augustine fists, buried deep within his pockets, clenched so tightly that his nails dug into his palms.
"Augustine... all the things we did were just for fun so why are you..."
"Pookie, I want to get this straight," Augustine mumbled before pausing for a moment as he pulled his hands away from his pocket
"We kissed Charles," Augustine mumbled, pointing his index finger at the lips of Charles and then he pointed his lips. "We didn’t have sex, but we almost fucked, and despite all the love and care I’ve shown you, are you telling me that meant nothing?" Augustine’s voice rose, laced with frustration and disbelief.
His chest heaved as anger burned through him, not just because of Charles’s words but because, deep down, he truly believed they had become something real.
That the stolen touches, the lingering stares, and the nights spent tangled in unspoken emotions meant more than just a contract.
Yet now, standing before Charles, watching his unreadable expression, Augustine felt like a fool for believing in something that was never his to begin with.
’Charles never stops me from making advances towards him. He doesn’t push me away when I touch him. So doesn’t that mean he likes me?.’ Augustine thought to himself.
"Augustine, I don’t see why you’re getting all worked up, but I thought I made it clear from the very beginning that I’m not gay."
Augustine nod. "You did make it known."
"So, if you already knew that I’m not gay, why are you expecting all that we shared to mean something?" Charles stated coldly. "Besides, I just want this contract to end because I don’t think I can spend the last few months of my life pretending to be a gay man."
Augustine snarled. "Gay man?"
His forehead creased with thin lines as he took a step closer. "So do I repulse you now? And what the hell do you mean by gay man?"
Charles rolled his eyes and turned away from Augustine. "Aren’t you gay?" he scoffed, striding toward the kitchen.
Augustine followed closely behind, his voice laced with frustration. "Why are you acting like being gay is something to be ashamed of? When we shared a passionate kiss did you forget I was a man? Or when you allow me to touch you and even when you cum in your pant just because of me. Did you forget that I was a gay man?" Augustine inquired but this time around, he tried to make his voice a bit calm.
Charles swirl around with a swift motion, prompting Augustine to bump into him because he didn’t expect Charles to stop walking all of a sudden.
Their bodies pressed together for a fleeting moment, the unexpected closeness sending a wave of tension crackling between them.
"Why the hell did you just bring the... the scene of..."
"You mean when we were having an intimate time?" Augustine probed with a smirk.
Charles clenched his jaw, his breath hitching for a second.
Augustine’s smirk deepened as he took a step closer, his voice dropping to a low murmur.
"Tell me, Charles," he continued, tilting his head slightly. "When I had you trembling beneath my touch, when you moaned my name—was I a man then? Or did I suddenly turn into a woman just to fit your denial?"
"Do... don’t..."
Charles opened his mouth to defend himself but his lips began to quiver as he pondered on what he could say to defend himself.
As his lips continued to quiver, Augustine leaned in closer, and he sucked onto the lower lips of Charles, giving it a gentle bite before pulling away.
"I don’t want us to end things, Pookie, so please, don’t even think about it," Augustine purred.
And once more, he leaned in, capturing Charles’s lips in a deep, lingering kiss.