Chapter 5~

Chapter 5~

ZACHARY'S POV ~

On getting home, I quickly freshened up, had some dinner, and got ready for bed.

I decided to stay in for the evening, although I was supposed to meet up with some of my guys. But I had something else important to do.

I texted my friends, telling them I wouldn’t be gracing them with my presence this evening.

They weren’t happy about it.

I settled on my king-sized bed, just staring at the ceiling. Doing absolutely nothing for a while.

After zoning out for what seemed like minutes, I got up and took the file from my suitcase to study it more.

Kimberly Gilbert.

I checked her address, but I wasn’t familiar with the area.

I then proceeded to check her entire bio.

She’s 22 years of age and a fresh graduate out of college.

"Hmm. Interesting," I murmured to myself.

Her college didn’t seem very prestigious, and the company usually employed people who graduated from well-known schools.

I looked at her contact number for quite a while, contemplating whether to carry out what was in my mind or not.

I shook the thought off immediately.

It would be very creepy of me to call her now. And also, she has no idea who I am. Yet.

I decided to check her social media.

I searched her name on I*******m and found it difficult to spot the right Kimberly Gilbert.

There were lots of them on here.

But with continuous scrolling, I saw the right one.

I quickly clicked on her profile and saw her.

I observed each and every one of her pictures, being careful enough not to double tap on them.

I was feeling so happy that I couldn’t help but smile to myself as I stared at her pictures.

I found her.

Kimberly.

Kimberly Gilbert.

I kept her file in my bedside cupboard and launched myself back onto my bed.

I observed her pictures some more before closing my eyes to sleep.

~~

The next morning at work, I sent an email to my good friend, Richard, the person in charge of the new incoming employees, asking him to specifically include the name ‘Kimberly Gilbert’ as one of them.

And he complied, without any questions.

I made sure she was put in a good department, preferably close to my office and where I could easily get a good sight of her whenever I wanted.

I thought about how crazy I was being about this whole thing and shook my head.

What the hell is wrong with you, Zach?

This is the first time I’ve ever done something like this, and I’m not finding it funny.

~

After work, I decided to go to the night party my friend was hosting at his condo.

Jeremiah always threw the best parties in town.

Nobody ever missed it.

"Hey man, what’s up with you? You’ve been awfully quiet since you got here," Jeremiah said when he joined me in my corner at the VIP section of the party.

"Nothing’s up. Just that work has been stressing me out these days," I said and sipped my glass of exotic bourbon whiskey.

"Seriously, Zach, why work so hard when you’ve already got everything one could ever ask for?" he asked, looking high already.

"Don’t let my father hear you say that. And are you drunk already? I thought you could handle alcohol so well?" I asked him and smirked.

"Please, I’m just getting started! You haven’t seen the last of me," he said and poured more shots for himself.

"Hey girls, please come join us over here," Jeremiah said to a group of four girls who had been ogling us from a distance for a while.

The girls made their way to us and sat on either side of us.

"Seriously. I didn’t ask for this," I said to Jeremiah.

"I know. But you need it," he said and locked lips with one of the girls sitting beside him.

The other girl sat on him and joined the kiss.

I simply watched them in disgust before averting my eyes to somewhere else.

"So, anything I can do for you, handsome?" one of the girls said to me, trailing her fingers on my chest.

The other girl did the same.

"No thanks," I said and continued taking a sip of my strong bourbon with a straight face.

"Are you sure?" the first girl asked.

"Let’s have some fun," the second girl said to me and ran her hands through my hair, bringing her lips to graze my ear a little.

They both shifted closer to me, their breasts pressed on my arm.

On a normal day, I was supposed to enjoy the feeling, but I don’t know why I kept getting the feeling of disgust instead.

"I said no. Don’t make me say it again," I said angrily, and both girls quickly sat up and stopped touching me.

After finishing a whole bottle of the bourbon, I called my driver to come pick me up.

I didn’t want to sleep too late. I had to get to work early the next day.

~~

On getting home, I wasn’t too drunk, but I was a bit high.

I brought out my phone to see the angel again.

I hadn’t seen her all evening.

I stared at her pictures for hours and wasn’t even aware when I fell asleep.

~

After days and days of obsessing over Kimberly Gilbert, I felt like I knew almost everything about her.

I created a fake account just so I could properly and comfortably view her stories and moments on all her social media accounts.

I knew she loved horror movies. She always posts about them on her story.

Her favorite color seemed to be blue. She wears a lot of blue clothing and posts blue aesthetics.

She hates pets.

She always hangs out in the same café.

And I think one of her friends works there.

I should visit there sometime.

She has two younger siblings and an aunt.

I saw in one of her previous posts about her parents.

They’re both late. Which made me feel sad for her.

Such an angel doesn’t deserve to go through that kind of pain.

After finding out this much about her, it only made me want to know her more.

Personally this time. But I don’t know how to start with that.

I need to be patient.

~

ONE WEEK LATER

During the day new workers were to start, I made sure I was the first person to arrive.

I went straight to my office at the top floor, stood by the window, watching everyone who stepped into the building.

I kept watching until I saw her walk in.

She looked even more beautiful than I remembered.

I watched as she made her way to the secretary area and entered the elevator, probably heading to her department.

I smiled to myself and went back to my desk to finish up some work.

~

During lunch, one of my good friends in the office, Richard, insisted we go have lunch, and I couldn’t say no because I was starving already.

"Why don’t we try sitting with the employees at their cafeteria today? What do you say?" I asked him.

"Why would we do that?" he questioned.

"Well, I just thought it’d be nice to have a sense of familiarity with my employees. Most of them haven’t even seen me before," I said.

"True. But are you sure that’s the only reason you want to go there?" he asked, giving me a knowing look.

"You know what? Forget it. Let’s just eat where we usually do," I said, and he chuckled.

"Sure. Whatever you say, Boss," he replied.

~

After lunch, we were on our way back to the elevator, going to the top floor, and coincidentally crossed paths with Mr. Williams.

We had a brief talk about the meeting coming up soon with our business partners and decided to discuss it more in my office.

Mr. Williams was the Head of Department for the board meetings held in the company.

As we approached the elevator, that’s when I saw her.

Kimberly Gilbert.

She was on her phone, standing just beside the elevator.

Wow. I haven’t seen her up close like this before.

She tried to hide her phone when she saw us, which I found amusing.

Once we were close enough, Mr. Williams asked her with a tone of annoyance, "Miss Gilbert, aren’t you supposed to be in the office, working?"

"Umm. Yes, yes I am. Which is why I’m in fact heading right back inside now," she replied.

Wow. I knew her voice would be smooth like honey, but not this smooth.

We all entered the elevator going up to our floors.

She stood behind us, not making a single sound.

I wondered if she was even breathing because of how quiet she was.

Mr. Williams tried to make conversation with me, but I was too distracted to hear what he was saying, so Richard answered most of the questions for me.

My mind was too focused on the girl standing behind me, even though my back was turned to her and I couldn’t see her face.

I fought the urge to turn back to take a small peep at her face. I really, really wanted to see the expression she had at the moment, but I just couldn’t.

Patience, Zach.

"I believe this is your stop, Miss Gilbert," Mr. Williams said and made a way for her to pass.

She stepped off the elevator and held the door for him.

"Aren’t you getting off too, sir?" she asked softly.

And for a split second she looked at me and met my eyes, already on hers, before looking away quickly.

"I have some other business to attend to. Carry on," Mr. Williams said to her, and she nodded and let the elevator door shut.

I was able to get a very close, good look at her once more before the door closed.

~~

For the rest of the day, I couldn’t concentrate. I kept thinking about her and how lovely her voice was.

Her beautiful black shiny hair, her sparkling eyes, her plump pink lips — her entire presence invites me in.

~

I got home feeling euphoric. I had a smile planted across my face all through the evening.

After getting ready for bed, I decided to do it.

I’m going to text her. But she can’t know it’s me yet.

{Hi beautiful.} I sent her a DM on I***a and waited for her reply but didn’t get any that night.

It made me feel disappointed.

I was really hoping she would reply.

But I won’t give up. She would reply me sooner or later. I’m sure of it.

~