The Offer

Lucas's POV

While I'm watching Naomi get into the building, my phone rings inside my pocket. I sighed deeply before fishing it out and answered the call without looking at the caller.

"What?" I asked irritatedly.

"Are you the one standing in front of the building?" I looked behind me and saw a familiar SUV and a man got off, his hand holding the phone near his ear. "What are you doing here?" The voice on my phone asked while the owner of the voice walked towards me.

"Stop." I said and Denver immediately halted his steps and he slowly retreated back to the SUV. "Why are you guys here?" I asked while looking up to Naomi and waved my hand in the air.

"Uh we have to kidnap the daughter of Ms. Kim since she doesn't have plan to pay us." He replied.

My eyes immediately widened when I noticed my men behind Naomi. "Tell them not to touch her or I'll kill all of you!" I whispered hardly through the speaker. I saw how Denver rattled to warn my men and luckily, they did not touch her. They then left the building and went back to their cars and left.

I walked back to the city library to get my car and drove home. As soon as I arrived in the driveway of my mansion, my men fell in line and Denver opened the door for me. They all bend their bodies to greet me.

"Welcome home, Boss." They greeted me in unison.

"Who decided to kidnap Naomi?" I asked, those my voice were calm but they looked so scared.

"We're really sorry Boss, we didn't know—." I interrupted the guy who's speaking when I pulled out a gun from Denver's waist and pointed it to him.

"Whoa whoa, calm down Lucas!" Denver yelled with his hands in the air.

"Who?!" I asked again but no one wanted to answer my question. I pointed the gun on the ceiling and pulled the trigger one time then pointed it back to the man in front of me.

"Me." A man in his 50s came out from my mansion. I don't give a fuck whoever he is and whatever his reason for doing that. But I will never forgive him for almost hurting the woman I've been admiring for so long.

Yes, that's right. I'm a mafia boss pretending to be a nerd. I'm also the CEO of LM fashion incorporation where Naomi wanted to work. I came up with this idea when I saw her one time outside the bar that I owned too. She wasn't drunk but her company was. She's guiding her friend while vomiting due to intoxication.

She was so innocent and pure. I was just watching them from the balcony of my bar when a bunch of guys surrounded them. She was so scared, so I asked Denver to do something with it. They threatened the men and finally left the girls alone. Naomi thanked Denver but I could see her uncomfortable when my right hand man offered them a ride.

They left that night and since then, she has never left my mind. So I decided to find her on my own and I learned a lot of things about her. She worked in a coffee shop to support her studies since her mom was incapable of finding a decent job and haunted by a lot of debtors. And her dad passed away after the one incident that I don't want to talk about because I know that I'm part of the reason why her Dad died.

I also learned that she hates rich men, so that's when I decided to pretend to be poor and a nerd. I bought the city library so I can pretend to be working there and never missed a single day of dropping by in the coffee shop where she works.

My men know everything about my act but they never know about Naomi.

How did I end up being a mafia boss? It's because my father, who is the former boss, died in an accident. My father and Naomi's Dad were both under that building when it collapsed. I inherited all of his properties and this position. I was just a boy that time and didn't know what to do with all the work he left to me.

So the association sent me abroad so I could finish my study and flew back here after 3 years to manage all of my father's business after our family attorney transferred all of the properties in my name, along with his company that he named after me. LM fashion incorporation stands for Lucas Manoban.

I'm his only child so everything he left was passed on me. I never met my mom and didn't ask about her either.

And what's funny about being the boss of this huge association? They never know who Lucas is, my men never told everything about me aside from I'm still in abroad. That also gives me the opportunity to do things freely.

I have powers to do everything I want, so that means, nobody messes with me and with all my possessions. Naomi is one of them.

I was about to pull the trigger to shoot the old guy but his men blocked him. I laughed and scratched my head using the tip of the gun. "Are you seriously hiding behind your men wherein you are inside of my property?" I asked.

"Well, is it wrong for me to pay a visit to my nephew?" He asked back and tapped the guy in front of him so he could approach me. He removed his fedora and he smiled at me. I have never seen him in my entire life and yet, here he is, claiming that I am his nephew.

I didn't smile back, instead, I raised my left eyebrow at him. "I don't remember anything about my relatives. So no, I'm not your nephew."

"I can't blame you, because Marco never let your mom meet you."

"It's been so long since I last heard the words 'your mom'." I chuckled dryly. "Does she even exist?"

"Of course, that's why I'm here."

"And tried to ruin my plan for kidnapping Naomi? You're such a crazy old hag." I shoved the gun back into Denver's waist and nodded my head to my men, it means I want to have a rest and removed these men out of my property. They moved but Denver stopped them by holding his hand in the air. "What are you doing?" I asked irritatedly.

"He's your uncle, we've already met when your Dad is still alive." Denver said to justify the man's self proclaimed that he's my uncle.

"Okay." I sighed in defeat. "So what if you're my uncle? What are you doing here?" I asked in a mocking manner.

"Your mom wants to meet you."

"She's not in the picture when I was a kid, so who told her that it's necessary to meet me at this age?"

"Lucas."

"No, tell her I'm not interested." I dismissed and walked straight inside my mansion and slammed the two way door in their faces. I don't really want to see her, not this time and never in my entire life that I had the desire to meet her. She was never here so it's better to stay like that.

____

Morning came and I quickly got up from my bed, ran to my bathroom and took a bath. Excited to see Naomi for today, because last night was the first time we've actually talked longer than saying 'good morning', 'here's your order' and thank you come again.

The moment she stepped inside the library yesterday, I felt so happy. I literally watched her sleep for 6 hours. I even asked every student to leave the library and they didn't have the chance to protest when my men dragged them outside.

I was hoping that I could talk to her again today and walk her home even if she won't ask me to. But while I'm dressing myself up, I remember our conversation last night about her dream job in her dream company which is my company.

I grabbed my phone and dialed my secretary's number. I don't usually use my phone to call someone but if it's Naomi, then she is an exemption. It only took one ring before Hannah picked up the phone and greeted me enthusiastically.

"Good morning, Sir Lucas!"

"Do you still have the applicant's résumé?" I asked, ignoring her greeting.

"Uh yes sir, we were having an interview today. Are you going to—."

"Great, I want you to reject everyone and save the position for the new designer and find Naomi Kim's portfolio."

"Actually Sir, unfortunately she didn't meet the criteria—."

"Are you the boss?" I cut her off and I know that she could feel the irritation in my voice.

"N-no Sir. I'm sorry."

"Just do what I said and wait for me to call you again for instructions on what you are going to do." I said and hung up the phone without waiting for her to say anything. "These people think that they are better than me." I hissed and shoved the phone inside of my pocket then I proceeded to my secret room where I hid all of my precious collection of watches.

Yes, I'm obsessed with watches so this is the only thing I won't be hiding even if I'm pretending to be a poor guy. And I was actually amazed because Naomi has good eyes for watches as well when she had a glimpse at what I'm wearing yesterday and she could easily recognise what brand and what model it was. And for today, I am gonna choose the Rolex Paul Newman Daytona.

I don't know what I'm doing all of this but I want to get that certain woman and after watching her for over a year, today is the moment I've been waiting for. I'm gonna use her dream job to be my girlfriend then marry her as soon as possible. I don't care if she finds out that I'm rich as hell, but as soon as she becomes one of my possessions, there's no other way to get out from me.

_____

I drove my car in front of the city library that I owned, then Denver drove me one block away from the coffee shop where Naomi is working so it's not suspicious if she sees me walking towards the shop.

But I may seem to be so early as the shop was still closed, I glanced at my watch and it's already past 6 AM. Why are they still close?

As I stopped in front of the shop, I peeked inside but no one was in there, lights were still off and there was no sign of Naomi. Then a scooter arrived and parked at the back of the coffee shop. The lights turned on and a guy appeared inside, opening all of the machines. I waited for him to open the entrance so I could ask him. I know it's a bit awkward to ask about Naomi since I have never talked to anyone else aside from Naomi in her workplace.

"Good morning, welcome to—." The guy stopped when he saw the first customer for today, which was me. Then he smirked. "Expecting Naomi?" He asked smugly.

"No." I replied. I ain't gonna confess to this ugly guy.

"Oh really? Damn man, I thought you liked her." He made a hissing sound as he left me and he walked behind the counter to get my order.

I badly want to ask him where Naomi is, but I don't want him to assume things or he might tell Naomi about it and my girl will distance herself to me.

Another person came out from the staff room and it was not Naomi. I clenched my fists and was about to ask them where my girl was, but the girl spoke first.

"I'm sorry, it was too late when I read Naomi's message that she's gonna take a day off for today." The girl said to the guy.

"It's okay, we just had our first customer for this morning." The guy said and he pointed at me.

"Oh, is he Lucas?" The girl asked, which made me raise my left eyebrow of how they know my name.

"Yes."

"Great, so Naomi told me that Lucas will drop by here to get his cup of cappuccino."

Oh well, my heart skipped a beat upon hearing that. It warms my heart that Naomi thinks of me even if she wasn't going to go to work for today.

"Just wait for a moment, Sir. I'll make your order." The girl said as she hurriedly prepared all of the things she would use to make my order.

I just nodded my head and walked to my favourite spot in their shop. Then I wonder, why would Naomi take her day off? Usually, her day off was every Friday of the week but today is only Wednesday, so it's really confusing.

After waiting for another five minutes, the woman served me the cup of cappuccino and apologised for taking so long. I fixed my eyeglass and smiled at her before sipping on it. I may be so dramatic, but this cappuccino tastes so different from what Naomi serves to me every morning. It tastes like shit!

After one sip, I pulled out a bill from my wallet and left the place then walked to the library to get my car. I don't need to pretend for today since Naomi was not on duty. I was about to open the door of my car when I saw in peripheral vision the girl I've been craving to see this morning.

She was walking in my direction, holding a folder and carrying a backpack behind her.

"Hey, good morning." She greeted me. I backed away from my car and smiled at her timidly.

"You took your day off." I said more of a statement than a question.

"Y-yeah, I just have to try my luck around other companies." She said and showed me the folder she was holding. "So wish me luck?" She added.

"Uh actually, do you have time?" I asked. I don't know why I feel so nervous but I'm not gonna back out. I already planned it the whole night so this is the most right timing to execute my plan of making her as my girlfriend.

"I'm sorry, but I don't think I have. I need to—."

"It's about the company you want to work with." I cut her off. She looked at me confusedly but didn't say anything so I proceeded. "I told you, my brother is working in that company and last night, I talked to him about your application."

"And?" She pressed. I know that there's a sudden hope in her that she might get in since I could see the excitement in them.

"Then this morning, he called me and.." I paused and smiled at her. ".. you're in, you just have to wait for their management to call you."

"Are you freaking serious right now?!" She exclaimed and I nodded my head. "Oh my God!" She squealed and threw her arms on me as she started jumping out of too much happiness. "Thank you! Thank you so much Lucas! My God, how am I gonna repay you?!" She asked while still hugging me.

"Be my girlfriend." I said.

__________