01

“Good morning Lai” I say, smiling from ear to ear as I walk towards my brother, dropping the food package on his desk. “Mom asked me to drop this off for you” I pout.

“What happened?” He chuckles, “why are you pouting so early in the morning. Do you dislike doing this almost every week day”

I nod, “You really should get married soon, so I don’t have to keep doing this. I have a life you know” I say, flashing a smile at him as I sit opposite him.

He chuckles, “thank you very much for your advice but except you have someone in mind for me then I cannot grant you this wish of yours as I’m not dating anyone at the moment”.

“Then starts dating” I whisper, in an attempt not to draw the attention of his boss. He nods, “don’t worry he’s not here yet” he says, glancing at the door before his eyes return to me.

I roll my eyes, “that’s a first. Has he decided to hand over his business to you” I reply with a sarcastic tone.

Lai chuckles, “very funny Lara, but no. He had an emergency meeting to attend to, he should be here anytime soon” he replies, glancing at his watch.

“That makes sense, he’s never late. I won’t be surprised if he’s the first to arrive at the office out of everyone here”

Lai smiles, “that’s just his work ethic, he believes he needs to be a leader for others to follow and I totally agree”

I smile, “you’re just saying that because he’s your boss and your closest friend, you won’t be singing the same tune if you weren’t friends with him”

Lai shakes his head, “absolutely not, I’m saying this because I truly admire him. I couldn’t have asked for a better boss”

I nod, “sure keep telling yourself that. I can’t imagine dating a person like him, his aura is so cold and he’s extremely serious. I’d be bored out of my mind” I say, pretending to shiver.

Lai smirks, his eyes moving past me and to the door frame, “what are you looking at?” I ask, my eyes following his direction.

“Oh hi Clark” I say, with a small wave. Clark nods stifly, “I’m glad to know you hold me in such high esteem” he says, walking past me.

“Oh you heard all I said” I say, my eyes glued to Clark’s back. “Don’t worry, I won’t fire your brother because of that but maybe you should limit your visits to the office. I won’t want you to poison your brother's mind against me” he replies with a hint of playfulness, before walking into his office.

I can’t really tell if he’s joking, since I’ve never seen him laugh not even once. But the smile on Lai’s face makes me breathe a sigh of relief. 

If there’s anyone who understands Clark, it’d be Lai, after all they have been friends for so many years. I don’t think Clark has another friend beside my brother.

“I guess that’s my signal to go” I say, grabbing my bag from the sofa. “I’ll see you at home” I say, dashing out of the room and into the hallway.

“Well at least he knows how I truly feel about him” I mutter under my breath, as I make my way to the elevators.

“Ouch” I mutter under my breath, as my shoulders come in contact with someone’s body, causing my bag to fall on the floor. “Can’t you be a bit careful” I say, looking up.

“Oh it’s you” I say, even more annoyed, knowing he purposely did that to get my attention. 

“Hi Lara” Derek says, smiling widely. “Hi Derek” I reply, bending to pick my bag from the floor.

“I’m so sorry for bumping into you, it was an honest mistake” he says. I nod, “it’s fine, people make mistakes all the time. Just be more careful next time, you could hurt someone”

He quietly nods, before speaking up, “maybe this was fate, maybe I was meant to bump into you. It’s a sign that we are meant to be together”.

I smile, “I’ve got to run Derek, I have to get to work now” I say, taking off and running into the elevator.

It’s becoming really creepy, every single time I meet with him, he tries to make me think that we are meant to be together. The more he does it, the more irritated I get with him. I’ve always found a way to get away from him but I’m slowly running out of options.

The elevator opens and I dash out of it, “sorry” I say, as I run out of the building and towards the car park. I didn’t realise that so much time had gone by, I have to be in the office in 20 minutes to finalise a contract with a client, a client I worked so hard to get.

“Good morning ma’am” the receptionist says on noticing me. “Good morning” I reply with a smile as I walk past her and towards my office.

My secretary Alice walks towards me, “good morning Lara” she says, collecting my things and handing me a document. “Good morning Alice, have the clients arrived?” I ask, scheming through the document.

“Yes they have, they are in the meeting room on the first floor” she replies. I nod, “that’s good, let’s head there”

“Good morning” I say, walking into the room, Alice following closely behind me, “good morning” they reply

“I’m so excited to be working closely with you, I’m glad you chose to sign your book with us. I promise that it’d be known worldwide through our excellent marketing and promotion skills, and of course you’ll make high returns from it. Your conditions will be highly respected” I say, handing the author the contract.

She nods, “I know it will” she says, reading through the contract before signing it. Once she’s done we exchange handshakes and she and the rest of her team head their way.

“Alice please bring me a list of all the authors signed with us and the current books we are promoting. I also want to see an analysis of how well the books are doing in the market and how much returns they are making” I say, walking into my office.