Ella POV
Javier cooked them a really nice steak, and accompanied with a glass of wine, Ella could say that it was one of the best dinners she had ever had in her life.
“This is nice,” commented Ella as she took another sip of her wine.
“Having you here is nice.” Javier leaned forward and clinked his glass to hers then took a drink. “You know, I woke up that morning alone and I have never felt so lonely in my life.” He tilted his head as he placed the crystal glass carefully on the table. “Why did you leave?”
Ella took a deep breath and decided to tell him the truth. “Because we agreed that when the Monday morning came, things would go back to normal.”
“But what is normal, really?” he asked, lifting his brows and daring her to reply. He finished off his wine then started to clear out the table.
&nb
C H A P T E R 4 6 : W H E N H E G O T H U R T , H E W E N T R O U G H E L L A S T A N F O R D The brush of something warm across Ella’s shoulder brought her out of a sound sleep. Her lids fluttered open and she turned to stare into a pair of brilliant blue eyes a few inches from her face. Smile lines appeared in the corners as he lightly bit her shoulder. “Good morning,” he said against her skin. She closed her eyes again, smiling. She could not believe that this was actually real. Since that dinner which led to another session in his bedroom, she gave up fighting a lost battle. There was no point of trying to deny the connection between them. As she stretched her body on the mattress, she asked, “What time is it?” “A little before noon.” “What?!” Ella immediately sat up, the dark grey sheet slid to her waist. “It is la
C H A P T E R 4 7 : W H E N T H E Y A R E A P A R T E L L A S T A N F O R D He had hardly looked at her for the next two days. Instead of coming to her office and gave her a direct order, he sent his requests by email. This afternoon, she entered his office to bring the files he had asked her for, he kept his eyes on the screen as he said, “Put it on the desk. Next time just ask Maria to do it.” Maria Gonzales was her replacement and she was giving her proper training starting this week. Monday and Tuesday were fine. But since that day she had refused to have a late breakfast with him, he had been ignoring her and having Maria around made everything feel more real. It made her realize that she only had another month left before she would leave the Summers Entertainment for good. Everyone in the office did not find anything odd going on between
C H A P T E R 4 8 : S U R P R I S E D R O P I N E L L A S T A N F O R D Another week passed by like the previous week. There was little to no communication from Javier. What was more frustrating was during a team dinner on Thursday, he had completely ignored her although she had been sitting right next to him. He had talked with everyone, even Maria, but so little to her. If she remembered correctly, he had only asked her whether she would like another drink and that was it. On the other hand, Ella had taken it like a champ and did not shed a single tear. In return, she acted as if he did not exist. Every now and then during the event, she could feel his eyes on her but she brushed it off and pretended that she was not affected by it. Instead, she conversed with Thomas, one of the marketing team leaders. Apparently, Thomas really liked hiking and he even invited her to
C H A P T E R 4 9 : W H E N H E S L O W L Y R E A L I Z E D J A V I E R S U M M E R S “Tell me, brother, did you fall for her?” Javier rolled his eyes then took a sip of his whiskey. “I did not fall for anyone.” “Oh, really now?” Clarabelle sliced the chocolate cake with the spoon and put it in her mouth. “Damn, this cake is so good. Are you sure you don’t want to try?” “No. Also, I thought you want to get some advice from me?” He placed his glass on the table and leaned back, the back of his shirt rubbed against the leather of his chair. “Nah, I would go to Maxon or Reed or Dex for that,” answered her, clearly proving him to be right. Clarabelle would not go for his third older brother if she needed an advice. That fact oddly did not bother him. There were eight of them and one did not just come to everyone for
C H A P T E R 5 0 : W H E N H E B E G I N S T O R E A L I Z E J A V I E R S U M M E R S It was rather odd waking up and finding yourself alone on the bed. It had not been weird previously, but now it was. And the only difference was Ella. It was her that made him feel so odd waking up alone. Previously he would not mind it. He was always alone since he had reached adulthood anyway. With his casual flings, he usually had gone before neither him nor the woman he had been with fell asleep. Perhaps it was commitment issue or trust issue, whichever that had been, it was never an issue with Ella. If he was being honest to himself, it did make him wonder sometimes. He knew that he liked her. He was certain he had made it very clear to her as well. He had given her three orgasms last night. He was being selfless and cared more about her pleasure rather than his own
C H A P T E R 5 1 : F R I E N D O R F I E N D E L L A S T A N F O R D When Ella walked into her building that Tuesday, the last day she needed to go to the office before she would be taking a few days off to visit her mother, a note was waiting for her at her desk. It was not signed but said, “Meet me in the office supplies room at 1 P.M. sharp.” It was a rather odd request. She knew Javier was as cautious as she was about being seen together, and she wondered what would prompt him to want to meet her. At twelve thirty, while everyone else was outside getting lunch, she went to the office supplies room and figured it had to be something really important. But when she walked into the office that night, it was not Javier standing there in the aisles between tall cupboards filled with statio
C H A P T E R 5 2 : C O U L D A W O M A N A N D A M A N B E C O M E F R I E N D S ? E L L A S T A N F O R D “Piers?” Her eyes widened as he approached her and stopped only a few feet from her. “What are you doing here?” “Ouch.” Piers winced, pretending as if she had just thrown a stick at him. “That hurts. There is no how are you, Joseph or it is good to see you, Joseph?” “I am sorry.” Ella shook her head, sighing. “Of course I am happy to see you. How are you? When did you get back here?” “Last night, actually. I thought I will come here and surprise Jav and maybe take him to lunch.” “Well, you missed him. He went to a meeting since ten A.M. and he has not returned. Perhaps next time you should give me a call so I can check his schedule for you.” Piers
C H A P T E R 5 3 : W H E N H I S H E A R T B R E A K S J A V I E R S U M M E R S “Great, I think we can conclude the meeting this afternoon,” said Thornton’s finance executive, Mr. Phil Lambert, with a smile. “If everyone’s happy with the arrangements that we discussed today, we could proceed with the contract and legalize everything so we can start with the project as soon as possible.” Once the meeting ended, Thornton approached Javier. He was about to ask his little brother to have lunch with him and Ava at their house when he noticed that his brother had his eyes fixated on his phone screen. With one glance, he could tell that he was staring at someone’s photo. It was a photo of his secretary sitting on her desk reading what looked like a contract, there was a serious look on her face. Thornton stifled a sigh. If he was being honest, at fi