Chapter Three—An unfortunate encounter.

Chapter Three—An unfortunate encounter.

“Who are you?” He asked.

He didn’t master the art of a perfect poker face for nothing. It was great in situations such as this, when he had to lie through his teeth to get rid of someone. At the moment, a fiery pair of green eyes he needed to get rid of.

“Huh?!!” Annalise couldn’t help but laugh, it contained her bitterness and tears, “You don’t know who I am?!”

Still poker faced, he remained mute.

She couldn’t believe this, reaching into her pockets as she snapped out her phone. She rambled under her breath as she scrolled, then she turned the screen around,

“This!” She yelled, showing the picture of her damaged car, then scrolling to another picture of his SUV, “This. Remember me now you bastard?!”

“Mr Ashford I deeply apologize,” his secretary ran in with pleading eyes, “I tried to—

“It’s alright.” He dismissed her with the wave of a hand. She walked away with her head sunken low, praying to the gods she hadn’t lost the job she strove so hard to get.

Annalise was beyond enraged. It didn’t help that the one responsible for wrecking her car was literally one of the richest men in the country. Stephan Ashford, she’d come across his name in n one of her magazines during her leisure time. She also knew the “C and A” sounded familiar, suspicions confirmed when the taxi stopped right in front of the tallest building in manhattan.

Stephan sighed deeply. It was all Cillian’s fault. Now he was late for his meeting, with a crazy woman standing right in front of him with eyes that could kill. He took a second to skim over her—she was considerably tall, with curves on the right places, peculiar eyes, pouty lips, clad in a scrub which only meant she was a nurse. She also looked tired, stressed, in dire need of patches under those eyes of hers.

He let out a breath, slipping into his jacket as he hurled a key towards her. Annalise flinched to catch whatever was thrown in her direction, she looked down at it and frowned deeply.

“What is this?!”

“You’re a woman.” He replied, “It’s rude to yell. You’re causing a scene.”

She scoffed, “Says the man who wrecked my car to pieces.”

“You’ve been compensated.”

“Huh?!”

“Your car is a disgrace to humanity. I did you a favor by getting rid of It.” He said, adjusting his tie one more time, “I’ll have security escort you to my personal garage. You can have whatever vehicle the key opens.” Checking his watch, he was considerably late, “Are we done?”

Annalise couldn’t help but grow pale at his blatant disregard. He made to leave when she grabbed the hem of his jacket.

Stephan turned around sharply, the flash of rage she spotted in his eyes made her gasp and she let go for his jacket almost immediately. She blinked, in exasperation but still trying to remain composed, “I don’t want—

“What?” He was in her space now, she was growing even more nervous, “You want a settlement? How much?”

“How—

“Name your price, drop a name and I’ll have my finance team write you a—

“I don’t give a hoot about your damned money!!” She fired back, “I just want my car back. I also want an apology!”

Stephan snorted, “Like I said, i did you a favor by getting rid of that excuse of four wheels out of the road. Take the key and leave, madam. I’m not the type who has a tolerance for patience.”

Annalise remained mute for a second, then she casually strode over to the sofa on the adjacent side of his office. She crossed her legs and flashed a wicked grin, “Well you’re in luck, Mr Ashford. I’ve just gotten off my shift and I have all day to spare. I’m not leaving this office without an apology, and my car repaired.

A smirk tugged at the corner of the billionaire’s mouth, one which he wasn’t sure he liked. Most people would’ve taken the car or a settlement and moved along with it. Right in front of him, was a woman with a dirty ego to spare, who wanted an apology instead of actual money.

She was different. He hated different. At the moment, this difference was being a major pain in the ass.

“I’ll have my PR team tender a statement of—

“I want it directly from you.”

“You’re not getting it.” He flatly refused, checking his watch for the umpteenth time as he let out a sigh, “If you had investigated deeply, you would see I wasn’t driving the car which slammed into you. I was merely a passenger. If you need an apology, get it from my driver.”

“I don’t care about your driver.” She spat, “He works for you. You give orders and he carries them out. I’d rather eat a load of bricks than have a lowly worker as myself take responsibility for your actions….be as it may I’ve gotten an apology from him, but it’s not enough…….” She let out a yawn, stretching her arms on his sofa to prove her point, “Chop chop, Mr Ashford. You seem to be in a hurry.”

Stephan grimaced as he checked his watch one last time, then he stared at her. Annalise had already begun to fish a cigarette out of her pocket, she was dedicated to making herself feel at home:

He hated this feeling—being backed into a corner like this. He was Stephan Ashford, one phone call and he could get rid of her, but she could also go to the media. He was in hot water enough as it is.

Who was this woman and what was she doing to him??

“Send my team an estimate for the Volvo?” He finally blurted out in reluctance, “I’ll have it replaced.”

Annalise shook her head, “I don’t want a replacement. I want my car the way it is.”

She was stubborn. Why?!!

“Fine.” Flippantly waving a hand, “I’ll have it repaired as soon as possible.”

The office was silent, one could hear a pin drop. Annalise waited, Stephan faltered. He wanted her to leave, she still wasn’t budging.

“Alright…..” He grumbled into relent, “Sorry.”

It was obvious he didn’t mean it, but Annalise had just gotten a billionaire to apologize to her nonetheless, that itself was a bigger feat than getting her car repaired. She smiled, rising to her feet and nodding.

She didn’t give him the satisfaction of another word, silently leaving his office and clutching onto her work bag like her life depended on it. She waited until she right outside the building before she almost plummeted to her feet…..what had she just done?!!

Stephan turned to his secretary as he walked out of his office, “Call my private investigator. Have him look at the security cameras. I want every piece of information about the woman who just left my office on my table before evening.”