Chapter 3

-NORA-

"There you are!" Jenna screeched at me.

I stood up and moved out from the table. As I did, both Hilary and Holt spoke up at the same time.

"You're in for it today."

"Run while you still can, girl."

I ignored their words and walked over to Jenna. When I got close enough, I stopped with a huff. "Miss. Bourgeois, you have received countless warnings from the head office not to come by this building. You do not work here and—"

"Shut your trap, bitch!" she cut me short. I took in a deep breath, mentally preparing myself for the conversation we were about to have. "Who do you think you are!?" she asked.

"I'm—"

"Do not open your mouth to speak while I'm talking, you trash! You are absolutely nothing, yet you carry your shoulders high up in the sky because somehow, my Vaughnie baby still hasn't fired you." Jenna screeched. A few people chuckled. If she heard them, she didn't do anything because her full attention was on me today.

"Miss. Bourgeois, you have to leave right now before Mr. Kell—"

"Don't you even complete that sentence. You have no right to call his name as you please. Do you think because of a few pictures that you're it? You're not it at all. You are just a middle-class, ugly, virgin nerd who seems to have never even kissed a man before." Jenna said to me, her tone as venomous as her words.

"I'm confused. I thought she was a whore, now she's a nerd?" Holt piped up, barely able to hide the hint of humor in his tone.

Jenna cut him a sharp look that made him flinch and turn his head away.

"She's both of those things. An undesirable virgin and a sloppy whore. Do you think that you'll ever be able to pull off a man like Vaughn Keller?" Jenna turned her attention back to me. Without giving me any time to respond to her question, she continued speaking.

"You can't even pull a hobo on the streets with those non-existent hips of yours and those ugly-ass glasses. You are nothing. And you will always be nothing. The only reason why you are close enough with Vaughn to have gotten those pictures taken is because he took pity on you.

"You're just a poor secretary to him whom he has no choice but to treat dinner to. Other than that, you're nothing to him. Don't you dare get any closer to him in hopes to actually be with him. You will never be with Vaughn. Never! You hear me!?" Jenna huffed, putting an end to her immature rant.

"You've said what you wanted to say, Miss Bourgeois. Now it's my turn," I started. The entire canteen was already crowded with staff who were hungry for drama. There was always drama at Keller Co.

"I have never one day pretended to be interested in Mr. Keller. He is my employer, and I, his employee. If I were anything else to him, I wouldn't be standing here today. It's quite unreasonable of you, of all people, to believe what you see in the tabloids.

"And I do not take kindly to you spouting out untrue and insulting things to and about me. It's clearly immature and uncouth. And this isn't the first time something like this has happened. If you know you cannot behave civilized, then why do you frequent this office time and again?" I spoke with a leveled tone.

I could see that Jenna had gotten red with anger and any moment from now, she would explode. I still kept on going.

"I'd appreciate it if you apologize to me—"

"What? Apologize to you!? You trash!?" she cut me off and raised her hand to hit me. I was so stunned at that moment that all my reflexes shut down and I couldn't react. I could only wait for the impact.

One second. Two seconds. Three seconds.

The slap didn't come. I noticed that the entire canteen had gone pin-drop silent. There were two hands in front of me and none of them were mine. I shifted my gaze up a little to see that Vaughn was standing over Jenna and I with one of his palms clasped around Jenna's wrist.

He flung her wrist away, causing her to totter a little. Then Vaughn went ahead to let out a sharp breath through his mouth.

"How many times am I going to say this till it sticks inside your head, Jenna?" Vaughn started. "You have no right to step into my building and harass my workers like they are on your payroll and not mine. Your father is an investor. Not you. I doubt I'll ever do business with you.

"Not only are you immature, you are also daft to the point where you can't grasp even the simplest things of life." I wasn't the one whom he was referring to but somehow, my jaw dropped and my eyes widened. I could tell that everyone else was holding their laughter in.

"Vaughnie—" Jenna started but Vaughn completed her sentence for her.

"Don't you dare. Don't you dare call me that name, you simpleton. What you are going to do now is apologize to Nora and get the hell out of this building." He said.

It was Jenna's turn for her jaw to drop. "Apologize? To her? This ugly-looking thing? You expect me to apologize to her?" The simple idea of making amends with me had Jenna so stunned.

"Not only will you apologize to her, but you will also leave this building and receive a restraining order from the company, not to come within a hundred feet of anything that has to do with Keller Corporations," Vaughn said.

Jenna gasped out loud. "You're punishing me because of her? You can't do this to me! I can't believe you."

"You're wasting my time here. And I do not like to waste my time. Apologize now and never return." Vaughn said with an impatient tone.

Jenna huffed, then turned to me. "I'm sorry that you're poor and ugly and will never amount to anything in this life." She said with a spiteful tone.

I opened my mouth to say something but Vaughn was quicker than I was to speak.

"That was not an apology," he said.

"Well, that's the only apology she's going to get," she turned to me. "You think you've won this round, Ugly Betty? Just wait, I will have my revenge on you." Jenna told me with a sinister tone.

She flipped her hair dramatically, then turned around and strutted out of the canteen before Vaughn and I could say anything else. Without Jenna in the canteen, everyone started to retreat to their stations. The drama was over. My appetite was gone as well.

I turned to Vaughn to get a thank you in but he cut me short.

"Ensure to fire the people on the last floor who let her in after I told them not to." He ordered me.

I nodded my head. "Of course, sir."

***

It was the end of the work day and I was arranging my things into my bag before I checked out when Vaughn walked out of his office and headed towards my desk.

"Sir?"

"What are you doing? Aren't you going to accompany me to the dinner with the investors?" he said.

I opened my mouth, stunned for a second. "I thought you alone wanted to have dinner with them." I mentally facepalmed myself for sounding so clueless and stupid.

"Well, you're my secretary and you have to be there with me," I made a face. "Or do you have somewhere to be this evening?" Vaughn asked with a slight frown playing on his lips.

I shook my head. "No. Nothing. I'll come along." I said, then grabbed my bag.

The two of us exited the building and we both occupied the backseat of Vaughn's Mercedes. His driver began the ride to the restaurant where we would be meeting up with the investors. The entire ride was silent.

By the time we got to the restaurant, I noticed that the place was packed from the number of vehicles parked in the parking lot. The second Vaughn and I alighted our own vehicle, I got momentarily blinded by a flashing light. I quickly covered my eyes and muttered a curse.

"Someone just took a picture of us," Vaughn said with a spiteful tone.

I gasped, tilting my head up to look at him. "That only means the anonymous photographer must be stalking us somehow. I don't remember telling anyone that I set up a dinner with the investors. How could..." I trailed off as a million theories started to flood my brain.

"We'll figure it out later," Vaughn adjusted his tie. "For now, let's go speak to the investors and convince them that this is all some kind of a publicity attack." He said.

I nodded my head. The next hour was spent going back and forth with middle-aged men and women who kept giving Vaughn and I reasons to be with each other. I thought the investors would be upset about the whole idea of Vaughn being caught up in a love scandal but it was the opposite.

They were surprisingly in support of the entire thing, and it made me feel weird. The fact that everyone seemed to think that Vaughn and I would do well as a couple. It didn't sit right with me.

As the vehicle came to a halt, I glanced at the window to see that we were already stopped in front of my building. I let out a cool breath from my mouth and turned to Vaughn.

"Good night, sir," I told him.

He leaned in and placed a peck on my right cheek. It was not an out-of-the-ordinary act but it made my heart thump loudly.

"Good night, Nora," Vaughn said, breaking me out from the thought spell I was in.

I put on a small smile and then got out of the car. I waited till the vehicle was out of view before I clutched my chest and started to think.

When did Vaughn kissing me on my cheek become a regular thing? When did dropping me home also become a regular thing? Did Vaughn and I actually become a couple without the two of us being aware of it?

"No, that's not possible," I reassured myself. "It can't be."