Chapter 4

Ryan’s POV

I gulped slightly as I sat up. Taking a deep breath, I glanced sideways at my alarm and just then, it rang.

It was a routine, somehow a habit I had formed, to always be awake a minute or two before my alarm clock rings. I shut the stuff up, let down my legs, and stood up to head for the bathroom.

I did my normal morning routine of brushing my teeth, taking my bath, and getting dressed for work. 

Just when I was about to button up my shirt, my phone rang. I reached out to grab it and without checking the ID, I swiped across the screen and placed the phone close to my ear. I waited for the caller to speak while I continued with what I was busy with.

“Hey sweetheart,” I heard that cheerful voice.

“Morning, mom” I smiled as I moved over to my shoes collection to pick the pair I’d wear.

“How was your night, darling?” I paused when I heard her question. My mind ran back to last night.

I didn’t realize I’d zoned out until her voice from the other end snapped me out of my thoughts.

“…you still there, Robin?”

“Yeah,” my voice came out croaky. I bet she barely noticed.

“I was wondering if you could spare some time to join me for dinner tonight.” She mentioned.

“Dinner?” I thought aloud. “Fine, mom. I’ll be there.”  

“Have a great day, darling.” She said and I could almost imagine she blew a kiss. The phone beeped which signified that the call had been disconnected. 

I slipped my phone into my pocket as I hurriedly dressed up. I grabbed my briefcase on my way out of my room, walked down the hallway to the stairs and finally stepped into the living room where I sighted Philip from afar. When he noticed me walked in, he rushed over to collect my briefcase from me.

“Good morning,” he said and I nodded.

“How are Emily and Olivia?”  I asked while I walked past him.

Emily was his wife and Olivia, their four-year old daughter, who I was fond of.

“They’re good.” He answered with a little hesitation. I stopped walking and turned to him.

“What’s wrong?” I frowned. “Is Olivia unwell?” 

“No,” he shook his head.

“So?”

“Olivia has been throwing huge tantrums these days and it’s hard to keep up.” I chuckled and continued to walk.

“Children can be a handful.” I smiled. “What exactly does she want?” 

“The most important thing she claimed she wants is to spend time with you for a whole day and more, if possible. I kept trying to explain to her that you’re a busy man.” He explained and I found the situation amusing. “She never listens. What does she know anyway?” 

“We can make time for her.” I smiled.

“Really?” Philip exclaimed as we stepped out of the building. “That’d be great. Emily and I would finally have a moment of peace in the house.”

“Where’s Sam?” I asked when I noticed the car wasn’t ready. I expected him to be here to drive us to work. 

“I’m sorry. I forgot to give him the address.” I glanced at him and shook my head negatively.

Despite being a friendly type to my secretary, I do not joke with anything related to work. But I let his mistakes slide on rare occasions. 

“You sure Olivia is the only issue you have?” he arched his brows in confusion. “Cause you have no reason to forget such things.”

“I thought I told you I want no mistakes.” I continued.

“Perfection is all you need, I know.” He muttered under his breath. I heard what he said but I chose to ignore it. 

“I suggest you go get the car. You’ll be the chauffeur for…” I trailed off when I saw Sam.

“Oh! There he is.” Philip exclaimed with a sigh of relief. “Morning, Sam.” 

Philip hurriedly walked away from my side. He probably knew I wouldn’t let him off the hook of my words until I was pleased at how guilty he was to have made such a mistake. 

“Come, I’ll show you to the garage.” He said to Sam, who bowed slightly to show some respect to him.

Philip dragged him away and gave me the ‘sorry’ look. 

I clicked my tongue in displeasure. Despite being all professional most times, Philip makes silly mistakes. Everyone is bound to make mistakes anyway.

“But how does he expect the bodyguard to convey me to my workplace when he has no idea of where the boss live?” I thought aloud while I glanced briefly at my wristwatch. 

Few minutes later, the car stopped in front of me. A guard standing nearby moved closer to get the door for me. I got in and Sam drove the car out of the estate.

“Philip, what do I have for today?” 

“A meeting with the board by nine o’clock,” he started and I glanced at my wristwatch. There was still more than an hour to the meeting. “Inspection of the construction sites by eleven o’clock and lunch with Roman and the Brooks.” My head shot up and I stared at him through the rear mirror.

“And why is that?” 

“Roman asked me to fix you for that.” I nodded without further arguments. Roman always had his way.

“What else do I have today?” I asked.

“That’s all.”

“At least, today isn’t choky.” I said with a slight sigh as I looked through the windows.

Samantha’s POV

I stepped into Ryan’s mansion and from where I was, I could see him chat with Philip. Philip didn’t give out Ryan’s address but despite that fact, I found the place myself. I knew his residence even before I approached him.  

What do I not know about Ryan Robin Anderson? 

“Probably the fact that he’s friendly with people he is close to.” My subconscious noted when I saw him smile in response to something Philip said.

I moved closer to them unnoticed and I heard Ryan ask Philip where I was. In return, Philip’s face drained.

At that moment, he must have realized he didn’t give out the address.

I was sure Ryan expected me to be at his place by the time he was ready for work and of all things, Philip chose to forget the address.

 

Ryan said something to him but I was unable to decipher what it was because I was busy surveying the area. After a good intake, I focused my attention on them and then hurried my steps. Just then, Ryan saw me and trailed off in the process. 

“Oh! There he is.” Philip said with a relieved look. I bet Ryan was showering him with words. He moved closer and pulled my hand, saying a “good morning” in the process. I, however, managed to make a small bow to both men before I got whisked away by the older one, Philip. 

“Thanks for coming at the right time.” He smiled at me. He led me to the garage, handed me the car key and pointed at a white car. “You’re driving that.” 

I almost rolled my eyes when I noticed there were only two cars in his garage. I thought the place would be loaded with cars. I unlocked the car and we entered. I ignited the car and drove up to Ryan. 

He got in and I drove out of his mansion. With the help of the car’s navigation system, I drove us to the Anderson’s corporation. I looked at Ryan occasionally through the mirror. Few minutes later, he inquired about his work schedule from Philip, who in turn stated it all to him.

“At least, today isn’t choky.” Ryan said and he fixed his gaze somewhere else.

“How did you get the address?” Philip suddenly asked. I thought they’d never ask. 

“You somehow gave it to me.” I lied. 

Simultaneously, I glanced at Ryan and I noticed his gaze was now fixed on me. Philip frowned and drew his brows together, trying to remember when he did. “When you led me to the PR department to get some files.” I chipped in and he ‘oh’ ed.

“Really?” he glanced at me.

“Yeah.” I nodded, fetched out a note from my pocket and passed it to him. He eyed the piece of paper and stared back at me with confusion-filled eyes.

“I got it from the office.” I smiled. “You led me there anyway so in other words, I’d say you gave it to me.” I explained. 

Stupid explanations, one would say but I knew he wouldn’t believe me if I simply told him he gave it to me. Neither of them would and that excuse would be lame. I needed a concrete reason as to how I got here to avoid suspicions so I scribbled the address on the paper before coming. I glanced at the mirror again and realized Ryan had averted his gaze.

“And the map did the rest of the work.” I completed as I stopped the car at the company. Philip eyed the paper for few seconds and he chuckled. 

“I was totally confused.” He smiled. “I was sure I didn’t give you the address but thanks for being smart, Sam.”

“Yeah, so smart that I’d cause a lot of ruins for you and your boss that you can’t comprehend. No matter how nice you are Philip, you really need to be careful of me.” I thought with a smirk.