One

Ivan

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"How do we deal with them?" Being quite reluctant to this long conversation, I leaned into my seat, crossed my legs over each other, and stared at the dude who sat by the table in front of me. Taking a pen from the table, I narrowed my eyes a bit, trying to concentrate on what he had to say.

His fingers moved to the table, gently drumming against the furniture. For some reason, a smirk grew on his lips. He twitched an eyebrow, then fixed his gaze at the paper which was on the table. "You're sure you wanna know that? I mean, you don't mind listening to the bad part of my plan?"

I scoffed. Grabbing the cup of cappuccino in front of me, I sipped from it, then cleared my throat. "Antonio, they're my competitors. Not my enemies. If the plan's to harm them, forget it. You're my business advisor, not a murderer."

He sniggered. "Chill, man." Being indifferent to the fact that we were both having a meeting, he pulled a pack of cigarettes from the pocket of his leather jacket, grabbed one of them, and clashed his thumb finger against the sparkwheel of his lighter. 

"Dude, you can't smoke now. Keep that thing. We're at work." I scrunched my nose in irritation. 

He snorted. Surprisingly, he obeyed my order. I was the boss of course, but he just never seemed to listen to anyone. Not even his own mother. Goodness knew why I hired him. 

He cleared his throat, and resumed drumming his fingers against the table. "So…" He set his gaze at me. "I think we should try to make some improvements in the products we sell at our stores. Basically, our competitors have made it seem like the grocery section of our mall in South Dantry is poor. We should spend more money on buying quality products, so we can attract more customers."

"Hm." I nodded in agreement. "Our store literally has everything you can think of. Um, you think we should make some improvements in the cafe section in South Dantry too?"

He shrugged. "Maybe. But, first, we'll have to ensure it's compulsory. I'll be seeing a chic around there on Tuesday. Will use that opportunity to visit the mall."

"Good," I remarked. 

Heaving, he leaped from his seat, grabbed his keys, and gave me a curt salute. "See you later, bro. Gotta get ready for my woman."

I scuffed, and mumbled, "Woman, woman, woman. Such a playboy."

He smirked, and just made his way out of the room. 

As soon as he stepped out, I leaned toward the table, and took a glance at my wristwatch. It was a few minutes to seven o'clock, which meant it was time to prepare to leave work. Such a relief. I had been so busy all day, so I guessed it was time to relax.

Standing up, I stepped out of the room. My men, Drake and Pablo, walked behind me as I made my way to my office. As usual, the workers in the corridor bowed their heads to show some respect, as I walked past them. One of the female workers who stood by a door was smiling weirdly at me, as if she was blushing. It made me sneer and shake my head. It seemed like the female workers were always flirting. 

After stepping out of the elevator, I walked straight into the office. Pablo and Drake wanted to walk in with me,  but I asked them to wait outside. I just wanted to be alone for a while. I stepped in, and shut the door behind me. 

Digging my hands into the pocket of my chino pants, I sauntered toward the huge glass window behind my seat. Anytime I stared out at the view of the city, it always brought serenity to my heart. But, this time around, I was fearful or maybe nervous. Everything in my life seemed so frustrating. I was only learning to deal with the heartbreak I had recently faced. It hurt a lot. The woman I trusted the most had recently cheated on me. It was terrifying and disturbing. In that case, who in the world could I trust? Why were people so heartless?

The thought of those made me curl up my hands in a fist, my jaw clenching, and my eyebrows creasing into a frown. 

I sighed out loud, only walking to my table. That was when my eyes caught the picture of the woman I was going to meet soon. I grabbed it, smirked at it, wondering why life was treating me like a rag. I could buy anything in the world, but the love I needed wasn't just available. It hurt. 

About sitting down, ready to think about how to deal with my life, the door of my office barged open. It made me flinch and widen my eyes. To my surprise, it was my secretary.

"You dick!" She cried at the top of her voice. Her nostrils flared as if someone was puffing air into it, her eyebrows curling in a deep frown. She let out a snort, balling her hands up in a fist. Before I could say anything, she began storming toward me. "I'm gonna kill you today! I swear! How dare you fire me?!"

Frightened, I stepped backwards. And, unexpectedly, she tugged off the five inch wedge shoe she was wearing, and threw it in my direction. Fortunately, I dodged the attack. My jaw dropped to the floor, my eyebrows flying all the way to the ceiling. Did she really want to kill me? Only because I had fired her? 

She grunted, stormed toward me like a maniac, and reaching me, she grabbed the collar of my shirt. Her eyes were swollen, which was evidence that she had been crying a lot. 

"How. Dare. You." She spoke amidst clenched teeth, pulling me close to her. I just gulped. "How dare you think of firing me? Have you forgotten that I'm a lunatic who doesn't take shit? Huh?!"

Instead of feeling threatened by her words, I only chortled. "Great. That's why I want you to leave. This instant, let go of my shirt. You know what's gonna happen if I get you arrested. Leave me. Now."

"This is so—"

"Drake! Pablo!" I called. Immediately, they ran into my office. I glanced at them past her head, then gestured to them to come closer. "Get her out of here immediately. She's crazy. And, ensure she never returns."

"Sure, sir," they said. 

She attempted to hit me on the chest, but they pulled her arms, and began pulling her out. As they did so, she kept screaming, "You won't get away with this, Ivan! I'm gonna make you miserable for sacking me! Leave me, you idiots! Y'all are evil! Ah!"

As soon as they shut the door behind them, I sighed in relief. Goodness knew what made me hire such a person. This wasn't the first time she'd try to attack me. Was she a witch? How could she not respect her boss? I guessed I had been too soft on my workers while dating Tanya. Now, that was all over. I was back to being the man I ought to be. 

Once again, about taking a seat, the door opened up. This time around, it opened gently. Confused, I narrowed my eyes at it, wondering who was behind it. I hadn't ordered anyone to come into the office, so who could that be?

Still confused, I decided to walk to the other side of the table, so I'd see who it was. Doing that, someone took a step in. It was a lady. No, not a typical lady. This one was an angel. 

Stepping in, she flipped her brown hair past her shoulder, her long, natural eyelashes blinking slowly. Even if I decided to give her all the money I had in life, I was sure they couldn't purchase the angelic, attractive, and praiseworthy smile on her lips. The blueness and serenity in those eyes literally made me smile. As she walked in my direction, my eyes scanned her curvy figure, but immediately, I pulled my senses off that. 

"Good evening, sir." At the sound of her voice, my butt involuntarily leaned over the table behind me, and I huffed. She was British.

My arms linked on my chest, and I was forced to sneer. "Hey, beautiful. Who sent you to me?" Damn, flirting with her was uncontrollable. 

She giggled. "I'm Monique."

"Great name," I remarked. 

"Thanks, sir."

And so, I kept staring at her, admiring her. About uttering another word, something snapped in front of me, which made me flinch. Blinking like a lost idiot, I moved my eyes sideways, only for me to see my bud, Jason Allan. He had a sinister smile on his lips. 

He snorted. "Snap out of it, dude. That's your new secretary."

I widened my eyes in shock. Gosh, this was embarrassing. The angel was my secretary? But, why? So unfortunate. 

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