chapter 3

Sophia Parker

I'm normally never late to work. But today, I was 15 minutes late! That was because I had put in a lot more effort on my appearance than I usually would. I even applied makeup on my face.

I wanted to see if I could get Mr Wilson's attention and if I started dressing like his usual picks, then maybe he will finally notice me. I would normally wear loose skirts and trousers to work but today I am wearing something so tight that I can hardly spread my legs. My shirt was also 2 times smaller than my real size, I couldn't do up the first two buttons.

I felt so uncomfortable in these heels but this is what Mr Wilson likes. His usual girlfriends always wear killer heels anytime they show up to his office.

I didn't even get the chance to go to my own office first because I'm so late. I just went straight to the kitchen and prepared Mr Wilson's coffee. I left my bag there and rushed into his office without even knocking.

"Good morning Mr Wilson. I'm sorry I'm late, I was held up a bit by the traffic. Here's your coffee." I hurried inside and placed it on his table.

He didn't chastise me for being late, in fact he didn't say anything. He just looked at me like he'd seen a ghost. I couldn't make out how he felt about this because he just stared with a straight face, with his mouth slightly hanging open.

What if he doesn't like it? 

Maybe I went overboard because this was obviously not what I usually look like. 

I suddenly felt nervous and instantly regretted doing this. I also saw Mr Wilson shift uncomfortably. 

Great, now I'm making him uncomfortable.

"Sir are you okay?" I asked because he looked off-base.

"Yes. Yes. I'm fine" He said reaching for his coffee.

I was about to fill him in on his diary for today but he dropped his cup spilling the coffee everywhere.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry Mr Wilson was the coffee too hot?" 

I had been in such a hurry that I didn't let the coffee cool down before I gave it to him. I myself noticed it was very hot when I held it on my way here. Now some documents on his table were ruined.

Why can't you just get anything right Sophia!

"No, err..."

"Don't worry I'll clean this up right away." I said, trying to fix things. 

I gathered the files from his desk and hurriedly went to his washroom to get two towels. I cleaned his desk first then I cleaned the floor. 

This wasn't an easy task because I had to crouch and I felt like my skirt would rip into two at any given second. It would be so embarrassing if that actually happened.

I managed to clean up successfully without ripping my skirt and I asked Mr Wilson if he needed another cup of coffee since the first one went to waste. He said yes and I went and got him another one.

This time I took my time and managed to make his coffee at a decent temperature. When I returned to the office he finally spoke to me.

"You were late today Miss Parker."

"I know, I'm sorry. Like I said there was a bit of traffic."

"I don't think so Sophia. The roads were very free on my way to work this morning."

"Yes... They were actually. But the traffic... it was just outside my street! There was an accident and it took time for..."

"No excuses Sophia. Don't be late next time." He snapped.

"Yes sir." I placed the second cup of coffee on his table.

We stayed silent for a couple moments and I could feel him starring at me again like he did earlier. I felt so uncomfortable in my own skin. I cleared my throat but he didn't stop looking at me. I decided to say something to fill in the awkward silence.

"Umm, so today Mr Alfred Lewis will be coming in by 10:00am. You have a conference with Holt Industries and they will be coming in by 2:00pm. I have already prepared papers for both meetings. Also the budgets of all departments have not been reviewed in 3 months. Assumptions have been made since and the quality of projections has been reduced. All the divisions are planning on having a session by the end of today and they would like you to be present to give your approval and to finalize their decision." I said.

Still nothing from him.

"Mr Wilson!"

"Yes! Yes! What did you say?" he looked like his mind was somewhere far away and I'd just brought him back.

"Weren't you listening to me?" I asked incredulously.

"I was... but you were talking really fast."

"Okay, I guess I'd better email you your diary for today." I turned to exit. I found that so odd because he'd never once complained about the speed at which I spoke. 

"Wait!" He said.

I turned back, expecting him to say something but he just kept starring.

Okay, this is really getting weird. He's looking at me like I'm some strange animal from another planet. I definitely shouldn't have dressed up. I'm sure he noticed I tried hard today and it doesn't suit me. He's probably making fun of me in his head. Now I feel so embarrassed.

"You know what, never mind. You can leave."

With that I rushed out of his office like lightning. I can't face him again today, not like this. I don't know what was wrong with me. 

Did I actually think this would work?

Clearly it didn't and now he just sees me as some poor little girl who is trying so hard to be attractive but failing woefully. This whole stunt I pulled has only made things worse.

I sat on my desk and emailed his diary to him. Then I began to type new copies of all the soiled documents each. Thank goodness they weren't so many and didn't have much words on them. 

Every now and then, I looked at Mr Wilson through the corner of my eye through my open blinds and I would catch him looking at me. I wanted to close my blinds so badly because I couldn't work comfortably. After about an hour of debating, I stood up and closed it. 

I went over to the marketing department to meet Phoebe and to also ask her for help! This whole thing was her idea in the first place! The moment she saw me approaching her jaw dropped.

"Oh my gosh! Sophia is this you?!"

"In the flesh." I said sitting down at the corner of her desk

"You look so amazing, I see you went through with my plan. So tell me, how did it go?"

"Ugh! Terrible! He just starred at me like I was some strange object from Mars. I shouldn't have done this."

"Or... maybe he was astonished by how much beauty his personal assistant has been hiding all this while." She wagged her eyebrows.

"I doubt that he felt that way."

"Nope, I'm sure that he did. You look so good." She encouraged.

"Trust me Phoebe, you should have seen the way he looked at me."

"Sophia! You're not as repulsive as you think you are. Any guy that sees you like this and doesn't feel a thing is either gay or something is wrong with them."

Mr Wilson is definitely not gay. That still doesn't put him in the category of guys attracted to me though. I like how Phoebe is so optimistic. But as a realist, I can't totally believe some of what she says.

"Sophia!"

I snapped my head toward the voice only to see Mr Wilson himself. He is looking at me angrily like I'd done something wrong.

"You disappeared for half an hour only for me to find you here chatting! Is that what I pay you for? To chat?"

Half an hour???

"No sir, I was just asking Phoebe-"

"To my office now!" he ordered and walked away.

I gave Phoebe the 'I told you so look' before running after him. Now she would believe me when I say this man has no interest in me whatsoever. By the time I got to his office he was already sitting on his chair. A huge pile of files were in front of him.

"I need you to organise all these files into their respective folders and arrange them in the shelf just there." He said pointing to the shelf across his desk.

"Yes, sir." I said politely because I know that I'd already pissed him off enough today. Being late, bringing him hot coffee and now being caught chatting. 

Let's not make any more mistakes again now, Sophia.

I picked up the huge lever arch folders but they were so heavy that some fell from my hands and scattered all over the floor on my way before I could reach the shelf.

The noise was loud enough to get his attention, but I couldn't.

Why do I always embarrass myself in front of this man.

I got on my knees in mortification and began to stack the files again. 

Surprisingly, I felt him beside me. He had crouched down to also help me. I could feel the heat radiating from his body because we were so close. I froze and looked up into his blue eyes and saw him starring at mine as well. 

For a moment I had a tunnel vision, focusing on his face.

We were interrupted by a knock on the door and he moved away from me swiftly. I suddenly missed the proximity.

"Come in" he said standing up and leaving me to sort out the rest by myself. It was Alice, his secretary.

"Sir, your 10:00am is here." She said.

"Send him in."

After a few moments Mr Alfred Lewis walked into the office. He was one of our clients and his company specialises in telecommunications.

"Alfred, how nice to see you again." Mr Wilson said to him but he didn't even acknowledge his greeting. Instead he just stared a me unbelievably.

"Sophia?" He finally asked.

"Yes, good morning Mr Lewis."

"Wow, you look different. Very beautiful, I must add."

At least someone noticed!

"Thank you sir." I smiled.

I could see Mr Wilson from the side of my eye. He had narrowed his eyes and was glaring at Mr Lewis.

"Back to work Sophia!" He scolded me.

Him and Mr Lewis began talking but all the while I could feel his eyes on me, which was embarrassing because when I had to reach up to put a folder into the top shelf, I had to pull down my skirt because it kept rising up anytime I stretched. 

 When I was finally done, I scrambled out of the office. It was almost lunch time and I couldn't miss lunch because we were having a conference meeting at 2:00pm which would be extremely long and demanding.

I sat on my desk for a little while and when it was 1:00pm I left the building with Phoebe to get lunch.