CHAPTER 7

"Now you have your son to deal with, don't you? Mujer codiciosa." Tara said and left the table.

"You need to bring him back or else, all of us know that the CRUZ company will fail woefully." Dr. Mathew said and left, followed by Daniel and Henry.

Maria was the only person who has not left. She became infuriated at Philip's audacity knowing that, without him, the company would not function very well. In her pride, she decided to assign someone else to take the position instead of apologizing to her son.

Philip sat down on his couch and sighed. He was stressed out these past few days, at least he showed his mother today that he couldn't be controlled by her and if ever she decided to call him back, she would have to decide not to meddle in his affairs ever again. His mother was a proud woman, so he wasn't expecting any apologies from her whatsoever.

After he had freshened up, he lay on his bed to sleep, and then, he got a call from Clara. He was in a very bad mood so he didn't pick up the call to avoid saying anything that would hurt her. The phone kept on ringing and he had no choice but to answer it.

"Clara." He said calmly.

"Hi, I just wanted to greet you...I'm sorry if I called..."

"Uh, no... it's fine. I just need some rest."

"O...Kay...I am sorry for disturbing you. I will call tomorrow if that's fine with you." She said.

"Is there anything I can help with?"

"No... I'm good. Goodnight."

"Alright."

Philip hung up and sighed, he wasn't mean to her but she could detect that he was upset. He laid down back on the bed and drifted to sleep.

"What did he say?" Ella asked.

"He sounded upset, even though he tried to hide it."

"So that means Dr. Mathew was right?"

"Yes, I think so."

"So you are going to be working there without seeing Philip?" That's so cruel of his mother."

"I have to find a way to see him."

"Why not go to his studio? He might be there tomorrow evening since he isn't going to work."

"Yeah, I think so," Clara said. The truth was that she couldn't work in the CRUZ company without seeing Philip for a day. It was strange, but she missed him. She wanted to see him every day until she had her fill with him.

"Ah, I am going crazy now. I don't know what I am feeling for him." Clara said.

"It's love. This is not your first time falling in love, so why are you so bothered about what you feel?"

"What I had with Allen and Patrick was different. This time, I feel that my feelings for Philip will consume me. It's hard for me to breathe normally when I'm close to him."

"You should calm down, for now, Philip is not like other guys. He won't accept you easily, even if he is friendly. It will take more than your feelings to attract him."

"That's the cruel part of it all."

"The worst thing that could happen to you is when your love is not reciprocated."

That was the truth and Clara knew that she had to accept it if she wanted to get closer to Philip.

Clara resumed work the following Monday and as stated in her acceptance letter, she was assigned to the creative department. They dealt with designs and ideas of different ideas that could push the company's reputation forward. She was on orientation for about a week before she started work permanently.

There was no sign of Philip anywhere in his office and it felt lonely to her. Secretary Carmen was seated at her desk, so Clara approached her with a smile.

"Hello," Clara said

"Ah, Miss Clara. It's nice to see that you are looking good."

"I am? Well, that's my style." Clara said making both of them laugh.

"I like you. You have such humor." Carmen complimented.

"Everybody tells me that, but I take it as my job to make people happy."

"That makes you special."

"So, what about Philip, what's going on with him?"

"Maestro felipe, is not going to be around for a few days...or weeks."

"Why?"

"Señora Maria hasn't decided who the next CEO should be. She wants to take control of everything herself."

"That's cruel."

"Daniel said that Maestro Felipe was very upset when he dropped the keys to his office. It was like a joke, which turned out to be real."

"I thought that she would convince him to take up the position again."

"Señora Maria would never do that. She is a greedy woman who wants to take control of everything. I get tired whenever Maestro Felipe has to go for those meaningless meetings that she organizes to keep things in check."

"She's more like a control freak."

"Yes, that is the word."

"So you're just here working all by yourself."

"Actually, I am organizing my resignation letter. If Maestro Felipe doesn't come back, then I am not ready to work with another CEO."

"Are you serious? Two people from my department resigned yesterday."

"Well, there you go. If he doesn't come back, Senora Maria will find us substitutes and I guess they won't be as good as us."

"So what am I to do? I'm new here."

"You can...wait for all of us to resign and then resign later. Simple."

"Well, I'm going to think about that...anyway, good day." Clara said.

"Good day to you too."

As Clara walked to her desk, she thought about the things that Carmen had said. She didn't know that Philip's absence would affect the company's employees. It wasn't a surprise that Philip was the anchor supporting the company, Maria would be very disappointed to see that the company would not hold on without her son.

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Philip sat down on his chair and took a pencil. His goal was to finish the sketch before the year ran out and if he didn't succeed in accomplishing that goal, he would consider himself a failure.

He looked at the uncompleted sketch in front of him and began to add some features to the sketch. It began to make little sense to him unlike before,  he knew it was a lady that he was sketching but he didn't know who the lady was especially when it was uncompleted.

"You look optimistic," Clara said.

Philip turned to look at her and saw her standing at the door.

"Not always." He replied and focused on his sketching again.

"Well, it's because you are not always enthusiastic when you see it." She said approaching him. Her gown was made of a light material and only reached its limit, above her knees. Her skin was beautiful and smooth and her thighs slender. She didn't have such large hips but any man would want to hold on to them when they came in close contact with her.

At first, when she came near Philip to look at his sketches, he was amazed at how beautiful she was both on the inside and the outside. She was the type of lady that any man could ever wish to have. Clara had this optimistic and inspiring atmosphere that anyone could change anyone's behavior. Because of that, he had a special liking for Clara. Although, he hadn't known her for long.

"Do you want to add some details?" He asked.

"Yes, I would love to."  She replied.

Philip wanted to stand up for her but she gently sat down in the space between his separated legs, on the same chair, then she took the pencil and began concentrating on the drawing.

Philip glanced at her for a while and remained on the seat. As he focused on her additions to the sketch, he smiled. She was a good artist. At a certain point, when she got confused and when Philip saw that, he gently held the hand she was using to draw. Then he guided her with his hands and corrected the mistake she made.

Clara could feel his chest close to her spine and his hands-on hers were soft. The fact that he allowed her to sit in between his legs only told her that Philip could perceive her attraction toward him.

"I came by taxi, so I'm ready when you're ready to go home." She said glancing at him and he nodded.

Clara took his second hand gently and placed it on her thighs. She wanted his hands on her body because all her body ached for him so much. She didn't know where the obsession came from but it was increasing every day. She tried her best to hide her feelings and obsession so that it wouldn't get the better of her but it was impossible to do that.

Maria assigned the new CEO for the CRUZ enterprise and the name of the person was Henry Cruz. When the employees heard it, they gasped in unbelieve and amazement. It was unbelievable for them to believe that Maria assigned Henry as the new CEO.  He was five years younger than Philip and it was highly improper for that to occur.

Dr. Mathew saw Henry going into the CEO's office and he turned to look at Clara who was standing beside him.

"That is not right." He said.