Chapter One - Rejection is for the weak, not the determined...

Her Ruthless Angel

Bellamia

“So, will you be taking it?”

 Looking round, Liza realised two things at once; first of all, she was in Mike’s office and secondly, he just asked her a question and with the way he was staring at her, obviously wondering what was wrong with her, he had been made to ask the same question, several times, with her gazing into space. 

Seeing that he wasn’t pleased with the way she kept him waiting for a response, she quickly gave a brief but fake smile, while nodding her head like a confused lizard. 

  

With an impatient sigh, he smiled and asked again. 

“You are taking the position right?”

 And that was when Liza realised she had goofed again. 

She honestly didn’t understand what he was talking about. But who could blame her? It was her unofficial hour and she should have been out of the office thirty minutes before.

But, thanks to dear Mike who decided to call her in for a meeting, therefore, causing her to close late, again.           

Honestly, Mike was beginning to exasperate her, for goodness sake; the meeting could wait till the following day. She has a date with her Fiancé and she couldn’t afford to be late again.

Tommy detests being kept waiting. But what could she do? Mike was her boss;

Therefore, she must obey his businesslike instructions. She thought with a heavy sigh.

Not only was he in the world business upper echelon, he was young, probably two or three years above thirty and tall with a muscular figure of a mini god. He has thick unruly black hair that wasn’t always easy to tame, which of course, was in contrast with the imported Italian business suits you would always spot on him. Mike has a penchant for the perfect attires known with rich classy men. 

Classically handsome with a sculptured face known with the warriors of the olden days, and a serious intense look that rarely smiled, Mike was powerful, disciplined and all business. 

And, what’s more? Mike Stanford wasn’t just the MD of Diamond Investment Company, he was her immediate boss, and as an ordinary, though useful assistant secretary in their headquarters’ office, she must comply with the boss’s wishes whether it’s convenient or not. Damn!

Aware of the silence, she looked up to see Mike sternly looking at her, waiting for her to say something. What?             

   

“I . . . I beg your pardon,” she stammered.

Trying to curtail his impatience, he smiled again. The sweet boyish smile transformed his whole face. Liza sighed inwardly, if only he would smile more. 

“I know you’re surprised,” he said. “But I have faith in you.”

“Faith? I don’t understand sir.” 

 “Sure you do. You have worked with me often enough whenever my PA wasn’t around, so, I know you can do it.”

 It took her a minute to get it. 

He was offering her a promotion, a promotion to be his Personal Assistant, a coveted position by all the females in his office since his last PA upped and got married to her high school boyfriend, without giving him enough time to get a replacement, thereby leaving Mike in the lurch without a PA.

Trying to check if it wasn’t a dream, she looked into his blue eyes, eyes that would make you want to tell all your life’s secrets and gladly drown in it.

Seeing the look, Mike smiled again and Liza’s heart gave a dip. Good grief! What’s with all these smiles?

 “But sir...” She stopped. 

It wouldn’t be honest of her to say she didn’t want the position. She settled on…

“I honestly don’t know what to say, Mike”.

 “Well, I understand you might be too surprised and happy for words, but why not go home and think about it? You can give me your answer tomorrow, but hopefully, it will be an answer I want to hear.” He laughed but Liza didn’t share the joke, she just kept staring at him. 

“If you don’t have any other question, I will like to release you and get back to my work Liza.” Mike dismissed.

“Oh yes, yes please” she abruptly stood and walked to the door, no, run is more like it, with Mike staring after her in mild amusement. 

Almost running to her office space, Liza gave her desk a slam. So she has goofed!

  

Mike had asked a simple question and instead of her jumping with joy and appreciation, because truth be told, this had been one of her hopes for the future. 

A promotion in this company, a company she has been working with for over two years!

Young and vibrant with a guileless face and a moderate height of five point six, Liza has always been aware of her average beauty, and has decided from early age to put her all in academics, after all, if she cannot compete with the girls in look, she can show them who is boss academically.

The reason she has worked hard and was lucky to get a job on her first interview with Diamond Investment Company while most of her old school friends were still out searching for a job several years later. 

And now, a promotion she was hoping would happen in the next three years was now hers to grasp. 

And what did she do? She messed it up! 

Raising her hand, she hit her forehead with the palm of her hand in self annoyance; because of course, she knew the cause of her distraction. 

Tommy!

 “Tom is her fiancé, the reason behind the distractions and tensions she is presently facing.” 

Loving Tom was like holding unto live wires, different shocks every day. 

And the truth is, if asked, she couldn’t explain how they got to that stage especially when many would consider the relationship an odd one. 

I mean, there was Liza, with a well mapped out career and there was also Tom, who many saw as a low life, good for nothing boy. 

Freshly out of college at twenty years of age, with hope in her breast for the future, Liza met Tom on a lonely afternoon at the park and after an introduction, they got talking and before she could say jack, they became good friends. After a year of friendship, they started a relationship; mainly because, on Liza’s part, there was really no time for other men and she really wanted to have her own family one day, with a lovely house, dogs and picket fence. 

As for Tom, she never really knew why he wanted a relationship with her. Love maybe!

 Whatever the reason, dating Tom was an eye-opener for Liza; good looking with a good body to go with it, Tom felt he’s God’s gift to women and never wasted any opportunity in telling her exactly that and more.

But having given him her virginity and allowed him to move in with her, she was always providing excuses for his misdemeanours, to avoid a breakup. 

 But, there was one time like that she almost left him, after he hit her over a simple thing as breakfast.

Shocked, Liza told him to pack his bags and leave her flat, but to her surprise, he cried and apologised, blaming everything on the previous night’s drinking and she forgave him. 

She couldn’t help it, he wanted to marry her and they have been saving towards their marriage. 

Well, she has been saving. Tom is currently out of a job, he never can hold onto a job more than a few months. He always says it’s because he’s too good for the companies and they don’t appreciate him.

So, Liza pays the rent and feeds him.

But he was never grateful; he always displayed peevishness and would throw tantrums at every moment even when he wasn’t provoked.

But for a few weeks now, he has developed a tendency for hitting Liza but tactically in places that would not show his abuse. 

Just a week before, he had hit her on the face that she couldn’t go to work for days and even after resuming work, she had had to use a scarf to cover the better part of the bruise while giving an inane excuse to curious colleagues. 

They hadn’t spoken since then and this dinner date was a form of apology from Tom.

While a part of her was telling her to break off everything and take a walk before it’s too late, another part of her, the part that gave Tom her all, refused to let go of the first man she gave her body and heart to. 

Snapping out of her thoughts and preoccupations, Liza checked the time and gave a painful groan. 

She was meant to meet Tom in one of their usual spots an hour ago and at the moment, she was not only late, but she obviously couldn’t go home to change her clothes, which implied she would have to meet Tom in her office clothes. That, he hated with a passion she couldn’t explain. 

Thinking of the implications behind her lateness, she gave a whimper like an animal in pain as she picked up her bag. 

Walking slowly to the office elevator that would take her to the office’s car park, she just had this conviction in her heart that the night would bring nothing but trouble. 

Her boss might have thought he was doing her a favour by delaying her after office hours to give her the good news of promotion, but he would never know he just might have created a pain that may never heal. 

She just could smell the storm coming and it’s heading straight for her.