By the time Sean came back to Harper Group, it was 11:00am. He worked solidly for another hour and a half when his secretary Rachel interrupted him. “Mr Harper, the reception desk downstairs have contacted me telling me that your girlfriend has arrived wanting to come up and see you. Forgive me if I am mistaken, but we haven’t been given any instructions from you about any girlfriend, so I thought to check in with you first before allowing her to come up. She is insisting that she is your girlfriend and that she will arrange for you to fire all the reception staff if we do not let her in to see you”. Sean just sighed and told Rachel that he indeed did not have a girlfriend but asked her to bring up the cameras for the front lobby.
It was no stranger, it was Claire. ‘What is she doing here at his workplace. Better still why is she claiming that she is his girlfriend?’, he thought to himself. He knew that he was going to have to deal with Claire not only today, but right now. “You and the reception desk in the lobby did the right thing. She is not my girlfriend and nor do I have any intention to make her my girlfriend. She is someone that helped me out of a sticky situation, but this behaviour is not acceptable. I think I need to have a word with her to make sure this does not happen again. Have security escort her in, however, do not allow them to use my private elevator”. Rachel had been working for Sean for four years and in that time, there were a stream of women coming to the lobby reception purporting to be his girlfriend and so it wasn’t anything unusual. Rachel also knew that only Sean’s close friends and family used his private elevator. Even her as his Personal Secretary that had her desk right outside his office used the main elevator to get to the floor and not his private elevator.
The arrival of the elevator was indicated by a ‘ding’ and the light above the elevator lit up. A young girl walked out of the lift wearing very little clothing. Her skirt was so short, her undies could be seen and her top was short and tight revealing more than just her cleavage. Rachel introduced herself and then took her to Sean’s office. After Rachel knocked, Sean’s assistant Leo opened the door and let Claire in. Rachel nodded at Leo and then went back to her desk.
Claire saw Sean behind his desk and smiled as she made her way to him. She ran to throw herself into her arms, but Sean stopped her and in an annoyed tone said: “Claire, what’s the meaning of all this? Not only were you rude to the receptionists at the front desk, but you also told them that you were my girlfriend and threatened their jobs. I’m afraid that this is not acceptable behaviour here at Harper Group. Let me make this clear, apart from me being grateful to you, we are not in a relationship”. As soon as Sean said this to her, she started sobbing and then tried to explain in between her sobs, “I, I, I just wanted to see you and perhaps take you out to lunch. They wouldn’t let me in and I didn’t know what to do, so I told them I was your girlfriend. I didn’t mean anything by it, I just wanted to see you”.
Sean rubbed his temples; he didn’t have time for such drama. Firstly, her dress sense was very provocative which he did not appreciate in his workplace, but to threaten his staff and claim to be his girlfriend, he would not have it. “Claire, my Personal Secretary already ordered me lunch. Furthermore, this is my private work space for which I do not like unannounced visitors and do not like lies or anyone causing a scene in the lobby. Please leave and go home and if you are so bored, perhaps you should look at finding a job a few days a week, surely you can do that”. Claire’s tears ran down her face. She looked at him and with her pouty, hurt face and pleaded, “Sean, I know I should not have done any of those things. I promise I will be nice to your staff from here on. I only wanted to spend time with you. I can’t find a job; I am still recovering from the injuries in saving your life.” Sean’s heart tightened at the mention of her injuries after saving his life. He really did owe her and it saddened him that he had made her cry. “Alright, it’s ok Claire, let’s have lunch together in my office as my secretary has ordered more than I can eat”, he softly told her. Claire at once stopped crying and waited as Rachel came in and set up lunch for them. “Rachel, I know you keep some spare jackets for yourself in the office, please can you lend one of your long ones to Claire so that she can cover herself up to look more respectable and then feel free to use my card to buy yourself a replacement”, Sean said. “Of course, Mr Harper, right away”, she replied as she hurried off to get a jacket for Claire. Claire was gobsmacked at what Sean had just said. The only reason she dressed the way she did was because she thought she’d draw his attention to her body, not repulse him so that he’d make such a crude remark directed at her. From Sean’s point of view, he had a reputation to upkeep and did not want to be seen with Claire dressed provocatively. He liked classy women that respected their bodies and dressed appropriately.
During lunch, Claire made comments indicating that she’d like to do this more often, but he just changed the subject and encouraged her to get out there and meet new people and find some hobbies. Thirty minutes later, Sean told her that he had a meeting with Leo and so it was time for her to leave. “Can I stay here and wait for you until you finish work and then we can have dinner together, or you can take me home after that”, she pleaded whilst latching onto his arm. Sean did not like people that were not close to him touching him, so he released himself from her hold. He then looked at her and softly said to her, “Claire, I am an extremely busy person. I have lots of meetings and will be working late. You need to go out, meet some new people and make friends. Straco City is very big with lots of places to go and meet new people.” He then asked Leo to escort Claire to the lobby. Claire clenched her fist behind her back and then looked up at him and did not know what to say to him. As Leo opened the door and was leading Claire out by her elbow, Sean then looked up from his desk and said to her, “One other thing Claire, please ensure you apologise to the receptionists on your way out for your outlandish behaviour and please do not come to my workplace again. Whilst I thank you for making the effort to come here to try and take me out for lunch, I have my secretary that arranges my lunch for me and occasionally I meet friends and business associates for lunch. Whilst I am grateful for what you did for me, we need to maintain our distance”. At that, Leo guided her out the door before Claire could say anything to Sean. Claire’s face went red and showed she was angry which Leo and Rachel noticed. Rachel had a bad feeling that this girl was bad news for her boss Mr Harper.
After Leo returned, he told Sean that not only did Claire dump Rachel’s jacket on Rachel’s desk without thanking her but she also did not apologise to the receptionists even though he had tried to guide her to the reception desk to do so. Sean let out a breath of exasperation and thought that at least he made it clear there would not be any relationship between them and coming back to Harper Group unannounced was a big no-no. Sean then discussed a few business items with Leo and got on with the rest of his day.
Outside the Harper Group, although Claire thought she had made some progress by at least getting Sean to accept having lunch with him. She was not pleased that he rebuked her for the way she was dressed, for her behaviour when dealing with the reception staff and she was not impressed that he indicated she was not his girlfriend. This man was made out of money, she read about him and knew that he was the second richest man in Straco City. She knew being his girlfriend and then his wife, she would get anything she wanted and also become someone people adored and looked up to in society. Claire imagined herself walking into his office, using his private elevator, ordering his staff around and evening firing whomever she wanted. Life would be perfect once she snagged Sean.
Four days later, it was a Monday morning, Grace had just finished her routine Monday 7km morning run along the beach near her apartment. Although she was busy, she found that running took her mind off things and kept her fit. She had showered and was having breakfast with her cappuccino at the Shore Café sitting in her usual seat by the window staring at the magnificent views of the water. She had found that there really were not a lot of places in Straco City that served cappuccinos, so when she came across this café, coupled with a great view, she knew she was on a good thing and decided to make it a regular place for her cappuccino and breakfast whenever she could. As her food and coffee arrived, Sean, Sebastian, Carter, Tyra and Kiara arrived to have breakfast. As they walked past where Grace was sitting towards the bigger table behind her, Sebastian greeted her with a “Good Morning”. Grace looked up briefly, greeted him with a “Morning”, she also smiled at the others, briefly
“Just sign here, here and here”, said a man in a grey suit to Grace. Grace signed all the paperwork as instructed by the man. “Congratulations, you are now the owner of a new Apartment waterfront apartment over by Bluey Beach. I hope you will be happy there as it is not crowded, has great Ocean views and also is not far from the Central Business District”. Grace was so elated to finally have her own apartment in Straco City. It was becoming very cumbersome living out of a hotel as she was missing having her own kitchen. She couldn’t wait to video call her parents and show them the apartment. It will take about 6 weeks to process and then once all money due is paid, it will all be legally yours. The Land Title can be forwarded to you in the mail at that point but I like to personally to deliver it to my clients with a bottle of champagne we can celebrate with. Grace lived in a motel for 1 week when she moved into town, after that she moved into a small 3 star hotel in the City
(Two weeks later)Carter, Sean and Sebastian met up for some dinner and drinks at the ‘Oxford Club’. They tried to meet every few weeks. They occasionally discussed a bit of business but it was mostly just to catch up with each other about the what was going on their individual lives. They grew up together and these three friends were just like brothers. They always had each other’s backs whether it be in their personal lives, or in business. They were as tight as brothers could be. They had their own private room, so they could discuss whatever they liked and it stopped the girls always eyeing and approaching these three handsome men and bothering them. These three men were a great catch and were never short of admirers. Everywhere they went girls admired them and threw themselves at these men.“Grace is really something, isn’t she? It was priceless seeing Arlo’s reaction as she dealt with him. He’s such a creep. It really upset Tyra and Carter the way he tried to man handl
Grace and Tyra just finished their run along beach over by Grace’s new apartment. Grace was going to be moving into her new apartment in 3 weeks and pointed out to where her apartment was. “It’s the top level one over there. Of course, it’s not a mansion or a Penthouse, but it is absolutely perfect for me. In the evenings, I can sit out on the balcony overlooking the gorgeous view of the beach. I’ve got a dedicated room for a small home office when I work from home in the evening or when I choose to not go into the office. It’s close to convenience stores and not far from my new office”, she told Tyra. “Sounds like a dream, I’d love to see it when you move in”, Tyra told her. Grace had a good feeling about Tyra and somehow in her heart she knew she could trust this girl in front of her. “You’ve got a deal, maybe I’ll even cook you one of my famous lunches when I have you over”, Grace responded. Tyra squeezed her hand in response as she also had a similar feeling that Grace could
(A few days later)Now that Grace had settled on staying in Straco City (at least for the time being), she had settled on a new Lease for her company. It was over in the centre of town about a 5-minute walk from the Shore Café. Her new office was also a 12–15-minute drive from her new apartment she had just purchased at Bluey Beach. She hadn’t purchased a car yet, so was either using a motorbike she had bought as soon as she came into town or caught a cab where she had to go. The apartment was spacious. It had 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a small room she could use as her home office. A nice sized kitchen that she would definitely take advantage of as she loved cooking and it also had a nice sized lounge and dining room. The garage under the apartment building was accessed via a secured roller door that only the residents in the three apartments in her building could access. She also had a balcony that she could sit on and watch the wave
Grace met her employees outside Blue Moon. She had paid for cabs for all her staff to and from the club. Once they arrived at the venue, Grace could see that the queue was very long. However, the owners of Blue Moon had arranged those waiting in the queue to be given a bottle of water each and some finger food whilst waiting to get in. The venue had beautiful lights shining onto the façade. There were security personnel at the main door checking bags for weapons and drugs and of course checking identification to ensure that those only 21 years old and over could get into the club.Although the line was long, those that had a room booked could go via a different door which had a much shorter queue, they just had to show their pass. Grace and her contingent lined up at that door. Grace was wearing a black tight skirt with sparkles that was just above her knees coupled with a mid-riff white top and black wedge espadrille shoes. The white
Once Sean and Carter returned to their VIP room, they explained to the others what they had heard. “So, the lease she signed a few weeks ago was with Harper Group. Her company is a tenant in one of the buildings you own which just so happens to be next door to the Harper Group building and to this day, she has no idea that you are Harper Group”, said Tyra to Sean. “Talk about coincidences, or fate”, said Kiara as she winked at Sean. “How ironic that Grace is the big boss of Messi Group. I would never have picked it. We all thought there was some bloke in charge. Goes to show that women should never be underestimated”, added Kiara. Sean was lost in thought, ‘hmm, there really is more to this woman than meets the eye. Not only is she smoking hot but she definitely has some business acumen’.Sean picked up the phone and went to a private part of the room and called his assistant Leo. “Leo, I need you to find
It was 11:00pm, there were numerous drinks being consumed and Grace was feeling a bit tipsy. Arlo happened to be there and sidled up to her with the help of one of his bodyguards. “Hey beautiful, remember me?”, he asked loudly over the loud music. She looked at him with scorn and tried to move away from him, but as she was a bit tipsy, she tripped over. Grace knew, her head was about to hit the dance floor, and in that split second, she was caught securely around the waist by Sean. They then locked eyes. ‘It’s him again, why is he always around’, she thought. Sean stared into her eyes and again there was a familiarity that he could not put his finger on, except that his heart was beating against his rib cage as he held her. At that moment, Grace released herself from his hold. She thanked him and then ran to the bathroom to get herself together. Arlo kept a watch on her as he was intent on having her. “No-one, I mean no-one gets away f