Have Lunch With Me

Chapter 6: Have lunch with me

LIAM’S POV

“Uhmmm, I have some files for you to sign, sir. Can I come in?”

Liam heard and recognized the voice. It was Ivy.

Here he was thinking of what excuse he could make up to see her, and she just appeared. It was like she could read his mind.

He snapped out of his thought as he heard another knock. “Come in,” he said as he put on his glasses and pretended to be busy with some paperwork on his desk.

Ivy entered his office with her hands full of some files. She gently placed them on his desk.

“These are contracts urgently in need of your signature, sir,” she said as she moved away from the desk.

Liam glanced at the files and looked away. Still pretending to be busy, Ivy wondered if he had heard what she had just said.

“Sir, the—” Ivy started, but was interrupted.

“You can leave. I'll sign and send it to you when I'm done.” Liam said without sparing her a glance.

“Okay, sir,” Ivy said, heading to the door, but was stopped by his voice. 

“Is there anything you are not comfortable with in your office, Ivy?” he asked

“No, sir, I'm comfortable with everything and have no complaints,” Ivy answered, turning back to look at him.

“Okay, what about lunch? Did you come with your own, or will you be eating out?” Liam asked, finally looking up at her.

Assessing her looks, she has her hair packed up in a high ponytail, revealing her smooth neck and fair white collarbone. He swallowed his saliva as he let his eyes trace the veins on her neck down to her chest, the upper part of her breast was visible, leaving a lot to his imagination. His eyes wandered back to her face, tracing her deep brown eyes to her slender nose with freckles until they finally relaxed on her heart-shaped lips that looked so plump and inviting, and he wanted to have a taste.

He was brought out of his unholy thoughts by Ivy calling out to him.

“Sir, I was asking if I could leave,” Ivy said with burning cheeks from embarrassment.

“You can leave, and oh, Ivy, you are having lunch with me.” With that, he dismissed her. 

After Ivy left, Liam tussled his hair in frustration.

“Why did I just do that? Gosh, what is wrong with me? Now she must think I'm a fucking creep for staring at her that way”

He said out loud, annoyed at himself.

“But what was she thinking, packing her hair like that?” If he didn't know better, he would have thought she was trying to seduce him on purpose. He groaned as he heard another knock on his door. Before he could respond, the person was inside already.

“Of course I can't have a minute to breathe,” he muttered as Alex walked in and sat on the couch in the corner of his office 

“Woah, what’s with that look? Did I walk in as you were about to finish?” Alex asked teasingly.

“What do you want, Alex?”  Liam asked, scowling.

“Nothing, just came to see how you were doing, you know, with another person in your space that is not me. And did I mention that the other person is a female?” Alex said with a face full of fake empathy.

“Drop the charade, Alex, I know what you are doing, but I'm not in the mood. Now help yourself to the door, I'm busy.” Liam replied, reaching for the contracts Ivy brought in.

“Ouch, my feelings,” Alex pouted, but was ignored by Liam 

All his other attempts to get Liam’s attention failed.

He then smirked as he thought of something. “Ivy must have been feeling so hot.” his smirk turned into a wide grin as he saw Liam's lips twitch slightly, but he caught it.

“Her face was so red when I bumped into her earlier,” he continued. Seeing that he was getting Liam's attention, he went on.

“Who knew she would be more beautiful with her hair packed up?” he ended with a satisfactory grin on his face. Liam was now looking at him with murderous eyes. If looks could kill, he was sure he would be six feet below the ground now, probably saying hello to his grandma in heaven.

“Are you trying to make me kill you, Alex, or are you just dumb? Liam asked

“So all I had to do was mention her name to get your attention, now you're making me more curious about who she is, Liam,” Alex replied. His expression is now serious

“Who is she?” and why are you so worked out at the slightest mention of her name?” He asked again.

“Out, Alex!” Liam ordered, dodging the question.

“Fine, I'm leaving, but just know this, the more you try to hide it, the more curious I become, and you know what happeens when I become too curious,” Alex said, standing up to leave. Raising his hands in surrender.

“And oh, what would you like to have for lunch, boss? He asked with a playful smile on his face.

“Don't bother about it, I'm eating out with Ivy,” Liam replied like it was the most natural thing in the world.

Alex's mouth dropped open. “Okay, this is getting more interesting,” he said as he shut the door behind him.

Liam let out a breath after he left. Finally, some peace. Alex was such a case, he always has been.

Ever since they became friends eight years ago, Alex has been a pain in the neck. Always seeming to derive pleasure from driving him mad. Like it was his life-driven purpose. 

Liam made sure he kept Ivy a secret from Alex because he knew his best friend would not let him hear the end of it if he knew how crazy Ivy was driving him. Alex might probably be teased for it for the rest of his life if he ever found out that he had searched for her like a madman for a whole year.

It was almost noon, “shit” Liam cursed out as he remembered he didn't even ask Ivy what she would like to have for lunch. How was he going to ask her now? 

“The contract!” he thought he was going to call to tell her he was done signing them, then ask the question. He smiled, patting himself mentally.

“Damn you Alex! He cursed again as he saw the contract lying there, unsigned on the desk.

He had been so busy worrying about Alex that he didn't remember to sign them.

He grabbed them and carefully went through each one of them before signing.

“Finally,” he breathed out as he finished signing the last one.

He grabbed the telephone and dialed Ivy's office. 

“Hartwell’s office, how can I help you?” she answered from the other end

“Ivy, it's Liam.”

Silence 

“Hello, are you there?” he asked 

“Yes, sir, do you need anything?” she finally answered.

“I'm done signing the contracts, you can come get them later.”

“Okay sir”

“Uhmm, what would you like to have for lunch?” Liam blurted out

Silence

“Hello,” Liam asked 

“Anything is fine, sir,” Ivy replied 

“Okay, we are leaving in 20 minutes, and oh, Ivy let your hair down. Liam said and ended the call.