Four

It’s Friday morning and Howard couldn’t take his eyes off the documents he is reading for his meeting with the potential investors a couple of hours from now. He wants to make sure that everything is settled and well. He is always hands-on with everything that is going on in his company and he doesn’t like it when anybody disturbs him from what he is doing that’s why he ordered James not to let anyone in inside his office unless it is very very important.

“Good morning. Mr. CEO,” Howard heard the sound of his office door being opened and he creased his forehead annoyingly upon hearing James’ voice. He was prepared to scold him for disturbing him.

“What is it James? I have told you not to disturb me because I am in the middle of something important!” he yelled without bothering to take his eyes off the documents.

“I’m sorry, should I just leave then?” he abruptly looked at the direction of his door and was taken aback upon realizing who just spoke.

“Sorry, sir. She said it was urgent so I let her in,” James who is standing at the door with Natasha winked at Howard and flashed a playful smile. 

Howard don’t have any idea why Natasha came into his office so early in the morning. He arranged the tie of his suit and stood up.

“You should have called me first, Ms. Lucero. I didn’t know you were coming.”

He invited her inside and ordered his assistant to close the door.

Natasha gave him a sweet smile. “Consider it as a surprise visit, but if you are busy, then I will just ask your assistant to schedule a meeting with you.”

“No, you don’t have to. I am not that busy.”

“Should I lock the door and forbid anyone from entering, sir?” Howard didn’t realize that James is still there with them.

“Should I just it leave it open, sir?” James asked seriously again but Howard is sure that he’s dying to tease him right now.

“Get out, James.” He ordered.

“Okay sir, I will lock it.” he chuckled and finally closed the door.

“Take a seat, Ms. Lucero.” He stood from his swivel chair and led her to the sofa.

She obliged and sat comfortably.

“Would you like some coffee?”

“Oh come on, Mr. Clemente. I didn’t come here early in the morning to drink coffee with you.” she said which slightly shook him but instead of being annoyed, it made him turned on. He didn’t know she was this straight to the point.

“Stop calling me Mr. Clemente, that’s too formal.”

“Alright, Howard. Let’s proceed to business.” this is his first time hearing his name being called by her and he is resisting the urge to kiss her but couldn’t.

He sat next to her and stared at her while she’s speaking. He is not listening to her, he is too mesmerized with her face. He have always dreamt of being this close to her.

He moved closer and suddenly grabbed a taste of her lips that made her stopped from talking. She was stunned and sat frozen for a while.

“I have to do that, I’m a man. I couldn’t resist the temptation.” He said instead of apologizing.

“Wow,” she said in awe.

“Then you have to accept the deal I am going to make no matter how risky it is,” she said.

“I will only agree with that if you will let me kiss that flavorsome lips of yours again.”

“Do you know why Jacob cheated on me?” she asked, her expression turning serious.

“Why?” he asked, not expecting the conversation to turn out this way.

“Because I was not good enough to pleasure him, so if I were you, stop fantasizing me.”

“That son of a bitch,” he murmured.

They spent the next half hour discussing the proposal Natasha have prepared.

“Mavro’s company will celebrate its 65^th anniversary this coming Monday,” she started and he listened.

“It will be a better opportunity to crash in the celebration and ruin the night,” she continued.

“What are you planning to do, Natasha?” he asked.

“I am going to sabotage his plans.”

“How?”

“I need your men to do the job for me. You just need to order them to enter their system and manipulate the videos that will be played in the party.”

“This is going to be a big event, Natasha. You have to think again before finally proceeding with the plan.”

Natasha cupped his cheeks seductively. “I have thought about this all night, Howard. Trust me, it’s going to work out.” She breathed flirtingly.

“If you say so,” Howard couldn’t resist her.

“How about having dinner with me later so we could talk about this a little longer?” he offered.

She glanced at her wrist watch and realized that she’s going to be late for her meeting if she doesn’t leave now.

“Sure,” she smiled and stood up.

“I will get going now, Howard. See you tonight.” She said and turned to leave without waiting for his response.

“Yeah, see you tonight.” He mumbled while still watching her walk towards the door and the sound of her stilettos embodied the room.

He pinched himself to make sure that this is all really happening. This is all real. She is finally within his grasp. Everything is turning so fast that he just couldn’t believe it’s really real. Just a few nights ago, he was watching her at the bar, drinking alone but now, he can see her up-close and he pinched himself again to be certain.

It’s 7 pm and Howard parked his car on the parking lot of the same restaurant he and Natasha went to in their first meeting. They have agreed to meet on the same spot and on the same table so he rushed there and was relieved to see that she’s not still there. He doesn’t want to look like a jerk and let her wait for him so he prefer it if he comes in the venue first. He was about to walk towards the table when a familiar voice of a woman spoke to him.

“Why are you in a hurry, Harold? Too excited to see me tonight?”

He turned to see her and gave her a smile. “How long have you been here?”

“Just a while ago. I just went to the restroom.” She said and led the way to their table.

She’s wearing a black dress tonight and Howard couldn’t deny how beautiful she looks no matter what color or type of dresses she wore.

“Then, you’re the one who is excited to see me. Given that you arrived here first. And by the way, it’s Howard, not Harold. ” He teased and pulled a chair on the table for her.

“Don’t get ahead of yourself, Howard.” She chuckled, giving emphasize on his name.

“Have you ordered?” he asked.

“No, not yet. I have realized that you know the specialties in this restaurant better than I do.”

“Why? You liked the dinner they have served us last time?”

“Absolutely.”

He chuckled and raised his hand to call the attention of a waiter.

“What would you like to have, sir?”

“Parmesan crusted chicken and a red lobster,” he said.

“And a bottle of wine,” Natasha added.

The waiter repeated their order and asked if they needed anything else. They both shook their heads.

“So…” Howard started once the waiter left.

Natasha looked at her and raised her eyebrows, indicating that she’s ready for the conversation.

“Why did you chose this place again and insisted that we should sit in this same table?” Howard continued.

Natasha leaned on the table and rested her palm on her chin. Her eyes looked at the scenery outside the window.

“I fell in love with this place the first time I saw this,” she said.

Howard looked at the view outside, the city lights and people going to and fro are visible in their views.

“It’s beautiful,” he said.

“Thank you.”

Howard creased his forehead, “I was talking about the view. It’s beautiful. I didn’t say that it was you who is beautiful.” He emphasized and picked up a glass to drink some water.

“Oh, come on, Howard. You don’t have to deny it, I know you’re in love with me.”

He almost got choked by the water with what he heard.

Natasha couldn’t contain her laughter because of his reaction.

“What?” Howard asked.

“Oh my gosh, why did you react like that? Was it true? You’re in love with me?” she teased.

Howard stared at her for a while, it’s great to see her laugh this close. For a moment, he was nervous because he thought she knew he’d been watching her all along and have been in love with her for so long.

“You wish, Natasha! I am not in love with you, okay? Stop assuming for god damn sake,” he said as if the situation didn’t affect him at all.

“Whatever!” she said and rolled her eyes.

Just then, the food they ordered have arrived. It was obvious that Natasha really enjoyed their festive dinner because she couldn’t get enough of it, she even ordered an additional servings for the Parmesan crusted chicken.

“The food here was fabulous,” she said after swallowing the last bit of food.

“You have to thank me for introducing you to this place.”

“Thank you for introducing me to this place. Now let’s proceed with the main agenda of our meeting tonight.”

“Just like that?” he asked in awe.

She nodded. “What do you want us to do, then? Stare at each other for the whole night?”

“We can do that,” he agreed.

“I refused to do it, now let’s proceed.”

They discussed what they needed to do and concluded their meeting after an hour.

Howard invited her at a party he would attend nearby but she declined it.

“See you on Monday, then.” He said.

She just smiled, turned her back from him and started her way to the parking her to drive her car and finally go home.