Chapter 7

The door opens and her savior-slash-childhood friend-slash-ex-girlfriend, Joyce, comes in. She is smiling sweetly as she walks toward the man seated, like a king, on his chair.

“Why are you in a bad mood?” she asks, still smiling, before giving him a peck on the cheek.

Tristan just shakes his head, letting out a sigh to calm his nerves. "Nothing," he replies in a flat tone while rearranging the documents on his table. "Why are you here?"

“I’ve no one to go with for lunch. Could you join me?”

Tristan looks at Joyce and smiles. He nods in agreement, then he suddenly remembers Belle and what she did earlier.

This woman, who looks exactly like Vernice, is already giving him a headache during her first month at the company. He can’t help but grit his teeth.

He feels like he has to teach her a lesson, but he can’t think of a way to do it. Of course, this lesson should be one that will not make him petty in any way.

Before he can go on thinking of an evil punishment for his secretary, Belle comes in with a vacuum cleaner. She did not even bother knocking.

“Excuse me, I need to clean the mess on the carpet,” she tells Joyce, ignoring Tristan as if he isn’t there.

Joyce gracefully stands up to move to the single-seater. She is watching Belle’s every move attentively. The woman is not doing anything unusual but she’s starting to annoy Joyce.

“Hey Miss!” she calls. Belle then turns the vacuum off before facing the visitor. “Can you not do this right now? It’s too noisy!” Belle didn’t respond to her, instead, she bows down and leaves the office. “Who’s that?” She asks Tristan, as soon as the door closes. “I don’t like her.”

“She’s my new executive secretary and I don’t like her either,” Tristan utters.

“Why did you hire her then?”

“Jacob did…” he contended immediately.

“You should just fire her, she’s an eyesore!”

Tristan eyes Joyce while she’s fiddling with her nails. He couldn’t help but smile. ‘Is she jealous?’

Meanwhile, in the executive office, Belle is about ready to go out for lunch break when the white phone rings. “Join me for lunch,” the voice on the other line orders her. Belle’s eyes flick at Jacob, who is still busy going through some documents.

“Who was it?” he asks without taking his attention off the documents on the table.

“It’s the CEO… he’s asking me to come with him for lunch…” Belle states, confused.

Jacob slowly lifts his head and stares at Belle. ‘What’s going on? Didn’t they just fight? Are they going to kiss and make up now?’

“What?” Belle asks after seeing his creased forehead.

Jacob shook his head, he got lost in thought for a moment. He then turned his attention back to the documents. “Nothing, I was just a little surprised. Bring some back for me,” he added without looking at her, then he heard the door close.

Looking at the now-closed office door, he couldn't help but wonder what was going through his boss' mind. Hopefully, he won't do some power-tripping and give Belle a hard time.

Jacob's anxious for the woman because he knows how Tristan can be very petty at times. Belle, on the other hand, is now standing next to the elevator, waiting for the man.

She didn’t have to wait that long though, as seconds after, Tristan shows up with Joyce in his arms. "Let's go," he tells her.

They all step into the elevator but Tristan keeps the open button pressed. “Three is a crowd,” Belle hears him say, and obviously, that means he wants her out.

‘Does this idiot want me to take the stairs down from the 20th floor? In heels?!’ Belle can’t help but grit her teeth.

She let out a sigh to calm her nerves; otherwise, she might end up punching her boss. Instead of wasting any more energy feeling annoyed, she quickly steps out of the elevator and heads for the stairs.

‘I’ll deal with you one of these days,' she mutters, but her thought makes her chuckle. ‘Who am I kidding?’

“Go take a cab and meet us at Zark’s,” Tristan instructed his secretary. He glanced at Belle and saw her drenched in sweat. ‘Well deserved’, he thought to himself, but his conscience said otherwise.

He was proud of what he did but also pitied her. His ego whispers, ‘We’re just getting started Roberts!’ But deep inside, he is already thinking of a way to make it up to her.

The trio reached the restaurant in less than 10 minutes. When they walked in, a waiter led them to a table for four but Tristan was quick to stop him. “Table for two,” he informed him.

The waiter glances at Belle, she just smiles faintly at him. He is quick to pick up what is going on, so he changes direction and leads them to a two-seater table instead.

After pulling the chair for Joyce, Tristan sits immediately. Belle is just there standing next to Tristan, in heels, glaring at her boss from time to time.

“Get us the menu,” he ordered. Belle knew he had said that to her, so she followed without questioning him.

She perfectly knows why he is doing this. It is because of what happened in his office earlier. ‘I never imagined this asshole to be this childish,’ Belle can’t help but curse at him quietly.

She places her boss’ orders for him. Her stomach starts grumbling as soon as the food is served, but there’s nothing she can do. She can only watch them eat while talking sweetly.

Belle looked out the window, avoiding the sight of food, but that didn’t help. She can also feel her legs starting to go numb.

When Tristan and Joyce are done, he even asks Belle to clean the table for them while waiting for their coffee. Belle follows without hesitance. After doing so, she goes to the restroom to wash her hands.

She stops by the mirror right outside the door of the restroom and starts cursing at her boss while fixing herself. “That idiot!” she mutters.

“Why are you looking so pissed gorgeous?” a voice came from behind her. She looks at the man through the mirror and smiles at him.

“My boss is throwing a tantrum!” she chuckles.

The man snorts at her words. ‘How can someone describe her boss like that? Isn’t she afraid of getting fired?’

“Eric,” introduced himself before offering a hand.

Belle turns to face him, he is as good-looking as his boss, but he seems friendlier. “Belle,” she replies, returning the handshake. "I'll go ahead," she says. But when she turned around, the guy walked alongside her.

She stops by Tristan and Joyce’s table and Eric does the same. “Tristan?” he calls. Belle suddenly freezes, ‘They know each other? No way!’

“Oh hey! When did you come back?” Tristan asked before standing up and giving Eric a bro hug.

“It’s been a week, but I’m swamped with work. If you’re not busy, we can go for a drink after the office!”

Tristan agrees with him, but before Eric leaves, he suddenly thinks of something. He quickly walks closer to Belle, placing an arm over her shoulders, “So he’s-- “

Belle knows this will happen. She had already thought of ideas on how to stop him if he says something about what she said earlier, as soon as he greeted Tristan. So before Eric can say more, Belle pulls him for a kiss.

Everyone is shocked. Even the waiter passing by stops to watch the show. Eric’s eyes are wide open as Belle kisses him.

When she lets go, he lets out a hearty laugh, catching the attention of the other customers. Belle’s face is flushed, she is so embarrassed.

“I like your style,” Eric tells her after laughing out loud, probably referring to her way of stopping him from saying anything. Then he turned to Tristan, “I might visit your office often in the next few days."

Tristan’s reaction turns sour. He is disgusted by Belle’s behavior, but at the same time, he is annoyed, but he doesn’t know why.

When Eric leaves, he pulls Joyce up and heads for the exit, leaving the restaurant without finishing their coffee. He didn’t even tell Belle they were leaving.

They stop by the Maybach, but before Tristan can open the door, Joyce bids him farewell. According to her, some friends invited her to watch a movie.

When Joyce disappears from his sight, he turns to his side to face Belle, glaring at her. “Get in,” he instructs her in an irritated tone.

Belle follows immediately. She opens the passenger door and gets in quietly. She can only steal glances while Tristan keeps letting out sighs while driving.

When they reach the office, Tristan goes straight for the elevator after parking the car. He goes ahead without saying anything to Belle. As she is hungry, she decided to stop by the café to buy lunch for her and Jacob.

“What happened?” Assistant Brown asks as soon as Belle steps out of the elevator, he is standing right outside the door of the executive office.

She creases her forehead at him. “What do you mean?” then she starts walking toward their office. After putting down Jacob’s food on his table, she goes to hers and starts unpacking her lunch.

“The CEO slammed his door when he entered his office. He was outraged!” Jacob whispered while cleaning his table to have his lunch as well.

Belle thinks about it but can’t come up with any possible reason for their boss’ behavior. “I don’t know, we didn’t even talk when we drove back,” she simply tells him.

Jacob nodded, still confused as to what was going on. ‘What’s happening between those two?’