Chapter Four : Temptation

Heading into the office was like any other day for Alissa. Greeting everyone in her pathway, going to the pantry and get herself a hot cup of coffee and just sat in her space and keep her mind calm and peaceful before go on with her day.

After leaving Hope with Sarah, she felt calm knowing she was in her great care. However, the memory of meeting Daniel wouldn't stop taking over her thought.

He was everywhere and last night, she even had a dream about him. It was such a weird almost erotic dream where she was laying on her bed in a room that seems to be surrounded by clouds and bright lights.

She would think that she was in heaven and out of nowhere, Daniel strut into her bedroom in his white loose shirt and white pants. His messy blonde hair with his trimmed beard made him look like a modern Greek God. He was so handsome and his body, Jesus, he was built like the men in the Avengers movie.

She remembered clearly how Daniel, in her dream was going towards her, standing in front of her bed, and gave her the heart-melting grin. He just stands there looking at her like she was some kind of a meal. She just lay there with a surprised face and her thin nightdress made her feel bare to his gaze. 

Before the dream got to escalate with him touching her the way that she had hope, she woke up with the sound of Hope crying so she rushed and take care of her sweet daughter.

She sigh. Later, she suddenly became annoyed.

What are you doing, Alissa? Why would you want to have that dream continue? Are you crazy?

For a moment there, his dreamy eyes made her forget about what his family had done to her. The hell they had put her through and if it wasn't for Hope, she would have probably join her mother in the afterlife. That was how much she was affected by the whole ordeal. 

Pushing her mug to the side, she was about to switch on her laptop when Gregory spoke to her. She tilted her head and gave a short cry.

"Oh my God Gregory! Why do you sneak up on me like that? You could have given me a heart attack."

"Sorry about that, Lisa. You know me. My good looks always get the ladies in the most mysterious of ways." He nods his brow and Alissa rolled her eyes.

Yeah right 

"What do you want? I'm about to check all the inboxes from Simons Co. " She was staring at her laptop for a long time until a name caught her attention.

"What did you say?" She shifts her eyes towards Gregory.

"I said, starting from tomorrow and for 3 months, you will be in the top-level and become Mr. Daniel Walton's secretary while he is on maternity leave. Mr handsome thinks you are impressive yesterday and wants to work with you."

"What are you, crazy? I barely spoke to the guy let alone show how 'impressive' I was. I don't want to be his secretary or anything he has to offer."

Gregory sighed, "I don't know about any of that, Lisa but you working close to him will be great for this company. If you can keep a close relationship with him, you might never know, other than the partnership, he would probably give us extra donations for future projects if you could, I don't know, charm him with that emerald eyes of yours." He winks at her.

Alissa's eyes widen, "You want me to seduce him? Okay, I know now you are crazy. You can ask anyone here but me, okay? I love my office, I love my space and as much as you are just being a dick right now, I prefer working with you like him."

Gregory crossed his arms, "What's up with you and Daniel? You act as if you know him? Ex-boyfriend or something?"

More like husband

"I don't okay. He's just...I just don't feel like leaving my post plus I have many things to settle here so please, give it to someone else."

She pleaded to him but it didn't seem to work. "No can do, Lisa. He wants you and no one else. Besides, it's only for three months and it will all end well not only for you but for the company as well. Jessica will handle all your work from now on plus she needs that extra pay for her upcoming wedding. See, you're doing something good that could benefit everyone."

"And how does it benefit me?" Alissa glare at him. 

"Lisa, darling. The company gets higher pay, you get a higher salary. Plus I know how you're planning to buy a car, don't you? I'll back you up on that if you help me this time."

"How the hell did you know I'm trying to buy a car?"

Gregory pointed his finger towards a picture of Alissa’s dream car, the Nissan 2020 Pathfinder. Well, it wasn't like a big deal of a car but she actually helped out with  Gregory when they were visiting another company and one of the managers offers to send them home and the moment she step into her dream carriage, she was in love and could imagine having her and Hope sitting there.

She looked up at Gregory and bit her lip, "You sure? Just for three months?"

Gregory holds his hand to his chest and says, "Cross my heart and hope to die. You won't regret this, Alissa."

She sighed.

She was already regretting it right now.

...

It was bad enough she was told to become her husband's new secretary, Alissa was told to pack up her things that instant since Daniel need a secretary at that moment. 

She taps her shoes repeatedly in the elevator while carrying her bag with her laptop inside and a couple of boxes of her things to her new space. She notice the old lady behind her was becoming annoyed by her tapping so she stops and smiled at her.

Didn't seem to work since she was being ignored and when the elevator door open, the old lady quickly limps away and she too steps outside of the same floor with her. She sighed about 50 times today seeing how exhausted she was. Physically and mentally. She took a deep breath before heading towards the office at hand.

Alissa steps into the hallway and a few more steps bring her to a huge office space filled with so many people looking so busy and barely have time to greet her. She just move faster to the room with the glass door. 

She enters and inside the room was another door with a translucent glass wall and a wooden door.

She took a deeper breath this time and knock on the door.

"Who is it?" The voice she was all too familiar with.

"I...It's me. Alissa Pere. I'm your new secretary." Ugh, she even hated saying that.

A long silence fills the air between them so when Alissa thought that she would be ignored, she was about to leave until the door was open so quickly making her flinched at the strong air.

Her eyes widen to see Daniel in a light blue shirt and his sleeves were rolled up, displaying his huge arms and veiny hand. His shirt did nothing to hide his lean physique. His dark blue pants looks so good on him and his darker than sin blonde hair was styled neatly to the side. 

Wait, what?

"You're here?" He ask with a surprised look on his face.

"You knew I was always in this building." She answered almost angrily and she steps in after lightly pushing him aside. Alissa slammed her things on the table and Daniel took it in his interest to lock the door.

"Why am I here?" Alissa asks angrily.

"What do you mean why you_"

"I mean, why do you make Gregory push me to be with you?"

Daniel grin, "Be with me huh? Straight to the point, I see. Well, I want you to work with me."

"As your secretary?" 

"Yes and I want to offer you a spot in Walton’s Publishing. With me, obviously. I've seen your documents and I'm impressed with what you have done so far. It's amazing and I think you would have a better future here with us than with Gregory."

"And you expect me working with you will not hide everything that is going on between the two of us?"

"Everything as in you being my wife who ran away three years ago and left me without even a decent text or letter?"

Alissa steps forward and pokes his chest,  "Don't you dare make me the villain here. You know what you and your family did to me. Especially you."

His smile drops and regret paints his face, " Lisa, I'm so sorry about what had happened before. I never meant to.."

"Meant to what?" Tears brim in her eyes. "Accused me of something so horrible? Being the reason why your mother falsely accuse me to a point of pushing me and killing my baby? You people are sick and let me see, your mother and brother are still free, aren't they?"

Daniel looks away, shame falls over him of her words. She took it as a yes.

"I see. And you have the audacity to apologize to me when all those people in your family who have wronged me, walk away scots free? I don’t think so. So now, you can go ahead and tell Gregory that I won't be working with you and if you have even the smallest of decency to be sorry about what you did to me, you will find another person to be your secretary." 

Alissa was about to step away when he pulls her hand to face him, "No! I want you. No one else but you. My wife."

"I'm not your wife and if you're referring to the legality of our relationship, then I want a divorce!"

Daniel grin, "As if. I've spent years trying to find you Alissa and now that I do, I won’t let this opportunity go to waste."

He walks closer to her until she found herself trapped between him and his desk.

"What opportunity? You want me to work with you that bad?" She starts to stutter and looked everywhere but him to find anything that she could use to hit him.

"You, baby. I want you." He whispers in a husky voice. Alissa was beginning to think that he was insane. She didn’t understand what he was talking about when there was never any romance between the two of them.

"What are you_” 

She felt his fingers buried in her loose hair and when it tightens across her caramel strand, his lips landed on hers. Almost taking her breath away.  

Oh my...