Chapter Five: His Deepest Secret

Chapter Five: His Deepest Secret.

Observing protocols, Angelina reported at the receptionist's desk and to her disappointment, she learnt from one of the receptionists, David, that the big boss was already on seat. But that notwithstanding, she was still confident she'd impress him as she has arrived forty minutes before schedule.

Upon arrival at her new office on the topmost floor, Angelina found a box of a brand new mobile phone and a laptop, both bearing the logo of the company----M.J Tech. On top of the box, there was a short note written in a very neat, cursive handwriting which read,

    'As long as you're within the premises of M.J Tech, these are your only gadgets. Personal mobile phones and laptops are prohibited.Take note.'

Angelina didn't need anyone to tell her who wrote that note, it was undoubtedly the CEO himself. Even though she had never seen his handwriting before, this one had his name written all over it----it's just as sophisticated, elegant and majestic as the man himself.

Curious, she opened the boxes and switched on both of the devices, one after the other. To her utmost surprise, she discovered that they were both custom-made specifically for her! The welcoming screen displayed her name…or rather, her alter ego's name 'Marcus Reed' on both the phone and laptop. Impressed, Angelina smiled broadly before putting them aside for the time being. It was time to get into action!

Heading straight to the boss's den, she knocked once and without waiting to hear whether or not he'd answer, she just barged in.

    "Good morning, Sir! How was your night? If it was great then that makes only one of us. Mine was hectic and so…"

The rest of her sentence was left hanging as the man she was addressing finally looked up from the laptop in front of him. Those steely grey eyes…there was something about them that always set her on edge. It did so the very first time they met, the first time her eyes met with his and it's doing so now that he has raised his penetrating grey orbs and held her doe-like hazel ones captive with them…

Finally, after what felt like hours though it was just a matter of seconds, Maxwell's glacial orbs set Angelina's glowing ones free as he moved to rest his back comfortably on the recliner. Then, placing his elbows on the armrests, he laced his fingers into one another, arched a perfect eyebrow at Angelina before asking in his deep, baritone and magnetic voice,

    "What were you saying?"

    "Nothing, I…I just said you came in early. I came early too! It's not yet nine am! That's very good, right? I told you that you won't regret employing me! And yes! I saw the gifts you got for me! Thank you so much! They are the bestest gifts ever! I've never had anything custom-made for me before and now— a laptop and a phone! A freaking expensive and high-end phone and laptop!! iPhone 14 pro max be damned, I have my customized M.J Tech phone! So cool! I…"

    "Those are not 'gifts'. They are your working devices. Every employee in this company has his own. The phone has an eSim and there are numbers of every staff member whom you have to work with and they also have yours. The laptop contains guidelines for your line of duty. Now, you may go."

   "Wow, that's great! Special gadgets for a special company, cool! Can I use mine to develop some cool games and other software? I'm not just some boring-ass Java developer, I'm an all-rounder and I can help this company make billions of dollars! I assure you that…"

   "Little man?"

Maxwell's baritone voice interjected into Angelina's blabbering and she had no choice but to answer even though she hated the way he called her 'little man'.

    "Yes?"

     "It's nine already. Go back to your desk. Now."

   "Yes, Sir. Always at your service, Sir. Anytime you need anything, I'm just a door away."

****

Less than an hour later, Angelina had already completed all the tasks assigned to her as there wasn't any major work. Just a few emails to sort, Mr. Gallagher's schedule for the week and that was that, nothing more! Just plain, boring stuff which Angelina absolutely hated! 

Truth be told, when she agreed to do the job Jeremy asked her to do, it wasn't just for the money. She was also looking forward to putting her amazing skills into practice as she's a very, very proficient and adept software engineer. Jeremy was aware of that and that's why he chose her specifically for this job. But now here she was, being forced to sit down idle, doing nothing but sorting emails! Even normal personal assistants with no engineering degree are given more work to do than this!

Pouting, Angelina logged into her new laptop and kept herself busy, browsing. While doing so, she kept looking at her phone from time to time, hoping and praying for it to ring. Anxious to receive an order from the big boss, or Mr. Clifford or even the obnoxious Mr. Bentley! At the moment she didn't really care where the order came from as all she wanted was to be given some work to do! 

 But alas, no call came from anywhere up to the lunch hour. All she was able to do was usher in Mr. Gallagher's visitors or stop them whenever he was occupied. That was all she did as he even declined her offer of making coffee for him when she made hers.

   As soon as the lunch hour began, she closed the laptop in frustration and got up from her seat. She was here on a mission and she'll not let the aloof man waste her precious time by making her sit down idle. She smiled as an idea came to her mind. The man had been cooped up in that office for the past six or so hours and so he must be hungry. 

Heading straight to the elevator, she went to the cafeteria on the tenth floor. Quite typical of her, she mingled around, socializing with the guys around and getting to know their names. After subtly asking and realising nobody knows what the CEO likes to eat for lunch, she decided to get a box of pizza for both of them. After all, who doesn't love pizza?

Back on the topmost floor, she prepared two cups of cappuccinos and made her way to his office. As usual, she knocked once before barging in, chanting,

    "Lunch is piping hot and ready!"

Even though there was a center table in front of the plush sofa in a corner of the spacious office, Angelina chose to place the food on the large desk. There were some files in front of Maxwell and he was deeply engrossed in reading them when she entered but without sparing a glance at his direction, she cleared everything and 

kept them neatly aside before placing the food items in front of him.

Utterly gobsmacked, Maxwell just sat there looking at her in wonder, not uttering a word. As for Angelina, his penetrating eyes that were firmly fixed on her, watching her every move were once again unnerving her but she refused to get intimidated or show any form of weakness. Opening the box, the tantalizing and appetizing aroma of hot pizza wafted into the air, causing Maxwell to instantly furrow his brow.

    "What's that foul stench coming from?"

Then, as his gaze fell on the triangles of delight, he narrowed his eyes and added,

    "Get that nasty stuff out of my sight, now!"

   "What? Sir, it's not nasty stuff, it's pizza----The Pizza! The food everyone loves! I'm sure even you will love it as well. But that's only if you try it, here, let me…"

It happened so fast that none of them saw it coming. One second Angelina was standing opposite him with the desk in between them and the next, she was right in front of him, shoving a slice of pizza towards his mouth just as he opened it to order her to leave his office. And just like that, the pizza got into his mouth…

Silence…utter silence. Angelina just paused there like a statue in front of him, with her hand still touching against his lips, waiting to see his reaction to her daring action. 

One second, two seconds…it felt like eons later before Maxwell finally raised up his head and fixed his eyes on Angelina's----grey against hazel but this time around the grey ones didn't seem icy cold as they usually did. On the contrary, they seem like two laser beams, burning and penetrating into Angelina's soul…

Then, the most bizarre thing happened as Maxwell, as if in a trance, with his eyes still fixed firmly on Angelina's, slowly chewed the piece of pizza in his mouth. He swallowed it before moving his lips closer and devouring the bite remaining in her hand. In the process, his warm, moist tongue poked out and ever so slowly and lingeringly licked off the melted cheese in her hand…

Angelina gasped while her breath hitched at the contact of his moist tongue against her skin. She quickly withdrew her hand and as fast as she could, hurriedly moved back to her former position.   

 Maxwell on the other hand, seemed to have completely recovered from his reverie as his eyes were back to their usual steely and icy nature and his demeanor had changed completely. It was just as if that moment never happened.

With a stern expression, he calmly ordered,

   "Take your food and leave my office."

   

    "But Sir, I…"

     "I said leave, now!"

Angelina didn't wait to be told thrice as she grabbed the box and her cup of coffee and left. However, it seemed as if her idea of using food to make him remember her existence as his personal assistant worked as just a few minutes after lunch hour, he summoned her for an errand.

   "Check the bottom drawer on your desk, there's a file titled 'YGL' that your predecessor worked on. Take it to Simon at the IT department."

   "Okay, right away, Sir."

However, contrary to her words, Angelina didn't immediately go to deliver the message. Curious, she scanned through the documents in the file and her adept Java developer brain picked up some discrepancies.

Hurrying back to Maxwell's office, she barged in as usual and immediately started speaking.

   "Sir, forgive me but I kind of brushed through the file and something just doesn't add up. These codes…something's not just right about them. Do you mind if I retest them? I know the developer did so earlier but just to be sure?"

Maxwell just fixed his intimidating, steely gaze on her before he responded.

   "Are you trying to get kicked out on your first day at work?"

    "No, Sir. Of course not!"

"Then follow simple instructions, little man."

Angelina pouted.

   "I know you've condemned me right on the first day we met but at least, give me a chance to…"

She didn't get a chance to finish her sentence as he got up from his seat and in a few strides, snatched the file away from her hand. As he opened it and went through the documents, a slight frown formed on his face.

Closing the file, he looked at Angelina.

    "And you were able to detect the flaws by just glancing through?"

   "Yes Sir. Java development is sort of 'my thing' among everything else."

For a brief moment, Angelina saw a flash of something akin to admiration in his frosty eyes but it disappeared almost immediately.

   "That's how I expect every employee of M.J Tech to be----alert, keen and adept. Now go and do the needful."

With that, he passed the file back to her and returned to his desk while Angelina left the office with a huge grin on her face. He might not have said it directly but he just praised her, and that too on her first day at work! 

It seems as if things won't be all that difficult after all. Slowly but surely, she'll break down those aloof, cold and frigid walls of his until he's singing out all his deep secrets to her…

Unbeknownst to Angelina, as soon as she stepped out, Maxwell Jay Gallagher's deepest, darkest and most guarded secret revealed itself. He received a call on the special mobile phone that no one else ever called him on, except her…

         "Hi Izzy."

         "Dada!"

It was Isabella Joanne Gallagher, his twelve years old daughter…

The daughter no one outside his immediate family circle knew of… 

The daughter he had when he was just a sixteen years old teenager…

The daughter whom he loved more than anyone or anything else on this planet…

The daughter who was the center of his world…

The daughter who was his deepest, darkest and most hidden secret!