Meeting Brenda

“Hardy, whenever you decide to come down, please check in with me before anything else!”

Wills shouted to his son, who was still sprawled in bed with another woman.

The lady he had met at the shopping mall had been spending nights with him.

He smuggled her in last night, not wanting his dad to know, with Nana covering for him.

He rolled out of bed, still sleepy. “I guess it’s Monday. You should get going to work!”

Hardy said to the woman, still drowsy.

“You don’t have a job. Why should you ever work? Your father is a billionaire,” she said, snorting.

“You can’t blame me. This is my life. Please get dressed. I’ll drop you off wherever you need to go.”

The woman frowned, knowing she might not get easy access to him again if she let him go.

She walked slowly toward him, hugging him from behind, smiling.

“Why don’t I stay here until you get back? I promise to avoid your dad, and your maid can serve me!”

Hardy was irritated. “Don’t call Nana a maid. She is not a maid. Get dressed and get out of my house. I don’t want to see you here when I get back.”

She stood there in shock as he angrily walked into the washroom.

He hated it when Nana was referred to as a maid. Thirty minutes later, he stepped out to find an empty room.

He sighed and got dressed for the day, heading downstairs to greet Nana. “Good morning, Nana.”

“Oh my, you look good! Your father will be so proud of you; you look just like him!”

“Thanks, Nana. I may not have time for breakfast, but I promise I’ll be home early for dinner, okay?”

He rushed out of the house to visit the nearby restaurant for a quick coffee, hoping not to be late.

Since today was his first day, making a good impression by arriving early was at the top of his list but, as things are turning out, he might not meet the expectations 

The drive was quick. Parking in the lot, he hurried toward the restaurant.

As he opened the door, Brenda was scared, she was also rushing to the office, causing her cup of coffee to spill all over his T-shirt.

“Oh my , I am so sorry! Please forgive me!”

Brenda pulled out her handkerchief to wipe off the liquid, but Hardy was fixated on her face.

He had never seen a woman look so beautiful.

“It’s fine. No need, the damage is done”

“I’m so sorry. Is there anything I can do? Let me buy you a new shirt!”

Hardy raised an eyebrow, sizing her up. “You want to buy me a 10$ shirt?”

Brenda’s eyes widened. She could afford it, but it would cut into her savings.

“I can’t spare that,” she said, glancing at the time. She was stunned.

Brenda knew if she stood there for one more minute she might end up losing her job,

“Here!” Brenda said bring out a pen and paper as she scribbled her number on it .

She handed it over to him, “ please do well to contact me and I will answer but for now , I have to head to work !”

She excused herself and rushed off toward the company.

“What’s going on? From one problem to another. How did I get myself into this?”

Brenda muttered to herself as she entered the office.

No one paid her any attention as the entire company buzzed with murmurs.

Curious, Brenda asked her deskmate,

“Tina, what’s going on?”

“You don’t know?”

Brenda shook her head.

“The boss’s son is starting today, and rumor has it he looks just like his father but even cuter!”

“Oh, I see,” Brenda replied, turning back to her work. She had a lot to sort, organizing important documents and forwarding them for approval so the editing department could begin.

She was so engrossed in her tasks that she didn’t notice Hardy walking past her department,

drawing all the female employees’ attention.

Her mind was preoccupied with how she would raise 10$ for the shirt in case he called.

The rest of the day dragged on for Brenda, while Hardy spent most of it doing nothing.

“Are you just going to sit there? Take this,”

His father said, handing him a file.

“What’s this, Dad?”

“You need to secure the contract with the firm. We need them as partners for a new branch. If you succeed, you’ll handle the branch.”

“Dad, that’s serious business. I can’t just do that, you know?”

“Why not?”

Before Wills could respond, there was a knock at the door.

In came a shy Brenda, looking at both father and son.

While Wills was happy to see her, Hardy was trying to recall where he had seen her before.

“I’m sorry to interrupt, but I came for confirmation to send the files I emailed to your assistant to the editing department.”

“Oh, okay. I’ll do that now.”

“All right…” she said, remembering she was at work. “I mean, yes, sir. Excuse me.”

Brenda hurried out of the office.

“That was weird,” Hardy muttered.

“What was weird?” Wills asked, worried that Hardy was already suspecting something.

“ Nothing dad, it's just that, I met her earlier and seemed to look more expensive than a secretary , don't you think so?”

Wills raised an eyebrow, to the question his son asked, knowing he was the source to those expensive things and without him, Brenda might had ended up somewhere bad

“ I have no business interfering in my staff’s affair as long as they get their job done !”

Wills said as he brought out a blueprint to look into 

“ It's fine dad but …”

“ there is no but don, just leave it the way it is.  And focus on real issues at hand okay?”

Hardy stood up , having the mindset to go look for her, but before he could exist he stopped him ,  “ just make sure you are prepared !”

“Prepared for what dad?”