CH 0001

Right through the revolving doors of the company building that swirled around so sharply in the early hours of the morning, a lady was seen running as fast as she could towards the sliding doors in the lobby, so that she could quickly get into one of the elevators ahead.

She was dressed in a beautiful peach chiffon shirt that was well tucked into a chocolate skirt, her hair was packed up in a high ponytail, and her face, which was perfectly framed by light makeup, effortlessly revealed her charm.

Her heels clicked sharply against the polished marble floor as she moved fast, while trying to avoid collision with the few employees that were roaming around and making their way to their own offices.

“Shit, I am late again,” Skylar's eyes glanced through her wristwatch, which indicated that the time was not on her side, as her face contorted into displeasure, knowing that she really had to reach the top floor as fast as possible.

She made it into one of the elevators sharply as soon as it opened, her heart pounding in her chest as she continually jabbed the button repeatedly to close the elevator doors very fast, so that no one would join her for the ride.

‘That man might roast her again today!’ she yelled inwardly in her mind, her head picturing his disapproving glare already waiting for her behind his desk.

Skylar sprinted out as soon as the doors of the elevator opened after she arrived at the floor she was going to, and instantly dashed to the long, whist, hallway that led to his office.

“Ah,” she winced in pain when she was about to reach for the doorknob, as she stumbled on her heels, causing her ankles to crack a bit, “These darn heels!” She cussed under her breath, drawing air into her lungs to calm herself down and to prevent herself from screaming in response to the pain.

Breathless and flustered, she quickly composed herself, not minding her twisted ankle, as she smoothed her hair, dabbed her face dry with a handkerchief, and straightened her blouse, trying to hide the fact that she had been running all along. And then, she took a deep breath before pushing the door to enter.

“You are late again,” the calm, but intimidating, icy voice grated on her nerves instantly, as she came face to face with the imposing figure that started behind his desk, waiting for her with the same scrutinizing deadpan glare she had pictured in her head.

However, the malicious lasers he was shooting out of his eyes weren't so bad to cope with, because staring at the face of her boss, she was reminded that, once again, this man was the perfect representation of a sculptured human from fairy-tale books.

Why? Because he looked too good to be real. Possessed attributes that were too breathtaking to comprehend.

Heart-shaped lips as red as wine, an aquiline-like nose, chiseled jaw that cut sharply, perfect facial alignments, and perfectly waxed jet-black hair that looked so laid back, with perfect grayish blue eyes that appeared green sometimes or gray, each moment one looked into them: Ivan Hamilton was an ethereal beauty.

He was all, but yet had the perfectly toned, muscled, proportionate body of a professional model, and a rare killer smile which made hearts throb at the sight of it.

And to Skylar too, her boss looked so perfect, that it was almost annoying. It was too much for him to possess all those good qualities, and be wealthy at the same time! Talk about the unfairness of how things can be.

“I am sorry, sir,” She finally found her voice, after a moment of trying not to subconsciously get awestruck on a beautiful Monday morning, by her unnecessary hot boss, who has a bad temper, was so stuck-up, rigid, inflexible, and too much!

She could not give excuses for why she had come late, even if he was the reason why she barely got home until late the night before, and caused her to wake up late. He would roast her more if she complained. He hated excuses. More than anything.

‘It was just 8:01 AM for Christ's sake! She was just a minute late!’ Skylar wanted to yell at Ivan's face through her gritted teeth, her eyes looking at the floor, and not his face, so that he would not notice how hard she had to run to make it to his office that fast.

However, nothing went past his unnecessary sharp vision either.

“Looks like you ran yet again,” he emphasized with a low scoff, as he rose on his feet and carefully straightened out the crinkles on his perfect, custom-made suit that accentuated his body so gorgeously.

Stalking close to where she was standing, Skylar swallowed hard as she remained fixated on the spot, hoping he would not have anything to scold her about again. The crazy height difference, which was not hard to tell between them, made it easy for him to hover around her like a giant electric pole, and even see the middle of her head!

“What are my schedules for today?” He strutted past her like she was nonexistent, his left hand tucked into his pocket, and her eyes widened in surprise as she heaved a sigh of relief because she expected him to say more.

To talk about her tardiness even if she had to run so that he would not scold her again, and to mention how she was a minute late when he knew how difficult it was to put up with his never-consistent, ridiculous working hours.

‘Yet she had put up with him for three years!’

“You have a meeting with the board of directors at 9:00 AM to discuss the conglomerate's quarterly earnings report for the month, and the proposal for the new six-star resort. You have a conference call with the Asia division by 11:00 AM to finalize the merger details,” Skylar scurried after him.

“And then a luncheon with the CEO of FASH-XE to discuss the new urban development project where the properties landed by 1:00 PM, followed by brief visits to each company. And a launching party at 8:00 PM.”

She had all of Ivan's schedules memorized by heart, and listed them efficiently and smoothly with high professionalism, while struggling to keep up with his long strides, her bruised ankle hurting the more she walked in her flowery printed heels.

“Okay,” was his curt reply, and she sighed wearily with a heavy heart, knowing it was going to be a long day again.

‘Darn this workaholic!’

…….

It was 7:30 PM already, and Skylar's patience was already wearing thin, her eyes constantly glancing through her wristwatch, knowing that she could not afford to be late to the dry cleaner's shop to get the dress she was wearing to the launching event party with him. The one her best friend had lent to her.

However, Ivan Hamilton was taking his time again, being so precise and thorough with his job, and working endlessly like it was his last. He had sent his workers into a crazy frenzy by his sudden visit to each company, ditching out queries wherever he saw a slack off, and sanctioning heads of departments wherever they were not functioning well. He was never tired!

Quickly, she made a last-minute call for the dress to be brought to the front of the company through delivery services, with a deep frown etched upon her face, knowing that it would cost her extra dollars than if she had just gone herself. However, she had no choice. She could not leave her boss.

Finally, after minutes had passed, she breathed peacefully when she saw him come out of the last impromptu construction site they had gone to, when it was just a few minutes to the time speculated that the launch party would start.

Exactly fifteen minutes past eight, the neatly folded red dress that she had dropped at the dry cleaners arrived by delivery just in time, and Skylar quickly scurried into one of the women's bathrooms to change into the dress and touch her makeup perfectly, while taking time to admire how she looked in her friend's stunning dress.

“This looks so good on me,” her heart leaped with joy, and her eyes glistened with admiration as she did a little swirl in front of the mirror of the bathroom, before rushing out of the bathroom as soon as her eyes caught hold of the time on her wristwatch.

Quickly, she took the elevator back to the top floor which led to the office to inform Ivan that the car which was meant to take him to the party had arrived already, only to be greeted with the most unfriendly gaze as soon as he set his eyes on her.

“You are not wearing this to the party with me!” his cold voice remarked.