Chapter Six

Adrian’s POV

“Miss? Kindly focus. You seem a bit distracted. Why are you staring into space?” I asked the woman before me, my voice snapping her back to reality.

“I-I’m sorry sir. It won't happen again.” She blinked, a bit flustered then took a deep breath to steady herself. I could see her cheeks blush a rosy pink.

I narrowed my eyes on her. She was still jittery that much I could tell but there was something about her that made me feel unsettled and I could swear that I had seen her face before. It was….weird in a way.

I tried to recall where I had seen her pretty face but my memory drew blank. I couldn't remember.

“Sit, let's see whether you're a nice fit for this job.” I directed her to sit before me. I proceeded with the interview, asking her the usual questions about her experience, skills, and why she wanted the position. She answered everything well enough but I still couldn't shake off that strange sense of familiarity. 

The more she spoke, the more my instincts screamed that I'd met this woman before.

We finished the interview and maybe it was my curiosity, maybe it was my gut instincts but I decided to give this beautiful woman before me the job.

“Well congratulations,” I said, standing up and extending my hand. “You've got the job. Welcome onboard.”

She heaved a sigh of relief but she was still jittery and flustered.  Just as she reached out to shake my hand, everything clicked. The familiarity, the shock on her face, the reason she seemed so off balance - it all made sense suddenly.

“Wait a second.” I said sharply “Do you have any affiliations with Gabriel Moreno? The CEO of Cielo Azul Enterprises?”

Her hand froze mid-air and I caught the look of shock on her face. But that slowly changed into a look of disappointment. Disappointment? Why was she disappointed??

“I was…his former fiancee. But things didn't work out.” After a few minutes, she sighed and responded.

His fiancee? This was odd. Very odd, almost too coincidental that she would end up in my office. Gabriel Moreno was my biggest business rival, an enemy that I hated with everything in me, and now his ex-fiancee was standing here, on the verge of working for me.

“Well...would you look at that.” I smiled, trying to put her at ease.  “Life is full of surprises, isn't it? But don't worry, you'll find working with me very enjoyable. I look forward to seeing what you bring to the table,  Miss….”

“Joyce,” she replied with a soft tone.

“Joyce?” I furrowed my brows. I've heard that name somewhere before and no, this wasn't about seeing her once with Gabriel, I couldn't quite picture the scene yet.

“Is something wrong?” She asked with hopeful eyes.

“No. Everything's….fine.” I decided to just let it be. It was probably my mind and imagination playing some funny tricks on me.

“Oh.” Her face fell. “Alright, thank you.”

“Congratulations once more, you'll begin working next week Monday,” I said. She replied with an unenthusiastic nod and left my office.

“Strange,” I muttered to myself as I watched her retreating figure, still trying to place where the hell had I seen her before. There was something beyond her connection to Gabriel that nagged me to no end, I just couldn't place my finger on it. 

“I hate this feeling.” I tousled my hair in frustration. After a few minutes of deep thinking, I decided to let it go - for now.  She would be starting work on Monday, which would give me plenty of time to figure it out.

I sat down on a chair, hand on my chin and mind wandering. Another idea was taking shape in my mind. Gabriel Moreno, the man who had been a thorn in my side for years, had just lost something to me. What I didn't know is how important he would value Joyce even after their break up. This was something I wanted to find out. The thought of using this to my advantage was too tempting to resist.

A devious smirk tugged at the corner of my lips as I reached for my phone. This should be fun. 

I dialed Gabriel's number, using my private line so he wouldn't recognize it immediately. After a few rings, he picked it up.

“Who is this?” Gabriel's voice came through the line.

“Gabriel, my old friend.” I struggled to hold back a chuckle. “I’m surprised you don't recognize my voice.”  I drawled, relishing the confusion I could almost feel on the other end.

“Adrian? What the hell do you want?”  A growl escaped his throat which made me laugh out loud.

“Oh man, you should hear the sound of your voice,” I said casually and leaned back in my seat. “Actually, I wanted us to have a little chat. I was wondering if you happen to know anyone by the name, Joyce?” 

There was a long pause on the other end, followed by a sharp intake of breath which didn't fly past my observation. “How the hell do you know about her?” Gabriel's voice was tense and defensive which could only mean one thing. She was still important to him.

“Well..it seems your ‘former’ fiancee has found herself a new job. Interesting how the world works isn't it? She's my new PA starting Monday.”

The silence that followed was almost deafening. My smirk widened as Gabriel tried to process what I just told him.

“You bastard.” After a while, he hissed. “You stay the hell away from her, do you hear me?” 

I laughed loudly, knowing fully well that it would grate his nerves.

“And why would I do that Gabriel? She's an employee now, my employee.  And from the sound of it, you still care about her very much. How...interesting.”

“Adrian, I’m warning you…”

“Warn all you like Moreno. But she's working for me now. And who knows? Maybe we’ll get to know each other better. After all, it's a small world.”

Before he could respond, I ended the call and chuckled to myself. The look of anger and hatred on his face — if only I could have seen it. This would have been a lot more fun!

I placed my phone down and relaxed, my thoughts wandering about the beautiful woman who would start working for me next week.