Chapter 3.1

"No fucking way!" Feliza exclaimed after I told her what happened last night between Kairo and I.

"That's unfair! The last time I asked his peers for his price, I remember that he's worth around a thousand dollars. There's no way that you had him for free!"

I chuckled while teasingly looking at Feliza, "I guess, I really am just lucky." I said, sounding boastful.

After Mr. Conrad Easton walked pass us earlier, Feliza nonchalantly decided to take me to a café just near our workplace. She thought that maybe Mr. Easton wouldn't mind at all, and that there's no sense working since I arrived late.

I had to agree. She was craving for the tea.

"It's so unfair, Genevieve! The world is so unfair!" She whined like a kid being forbidden to play with her friends. I took a sip of my coffee and shrugged it off. She can't get over about it. I mean, even me. Who would've thought that I captured the biggest catch in that strip club? Right?

"You said that you guys hit it off trice, right?"

I looked away feeling shy, but I still spilled the truth. "Uhm, yeah. We did."

Feliza grinned when she noticed that I'm avoiding her eyes. And she took a sip from her cappuccino before she proceeds to milk some information from me.

"Was he... good?" Feliza sliced the palm-sized chocolate macaroon into half and she ate each half one by one.

I pressed my lips together before deciding to answer her question. What's the use of lying, right? And clearly this woman is not an innocent creature. She's 28, just a year older than me. 

"Well, yeah. He is extremely good at it."

Her entire attention is focused on me as if I'm her favourite show that she doesn't want to miss any dainty detail. "Did he? Licked?" I can sense that Feliza is somehow hesitating to ask me about everything that she's curious about. Probably doesn't want to push it, and make me feel uncomfortable.

I shyly smiled at her and nodded.

"Shit?! AAAAAA!"

"Shhs!! Keep it low, Feliza. You're too loud." I shushed Feliza when the other customers of the café laid their eyes on us. I even saw a few that gave us a side-eye.

"I'm sorry." Feliza whispered after cutting off her noise. She also laughed at herself. "I really just can't believe it, Genevieve. How can he be for free? He must've been drunk." This time, I'm the one who laughed at her. Yeah, right. He must've been drunk. "I think, I was the one who's drunk." I confessed to her. "I mean, I had a lot of shots with you before everything happened, right? And I told you that I was trying to hit it off with the bartender which was totally embarrassing. So out of context, Feliza." We both laughed after what I said. She even made noises that didn't sound like a human at all. She sounded like she's struggling to breathe.

"Well, at least you enjoyed your birthday."

I gave her a genuine smile, "Yeah, I really did. Thank you for that, Feliza." I took her hand and I squeezed it a little. "Don't worry because next year, we'll go back to that place and we are going to look for other strippers that give themselves for free to those who are celebrating their birthdays." I joked. And then after I bluffed, I realized that she's married. I inwardly scold myself and apologized to Feliza about my mistake. "Sorry, I forgot that you were married." That just made Feliza chuckle.

"That's fine. That man wouldn't mind." She finished off her cappuccino before telling me something. "The only thing that's not fine is that Kairo showed you his face and you were too drunk, so you forgot how he looks like the moment you wake up."

I immediately gave up. "Whatever, Feliza. I can't undo that. I was drunk. Too much alcohol made me forget his face. I think I really am lucky, but it's dumb luck."

Feliza laughed at my misery like she always do. "I think it's time for us to go back to each of our workplace."

I nodded and agreed. "Okay. I'll see you later then?"

Feliza and I bid our goodbyes to each other as we split ways back to our own workplace. I sighed before stepping into the elevator, and I was glad that I'm all alone. I waited for a minute or two, before the elevator opened and I immediately rushed my way out.

Sitting back on my swivel chair, I took my phone and decided to check my social media account when I thought of my aunt earlier. But turns out, there were no messages on my inbox and that made me wonder. But I also decided to text or call her later instead. After work, and before going to sleep.

"Genevieve?"

From my phone, my eyes looked up to the person that owns the voice that just called me.

It was Blaise. Another co-worker of mine, and we're both magazine journalists. Blaise Primrose is the complete opposite of Yvette Reagan. My hat's always off for Blaise, while for Yvette, it's never off. 

"I don't know why, but Mr. Easton was looking for you earlier."

That made my forehead wrinkled, "Uhm, did he mention why?"

Blaise shrugged her shoulders and answered, "No. All he said was, once your back in your cubicle, we should inform you about it. He also said that he wants to see you in his office after working hours." Blaise smiled at me before returning to her own cubicle. She left me staring into thin air while thinking of possible reasons why Mr. Easton wants to see me.

Is he going to scold me?

Is he going to exclude me for giving the raise that's everybody's been asking for?

Or worse, is he going to fire me?

Am I losing this job now? I mean, I'm grateful for this job and sometimes I feel like I'm all burned out, but I also feel like no other jobs is better than this as an individual who's passionate about writing.

Instead of worrying about it, I divert my attention instead in to finishing a two or three columns. And while doing it, I finally ate the free meal that was given to me earlier. That was everything I did until working hours finally came to an end. I started to arrange the things on my table, and I made sure everything was on place before standing up and going to the CEO's office.

I watched everybody leave, while I was walking. When I was finally in front of the glass door of Mr. Easton's office, I looked inside first even though the glass is a little blurry 'cause it's tinted.

I saw sir Conrad on his swivel chair, reading. I knocked, and he immediately looked up to see who it was. When our eyes met, he only nodded once and I took that as a sign to enter his office.

"Take a seat." He said with his deep voice. He never failed at sounding very formal.

I looked around for a couple of seconds before walking towards the chair placed in front of his marble table. I sat, and I cleared my throat; preparing myself to speak. I wanted to be done with this in an instant, and I also don't want to do or say anything wrong. Whatever this is, I hope it goes well.

I attempted to speak. "Blaise said that you were looking for me, sir?" I took his attention from reading that made him put down the book that he was reading.

"Yeah, I wanted to give you an offer."

With Mr. Conrad Easton being in front of me, I was reminded of his vanilla scent. Which I also smelled from Kairo.

"Offer? What kind of offer, sir?" I asked, my voice almost shaking.

I somehow thought that maybe it's a coincidence that Kairo and Mr. Easton use the kind of fragrance from the same brand. And it led me thinking that it's expensive, and that if I ever find it in the mall. I wouldn't be able to afford it.

"You see," He cleared his throat. "My secretary, Sheen Geller, filed a leave for almost 2 months." My entire focus was on him for I don't want to miss or misheard even just a small detail as he continued talking. "Ms. Geller suggested that I should find someone who'll fill her role during the months that she's gone." He licked his lower lip when he stopped for a second and that didn’t escape my eyes. It looked sexy for a moment there, but I snapped it all out for I shouldn't be thinking that way towards my boss.

And wow, all this time I didn't notice that his lips are naturally red.

Naturally red? Why is that familiar?

"I think that it'll be great to give you the opportunity to have that role, Ms. Cloepfil."

I remained quiet for I don't know the right words to say. It's better to shut up than mess up.

"It's essential for me to have a secretary all the time. Especially that the company has been expanding more in every country. I will lose my mind if I don't have a secretary around here." He laughed, and that actually made me smile. Hearing him laugh is very rare for me. And with that, I felt special.

"If you'll accept, you will have to stop being a magazine journalist for 2 months and you will have to focus on your new, yet temporary work."

I look away when his sea green eyes stare into mine that are plain pitch black. I've never been this close to him before. If I'm not mistaken, this is the second time that I had the chance to talk with him alone. The first one was when I got awarded for being one of the employees that worked on the publishing company's most crucial magazine. It was a quick chat, yet it was still formal.