Chapter Three

ARIANA

It wasn’t even 1pm yet and I was already developing a mild headache. It had to be as a result of reading so many papers in such a short period of time.I hated paper work. I hated it with a passion. And if not that my angel of an assistant was on maternal leave, I wouldn’t have had to deal with them. What made matters worse was the fact that I hadn’t even found a replacement for her in the past two months since she had gotten of.

Whereas, Alexander was having the time of his life with not just one, but two assistants. He was always so extra! And the fact that he enjoyed paperwork like it were some type of recreational game. I knew. I had caught him dancing round how office once, as he went through some papers. The horror! Sexy horror!

Speaking of Alexander, I hadn’t seen him in the office, since I had arrived. Katherina had given me some papers which he had left for me, in my absence, and when I had finished signing them, I had gone to give them to him, but he had been nowhere to be found. 

I got up and sighed as my stomach growled from hunger. I hadn’t even had breakfast because of that stupid Darren. I had been so lost in my crazy plan towards him that I had bot obly forgotten about breakfast, I had left my house by 9:49, to am office that opened by 8:00am.

I looked at the clock. 12:56pm.

Great! I had missed my lunch. “Hello, Ava?” I said into the receiver once Ava picked up. “Can you please tell Oliver to get me the usuals once you see him?” Oliver, who was Ava’s boyfriend, owned a small fast food restaurant in the next street, and always brought food to employees who where either late for lunch, or just wanted to eat fast food.

“Oh, you missed him.” She said. “But I’ll just call him and tell him. Great excuse to see him again!” Ava cooed, and I knew, by the sound of her voice, that she was bouncing in her chair from happiness.

“Thanks, Ava.” I told her, trying not to smile too much. I was a sucker for love.

I had just set the receiver down when my office door was pushed open without any prior knock on it. And then I got the shock of my life when I saw who it was. “Alexander?” I asked in confusion as he strode over to where I was standing. “What are you doing here? I’ve been looking for you_”

“Save it, Ariana.” He said harshly, interrupting me. That made me frown deeply. In the years we had worked together, but once had he ever spoken to me like that. It was usually cool and controlled mannerisms between us. Nothing more, nothing less. That’s why when he said the next words, I was mostly shocked at his tone again, rather than the words that came out from his mouth. “Can you just explain yourself right now, and tell me what the hell you were thinking when you went to arrange to work with Daren behind my back?” He asked, redfaced, and angry. If the walls weren’t soundproof, I would have been scared of employees rushing to know why their boss was roaring like a wounded lion.

I felt annoyance surge within me. “First of all, you have no right speaking to me on that tone or manner!” I bit out sharply. I hated when people shouted at me. I wasn’t a fan of something that could easily delivered in a normal tone of voice. “Secondly, what do you mean by me going behind your back to work with Daren? I met him first!” I knew his father did business with Alexander, but he had come to me with a proposal, not his father, why would I refuse something that would benefit my company. Apart from his stupidity, the business was going to be a plus to both me and Alexander.

“Oh really? You let him first? When? Where? Tell me!” Alexander had lowered his voice alright, but the tone he was using now was so low, but bit harder than when he was raising his voice. I suddenly wanted him to yell at me again.

“The charity gala! I met him there. And he came with a business proposal to me, which I couldn’t refuse!” I tried to explain. But my throat felt dry, making it difficult to get the words out. Alexander on the other hand was standing really close to me, and it was making me feel really uncomfortable….was that even the word for it..

I backed away from him, but he just stepped closer. “I don’t believe you.” He shrugged, looking directly into my eyes. “You know very well that I work with Daren’s father. And since I work with him, you get your own share of that deal. And you know too, that his father has gone on a vacation with his little girlfriend, leaving the company in Darren’s hands!” He cocked his head to the side. “So no, I don’t believe you.”

I didn’t know that. All I knew was Darren was into me and had brought up the proposal, although it had been a sly way of attracting me even more, but I had checked, and the proposal was good. I hadn’t known it was an open business between his father and Alexander.

Besides, since when did we start competing for deals?

“Look, believe it or not, I did not know. Period. And I’m doing that business with Darren, whether you like it or not.” Then I pointed at the door. “Now, if you don’t mind, leave my office. When you have calmed down and are ready to talk, then we can discuss then plans and ideas o have prepared for Darren.” 

But Alexander did not do as I told him to. Infact, he did the opposite.

“Really? Make me.” He said, stepping even closer to me. I moved backwards amd winced when I felt the bookshelf behind me. 

I was trapped.

“Alex….” I whispered, licking my lips as I was suddenly aware of the position we were in. He was standing too close to me for my liking. Well…I liked…no!

“Ariana?” He grinned, mockingly calling my name.

I was beginning to feel really hot, and I suspected he knew his effect on me, because he just smiled and leaned in.

“What are you doing?” Damn that stupid whisper again. I had lost my ability to speak normally. My eyes dropped to Alexander’s lips. Damn! They looked so full and plump, this close to me.

Was he going to kiss me?

Did I want him to? Fuck yeah!

My nipples hardened at the thought.

“What do you think I’m doing Ariana?” He asked, brushing his lips against mine, so lightly and so….urghh..

I closed my eyes, leaning forward, so our lips could meet and relieve me of the torture. I could even hear a knock on the door which sounded so far away. All I wanted was Alexander’s lips on mine.

Nothing.

I frowned, with my eyes still closed.

“You better open your eyes and get the door, Ariana. Before your visitor opens it and sees you standing there looking like that.” 

My eyes shot open just in time to see the connecting door between our offices close.

What the hell just happened?