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17. Bring your child to work day
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The CEO'S Favorite 18. Unethical
I sigh as I stare at the woman who suspended me last week. I open my mouth to dismiss her, but then again, Lucas has always been known to talk more than he should. "It's not." He tells her with a straight face. "I'm suspended and Gabriel said I could come."Nessa scoffs. "Like mother, like son, eh?" Today, she's putting on a plaid skirt that's mid-thigh (I'm certain if I wear something that short, she'll say I'm trying to seduce Gabriel, but I pretend I don't see it) and a green blazer over a black singlet that reveals a bit of cleavage. She looks stunning as always, but her attitude always ruins it as well."I am so not in the mood for you, Nessa. Move along."She doesn't move. Instead, she crosses her arms over her chest, protruding her breasts. I shake my head. If I keep up with her, I'll probably get late. I try to walk around her, but she blocks my path. My tongue pokes the inside of my cheek and I try the other side. She blocks me again. I arch a brow. "What do you want?"She g
The CEO'S Favorite 19. Assumption is a bitch
I'm tucking Lucas in when I hear a loud knock on the front door. I sigh, knowing it's going to be a long night."Sleep tight." I kiss Lucas' forehead and as I'm about to leave him, he holds my wrist. I look down at him, a question in my eyes."I'm not gonna be able to sleep, am I? I heard you and aunt Heather. You're having a girl's night, aren't you?""Yes, well, try to sleep anyway. We won't be loud."I don't believe myself and I know Lucas doesn't as well, but he doesn't argue. Instead, he bids me goodnight and closes his eyes, hoping to sleep. It's only eight, and despite the fact that we all have to go to work tomorrow, I know I have reckless friends.I don't bother to rush to open the door when they keep knocking because I know they'll let themselves in soon and that's proven correct when I walk out of Lucas' room and see all three of them making themselves at home.Racheal is the first to see me. "We brought wine!""You're a lawyer, Racheal. You should know better than to drink
The CEO'S Favorite 20. Threatened
Last night when I was with my friends, there was something Racheal said that stuck.After I told them about my experience with Shawn, they asked me if I reported him to any authority because there was no other plausible reason for investors to start pulling out all of a sudden. My answer was negative. I didn't want to bring that kind of attention to myself because there was no way a story like that wouldn't make it to the tabloids.It made me remember the time when Gabriel asked me the name of my boss and when I relayed this to them, Racheal pointed out that Gabriel may have done something.I plan to ask him about it during dinner. I drive up to the address Gabriel's father gave me and there is some kind of button on a railing leading up to the gate. Guessing it's an intercom, I roll down my window and press on it. The gates open not long after.Driving in, I notice that there's no other car outside. It's either Gabriel lives here (which I doubt because of the kind of relationship he
The CEO'S Favorite 21. Nostalgia
"Aria Jennings, do you have anything prepared for us?"At first, I don't register the fact that my name is being called because we only started the meeting and I'm usually called on by the end, but a tap from Belle beside me has me looking up. I look around the table, at the eight people that make our small crew, then my eyes meet with Nessa's and she nods, encouraging me to go on.I clear my throat. "I don't have a pitch for this, but I have an idea for a pitch. Is that okay?" I ask unsurely, still taken aback by the fact that Nessa called on me so early in the meeting."Go ahead."The reason I haven't prepared a pitch for the recent ad we were given to work on isn't that Nessa never lets the others hear it — that has never deterred me — but because my mind has been caught up with my dinner with Patrick Hernsburg and what he said to me.I try to forget everything about him and go on with telling everybody about my idea for the social app. In a way, I was nervous because apart from th
The CEO'S Favorite 22. Fucking bastard
"Why would you let Lucas wander off alone?" That is the first thing I ask when we enter the office and see Gabriel standing by the transparent wall that gives him a magnificent view of the city. Immediately, Lucas leaves me and runs for Gabriel's side, taking a hold of his hand. I resist scoffing. "I offered to come to get you," Lucas admits. "So you lied?""Sorry, mommy." Just like Gabriel, he's no longer looking at me. He's staring outside the transparent glass. I stare at their backs for a while. It's starting to get addictive seeing both of them together. Is this because I admitted to liking him some days back? Is that why I don't fancy being in his presence much? Because I don't like the way my body reacts to him.I don't know what, but something compels me to bring out my phone and take a picture of them, and I do. Gabriel turns around immediately, catching me with my phone up in my hand. He cocks his head in amusement. "Did you just take a picture of us?"My face turns red in
The CEO'S Favorite 23. Mr. Hernsburg
The next time I see Gabriel after that is the next Monday. He didn't come to work on Friday, despite the fact that his penthouse was right above his office. Since I didn't know he would be a no-show, I brought Lucas with me again that Friday, so he had to stay with me in my cubicle while I worked.He was surprisingly quiet and kept to reading the new book Gabriel got for him. The only times he spoke were to ask me if Gabriel was okay and when he needed to use the restroom. During lunch, he came along with me to the canteen. We received some weird looks but didn't pay any mind to them. They were probably wondering what a seven-year-old was doing in a company like that.Right now, I'm happy his suspension is finally over and he can go back to school as he has missed a lot. He isn't happy about it though. This morning, he asked me if he could just be homeschooled instead, but I had to ask him how he would be able to see Ally if he started homeschooling. That had him getting out of bed f
The CEO'S Favorite 24. Dinner with the parents
Between Lucas and I, I don't know who is more nervous. When I broke the news that we were going to visit his grandparents, he was beyond shocked. He had asked me about them at one point, of course, and I almost lied that they were dead, but I couldn't do that to him. I couldn't do that to them.That had put me in a tight spot and I had to come up with a different lie instead. I'd told him that they lived on a different continent and we wouldn't be able to see them. He soon understood that we couldn't afford to fly to a completely different country and stopped asking to see them.It made me feel bad, but I was also relieved. I was afraid that I'd call them and they'd say they weren't interested in being part of Lucas' life.Lucas and I stand in front of the door of the home address my father had sent to me. It isn't the house I grew up in. It is much smaller but seems classier. My mother always had an eye for fancy things, so I'm not surprised. "I thought you said they lived on a dif
The CEO'S Favorite 25. Come with me
I decided I'd given Gabriel enough time.It's been exactly a week since we last spoke. I didn't go to him sooner because I assumed he'd come to me. It's Gabriel. He always does. But it seems like this time is different.I'm worried out of my mind because he got worse each day. He's snapping at everyone, not just me and it looks like he's always in a bad mood.Some of my colleagues say it's nothing new and that he used to be like this when he first took over from his father, so they minimized their interactions with him, not wanting to get fired over the smallest mistakes.However, this was new to me, and it caught me off guard whenever he snapped at someone. An intern lost her job last week because she spilled coffee on him. I feel bad for her, but there's nothing I can do about it.I know something is very wrong and if not taken care of, he may spiral out of control. I recall that he told me it's none of my business, but I can't help the fact that I care about him on a personal level
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