Lilian.
I called Maya and told her about what happened, she felt bad for Mabel but asked me to take the offer. "Look I know it's not really a fair offer, but it's better than staying home all day doing nothing, and you could really use the money." "She was right about that," I thought to myself. "But he's rude and frightening at the same time." I raised my voice a little so I could sound more convincing. "And besides, it wasn't my fault she got hit by the taxi. The driver wasn't concentrating, so how's that my fault. As rich as he is, he still wants me paying for his employees' treatment, what a bully." I said feeling irritated. "I'll think about the offer, Afterall I still have until evening to send my reply." "Alright, do let me know what you pick. I trust you to make the decision, bye." And then she hung up the phone.
I sat on my bed, looking at the business card he gave me. "Xavier Pierce, C.E.O." I said reading the text out loud. I took my laptop and looked up his name online. I was shocked on what I saw online about him. "Became a C.E.O. at the age of twenty, after his father died, regarded as one of the youngest entrepreneurs in the world, and has also won the award for entrepreneur of the year five years in a row. No wonder he's proud and arrogant." I said out loud. while I was still scrolling through the article on him, I came across the link to his Instagram page. I didn't want to look but the temptation was strong, and I gave in. He's Instagram page was full of pictures of him at a golf court, a red-carpet event or a gym. "Oh my, so that's what's under that suit" I thought to myself as I was looking at a shirtless picture of him at the beach. I was completely lost in his broad chest and protruding six packs. I was so lost that I didn't even notice that I had liked the photo. I gave myself a light slap to snap out of imagination and quickly unliked it. but I was worried he'll have gotten a notification saying I liked his photo. I quickly left his page out of panic and turned off my computer. I lay on my bed thinking about what he would think if he saw the notification, "He'll probably think I'm a creepy stalker. I should never have gone through his page." I thought to myself. "Maybe I should call to accept the job, and I'll see if he talks about it."
"Hello, am I on to Xavier Pierce?"
"Yes, who is this?" his voice was soft, not like the harsh tone he spoke to me with earlier.
"This is Lilian Reed, I've thought about your offer and I'm willing to take it." I was hoping he won't make any comment on the Instagram picture. "Okay, you resume tomorrow. Don't be late." Then he hung up. I was relieved that he didn't say anything about the picture. "Maybe he doesn't even check his Instagram notifications that much," I thought to myself. Just then, a notification popped up on my phone. It was a new follower notification from Instagram. "He followed me," I squealed nervously. I kept thinking to myself maybe he thought I was someone else. But I've posted a few pictures of myself on my page, so he knew it was me. I was nervous about tomorrow because what if he asks me about it, it will be so awkward. I decided not to talk about it, and if he asks, I'll change the topic. I was thinking about topics I'll probably use to change the topic for about fifteen minutes until I fell asleep.
A ray of sun grazed my face alerting me that its morning and I have to go to work. My alarm clock's battery must have died, that's why it didn't wake me up. I looked at time on my phone, it was seven o'clock, and I had to be at work on or before eight. I hurried to take a shower and get dressed. Then I made a sandwich and a bottle of water for my lunch and dashed out. I still had about thirty-five minutes to get to work, so I stopped at my favourite coffee shop, Sweet Haven Café to get some coffee before I leave. "Hey jimmy, I'll have my usuals please."
"One latte with extra milk, coming right up" jimmy said drumming on the counter. They were having a slow morning; there weren't many customers today. Usually, the whole place would have been filled up by now. "Here you go." He handed it over to me. "That'll be five dollars."
"Thank you jimmy." I handed him the money and left. I got to work with just a minute to eight. The receptionist was at her stand, so I decided to ask her if Mr Pierce had already come. "Who are you?" she asked looking at me like I was intruder. I was surprised she didn't remember me after I talked to her twice yesterday. "I'm Lilian Reed, Mr Pierce's new secretary." "And you're late." His voice echoed in my head. Fear gripped me, it was as if a monster was behind me, ready to eat me up the moment I turned around. I turned around trying to apologise and explain but he didn't even wait to hear it. he walked straight to elevator, and I hurried after him, into the elevator. "Fifth floor." He looked at me signalling me to push the button on the elevator. "You should've been here thirty minutes ago and is that my coffee?" he asked grabbing my coffee cup from my hand. I tried stopping him, but he took a sip before I got the chance. "If you wanted to get me a coffee, you could have just asked me the type I like." He said as he handed me back the coffee cup. "Actually, it's mine sir." I stared at the floor to avoid eye contact with him. "Is that what you drink every morning? No wonder you clumsy." I could see the disappointment in his eyes, the way he rolled it wasn't obvious, but I noticed it. "Well, I like an espresso coffee with little sugar, no milk. And I'd like you to get me one every morning." I nodded in response. It was taking forever for us to get to the fifth floor, "How tall is this building anyway." I thought to myself. Just then, the elevator doors opened and once again, I was hurrying after him. He walked so fast, I could hardly keep up with him. We got to a room with his name tagged to the door post, and in front was a large office table with a computer, a desk phone and some files on top and a chair. "This is where you'll be working." He pointed to the table. "Everything you need to do your work is on that computer. If you have any questions, use the desk phone. You are not to leave this spot unless you have to use the bathroom or its closing hours or I asked you too. Am I clear?" I wasn't quite comfortable with the way he spoke to me, so I mumbled out "I'm not a child." He was about entering is office when he turned back. "What was that?" he asked walking towards me. my heart started beating fast. "Nothing," I said sharply but he kept coming closer, I started stepping backward till I hit the table. I didn't know what to do. I just stood there as he kept coming closer to me. I could feel his breath brushing my skin, his masculine cologne choked me, so I held my breath. My heartbeat increased as he leaned over and whispered in my ear, "Don't try to play games with me Miss Reed, you won't like the way I play." At this point, I felt my heart was about to burst out from my chest. Then he went into his into his office. I felt relieved as he closed his office door. I finally exhaled and let go of the air I was holding in. I composed myself, adjusted my clothes and sat down on the chair. I switched on the computer to check out his schedule for the day, I was surprised he didn't have much to do for the day, aside a meeting with the company's advertising team, he had nothing else. I looked at the time and saw that he still had a few hours before the meeting, so I decided to take a look at the files on the table. The files were copies of a land document for one of his clients. I wanted to call and ask about them, but he beat me to it. The desk phone beeped, and his voice followed, asking me to bring the files into his office. I gathered them and took it into his office. I was mesmerised by the size of his office, it was huge. It had a sofa, a wide window with a nice view behind his chair, a small shelf with books and several awards, a mini bar, and a private restroom. There was a man's picture on the wall, I guessed maybe that was his father. The smell of polished leather was addictive. I could live in there forever just to inhale the scent. As I dropped the files on his table, I noticed the picture of that same man on the wall and a young boy. "Is that you and your father?" I asked pointing to the picture. "Yes, and I don't want to talk about him." He was typing on his computer, so I felt he didn't want to be disturbed. "I'm sorry about what happened to him." I stood there feeling sorry for him. I could see the pain in his eyes when I asked about the picture. "You seem pretty chatty this morning, why don't you make yourself useful and get me my coffee from the coffee room." He raised his voice hinting me he was getting pissed about me talking about it. "Sorry sir," I said leaving his office to go get his coffee.
It wasn't really hard finding the office coffee room. It was a room close to the elevator, with a name tag 'coffee room' on the door post. I took the coffee back to Mr Pierce's office, but he wasn't there. "He must have stepped out to go get something," I thought to myself. I put the cup of coffee on his table beside his computer. Then I started wandering around the room. I was admiring the decorations and the awards; I was also soaking in the smell of polished leather. "I could stay here all day," I thought to myself. I picked up a bottle of whiskey from his mini bar, admiring its design and contents when he walked into the room with a lady in sunglasses. His entrance startled me, and I accidentally knocked off a glass cup from the counter and it shattered all over the floor. I stood there frozen staring at him with the bottle of whiskey in my hand, my heart pounding in my chest. He stared back. His stare could tear through my flesh. I quickly dropped the bottle on the counter and hurried to pick the glass pieces from the floor. "Leave it." he said, his voice was harsh. "The cleaner will take care of it, now leave." He moved from the door gesturing me to leave. I hurried out of his office, my head buried to the floor to avoid eye contact with him. The lady he came looked at me with disgust. "I wonder where you get all these employees Xavier, just look at her snooping in her boss's office." She shut the door as soon as I got out.
I felt a sharp pain at the tip of my finger; I must have cut myself when I tried to pick up the glass piece in his office. I took a handkerchief from my bag to wipe the blood off and applied a little pressure to stop the bleeding. The blood stopped, but I still felt some pain in around the fingertip. It was kind of difficult to write because it was my right index finger that got cut. The lady who went in with Mr Pierce left after a few minutes. She seemed angry. I watched her as she stormed out into the hallway. I chuckled a little as she passed me, "What's funny?" she turned to me, "Nothing," I pretended I was reading through a file in front of me. "Do you know who I am?" she took of her glasses to reveal her face. I didn't know who she was, so I shook my head lightly in response to her question. "I am Bianca Roche, the C.E.O. of Maison Bianca, and you will treat me with respect. I'm not just some client some client around here, I am the future Mrs Pierce, so I practically own this place too and I can get you fired. So, treat me with respect." I quickly apologised. Then she put back on her sunglasses and left. I never knew Mr. Pierce would be capable of falling in love not to talk of having a fiancé, "He's so stonehearted, how would he even fall in love. anyway, they're good together, they are both arrogant and rude," I whispered to myself. A few minutes after Bianca left, Mr Pierce called for me through the desk phone. "Lilian, could you come in here please," his voice echoed through the desk phone. "I need you to get these files to the advertising team, I need them to go through it before my meeting with them they're on the third floor." He said as I walked into his office. I picked up the file gently, careful not to put too much pressure on my injured finger. I stuck out my finger awkwardly hoping to avoid a sting. "What's wrong with you finger?" his voice came, "nothing really, "I said, forcing a light smile. "I just cut myself when I tried to pick up a piece of the shattered glass." I turned to leave, but before I could take another step, he grabbed my arm and pulled me back toward him. My pulse spiked. For a moment, the room felt small and too silent. He gently took the file from my hand and set it on the desk. My eyes followed his every move, not sure of what he was trying to do. He slowly slid his hand down my arm to my index finger. He pressed it lightly. "Ouch," I screamed softly. His lips curved in a faint smirk as he leaned closer. "Relax," he murmured, blowing cool air against the cut. "It's not a very deep cut." The sensation sent shivers down my spine, but I tried to mask it off with a little scoff. "Tch-" I sucked my teeth in response to light pain I felt as pressed it again. He opened the drawer underneath his table and brought out a small plaster, and carefully placed it over the cut. His touch lingered, firm yet soothing. "Why do you even have a plaster in your drawer?" I asked with curiosity, and something else I didn't want to name. "I work with a lot of paper, so I tend to get a paper cut every once in a while." His tone was casual, but his fingers were still massaging mine softly. The pain was gone, but now I felt something else- something I didn't want to admit. His hands were still holding mine, and I couldn't bring myself to pull away. Then, a sharp knock on the door shattered the moment. My heart lurched. I quickly snatched back my hand and hurriedly picked up the file from the desk and rushed to the door, not daring to look back. I was afraid that if I did, I would stare up questions in my head that I wouldn't want to answer.