In the days passed, I thought Mr. Trevelyan would loosen up and tone down on the hostility, but I absolutely thought wrong.
Mr. Trevelyan became a lot more adverse and hostile as time withered away. It was like a whole new cycle of ours – I would go to work late, he'll yell at me, and I'll stagger into my office with tears in my eyes.
"You're lucky. I'm really starting to think you're his favorite."
"What? He just said that to reprimand me. Nothing more." I let out an unladylike snort. I? Mr. Bossy Pants' favorite? I couldn't even dare to dream.
Susan and I were at the cafeteria and like always, she was helping to cheer me up after the usual back-and-forth with Mr. Trevelyan.
"But he could just have fired you there and then. There was this lady, that used to work as his PA. She brought his coffee in and it was cold, he fired her."
I feigned a surprised look and let out an exaggerated gasp. "He did that? I'm very surprised. He must have been angry at that time," I muttered the last part and Susan chuckled.
"Isabelle, stop denying. Just admit that you are his favorite."
"No. And why would I admit that? I'm not him." I took a sip of my orange juice.
"True but-"
"Hey, ladies." Someone cut in and they slipped into one of the chairs in our booth.
"Hi, Eric," Susan said cheerfully, a tint of red on her cheeks. Oh?
"Hey, Eric," I said. "As I was saying," I turned to Susan. "No, I am not going to say that."
"Say what?" Eric asked.
Susan opened her mouth to talk but I cut her off even before she said a word. "Susan said that I'm Bossy CEO's favorite. Just because he didn't fire me today."
"Yeah, I think so too. I agree with Susan."
"Aha!" Susan said victoriously. "Told you so."
I groaned and rubbed my hand on my forehead. "You guys just don't get it. Do you? I'm just an average girl from downtown Seattle."
"Really?" Susan exclaimed. "What are you doing in NY then?"
Crap! I knew you shouldn't have blurted that out. My subconscious palmed her forehead.
"Uh, my best friend and I share an apartment.",I said and quickly changed the topic. "I'm not his favorite though. It could be you." I gestured to Eric who raised his brows. "Or you?" I gestured to Susan and she immediately shook her head a no. "Or that ginger-haired dude, I have never noticed until now." I gestured towards a man having lunch in the corner of the cafe. "But it's definitely not me."
"Exactly, that's the point. You're the only girl that doesn't get affected by his looks, wealth, power, and all. So you're his favorite," Eric said and I groaned out loud.
"I get affected but I just don't show it."
"Yeah right." Susan rolled her eyes. "And you too, Eric you're the boss's manager and his closest friend, maybe even his only friend." She said and I widened my eyes.
"You're his friend?" I exclaimed, eyes still widened.
"Shh. Don't make a big deal of it. I'm still his employee. He could fire me." He chuckled.
"Really?"
"Nah, just kidding. If he did, I'll kick his ass."
"Shut the... You're that close?" I asked.
He shrugged. "But that doesn't make me his favorite, you're still his favorite in my eyes." He winked at me.
"Yeah, I agree," Susan said and I groaned.
This is going to be one long lunchtime.
*
I was busy typing some documents on my office laptop when an email popped up.
From: Ivan Trevelyan
Subject: DismissalDate: 4th May 2019 3:09 PMTo: Isabelle GreeneDinner at 7 with some contractors. Dismissed at 5 pm to get ready.
Ivan Trevelyan,
CEO, Trevelyan Enterprises Holdings.At least it sounded a lot nicer on email. Sighing, I typed a response.
From: Isabelle Greene
Subject: OkayDate: 4th May 2019 3:10 PMTo: Ivan TrevelyanYeah, sure.
Isabelle Greene,
PA to CEO, Trevelyan Enterprises Holdings.I re-read the email and held in a giggle.
When I arrived home, I took a quick shower and slipped into a midnight blue bodycon dress and a white blazer. I did my makeup which was, as usual, mascara and shiny lip gloss, and I tied my hair into a ponytail and slipped into Kate's black pumps.
I flagged down a cab and hopped inside.
Geez! It's still early. I wonder why you're rushing. My subconscious arched a brow.
Because I want my complete salary. That's why. I shut her out and enjoyed the view outside. Green trees, beautiful birds, beautiful Mother Nature.
"Ma'am, we're here." The cabman said and I gave him a two-dollar bill. He nodded thanks and drove off, while I walked towards the building.
I took in a deep breath. It's going to go alright, I told myself before walking into the building.
"Evening Ms. Greene."
I turned around and a gasp almost escaped my lips. My boss was in a gray Armani and it matched his eye color. He wore a white shirt underneath and a gray tie to compliment.
"Evening Mr. Trevelyan," I answered with a smile plastered on my lips.
"You're early. I like that." He said and his lips pulled up to a smile and I stopped breathing.
Crap! His smile is beautiful. My legs wanted to have a mind of their own to walk up to him.
Go kiss him, you fool. My stupid subconscious urged and I mentally slapped her.
He's my boss, you bozo. I said to her and she quietly went to her couch to sit.
"Come on, the dinner is up." He said walking to the elevator.
There's another floor above?
He led me to a case of stairs and we climbed it.
"Here we are." He led me to the highest floor of the building.
Whoa?
It was just like a restaurant, except that it didn't have a roof. It was like a balcony restaurant. The tables were covered with fine linen. It was like one of those fancy restaurants you see in films. I couldn't even dream, that I would ever be in a place like this.
Mr. Trevelyan's phone rang, snapping me out of my reverie.
"Trevelyan... What?" He said and then hung up.
I held back an eye roll. Drama king. "Sir, what's wrong again?"
"The contractors just informed me, the contract can not be finalized."
You know that feeling when someone's telling you something and then you just want to look into their eyes and say, "I don't really give a crap"That's exactly how I felt when he told me. I mean, it's not my company, I'm not the CEO. But I asked so it's not really his fault."Eric, I want you to inquire about what just happened." Mr. Bossy Pants said into the phone. "They said that..? Till when? Next month? Alright....yeah yeah, thanks." He hung up and looked at me. "Isabelle, the dinner is canceled go home," he said, and with that, he went out of the balcony.Okay, to get this straight, two things made me shocked and surprised. First, is because he called me by my first name. And second is because he just left me there, just like that
Marry me?I stood frozen on the spot, jaw agape a fraction, dumbstruck, dumbfounded, dumb-everything as I gaped at the grey-eyed man that sat in front of me.Marry me.The two words sunk in, right into the deep part of my brain. My subconscious knew better to not bother giving me false hope that I just needed hearing aids. The air around felt chilly and nipped at my skin as seconds dragged into minutes. Minutes that felt like hours.I stared at my boss.He stared at his employee. I wasn't sure how long this continued but Mr. Trevelyan was the first to give up. He let out a sigh heavily. "You don't need to give me an answer now," Mr. Trevelyan said, "I'll give you
"Kate," I said, dead in my tracks. And I felt it. The feeling of deja vu. It wasn't like this had happened before. It was the chill that swept through my bones that made me feel like that. I felt like I was back at Mr. Trevelyan's office –even though the scenery was different– I felt... intimidated –and I hadn't even seen him yet.I wasn't scared of what he'll do or say when he sees me. Hell, I wasn't even scared that there was a high –very very high– chance that he'll fire me, for not going to work (when he obviously should have days ago). I was scared of what he came here for. He came for business. To crack a deal, like the businessman that he was. A deal that could change the whole story–"Huh?""Kate, my boss is here," I said, still looking at the Range Rover i
"So he just came here to scold you because you skipped work?" Kate said, pacing my room back and forth. I puffed up my cheeks a little and pressed my lips together.I hesitated for a moment. I couldn't decide whether I wanted to tell her or not. I usually told Kate everything and we never kept secrets from each other. I wanted to tell her but I couldn't. My chicken self just couldn't. I wanted some time to think about what to do. On one hand, was Kate and on the other was my asshole of a boss. It was all too much–too too much–to take in. It was like I was in the middle of a tug-of-war with my boss and Kate opposite each other. I was torn, conflicted, tangled up like earphones in the pocket of jeans, and frus-fucking-trated.I bit my lip, contemplating what to do.To tell Kate?
Kate blinked in surprise. She looked partly confused yet surprised at the same time. Desperation filled my eyes. I wanted Kate to figure all out, even without spilling the beans. I stared at her and she stared at me as seconds stretched to minutes. "You what?" Kate finally said after a moment of silence passed.I blinked and averted my eyes from her piercing brown eyes. "I-I'm getting engaged in two days," I repeated. Make her suspicious. Make her figure it out. Spill the beans without actually spilling it.With my peripheral vision, I saw her confused expression contort into a frown. "How? Why? So fast? What the shit? I mean, he has you forever, so why?" She asked, as if he was right there.I nibbled on my lower lip and turned to see if he was actu
I gaped –in awe, of course– jaw loose, and eyes open a fraction at the aeroplane that stood tall and proud in front of me. I saw the Trevelyan logo etched on the side and I swear the plane itself was shining, like it was snickering at my reaction. It's so beautiful, I thought to myself."Stop ogling an inanimate object, Miss. Greene," Mr. Trevelyan said, drawing me out of my trance with the beautiful aircraft in front of me. "It's a sign of mental instability. Remember that you're going to be Mrs. Trevelyan. Wouldn't want the press to see you ogling their cameras." It took me a few minutes to snap completely out of my daze and process what he said. When I finally did, I rolled my eyes discreetly and huffed. Yeah, coming from my boss who
"Belle!" Crystal squealed as she opened the door. She jumped and gave me a bone-cracking hug.Wow, welcome to Seattle, Isabelle."Whoa!" I let out obviously caught off guard. I almost fell over, but I regained my balance before I could topple over and hugged her back. "Damn girl. What are you, huh? An elephant? Don't crack my spine, I'm still young." I choked out and she loosened her grip on me, still hugging me. I chuckled into her light brown hair. God, I missed this bitch."I missed you so much." She mumbled into my shirt and pulled away. Her contagious wide grin stretched on her face made a grin clamber its way to my own face."We video-chatted yesterday, idiot," I swa
Turns out Mr. Asshole didn't have any intentions to kill me. Or so I thought.When he saw me -more like caught though- about to tell Crystal about the contract, he took -or rather dragged- me to the bathroom on the plane. I expected him to glare and pace about the bathroom, running hands through his hair and whatnot. What I didn't expect was his calm demeanor. I knew he was angry but his type of anger was the calm anger. He rested his back against the bathroom door, his arms were folded across his chest and I saw his tense jaw muscles tick every now and then."Sorry!?" I flinched from his tone and he arched an eyebrow at my reaction. "You're sorry? Miss. Greene, if you had mentioned a word about the contract to your silly sister, you could be drag