Chapter 5

Chloe's POV

Surrounded by all those serious, very professional people, I felt like a teenager again.

“No…” I stuttered. Running a grimy hand over my purse as I stood right in front of her.

Her eyebrow shot up at my response and then she looked away. Her gaze buried into her computer like I’d said nothing earlier.

I backed away from the counter, running a hand through my hair as my eyes wandered off to the others crouched over their computer as well. Each one has a serious look.

“You can go now!” The red-haired lady said, pointing to the hallway.

“Twenty-seventh floor to your right” She added and then had her focus back on her computer in front of her.

“How am I supposed to get up to the…” I asked, feeling a bit lost on how on earth I was expected to get up there.

“Walk down the hallway, and you’ll see an elevator miss,” The Red-haired lady responded without a single glance my way. Like she had suddenly gotten offended over my question.

I made my way down the hallway, and just when I reached the elevator lobby I rushed to one of the eight possibilities. Making the smart choice of picking one that wasn't too far away from the first floor.

The stainless-steel panel of the elevator parted with an elegant ding. I wrapped an arm against my chest, walking into the elevator. Finally, the doors closed and gravity increased as it rose to the upper floors. Providing a little distraction for my messy mind. The doors finally opened as I wriggled my way to exit the elevator.

“Twenty-seventh floor to the right,” I mumbled. My eyes searched through the hallway hoping to find a sign that said Salvatore.

‘So silly of me to think he will have his name plastered on a wall’ But still in all of that, I kept looking.

“Miss,” A voice called out from behind me causing me to pause on my track. I turned slowly in the direction of the voice to find a blonde-haired lady in a sexy-ass velvet gown.

“He's been expecting you,” She added, her eye roaming every inch of my body as if trying to prove a point.

“Right,” I responded, following suit from behind her.

Wondering how long it took to have such an empire built. And why the fuck they had this much built.

Her hurried footsteps came to a halt right in front of a door, which I was guessing was his office. She swung the door open, letting me in. But then I stood staring back at her, hoping she’d walk in first.

The blonde-haired lady smiled, somehow noticing the nervous look on my face. Something I hate…

Since I would have to do this anyway, I took a deep breath and then walked in. The minute I did, I found him crouched over his desk, gaze fixed completely on the screen of his laptop. And for some reason, he looked so busy. ‘Am I interrupting anything?’ I thought to myself.

I eventually cleared my throat to make my presence known. Just then, he lifted his eyes to me immediately as his gaze lingered all over me. With one eyebrow lifted slightly. It was impossible to tell if he was judging or simply assessing me.

“You're here,” He said, rather cold.

“I guess,” I responded.

The instant the words left my lips, I regretted them. I froze, hating myself for my desperately inappropriate humor.

He shot a glance my way and then had his eyes torn away from me as he stared back at the screen of his laptop.

I remained silent, standing without an order to get settled in or even some epitome of guilt of him acting like I was even there.

My eyes trailed off to the mini frame plastered to the wall far off. One I could tell had a photo of one happy family. I mean, they all looked happy. And right next to it was the portrait of a kid.

I squinted, wanting to get a closer look at the kid in the photo. But then the closer I looked, the clearer the photo of the kid was becoming.

“That's Flynn,” A voice cuts through the thoughts in my head as I snap back to reality.

At that moment, I realized it turned out to be the kid from the mall. The same kid who had me mistaken for his mother.

“Such a cute boy you have there though,” I said, a smile creasing on my face as I stared at the portrait in front of me.

“Sit!” His voice came in hoarse, causing me to flinch at his tone. I paused, staring back at him, wondering why the hell he’d said that in such a harsh tone.

“Pardon my manners,” He said, his head lowered to the desk at the realization of his tone.

“You can have your seat,” He added.

Just when I settled into the chair across from him, my eyes settled on the gold-inscribed letters displayed on his desk. One that spelled “Lucas Salvatore”.

“That was his damn name!” I thought out loud in my head as I stared at the gold letters in front of me. For some reason, his name kept ringing a bell and I just couldn't pinpoint where I’d heard or seen the name before.

“Judging from your looks, I can tell you're still in college and…” He said, but then I had him cut off with the look on my face as I parted my lips to speak.

“A second-year level student,” I corrected.

“Same thing,” He grumbled, tapping softly on the keys of his laptop. A frown creased on his brows as he had his eyes glued elsewhere apart from at me.

“Dating?” He asked.

My eyebrows shot up at his question, wondering why on earth he’d asked that. ‘How the fuck did I go from blocking stalkers to getting questioned by a man I knew nothing about. In an office, I obviously meant to be, but somehow I found my way here,’ I thought to myself.

“I beg your pardon?” I asked.