Chapter 6: Apology

Ashley

“I apologize for that,” he said.

Was it real!?

Was the ‘rude’ boss really apologizing to me? The CEO of this heaven?

“And trust me or not,” his vision lingered on my eyes for a small moment. “This was my first apology till… now. I never apologized to anyone”

The sole sound of that sentence made shivers run across my body. He was here; he was apologizing. Maybe I shouldn’t be that stubborn anyway. Maybe it was just a misunderstanding and I shouldn’t make a big fuss and I should forget.

I didn’t say anything as I was drowned in my thoughts and I didn’t even know how to react. I mean, the staff, the people, and Kate, I could feel everyone staring at us. He didn’t whisper anything, he said everything audibly. Everyone heard everything.

“Come in my cabin,” he said and turned around and left.

I stood for a second, just to think it through.

“I paid everyone here to work and not to stare, at least not to make my personal assistant uncomfortable. Don’t stare at us and particularly her, or I’ll fire you without any second thoughts” I heard him stopping and giving them warning, while I could also sense the anger he was holding back.

That same second, everyone started working and it looked as if the world had stopped for a moment and it again started moving. I remembered I have to go. I looked towards his cabin. He already left.

I stood in front of his cabin.

‘Go on, he is definitely not mad at you’ my inner conscience said.

‘I know, but I am afraid or rather… embarrassed’ I mentally replied.

‘Go or I will cut your hairs and dump it into a sewer and then sew them again—’ I stopped thinking and knocked at the door.

I entered the room and closed the door behind me.

“Sit down, Ash,” he said in a soft tone. I sat down, a hint of a smile hiding in my face at his soft voice. He was definitely very cute, only if he didn’t ‘mistrust me’ and didn’t have a low temper, I’d actually wanna be his date.

Gosh, I am crazy.

“Listen. About that…” he looked at his table. “I shouldn’t have blamed it on you. I shouldn’t have blamed my failures on my new assistant”

I just lowered my head. I didn’t know how to react.

“Okay, Ash,” I looked at him. “I am sorry”

A smile played on my lips. It is okay, he apologized.

“It’s okay,” I replied. “It’s just… you didn’t trust me. I mean, you know, it is not just about this all document thing, it is just… I thought we trusted each other”

He remained quiet for a second. “You need to understand Ash, you can’t fully trust anyone if you are in my position. See, it’s not like I doubt you anymore. But it is… it is just that I showed you the documents yesterday and today there was a security breach and also you were late. This was all so much of a coincidence. But I trusted you, that’s why I showed you them in the first place”

I nodded understanding him.

“I understand, sir. Being the CEO of such a large empire, you must fear getting deceived. But I promise you, sir, I’ll never, ever deceive you. I can’t even lie properly” I smiled.

“That’s true” a quick smile appeared on his face.

“So, sir,” I came back in my serious mode. “What are we gonna do about the breach?”

“Hmm. Come to think of it, we need a check on all of my people in this company”

“But sir,” I sighed. “That’s too much, and it will take days. Moreover, they can’t do anything if they don’t have access to your laptop, can they?”

“Wait. What did you say?” he asked as if he got something.

“That they can’t do anything without accessing your laptop?”

“That means they can do anything if they have access to it” he stood up. “Follow me”

I nodded but he already went out. His long strides were so long that I had to literally run to keep with the pace.

We sat in the car while he drove off.

“Where are we going, sir?” I questioned.

“My house” he replied, his gaze fixed on the road.

His house? Why?

“Is there a problem, Ash?” he asked and I realized he was looking at me with the rear-view mirror.

“N-No sir” I replied but he looked at me and raised an eyebrow. I don’t stutter normally. “I mean, no sir”

“Okay,” he replied and kept going.

We soon reached a building. It was a big one too.

“Come,” he said to me and I got out of the car and followed him.

Iris sensor was again present on the door of the building and as he passed it, the door opened. The hall, as I entered, was exquisite. It was so beautiful.

I followed him as he made his way to the rooftop. He opened the door and I saw a beautiful roof. It was amazing.

“I wanted to tell you,” he looked at me and sighed. “My brothers, they--. Wait. Why am I even telling you?”

“Because I am your assistant?” I questioned raising my eyebrow.

“I am sorry for bringing you here, Ash,” his eyes held sadness. “Can you… Can you leave?”

“Huh?”

“I want you to leave. I don’t know why I brought you here”

“Sir,” I took a deep breath. “You can share anything with me”

He looked into my eyes for a moment. I looked at him back, those eyes were hurt yet so beautiful. “No, leave” he commanded.

I decided to insist, I need to know what his theory of the security breach is.

“Sir, I—”

“Miss Ashley, leave, I said” he ordered in a demanding tone and I took a step back. Should I ask more? I think I should because… I need to know. But he seems angry. Maybe I shouldn’t. But why is he not telling me? The most relevant question crossed my mind and I decided to ask it

“Sir, do you even trust—”

He came to me and pushed me against the wall by my forearm. I gasped at the sudden rage. His eyes were burning holes in mine and he looked suddenly dangerous. Out of all the time I spent with him, which was really good, he was a completely different person right now.

“You are fired, Miss Ashley and you brought it upon yourself” he whispered, and glancing at me one more time, he left.