Two

Alex

All the long talk was starting to get to me. I would have been perfectly comfortable to meet all the important people I need to meet over one meeting, but I was outvoted even before I entered the company.

If this is what I am in for, then heaven help me because it's going to be a long ride.

The banquet was being held in the cavernous ballroom of the beach front Hilton Anaheim hotel. To no one's surprise, the old Mr. Grey wanted to leave the company with a bang, and all the members of the board were happy to oblige. I didn't blame them anyway, if I was leaving my company because I needed to retire and I had no family to will it to, I would do the same thing, just so I can have the memories.

As much as I tried to understand though, I had had it up to here. There were too many people to meet and greet; from shareholders and their wives, to employees and 'plus ones', and quite a few ladies who wanted to sink their claws into the newest CEO in the country.

While I made my rounds, I could vaguely feel eyes on me, intense like I had a sniper aiming at a big red bulls eye on my back. I ignored it though, chalking it up to the general stares of the people around me. Still, it made me feel weird, and I let my eyes roam to see if anyone was acting suspicious.

Nothing.

I shrugged, walking with Mr. Grey to one of the round tables just before the stage, and he introduced me to my two vice presidents. One I had met before — a young man whose work was outstanding enough to receive high praise from almost everyone on the board — but the other was new to me. She was a beautiful woman, stunning in a coal black evening dress and with diamonds sparkling around her neck. I found myself getting interested, until she mentioned she was married. That was when I noticed the silver and diamond ring glinting on her finger.

Mr. Grey had to give a speech to introduce and welcome me to the company, so we said our goodbyes and walked away from their table. I stopped by the stage, while Mr. Grey moved to the glass podium and cleared his throat.

The feedback from the microphone cut through the chit chat and clinking of glasses, and soon there was relative silence.

“Welcome, friends from far and near…” he started. I listened to him with my ears while I looked around at everyone in the room. Some listened with all their attention, clapping when needed and nodding as he droned on, but some of them either spoke softly to each other or were paying absolutely no attention.

One of the latter sat at the table smack center in front of the stage. Her hair shone like black oil in the lights; stirring a faint resemblance to the only girl I had ever seen with hair that black. I couldn't see her face, because she was bent over something, most probably her phone, but she reminded me of someone.

Someone I hadn't seen in nine years.

I stared until it seemed like my eyes would fall out, still listening to Mr. Grey drone on and on about how change is needed for any company to reach its full potential. I agreed with him, but at that moment my thoughts had gone from curiosity and were heading towards a wary certainty. She was so familiar; even the way she pushed a part of the thick black curtain of hair over one small ear because it was about to fall in her face. Her hand was slender, and when it caught the light I smiled.

Bracelet, yes. But no ring.

If it was her, that was an added bonus. I would have the leeway to tease her without worry.

She must have sensed my heavy gaze, because she looked up and my heart stopped.

Our eyes met, and I could see her eyes were still the chestnut brown I remembered, even from the distance I stood.

When Mr. Grey called my name and the crowd burst into applause, I gave her a nod and smile.

I remember you, Brie Larson.

I kept my eyes on her the entirety of my short speech, and with the applause following me, I walked down the stage to my assigned table.

Which was right between her table and the VPs.

Perfect.

The orchestra started playing, providing smooth, soothing background sounds as the waiters stationed all around the room started to file out with their dishes in shiny silver trays. The whole room was too shiny for my liking, and it made my eyes hurt.

So I stopped looking at anything else and observed the girl in whose shadow I stood for the three solid years of senior high school.

If there was one thing time did right, it was to transform her looks. The glasses were gone, and while she spoke to a soft-looking woman who sat beside her, straight pure white teeth flashed in the light.

No braces. I thought she was never going to lose those.

She didn't look like the awkward teenager who sulked and raged, and matched me word for word the few times I could get her out of her shell. I had hated her then, her cocky intelligence and the way she used to pull me down with her every word. The way she used to make her smarts seem effortless, even though I knew just how hard she worked.

Time had made little Brie gorgeous.

I wondered if she still had her temper though.

I mingled with the people that visited my table, laughing with Mr. Grey and exchanging tips with his protégé, a man who looked around 40 and ran his own company, all the while wondering what Brie was doing here.

One thing I knew for certain was that for her to be sitting at that table, she was a highly placed employee. Which meant we would be seeing a lot of each other.

For some reason, the though made me smile.

After the four courses and midway through dessert, I decided that it was past time I was introduced to the department heads. Mr. Grey asked to join me, and together we made our way past the waiters winding through the tables.

"Hello, everyone. Don't you all look lovely tonight?" Mr. Grey was a very jovial and easygoing man, evident in how enthusiastic the chorused greetings from the table were.

Brie looked up while Mr. Grey introduced me to the group, and for the second time that night our eyes met.

All ten of the men and women at the table introduced themselves and their departments, and I was not surprised that she was the head of the Human Resources department.

She had always been pushy. Bossy. Even when she was the youngest in the class.

Back at my table, I tried to pay attention to the talk going round but when I noticed she was leaving, I couldn't help but follow.

I caught up to her just outside the hall. She had her back to me, and her milky skin looked even smoother in the soft light of the hallway.

"Well well, I never thought I would see you again, Brie."

She stopped at the sound of my voice and turned around slowly, her eyes flashing. "Hello, Mr. Arterra. Pleasure. If you would please excuse me."

I had no idea what possessed me, but seeing her so calm and poised made my blood boil. "It's Alex," I snapped. "Or dumb jock, whichever you remember. You never did have a way with insults."

My blood hummed as she moved a step closer to me, the dull clink of her heels on the tiled floors barely registering in the roar that filled my ears at the look in her eyes. I knew what she was seeing, and I saw it too.

A challenge.

"Well excuse me, Sir, but I'm not that girl anymore."

"That much is obvious, the old you would have run away at the very sight of me in a hallway, wouldn't she. You're grown now, we're both grown. And I'm your boss. Shouldn't you be kissing up to me?"

I knew immediately that was the worst thing to say, because her face and neck turned red and she looked like steam would be coming out of her ears if she was in a cartoon. Still, I had to admire her poise because her voice remained level.

And deceptively calm.

"For your information, Alex," she drawled, walking even closer until I could see her pupils and her hand reached out to poke my chest. "I couldn't care less who you are now. To me, you will always be an entitled bully who couldn't get a laugh without taking mine." She emphasized each word with a sharp poke from blood red painted nails, her eyes hard and lips curling in disdain, and for some reason I couldn't even move a muscle. She pinned me down with her eyes, she had me in her grasp, and I knew it. She knew it too. "Boss or not, stay the hell away from me. I do my job, and you do yours."

She turned away from me with a sharp spin and walked off without a backward glance. I watched her go, a small smile on my face.

She definitely wasn't the same. This woman was no longer a scared nerd. She was fire and ice, equal parts hot and cold.

This company just got a whole lot more interesting.