Okay, fast forward to the next day.
I woke up with a jolt, disoriented. I realized I had fallen asleep on the couch with Kate. She was on the couch, arms and legs stretched out wide. I noticed a string of drool by the corner of her mouth. I shook my head and screwed my eyes shut for some seconds to clear my vision.
I stood up groggily and walked to switch off the TV. I fetched my phone and checked the time. It was still 3 AM.
"Kate," I mumbled tapping on her leg.
"Jordan, give me my ham," she mumured, stirring a bit before falling back to sleep.
I chuckled and went off to my room.
*
"Belle!"
I was walking down the aisle, my dad by my side, my mum was among the congregation and she was smiling.
"Belle!"
Someone was playing the piano and melodious hymns were soothing to the ears. I looked at the altar to see a faceless man.
"Belle!"
I snapped my eyelids open and I squinted my eyes. Kate was hovering over me, arms crossed over her chest, giving me a look.
I groaned, "Good morning."
"What's good about the morning if it's seven-thirty," she said glaring at me.
"What?"
"Belle, it's seven-thirty already, you're late."
"Holy crap!" I exclaimed, jumping off my bed and speeding off to the bathroom.
"No. No, no, no. Not again." I scolded myself in the bathroom. My subconscious was peering down at me from her nameless book. She looked at me from her reading glasses and tsked. I immediately shut her out and brushed my teeth.
After the quickest shower I've ever had, I wore a button-up shirt and Kate's gray skirt. Slipping into my flats, I tied my hair into a ponytail and rushed out.
"Bye Kate," I yelled.
"Bye!" She called out and I didn't bother to ask why she was still at home.
Why the heck are you rushing? Bossy Pants is in England, remember? My subconscious sneered at me.
"Just shut up.",I said out loud to myself. I earned raised brows from the cabman.
I arrived at TE and paid giving the cabman a two-dollar bill.
I jogged quickly and opened the glass door.
"Good morning miss," Joanna greeted me.
Joanna was the receptionist, that replaced Mrs. Red.
"Morning," I replied and hurried over to the elevator.
Just hope he's not around. My subconscious said with a scowl. She was slowly shaking her head from side to side. I'm disappointed. The second day of work and you're late, tsk, tsk. If you get fired, it's all your fault, and mum would be so disappointed.
"Shut up!" I said out loud.
I was running mad.
I ran my hands through my hair and sighed, silently praying that Mr. Bossy Pants is not around.
The elevator doors pinged open and I rushed to Susan.
"Hi. Is he in?"
"Yes, he came since and he's really pissed." Crap! "Where have you been? You should go see him. I wish you luck, girl." She patted my arm and I managed to muster a smile.
I hurried to Mr. Trevelyan's office and knocked.
No response.
I knocked again, a little harder this time.
Still no response.
I creaked the door open noisily, so he'll know I was coming in.
I was faced with Mr. Trevelyan, he was on the couch and he was looking through some files, jaw clenched. I stood frozen at the door, looking at the male Adonis on the couch. He wore a dark blue suit and he was as hot all the same.
"Ms. Greene." He said my name with so much warning that a little gasp escaped from my lips.
"G-Good M-Morning sir?" It came out more like a question, so, I cleared my throat and tried again "Good M-Morning Sir."
"What is suddenly good about the morning, Ms. Greene?" He looked up at me and a shudder ran through me. Silence filled filled air. I opened my mouth to answer but he cut in. "That was rhetorical." His eyes were holding in anger. It suddenly felt chilly.
I shut my mouth only to open it again. I summoned up the courage and asked him, "How was England, sir?"
My subconscious rolled her eyes
Way to go girl, she said sarcastically, You had better prepare a long ass speech for mum and Kate explaining why you got fired.He raised his brows, clearly surprised at my outburst. Then, his brows went low and he started at me blankly. "Next time, Ms. Greene, I repeat, next time, if you ever come late to work, I shall deduct each second you waste, from your salary times ten," he said and his voice rang through the whole office. "Get me my coffee." He ordered.
I stood rooted to the spot. I swear, my limbs were frozen.
"Now!" He ordered and as if on cue, my limbs unfroze and I scurried out of his office.
*
I dropped his coffee on his table and spotted another coffee cup on his table, but it was still having coffee in it, I raised my brows at it and turned to leave.
"I haven't dismissed you yet," he said and my legs stopped walking and I turned to him.
"Here..." He handed me a paper."...is my email and my password. I want you to take care of my emails and schedule my meetings." With shaky hands, I took the paper from him and turned to leave. "You haven't been dismissed yet." He said warningly.
I rolled my eyes and turned to him again. "I'm sorry, sir."
He ignored me. "Handle all my phone calls and like I said, schedule all my meetings," he said and I nodded. "Answer me!"
"Yes sir."
"I'm expecting an email from John Dale. As it seems, my personal assistant is on an errand, so you'll take her place for the rest of the day."
"Yes sir," I mumbled.
"Good. You may leave." He said and with that, I staggered out of his office.
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 cof
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