ANMELDENFor a few seconds, neither of us spoke. I waited to hear him say something else aside from mumbling my name, but instead, he let the silence stretch while his gaze locked with mine.Then he batted his eyelids once, while letting his throat gulp.“Close the door, Maya,” he said, his voice low and smooth, but there was a teasing edge to it.I turned and pushed the door shut. The soft click sounded too loud in the quiet room. When I faced him again, he had moved back to his chair, one finger tapping slowly on the armrest. His eyes moved over me, from my borrowed crisp white shirt down to my skirt and back up again. A small, knowing smile tugged at the corner of his lips.“You look… professional,” he said. The way he said it made it sound like anything but a normal compliment. Like he was remembering how I looked the other night with his shirt barely covering me, moaning his name.I swallowed hard and took a few steps closer. My heels clicked on the polished floor. “Good morning, Mr. Ba
The moment the office door jammed closed behind me, it felt like I shouldn’t be here in the first place. How did I sleep and wake up thinking about the same person? I thought this only happened to me when I met her four years ago. The naive, young beautiful girl who was always in the company of her boss, Great Man Steele, of blessed memory.I would always sit across conference tables watching the way her lashes swayed, the way her lips moved each time she whispered something into her Boss's ear. That woman belonged to the Architectural world. How on earth could a man like Gabriel keep such an asset away from the world?Not once did I know that one night would rekindle this level of desire in me again.I walked in slowly, dropping off my leather bag on the desk with no enthusiasm to be where I was at the moment. The office seemed drained of color, like my life has been since that night, without her around.A knot clogged tight in my throat. I glanced at the piled-up files awaiting my
I stood before the mirror a second longer than necessary, fully dressed in Evelyn’s crisp white shirt and a charcoal black skirt that looked like I was born in it. My fingers tightened slightly around the handle of my bag, as I studied my reflection. The white shirt sat neatly against my skin, crisp and clean, nothing like the faded blouses I had buried back where they belonged, deep down in my box. The charcoal black skirt hugged my hips just right, falling smoothly down my thighs, shaping me in a way I hadn’t seen in a long time. My mind drifted a little to the days at Steele Architectural Co. My outfit had always drawn attention toward me, elegant and mind-blowing. I shifted my weight slightly, the last thing I wanted was to sulk right now. It was going to ruin a whole lot for me, The low heels felt unfamiliar even though they were the only thing that belonged to me in this entire outfit. Oh! And the beauty of course. My gaze lifted to my face, hair pulled into a high bun, an
“Oh, my Lord!” I gasped. Eyes moistened at once. The phone in my hand was visibly shaking. I had no idea Evelyn stood by the door, watching.I tilted my head backward. Pain writhing my heart apart. Then footsteps clicked, I looked and it was Helen, she walked into the bedroom.“Don't tell me it's another outright rejection?” She quizzed. A knot clogged my throat. I couldn't say a word. I just shoved the gadget into her hand.“Oh my,” she slurred as she swiped through the message that sat on the screen. Then she moved, pulling me into a hug. “I'm so sorry, Maya.” She patted my back.This was the fifth rejection message I had received in my mailbox since the day I was at my Mom's. I didn't know what hurt most even now, the fact that these companies rejected my application without even scheduling an interview, or the fact that the messages were almost the same.What on earth do they mean by ‘due to reasons we plead not to disclose, we wouldn't be going ahead with an interview’? Like I w
“What do you think you're doing being here?” I blurted. Words had fallen out of clenched teeth. “Are you trying to buy my mother over now?” I made sure to keep my voice low. The last thing I wanted was for my mother to hear Gabriel and me arguing. Of course, she would lecture me on how much I should strive to keep my home. A home that never existed.He scoffed. The type that gets on my last nerve and makes me want to fling a fist hard in his face. Then he stretched out a hand across the couch he sat on.“Would you rather have me try another route?” He smirked. “Wait! What if I have her tied to a seat in a dark room?! Would that be a better option?” “Oh! You wouldn't dare!” My jaw clenched hard. Fists curling hard against my side on the couch closer to the one he sat on.“What would you do, huh?” He scoffed. “Run off to your new man? Did you see how shameless you looked in his arms? It's barely a week and you're already whoring yourself off to him!” His eyes darkened the moment he s
“Wait, you're saying you spent an entire night with the hottest bachelor in this city,” Evelyn drawled. “I mean, Billionaire Williams Banks… Man who commands a conglomerate of businesses, and you're not over the roof?” I stood by the window, fists clenched around the curtains in my hand; the bright sun outside did nothing to ease my mind, and Evelyn was bent on making the matter worse. “No. Make it make sense to me… I don't get why you're sulking!” She snapped. “If I as much as get a glance from that man, heaven will never hear the last of it.”I turned now. Eyes twitched at how unbelievably she could be. “Eve, could you even hear yourself now? How did we meet again?” I slurred. “That man happened to be Gabriel’s friend! Gabriel would definitely ruin me by the time this gets out!”“Oh! Come on, he wouldn't dare! You said it yourself… Williams is a powerful man… All you have to do is accept the offer, work in his company… I mean, it shouldn't be hard since I was already putting in so







