Chapter 4

Life is starting to back on track after things calm down, the question is so simple, and yet Lisa couldn't answer it. The two parties reached a secret agreement that the subject was never mentioned again.

It's a Saturday, Lisa is having breakfast with Joseph when the phone is ringing, it's Ella on the phone who is recently pregnant with her second baby.

"How is Ella?" Joseph is asking when Lisa is putting down her mobile.

"She experiences sickness, again the pregnancy is very similar to her previous one, she can take care of herself, I believe that these are some of the things she can do for herself.By the way, I am planning to visit her next weekend." Lisa is sitting back at the table to finish her toast.

"I am going to a business trip next Friday. So when are you going to tell her about us?" Joseph raises an eyebrow.

"She is not one of your exes, does it matter? She was the first one who said we were meant to be a couple. I want to know why you never called or texted me after you got my number back then?" Lisa stars at the man with a magical twinkle.

"Oh, you are not changing the topic. If she thinks we should be together, why not let her know the good news? Are you trying to hide something from me?"

"You are being paranoid. A quid pro quo, you have to tell me why you never reach out in private when you have my contact number, I want to know the truth."

"I promised that I would not lie to you, but you swear you would not be mad if I tell you the truth." 

"I swear." Lisa is crossing her fingers.

"You must remember how you behaved each time we encountered, I thought you were a weirdo, and you were not even a target. It did not occur to me that you would be the future Mrs..." Joseph was trying to kiss her as speaking.

"I never said yes, so please choose your words scrupulous. Technically, this is cheating, but if there's no touching it doesn't count. By the way, I am not mad at all because back then you were just the jerk made frequent appearances in the gossip columns."

Lisa kisses him back with passion, leaving no space for words.

…

Five years ago

After a three-month probationary period, Lisa's position was confirmed. The other good news for Lisa was that she and Ella was getting really close because they had become roommates for almost a month. They rode to work together, traveled official business, played sports at home and the gym and shared lunch nearly every day at the café, all over but wore matching suits.

It was a usual Wednesday morning at November; the overcast sky was stifling. As soon as Lisa was setting up her desk with her desktop opening, she was called to Peter's office where had a wonderful view over the park that she would never get tired of admiring.

Peter was sitting behind the huge desk wearing a serious face, and Joseph and Henry were sitting on the deluxe sofa in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows.

"Joseph, I will send my best officer to help you. Lisa, you are at his command from now on. He will explain everything to you as you go along." Peter said and asked them to leave.

Joseph winked at Lisa, the expression on his once solemn face relaxed into a relieved smile. Then all the details of the awkward moments were fresh in her memory, Lisa looked on the pretty face and frowned.

Although she got to ask the CEO about anything work related, it was not the proper time to do it. She stepped out of the office and waited for Josephs' saying.

"Lisa, could you please move to my office to be with us until the project is over? "then Joseph turned to Henry: “Henry, please go first. I will catch up with you later.”

"Sure, I am at your service. Would you please let me know what is this about?" her voice was heavy with sarcasm.

"Pardon my manners. Please take your laptop and follow me, I will tell you the whole story at my office. "Joseph led the way as spoke.

Joseph's office was a small room which was next to Henrys' in the middle of an open office. Like the general open office decoration pattern space by a number of employees and managers to use.

Interior finished were limited to white walls, a tailed floor and white painted millwork, the palette was intentionally simple and minimal. The most remarkable item was the espresso maker, it was displayed on the cupboard and it sure looked expensive.

What he had done with the office was in perfect accord with his character, a generous cheapskate, even though very wealthy and be able to afford the better, he liked to buy cheap instead of higher quality or better stuff.

"This place looks nice." Lisa was looking around, it was her second visiting since she did not take a good look the first time.

"A good office decoration environments was very important, it directly affects the staff's work efficiency and physical and mental health."

Some people did it as to show their status, or personality, stating that they were better than others or they were different. Lisa did not know if Joseph wanted to show off or not knowing what else to say, she just looked impassively at him and said nothing.

The good thing- he knew women very well.

He got that he need to skip the usual preliminaries and come straight to the point.

"You must remember Christian and his team, we are working on a new range of products right now, it had been reached to a critical stage which we need someone who can communicate with their engineers to track the sample production process in timely manner to correct any mistakes. Do you think you can help us?" Joseph coughed to hide the smile on his face.

"Sure, how long will it take? "Lisa pretended not to notice.

"Perhaps 2 or 3 days, one more thing, once accepted into the program, you had to adhere to a strict confidentiality agreement. Please sign the nondisclosure agreement first per the company's regulations."

The NDA addressed to Lisa was ready, when she saw her name on it she knew that this was no sudden response to provocation, but a long-planned move. Lisa laughed and signed the paper without hesitation.

The following days Joseph, Henry and Lisa worked together, although it may be tough to ignore him, it's better to keep her distance. Therefore, she stuck to talk about work upon every occasion, nothing personal or any fun, tension-free topics at all.

She was full of good intentions but they rarely worked out, Lisa obviously did not realize that Henry was fairer than it was absolutely necessary, which drove her crazy.

This time Lisa was trying to elaborate that there were slight variations in these two parameters, Henry did it again-a lot of nitpicking was going on about irrelevant things. Lisa was in no mood to put up with his carping, Joseph stepped in before Lisa explode.

"Lisa, you can't change his temperament and it's no use struggling with his personality. If we take him too seriously, we will all end up in a mental hospital."

"How could you be friend with him?"

"The most formidable man is not the one who kills up all his enemies, but the one who can turn his opponents into his friends. I could turn anyone into a friend."

For a woman, the best way to be close to her was not listening to her crazy talks, but grumbling about the person who were annoying together. Then, you could talk about your shared activity, which would lead to other conversation topics, too.

Lisa felt much better after bitching about Henry with Joseph, and she accepted that she seemed a bit biased against him because of the rumors, and he was not as infamous as she heard.

It took four days for Lisa to finish her part in the program, she was glad that she could move back to her desk. There was a problem which reared its ugly head the next day after she moved back in the executive office, her attitude to work was incredibly thorough so she went back to fix it.

When the project was completed, Joseph invited Lisa to dinner to celebrate with his team.

"I am really happy for having worked with you for a few days. By the way, I think you are overqualified for the job, do you want to come dinner with the team tonight?"

"Thanks, but I already made a dinner plan with my roomie tonight." Lisa left his office.

Lisa failed to bond with Ella the last few days due to the long working hours, she suggested a nice dinner and a fine movie as compensation. Then Lisa told Ella what had happened and she cannot make peace with Henry, one of the good sides was that she did not need to talk to him any more if not necessary.

But Ella was a little pissed off when she was putting a kindly word for Joseph.

"Do you think you can understand this man with only these few days of encountering?"

Prejudices could easily become implanted in one's thought; Lisa may as well be up front about Ella's prejudice against Joseph. It was advisable not to mention this man again.