Nicole; I open up the door to see Alex and I hate that my heart actually does a little leap of excitement. While in my kitchen, I had received a text from him saying he was in front of my house and before I even had the chance to reply, the doorbell had rang through the house in confirmation. Still, I couldn't find it in myself to be mad. I'm getting a bit too used to seeing him on my porch these days. I step aside to let him in and he does just that. That's when I notice the bag in his hand and he hands it to me. "What's that?". I ask suspiciously as I take it from him. Peering in, I discover two large boxes of decadent chocolate insides. "You didn't have to". I say as I continue to stare at the contents of the bag. "But I want to". I raise my eyes up to meet his as I close the door behind him. "I'm serious. You actually didn't have to". I walk past him and into the living room. "I can't risk misconceptions". It's obvious that way too many people have been casting suspicious glan
Nicole; It's a bustle of activities for the next couple of days. It's becoming to seem like the workload might never lessen till the launch finally happens. Alex, Carina and I spend a lot of time together finalizing plans and constantly, I find myself in awkward situations when the three of us have to visit some places. Today is no different. We've met with the event planners together to go over the layout of the centre just one more time. We were shown 3D format of the plans and together, we'd made alterations where necessary. Alex and I are being professional enough to work together successfully while trying to ignore the fact that there are a lot of unspoken things between us. I admire his professionalism in that aspect. Carina on the other hand, half of the time looks like she's sucking a lemon. Being forced to spend so much time with me can't be easy, poor her. It's a daily hassle pretending like I don't see her glaring at me from across the room but I manage it well. I glance a
Nicole; When my sobs die down, I feel his arms loosen a bit around me, just enough to allow me to pull away. He peers into my eyes with concern. "I'm sorry, Nicole. I have no excuses except that I was a stupid young man who was ready to let go of myself and the people I loved just to gain my father's approval. I'm sorry I was such a coward. I'm not asking for your forgiveness straightaway and I know I will never be able to make it up to you for all those years of hurt you went through but I want to start now. I want to start letting you know how deeply sorry I am". I don't what to say as I stare up at him. So I ask the next question on my mind. "Why did you employ me?". I ask quietly. He stares at me in hesitation at first. "I was just getting to be with you in 8 years. I wasn't going to let go of the opportunity to have you close to me". "And why didn't you apologize on the first day we met. What made you think you could sweep everything under the rug if you became my boss and p
Nicole;All the way to Alex's house, in his car, I keep asking myself what the hell I have just done. With each passing minute, I'm filled with more and more anxiety. From my peripheral vision, I see hims cast suspicious glances at me every once in a while. I bet he's just as surprised as I am at what I've done. I continue to stare out the window, cringing inwardly with each time I recall the memory. His house is located in a high-end part of town and I hope I'm not staring too much as we make our way past the street. We pull up into a luxurious apartment complex and he brings the car to a halt. The valet immediately rounds the car and takes Alex's keys from him and I follow him meekly as he makes his way inside. The insides of the building is all in chrome and gold, the lighting so bright and magnificent that I actually feel my jaw drop just a little before I remind myself to close it. We get into the elevator and make our way up quietly and again, with each minute, I'm wondering wh
Nicole; I open the room door in the morning to see a gift bag waiting for me. Tentatively, I reach for it and retreat back into the room. Pouring out it's contents, I see a box fall out first. I open it to see a pair of folded black pants and a burgundy silk shirt, very much my style. I peer at the shirt suspiciously, not missing the fact that it is in Alex's favorite color. Was that intentional? In the bag again is a pair of nude stilettos, some makeup and a pair of underwear. My cheeks heat up at the possibility of Alex shopping for underwear for me. I slump back on to the bed, running my fingers through my hair in exhaustion. I feel reluctant to go downstairs now that I know the possibility exists. I glance at the wall clock, it's just a few minutes past 6. I fall back on the bed and groan mentally. With the luxurious bed, it was hard not to have a good night's sleep. Much against my will, I found myself drifting off to oblivion, awakening only a few minutes ago. I wonder if there
Nicole;With each step filled with anxiety, I march closer and closer to my office. The nerve endings of my body are all alert and at some point, I know I'm not just imagining it anymore. Everyone is staring at me. I walk briskly into the elevator and just before the door closes, a small group of staff join me. I don't bother telling them good morning because I highly doubt they will answer. I take a step back, tucking myself into the back of the group and hopefully, away from their intrusive eyes. They get off a few floors before the top floor and as the doors close again, I see a few of them turn back and cast a suspicious glance my way. Now that is top notch worrisome. I get to Alex's floor and head towards my office. I'm just dropping my things on my desk when my telephone rings."Nicole Webster". I call out into the phone."Come to my office, will you?". Alex says briskly and just like that, the call is ended again. He might have tried to sound polite but that damn well still sou
Nicole;I'm not a department head but it's imperative for me to attend the meeting too. I trudge behind Carina as we make our way to the room. She doesn't let go of any chance she gets to make her dislike clear for me on her face. With my back straight and my mouth set into a hard line, I do a good job of ignoring her. I'm way too preoccupied with own thoughts. Why would Alex complicate things with such a reply? I'd have liked to have a word with him before the meeting but he's still on the call. I'm racked with nervousness as I follow Carina into the conference room. The department heads are already seated and their heads swivel in our direction as the door opens. But they are not looking at Carina, their eyes land on me and with each step I take deeper into the room, I can't feel the intensity of their gazes as they follow me. By the time I settle down into a seat, I'm beyond uncomfortable. Thankfully I don't have to spend a moment of awkwardness with them as the door opens and we
Nicole;It's finally the day. I ignore the nervousness jangling in my nerves as I take in my appearance in the mirror. After alot of contemplation within a very limited amount of time, I finally went for a white dress. Why not? I've worked so hard for this project, handled the whole ingredients research with my team back at my former workplace and came to do more work at the Galaxy. As exhausted as I am, I do feel like a brand ambassador and I have to dress as one. To top it all up, I got to shop for free at the Galaxy Couture. And I went for something expensive.The long dress is made of a clingy material, hugging all the soft curves of my body in all the right places. It's sleeveless and on the neckline, there's a sharp V cut that gives a sexy tease of my cleavage. There's only so much I can do with my short hair so I decided to tight curl it. For a moment, I did miss my long hair but when I was done, the feeling was no more. The tight curls look gorgeous and I was glad I went for t