CHAPTER ONE

GRACE

"Have you heard the latest gist, four eyes? I'm sure you haven't. After all, you're the least important person around here," Giselle, an executive secretary mocked in her usual overly high pitched voice.

Giselle as usual was dressed in a smart business suit which clung to her abundant curves. She was just the perfect example of a blonde bombshell. Unfortunately, Giselle's intellect as compared to her huge breasts was as little as a mustard seed.

Grace being a mere receptionist on the ground floor was used to such belittling comments from employees in higher positions. She forced herself not to roll her eyes with a sigh. Pushing up her glasses, she asked, "what is the latest gist?"

"I knew you couldn't have heard about it yet. The thing is that, we have rumours going around about Mr Howard selling Howard Tech to some wealthy business tycoon," Giselle attempted to whisper, but was still audible enough to draw the attention of a cleaner who was passing by.

"Really?" Grace asked in a flat tone, completely uninterested in whether someone was buying the company or not. She marvelled at how Giselle made time to come all the way from her office on the 10th floor to spread gossip.

"Do I ever tell lies? The best part of the gist is that the guy is incredibly hot, his name is—" Giselle was saying before the telephone rang and Grace answered it immediately.

To be honest all Grace cared about was the paycheck she got at the end of the month. It was the only reason why she got to work fifteen minutes earlier than every other employee at Howard Tech.

"Where was I?" Giselle asked as soon as Grace came off the call.

"I honestly have a lot of work to do, I don't have time to discuss a new CEO," Grace said in a low voice.

It was the first time she was dismissing a conversation with Giselle who always came down to her desk with one new gist or the other.

"What else do you have to do asides smile at anyone who walks in? Why do I even bother with you? Whether we get a hot new CEO or not has absolutely no effect on you. After all, you are so low in the hierarchy, you have no impact whatsoever on this company," Giselle mocked.

Grace bent her head and focused on what she was writing. She had been calculating her expenses for the month before Giselle came along with her obnoxious presence.

"So you're going to ignore me now, four eyes? Whatever!" Giselle hissed, before sashaying away.

Giselle who was born with a silver spoon would never be able to understand that Grace had several bills to pay and therefore was always busy calculating and thinking of how to pay them off.

She had been working as a receptionist at Howard Tech for two years now and though her salary was much better than what she got working as a waitress, it was never enough to pay up accumulated debt.

The telephone rang again and Grace answered with, "Good afternoon, thanks for calling Howard Tech. This is Grace Jones, what can I do for you?"

"See me in my office, Grace," came Mr Bright's voice before he hung up.

Mr Dwayne Bright was the head of the Human Resources Department and had been the only executive at Howard Tech who was polite and kind to her.

Grace was the receptionist at the ground floor and had no business with him, but ever since the day he interviewed her for the job, two years ago, he had always been kind to her.

She wondered what exactly could be the reason for him wanting to see her in his office all of a sudden. They usually only met sometimes in the elevator,  the break room or at the entrance lobby where she worked.

Grace straightened her long plain skirt which did nothing to flatter her slim figure. The skirt practically hung loosely on her hips and the shirt she wore was a dull black colour with an old sweater vest on top. Her curly red hair was packed loosely and her flat shoes did nothing to augment her lack of height.

Her lack of height and stature was a reason why Grace was often looked down upon by others. She had been bullied a lot while growing up, so she learnt to do everything possible to avoid attracting the attention of others.

Unfortunately for her, people like Giselle were still doing a good job at intimidating her. No matter how much Grace tried to appear invisible, she still caught the attention of malicious people.

She walked up to the elevator and pressed to get button for the 10th floor. She hadn't been eating well enough so she had lost some weight.

Grace naturally, used to be a chubby girl, but for years now, she had been watching her weight. It was the least she could do to ensure she didn't disappoint Camila. She was now slim and petite.

Letting out a sigh as she adjusted her skirt to fit better around her waist. Looking up, she collided with the most captivating hazel green orbs she had ever seen.

Grace stood, like a deer caught in the headlights with her hands still on her waist. The man with the hazel green eyes walked confidently into the elevator without even sparing her a glance.

"What is the position of things at Standard Hotel And Suites, right now?" The man asked the older guy who walked in after him.

"All that's left is some paperwork and it's ours," the man replied, pressing the button for the top floor.

Grace tried her possible best not to turn and stare, but she couldn't help her curiosity. She took a sneak peek at him and gasped inwardly.

The man was the word handsome itself. He had such well-defined facial structures and from the ticking of his jaw, he was definitely not the patient type.

Grace stylishly turned to get a better view of him and discovered that his eyes appeared more brown right now with some golden flecks around it. His slick back, jet-black hair was cropped to stop at the top of his shirt's collar.

He was really tall, at least 6ft 3 inches with a muscular frame. The charcoal grey business suit he had on appeared as though tailored right on his body.

The man reminded Grace of a Greek god. She heard a cough before she finally realized that she had just been caught staring at him.

Grace blushed all shades of red and tore her eyes away from him after greeting, "good afternoon Sir."

"Do you work here?" He asked in a deep slightly accented voice.

What accent was that? She couldn't place a finger on it. His olive skin tone hinted at him being Southern. He was probably a Spaniard or an Italian, she decided.

"Ye— Yes, Sir," she stuttered still facing down, unwilling to collide with those captivating eyes once again.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you," he commanded.

Grace raised her head slowly and looked at him, he was so tall, so she had to crane her neck.

"What is your job description?" He asked, stopping the elevator.

"I am the receptionist on the ground floor. I'm in charge of welcoming everyone into the building as well as scheduling appointments and meetings for every department on the ground floor," she replied, unable to meet his eyes.

"You work on the ground floor? If that were to be the case, then why didn't you welcome me this morning?" He frowned.

Grace had never felt so intimidated and threatened by a question as she was right now.

She looked to the other man for some help, but he stared back at her unwilling to come into their conversation.

"I don't understand Sir, I probably wasn't at my desk when you arrived."

"Why is that? Your job is to welcome people and for you not to have done that for me, indicates that you weren't early enough."

"Sir, I don't understand. I get here fifteen minutes earlier than everyone else."

"Wow, so this is how Howard trains his employees? To talk back at people for pointing out their mistakes? What is your name? It seems you have no intention of working here anymore," he said eyeing her distasteful outfit.

He wondered why someone who worked as a receptionist was so unappealing. The sweater vest and skirt she was wearing had obviously seen better days. She was so dull, reminding him of an old primary school teacher the only lively thing about her was her India ink blue eyes and red hair.

Her eyes were so beautiful, but she tried to tone them down with such ugly, thick-rimmed glasses.

"I asked what your name was?" Enrique repeated, something he hated doing.

If he ever had to question anyone, he wanted to do it once and not have to repeat himself.

"It's Grace J—Jones," she stuttered in fear.

Enrique looked at her and laughed, it was an evil laughter. He was only here to check out everything going on in Howard Tech before signing the final papers that would make the company his, but he definitely wasn't expecting that such timid people were members of staff.

He allowed the elevator to continue moving and said no other word to the shaking lady. She looked like someone who was being led to her own execution.

He wasn't harsh, he had only asked minor questions and she answered as though he had put a gun to her head. He definitely didn't need such irritating people around him.

The elevator stopped at the 10th floor and Grace bowed her head before rushing out of the elevator without looking back.

She had no idea why she got so nervous at his questions, it's not like he was an important employee at Howard Tech. She had never even seen him before, but something made her feel like he was very important.

All she knew as she walked up to Mr Bright's office was that she never wanted to encounter the Greek god again. He was too condescending and made her feel extremely foolish.