Raya
I straightened my eavesdropping posture when another employee suddenly walked past, and I knocked on the door. "It's Raya ma." She kept silent, not saying anything and I walked in, closing the door behind me. "Why are you just coming now?" She asked, picking up the box of coffee and pastries that I placed in front of her. "I didn't know you were going to come so early." She rolled her eyes, "what about the pop-up store?" Her friend interrupted me before I could reply, "I'll take my leave then." Mrs Carson nodded and she left. "So, I'm listening." She had the croissant in her hand already and was munching on it. "It's going well, ma. Most of the decorations and arrangements have been set up and..." "Well, gather all the information you have and transfer it to... Oh right, you might not have heard this, but you'll be getting transferred soon. So, to prepare for that, gather all the information you've mentioned and get ready." I stood there for a while, unsure what to say. "Well, that'll be all," she said, and I didn't fail to notice the smirk she sent my way right before I closed the door behind me. So I was going to be transferred. Martha came up to meet me. Immediately, I walked out into the worker's space, "everything alright?" I shrugged, "I think I'm getting transferred" "What?" She lowered her voice when she noticed that people had turned to look at her. She immediately dragged me to the lounge where I sat on a couch. "Really?" I nodded. "How? Why?" "I don't know either, but I think Mr Sterling needs a new secretary." "Mr. Sterling? Which of them?" "Mr. Micheal probably" "But I didn't hear anything about him letting go of his former secretary. In fact, he still sent Carla on some errands this morning." "Then who?" We both sighed after thinking of an answer but not finding any rational one, and I went to the coffee machine there to make myself some coffee. "I should get back to work," I said after finishing that. "Sure," Martha said, and we both went back to our desks. I, to gather information on the pop-up store project that was going on alongside other projects and I went to Ms Carson's office when she called for me in the afternoon. "Get me another coffee from the café" I nodded and went out. As she preferred café coffees to handmade ones made by me in the office lounge, I always had to go out to get coffee for her most of the time alongside pastries and food and I was tired of it, but had to do it anyway. I hurried across the street to the café I had gotten her pastries and drink from earlier this morning and I got her an iced Americano this time with some cake again. On my way in, my phone dinged indicating that a new message had come in from someone probably important, and I took it out to see that it was the designer of the pop-up store, which made me huddle the coffee box and pastry that I had in both hands into my other hand. I had to read the message and was doing just that when a tall muscled figure I hadn't seen earlier suddenly collided with me, or maybe it was I who did into him. Anyway, that was not the problem. The problem was the iced Americano that I had been carrying which was now seeping into his white shirt. I had the remaining cup in my hand with its contents and the cake on the floor. "Oh my God, oh my God, I'm so sorry, I..." I wasn't sure who it was, as the person was looking quite new but also quite familiar, and I glanced around frantically in an attempt to come up with what to do. "What the f*ck?!" The guy said in response, looking very angry and pissed, and I cowered a bit, mostly because I was at fault. "I'm sorry, I..." "Don't you see where you're going?" "I..." Before I could comprehend what was about to happen, I felt his hand brush against mine as he grabbed the remaining cup of coffee from my hand and poured it right on my chest. I yelped, not only because of the audacity but also because of the coldness, "f*ck! What the f*ck?!" Everyone's eyes that were in the lobby were on us now, and I was fuming quite badly. "An eye for an eye. There. And... You might want to cover that sight up" He glanced at my shirt which had turned transparent due to the liquid and proceeded to walk away, but not before dumping the cup at my feet. I tried to restrain myself from going after him. Even though I had poured the coffee on him, it had been a mistake. He had no right to pour the coffee intentionally at me. I immediately covered my chest and hurried to the office. "Oh my God, what happened?" Martha asked the minute I walked into the office and I went straight into the restroom where I took my shirt off, she was right behind me as expected. "Some a**hole downstairs dumped coffee on me just because I accidentally spilled the same coffee on him. Like, yes, I wasn't in the right but..." "Oh my God, you're the one." "What?" "The news is going around that a lady bumped into Maxwell Sterling and spilled coffee on his shirt" "Maxwell Sterling?" "Yup. The youngest son of Mr. Sterling" "What?!" I was beyond stunned but also validated now. That was why he looked quite familiar. "But why is he here?" "No one knows. Gosh, he's so hot and..." She stopped when she saw my glare, "No matter how hot he is, he's also an a**hole." And a big one at that.MaxwellI walked into the office of the chairman that morning as I fastened up the buttons of the new shirt Silas had gotten me. He was the personal secretary to my dad and had gone immediately to get me a new shirt when he saw the state I was in.My father turned around just as Silas walked in behind me, and he placed a document before leaving, "Thank you", my dad said after him."You could have just told me to come to the family dinner..." I said as a complaint and he ignored it."That you know you wouldn't attend."I shrugged, "well, why am I here?" "To choose the direction in which your future will go from now. I think you've sulked well enough. It's time to do something with your life""Like what?""Taking over one of the subsidiaries""But I'm not interested.""Maxwell!" He sighed, exasperated "It's been two years since they announced their relationship, don't you think that's enough time to sulk? I won't take your nonsense anymore. It's either you take over a subsidiary or lea
RayaI stared at the message the company had sent to me earlier that evening concerning my transfer. It had come in at around 7 pm when I had been putting Kyle to bed, and now I was staring at it, wondering why and how it happened.Was it really just because my boss had recommended me or why? Why was I getting transferred? And to Sterling fashion house at that? It was not even within Sterling Foods where I knew Mr. Micheal Sterling was working. So, which Mr. Sterling was I going to be working for?Definitely not that a**hole, right? But there was no other Mr Sterling except for Mr. Sterling, the chairman of the group and owner of the conglomerate, Mr. Micheal Sterling, the first son of the chairman, and Mr. Maxwell Sterling, the second son of the chairman.There was no other one. I checked.Could it be the chairman himself?I immediately shook my head. There was just no way.I stood up from the couch to get a glass of water for myself when the doorbell suddenly rang, startling me, I
RayaI stared dumbfounded at my new boss who was dressed in a white dress shirt and pants and had his hair slicked back at the end but ruffled at the front. It gave him this boyish look, though that was not the problem. My boss was none other than the a**hole who had poured coffee on me yesterday, and he had this sick smirk on his face."What?" I managed to ask after regaining my sense of speech."Your shirt..." he pointed to it, "...it gave quite the display yesterday."I scoffed, "which you caused. How could you have poured the coffee on me when mine had been a mistake?""Whatever. It's in the past now."I tried to reign in my anger, which wasn't really working, due to his smug face."Don't tell me that you're the one who sent that message yesterday.""Which message?""The one telling me to come to a particular address by 7 am""Oh, that. It was a mistake due to my drunkenness, but that doesn't excuse your tardiness either. Why are you late?""I-I'm sorry about that". I couldn't bea
Maxwell"What is wrong? Are you okay?" I asked my secretary who was crying on the floor where she knelt, and she had this trance-like look in her eyes as she stared at her leg which was stained with blood.I stood up to walk closer to her."Are you..." she turned to me with her teary eyes and shook her head vigorously, "I'm not lying... I..."What the f*ck?The veil suddenly seemed to remove from her eyes though, and she blinked her eyes in my direction twice before quickly getting up from her knees."Oh my God, I'm sorry. I..." She hurried out of the office before I could ask what that had been about, and I stared at the now-closed door dumbfounded."What the actual heck!"I jumped slightly when the door suddenly opened again and, in, walked my best friend, Ryan."Hey buddy" he greeted me, coming to hug me tight like he normally did, and I patted his back while pushing him back."What is it? Why are you here?""Just came to see my buddy in his new habitat. Wow, a CEO, I would never h
Raya"How could you have forgotten that you were going to start your period today?" Kendall asked mortified as I sat by the kitchen island in her apartment, sighing repeatedly as I thought about the horrifying moment that had happened earlier today at the office."I know right? I guess I must have been stressed by the transfer and everything.""Still, that doesn't deny the fact that you had a total breakdown, in front of your boss, and outside. You said you were getting better.""And I was.""That's why you should have continued with the therapy.""It was expensive.""Still..." She sighed and went to the fridge to get a can of beer."You want some?" She asked and I shook my head."I think that was part of what contributed to me forgetting my period this morning.""Right" she nodded, "We did drink the other night and I should stop drinking so much." She dropped the beer and got herself a glass of water."Well, what are you going to do now?" She asked, settling on a stool beside me."I
RayaI managed to pick myself up from the floor some minutes later, running into a bathroom where I took off my shirt and bra to wash, and I stood there pondering my life decisions while I waited."Hey, are you going to spend forever, in there..." I jumped when Mr. Sterling's voice suddenly came in through the door, a knock accompanying it.F*ck! I didn't answer though."Raya?"I sighed, I was going to have to answer anyway, or he would think I was dead or something and I didn't want him barging into the bathroom while I was half naked."Sir...""Are you okay?""Yes, I... I will soon be out.""Well, I got you a new hoodie that you can put on while you wait. It's new, in case you didn't catch that earlier.""Uhm... I'd rather wait sir" Why the f*ck will I put on his hoodie?"Fine, whatever you want. Just know we're going to be late because of you"I managed to dry my clothes to an extent with the washing machine dryer that I found in there before putting them on, and I yelped slightly
MaxwellI stared at the lady that came to my side looking all stunning in the silver-colored maxi dress that she wore, and she had this innocent look on her face which I had fallen for back in my college days."Diane..."She wrapped her arms around mine happily as she stared up at me, "What are you doing here?""I..." I wasn't sure how to feel about her doing this when she had literally broken my heart two years ago."Diane." I turned to see my brother walk towards us in the department store where we had come to see the sales, and he looked quite livid."Michael," I said in greeting, while Diane removed her arm from mine, and he drew her to his side."What are you doing here?" My beloved brother asked."I'm in charge of the fashion subsidiary in case you've forgotten"He scoffed, "So you're actually going to go through with it...""Of course, and I plan to beat you. Taking over a conglomerate can't be so hard."He scowled at me, fisting his hands as if to fight me, but Diane held him
MaxwellThe living room was how I remembered it, the walls painted white, because that was her favorite color, Diane's I mean, and I went straight to her room where I placed her on her bed, removing her shoes."Hmm..." She groaned as she tossed around on the bed and I somehow managed to get hooked around her dress as she turned and fell onto her form on the bed.Her eyes fluttered open, "hmm, Max...""Uhm..." I stuttered. "What are you doing here?" She was not so surprised as I would have expected her to be. Instead, her eyes were hooded, and she had this stare that made my trousers feel tighter."Uhm..." I stuttered again, unable to form coherent words.She raised her hands up to my face and trailed my cheeks, wrapping her arms around my neck to probably kiss me, but I wouldn't know as she suddenly fell back onto the bed and blacked out again, but not before I heard her say, "Micheal..."What the f*ck? She thought I was Micheal?But would she still have kissed me if she had known i