The Master Programmer-Chapter 94: The Obsession you Deny 1

Jason Cross stepped into Samantha Ellis’s office, his sharp suit tailored to perfection and his signature smirk firmly in place.

The room was cold… not from the air conditioning but from Samantha’s frosty demeanour. She didn’t bother looking up as Jason entered, her piercing blue eyes fixed on a set of documents strewn across her sleek mahogany desk.

For a moment, there was only silence. Jason stood there, hands in his pockets, his expression unreadable. Samantha finally broke the stalemate, sighing heavily as she waved him to take a seat. Her posture remained rigid, her shoulders tense under her fitted blazer.

Damn… She must be pissed. What did she find out, Jason wondered. But he would not expose anything he was thinking. He sat there, crossing one leg over the other as he asked her a simple question.

"You wanted to see me?" Jason’s voice was smooth, the faintest hint of curiosity in his tone.

"Yes." Samantha’s reply was clipped as her eyes flicked up to meet his. "I need to know where you’ve been."

Jason raised an eyebrow, leaning back in his chair. "Working, as always. You know I don’t stop, Samantha. Always buy. Always working."

"Then explain why you disappeared from your desk for twenty minutes during working hours," she snapped, her voice cold and controlled. Jason gazes at this woman, looking at her with a hint of interest flashing through his eyes.

He could see that this coldness was nothing more than a front. It was just a pose, just to see how he would act. Such a planful, conniving woman needed to be dealt with strategically. With a strategy coming together in his mind, Jason calmed himself and then leaned forward, playfully.

Jason’s lips curled into a sly smile. "Lunch break. A friend called, and I thought it might be a good time to refuel. Is that a problem?"

Her gaze hardened. "A friend, huh? Do you think I don’t notice when you’re not where you’re supposed to be? After all, the cafeteria is also under my charge, Jason. And refuelling was probably the last thing you were doing. After all who was taking in the fuel?"

"You’re something special, Ms Ellis," Jason said, shaking his head. When Samantha heard that she couldn’t help but glare at him. Jason’s smirk disappeared immediately as if he was apologising.

Jason tilted his head, feigning innocence. "Are you watching me, Samantha?" His tone was teasing, but his words were calculated to provoke her.

Samantha’s cheeks almost flushed, but she recovered quickly, leaning forward slightly. "Don’t flatter yourself. I just expect my employees to maintain a certain level of professionalism. Like you… Professional enough to WALK OUT OF SERVICE ENTRANCES without FIXING your CLOTHES… Jason, are you FUCKING in my offices? And with the receptionist, no less? I mean If I brought this to the attention of those involved, they would fire her and sack you You know this right? She doesn’t deserve this."

Jason chuckled softly, leaning forward to mirror her posture. "You know, obsession doesn’t suit you. But if you are obsessed, I won’t hold it against you…"

Samantha’s sharp intake of breath betrayed her composure for a fraction of a second. "I am not obsessed with you."

"Of course not…" Jason said, leaning back with a smirk on his face. He had calmly deflected that conversation’s direction by pointing out something inside her. Now he just had to zero on it more. "I’ve noticed how you dont feel things at all Samantha… And it’s honestly a rare and beautiful quality. Not everyone is so out of tune with their emotions. I admire that about you. It’s clear that you put a lot of thought into who you are and how you feel about me—"

"Jason, are you fucking with me?!" Samantha said, her anger now having built up after all that.

Jason chuckled. "Not yet."

When she heard this, her nostrils flared up, and she sat there, her chest moving fast up and down as she huffed and puffed, trying her best to maintain her composure. Jason almost wanted to laugh. After everything she had put him through, this was the least she deserved.

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After taking a deep breath, she looked at Jason. "Who are you, Jason Cross?"

"I’m just a chill guy who low-key doesn’t give a fuck," Jason said with a smirk, leaning forward and placing his shoulders on the table just as she was. "And you like that, don’t you? You love it. It’s like there’s this spotlight on me in your mind and everything I do seems to capture your attention. It’s like you’re under a spell, doing whatever I want you to. Have you ever felt like that?"

Samantha sighed. "You’re insane, Jason. I just wanted to tell you to stop messing around in my office. If you’re going to have sex, don’t do it in here."

"No." Jason raised an eyebrow, his smirk deepening. "You can say whatever you want to, but we both know what’s going on. You’re not just keeping tabs on my work. You’re keeping tabs on me. On everything I do. And again, No. Last time I checked, I owned 15% of this building… I will do whatever I like. And you won’t fire me. In fact, I think you’ll protect me. After all, you’re obsessed. Why else would you be keeping tabs on me?"

Her jaw tightened, and she leaned back, crossing her arms. "I’m making sure this company stays on track. If that means keeping an eye on you, so be it. And with regards to your conduct, everyone needs to stay within the confines of the rules."

"Rules? Pscht… Weren’t you making out with me last time? Good to know I’m so important to you." Jason’s voice softened, laced with a confidence that left no room for rebuttal. "Don’t worry, Samantha. If I ever drop the ball, you’ll be the first to know."

Samantha’s lips parted as if to retort, but she said nothing. Jason took that as his cue to stand. "If that’s all, I have work to get back to."

"Stop!" Samantha said, narrowing her eyes. She rarely got dominated in an argument like that. She had to retake the initiative. "Jason… why are you doing this, huh? You know it’s going to get on my nerves. That’s why. You’re doing this to get my attention. It’s so obvious. But I’m here to tell you, you don’t have to go this far."

Jason stared at her for a moment, and the silence grew the tension in the room to a peak. His expression soon turned thoughtful. "You’re right… I think feelings like this are sometimes a reflection. It’s not just the person you’re drawn to, but also you… the parts that are ready to grow, ready to be seen. It’s almost like your heart is showing you what’s possible when you let yourself connect deeply with someone. It really says a lot about the things we value the most…"

Sighing, Jason shook his head as if he was pondering some huge problem in the universe. As he walked out, he could feel her eyes on him, burning with unspoken words. Jason smirked to himself.

She’s hooked. She just doesn’t know it yet.

Jason had first put up the false image, making it seem like she felt nothing, and she had gotten annoyed thus making it clear to herself that she felt a lot. Next, he just had to make her realise how much she felt.

What Jason did next was to implant the idea in her head that she was looking at him, obsessed with him, and no matter what she did or how she responded, he rebutted her arguments, thereafter dominatingly leading her to the solution he wanted her to go to.

But just as he walked out, and she said to him how he was the one who was obsessed, he had not denied it instead reframing it like a mirror that reflected what they thought of the other person.

He was saying that he too was as obsessed with her as she was with him, and if she ever took action, she would understand. It was a simple method, but the way it worked was, in all honesty, extremely genius.

Jason returned to his office, and the hours ticked by as he immersed himself in his work. The hum of the office faded into the background as he pieced together the next phase of his automation project. His phone buzzed, snapping him out of his focus.

Eh? The three goons? They were contacting him now… How interesting. What did they want?

Jason opened up the text from Marcus and when he saw the message he couldn’t help but smirk.

[The Snakes want to meet. Tonight.]

[Same factory Building as before.]

[Do you need us to go with you?]

Jason looked at this message and then shook his head. Did he need them? Not really. But did he want them there? Maybe… Just a little bit.

Jason’s mind raced. Troy was a dangerous man, and this meeting could go in any direction. He knew that he was using the snakes as a middleman, because he too, like Jason was using the goons, wanted to have a barrier between him and the criminal stuff.

It was very clear to Jason that as much as the man was dangerous he was also someone he could learn a lot from. And he had many connections in many places. Being acquainted with the man was only going to be useful and never useless.

He envisioned three possibilities: Troy might want to negotiate, demand a connection to the pill supplier, or try to strong-arm Jason into handing over his supply. Either option was manageable though… But Jason already had a good idea of the type of man Troy was.

He was intelligent. He might probe every option simultaneously before finally revealing his true card. And his true card would always be to cut out the middleman. Unfortunately, the middleman in Troy’s mind was Jason. But that was the thing. In reality, there was no middleman.

Jason smirked. Troy’s not stupid. He’ll negotiate over his head if possible.

After all, it was a fact that Jason had embarrassed him last time. If Troy let Jason go just because he paid what he called the equivalent of 10 million then Troy would be an idiot. To be in a business like that meant to always pay close attention to reputation. Troy would never allow Jason to exist. At least not for long.

Anyway, there was an even more interesting fourth option… That was for Troy to reverse engineer the pill and then create one for himself. This might be the most interesting option, but also the least likely. This kind of technology was irreplicable by the tech standards of the modern day.

Jason was going to be fine.

Jason had some ideas of what Troy had done in all this time and he was looking forward to seeing exactly what was going to happen in this meeting. Thinking a bit more, Jason bought ten more pills. After all, they were pretty cheap. And he was not a cheap man.