CHAPTER FIFTEEN

                                               

The next day, Bellona got to work early, she waited to greet Zephyr and after that, she took the employee's elevator and then made coffee for him.

All these while, she didn't spare him a single glance nor did she try to appear jovial with him. She just kept a straight face through out. When he was done with the coffee, she simply took the cup back and then went to her office.

Zephyr must have noticed because for some reason, he felt guilty. He regretted the way he treated her the previous day and he felt like apologizing for his behavior. 

Even though he felt remorseful, he wanted to keep his pride so he made use of the telephone to call her to his office.

************

After Bellona had received the call from Zephyr to come to his office, her straight face formed a frown. 

It was already bad that she had to put up with him and see him daily, now he was calling her to his office. Just what does he wants now? To anger her further?

Still, she rose from her seat and walked to his office. On her way to his office she heard a voice calling her.

"Honey biscuits." The voice called. Bellona didn't need to turn back to check who it was because she already knew the person. Only Lance could address her with such cringe endearments.

"Gumdrop, I've been calling you for a while now. Are you ignoring me?" Lance said when he got close to where she was standing and he made a cute face.

Bellona sighed deeply and answered. "I wasn't ignoring you. I just didn't hear you"

"That's okay. I can never get mad at my sugar biscuits. Let's have lunch together. It's time for lunch right?" Lance said expectantly. He made a puppy doll eyes that only irked Bellona.

"My boss is calling for me. I was about going to his office before you stopped me" Bellona tried to make up an excuse.

"Let's go to his office. He can't say no to me" Lance said and took her hand in his then proceeded to gently drag her to Zephyr's office.

Meanwhile, Zephyr was already getting impatient. It had been a while since he sent for Bellona but she was no where to be seen. He was about to stand up and go look for her himself when he heard a knock on the door.

He quickly adjusted his already straightened clothes and cleared his throat before saying, "come in"

His countenance fell when the person he was expecting wasn't the one who came in.

Well she was here but with another man who was holding her hands!

Zephyr eyed Lancelot and then looked at Bellona who wasn't even paying attention to him. He opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by Lance.

"I'm taking Bellona for lunch. She already agreed so I'm letting you know" Lance quickly said making Bellona to look at him in shock. 

When did she agree to this?

Without waiting for Zephyr's response, Lance spoke again, "I'll make sure to bring her back before the lunch break is over. Hopefully." He whispered the last part but Zephyr heard him clearly.

Lance then smiled widely, showing his perfect teeth and then walked out with Bellona beside him.

Zephyr was speechless and angry. He wanted to refuse Lance but when he heard that Bellona had agreed to go out with him, he couldn't do anything.

He was furious beyond words but his wolf was silent as dead. Why was he being restless over a girl that wasn't his fated mate.

Although, he wasn't one who believed in the mate bond and mate pull bull crap but he never imagined that he would make a fuss about a girl who is human and who doesn't have a scent for God's sake.

He needed to clear his head and quickly before he eventually losses control of himself.

***********

"Where are we going to?" Bellona asked. She was already sitted in Lance's car while he drove.

"Excited much?" Lance smiled. "I told you we're going to have lunch."

Bellona didn't speak to him any further, she simply looked outside the window and focused on the landscape. She wasn't one to admire nature, she didn't have time for that. Infact nothing ever seemed appealing to her.

"We're here" Lance said after a while and Bellona looked at the restaurant he chose and then she looked at Lance, her gaze questioning.

"You said we're having lunch" She said.

Lance itched his head nervously, "yes, just lunch"

"Then why this fancy restaurant?" She asked?

"The fanciest restaurant for the most beautiful woman" was his response. "Come on, let's go eat. I'm hungry" He whined.

Bellona hummed and alighted the vehicle. She was impressed. The man was really trying his best. Unfortunately, it won't be able to work on her.

On entering the restaurant, a waiteress walked up to them. "Welcome Mr Lance, welcome miss. This way, please" and led them to their table. 

'He made reservations' she thought.

The waiteress welcomed him with such familiarity, meaning he was a regular.

Bellona could tell from the way the waitress looked at her that she had a thing for Lance. She wanted to laugh out loud, Lance was in the least of her priorities. If not for the fact that she found him useful, she wouldn't even spare him a glance.

"What would you like to have?" Lance asked her.

"Recommend for me" She replied.

"Their chicken casserole is delicious" He smiled.

"Then that's what I'll have."

"Chicken casserole for the lady and fried rice with stir fry for me. And bring a bottle of your finest wine." He told the waitress and she left almost immediately to bring their dish.

"Wine?" Bellona asked. "Don't you plan on driving back?"

"A little wine can't harm me." He blasted.

They chatted for a while about some random things then the waitress brought their food, putting an end to their conversation.

"So..." Bellona started while they were still eating, "you're Zephyr's friend, right? How long have you two been friends"

"You call Zephyr by his name?" Lancelot chuckled, "feisty. I like it."

"Well, he's not here" Bellona smiled still waiting for his response.

"We've been friends for about twenty years now" Lance answered.

'Great!' Bellona thought. He would know a thing or two about Zephyr which could help her. She was going to extract all information from him without him knowing.

"Is there anything I should know that'll help me be a good secretary to him." She asked.

By now they had finished eating and they were drinking the wine.

"In as much as I don't want to tell you because I want you to be mine secretary, I can't say no to you" Lance smiled.

"That's kind of you" She faked a bright smile.

When Lance was about to tell her, his phone suddenly rang.

"Excuse me" He said and went out to receive the call.

Bellona was annoyed. Must it be now that she was on the verge of finding out about Zephyr that the stupid caller decided to call?

Lance spent quite sometime on that call and during those moments, Bellona was bored out of her wits.

"I'm sorry, it was from work" Lance said when he returned.

"No problem. So you were saying?" Bellona asked impatiently.

"What were we talking about?" Lance laughed. 

"About Zephyr" Bellona said.

"Oh" Lance finally remembered.

"It's not news that Zephyr changes his secretary like he changes his socks so if you want to be his secretary, you have to be punctual, skilled, diligent and most of all, you need to be truthful. He hated liars."

Ugh! Bellona wanted to scream at him. She didn't ask him to advice her. She wanted to know about Zephyr and not how to be a good secretary.

Lance kept rambling on and on and Bellona just wanted to stitch his lips together.

"Do you have any idea why he's cold and distant" Bellona interrupted his speech. Maybe if she knew his weakness, she would be able to exploit it.

"Uhmm" Lance thought for a while. "He wasn't always like that. Infact he was very jovial when we were kids. He had a friend, I can't remember her name but there were rumors that she died and since then, Zephyr changed."

Bellona paused. At that moment, their was a brief flash in eyes and she had a severe headache. She couldn't help but support her head with her hands.

"What's wrong? Are you okay?" Lance asked worriedly when he noticed her off behavior.

"I'm fine" She lied. "It must be the wine."

"Let me get you a bottle of water." Lance suggested.

"No, it's fine. Let's leave." 

"Are you sure?" Lance asked. 

"Let's leave, please" She pleaded, almost shouting.

They left the restaurant and entered the car. "What's your house address, I'll take you home" Lance told her.

"Don't bother. Take me to the office, I'm fine"

"You sure?"

"Hmm" She hummed, not in the mood to talk.