Chapter 3: The Marriage Offer

"Mum I'm about to leave, wish me luck," Emma said to her mother who was on the other end of the line.

"Sweetie, you don't have to do this for us, I know how much you hate him, we would manage," her mother, Gracie answered back. Emma knew her mum was worried because she knew what she went through years ago.

"Don't worry mum, I would be fine, there is no way he would be able to recognize me, I am putting on contacts," Emma told her mum to ease her concern. 

Emma was wearing contacts, she didn't want Lucas to ever find out that she was Mia, she wouldn't have applied if it wasn't her last resort. She wanted nothing to do with him, but she needed money and a stable job.

"Good luck sweetie," her mother, Gracie answered back. Emma could also hear her mother whisper something to her six-year-old son Jason.

Almost immediately Jason called out to her, "Good luck Aunt Emma I love you," he said in his tiny voice.

Emma couldn't explain the pain she felt when she heard Jason refer to her as Aunt. She had Jason refer to her as Aunt but it always pained her to hear him say it. 

"Thank you, Jason, I love you too". Emma said to Jason, then she said her goodbyes to her mother before disconnecting the call.

Emma was feeling confident about this one, dressed in her favorite black pencil skirt, with her white blouse and black blazer, she was going to crush the interview, even though she had been rejected nine times in previous interviews, she hoped for the best with this one.

She got to the company in about thirty minutes, that was one of the reasons she wanted to work for this company because it was close to her house.

Emma stared at the company in awe, it was a tremendously high skyscraper with glass all around it, The name Anderson.Co boldly written in gold. Emma was admiring the beauty of the skyscraper's facade when she felt eyes on her from above, she looked up and was met with the coldest eyes she had ever seen, it was as if he was staring into her soul. They kept staring at each other for more than sixty seconds 

before Emma decided to call it quits.

Emma walked straight to the entrance, she was about to push through the revolving doors when somebody collided with her, making her fall, the contents of her bag everywhere on the floor. 

"Sorry, sorry, I have an interview here today and I am very nervous," Mr. Nervous said as he bent down to help her with her bag.

"My name is Nathan," Mr. Nervous said, holding out his hands to Emma.

"My name is Emma I am also here for the interview," Emma said to Nathan shaking his hands.

"We can go together," Nathan said to Emma as they both went through the revolving door.

Emma was feeling slightly embarrassed at what just happened, she did not expect that at all, she needed everything to be perfect. She wanted the job at all cost.

Nathan and Emma both arrived at the receptionist's desk, the receptionist, a blonde lady with no expression on her face gave both of them a disapproving look before directing them to the waiting room. 

They were a few steps away from the reception when Nathan burst out laughing.

"Did you see her face?" Nathan said amidst laughter. 

Emma let out a chuckle."She had that I hate you bitch face" Emma said

"She was trying so hard that's why it is so funny," Nathan said, trying to imitate her face.

Emma was shocked when she went into the waiting room. There were only ten chairs there, and five people were seated already. She was happy she came early but wondered why there were only ten chairs available.

"Phew…Thank God we came early" Nathan said out loud expressing Emma's thoughts. 

Emma looked at the five other people in the room, they were either lost in thought or not paying attention, because since they entered the room not a single one of them had paid them a single glance.

"What did you apply for," Nathan said to one of them sitting beside him but he was ignored, she didn't flinch it was as if she was mute. That little gesture from her made Emma conclude that maybe they were just rude. They were seated for about thirty more minutes before the last three people finally arrived. 

Immediately after the last person entered the room, a voice spoke out "Welcome to Anderson.Co you have just passed the first test on punctuality, as you can see there were only ten seats in the room so only the first ten will be interviewed. After that, an official entered the room, she radiated a glow that not most women did not have, she was beautiful."She's beautiful," Nathan whispered to Emma who nodded in agreement.

"Good morning guys, if you applied to design come with me," Mrs. Beautiful said calmly, as she turned back and walked out of the room.

"I applied to design good luck, Emma," Nathan said calmly as he got up and followed the lady who had come earlier, four other people also went out after him so there were only five people left in the room.

The voice spoke out again, "The remaining five of you who applied for the position of personal assistant will be interviewed directly by our CEO Mr. Lucas Anderson."

Emma felt her heart skip a beat when she heard his name, she didn't expect that she was going to see him again so soon, she knew her disguise was perfect and he couldn't recognize her still she was scared. 

Her only worry now was that she was the only girl in the room, she prayed silently that Mr. Lucas Anderson wanted a female personal assistant because that was her only chance of getting picked.

"Mr.Anderson has never had a female assistant," one of the male applicants said, looking at Emma with mock apology. This shattered all the hope Emma had, she was hoping for the worst now.

Mrs. Beautiful came into the room again but this time she had a folder in her hands."It's time, James Thompson please come with me" Mrs. Beautiful said as she walked out of the room with James following closely behind her.

Emma noticed that each interview took about thirty minutes because each applicant came back to the room in that amount of time. There were only two people left in the room, her and the applicant who had mocked her earlier.

Mrs. Beautiful came again but this time, she had a pitiful expression on her face, and Emma knew instantly that she was about to be dropped. She was sad but at least she didn't get to see him so she was a little relieved.

"Sorry, you've been asked to leave, Mr. Anderson has made his choice," she said 

Emma wondered what was wrong with her, she had no idea why they kept dropping her on the spot. She was already leaving the room when she heard the voice again "Emma Smith hold on please Mr. Lucas would like to see you." 

Emma immediately panicked, she didn't know how to feel, she was going to see her first love/ employer for the first time in seven years. Her emotions were all over the place but hope crowned them all. 

"Emma Smith, come with me," Mrs. Beautiful said with a smile on her face.

"Gladly," Emma said, following her out of the room.

They were both in an elevator going to Mr. Anderson's office when Mrs.Beautiful started talking "You can call me Daphne. I must warn you, answer his questions precisely, don't beat around the bush, he hates that. Trust me when I say he is a good man, You'll surely be considered if he likes you". Daphne said smiling.

They both stepped out of the elevator when Daphne stopped by her desk. "This is my desk," Daphne said to Emma but she already knew that because there was a nameplate with her name Daphne Johnson written on it for everyone to see.

"Mr. Anderson's office is the last down the corridor, Good luck," Daphne said to Emma as she motioned for her to go on.

She felt her heels scrape the floor with every step she took toward the office, her heartbeat was already way past the normal rate, and her palms were starting to feel sweaty, she did not need any fortune-teller to tell her that she was nervous.

Emma stood outside Lucas's office for more than two minutes before she decided to knock, she was feeling very nervous and she needed to calm down before she stepped into the office.

Emma knocked twice, but there was no reply, she was about to go and ask Daphne if Mr.Anderson was really in his office, when she heard a voice call out through the door.

"Come in" The Voice boomed through the walls.

Emma felt her heart stop for a second as she stepped into the office. She looked around, her eyes not missing a thing. A large executive desk was placed in the center of the room, she also noticed the shelves by the side of the room filled with awards, but there were no pictures of family or himself. She wondered what kind of man Lucas had become as her eyes trailed off to the full-height glass window behind the desk where Lucas was standing. He looked majestic as he stared down at the city's skyline. He had always been the center of attraction and that surely had not changed.

"Take a seat, Miss Emma," Lucas said, turning around to face her. Emma was starstruck, he was so attractive now she thought as he walked toward his seat.

"Aren't you going to take a seat," Lucas said, glancing at Emma, which pulled her out of the trance she was in. She rehearsed meeting him again so many times but this was definitely different.

"Sorry sir," she responded, taking her seat which was directly opposite him, they were both staring directly into each other's eyes. He had a stoic face, and his face showed no emotion.

Emma almost burst into tears. She had missed those eyes, she was supposed to hate him but she was failing miserably. Lucas had become so cold. His eyes showed no emotion.

He opened what looked like a file that was on top of his desk. The front page had a picture of her on it and Emma knew immediately that it was her file. Lucas said nothing, he made no expression as he flipped through the pages, and soon anxiety enveloped her, she was scared she would be disappointed by his response when he was done looking at the file.

All of a sudden, Lucas closed the file and was now staring directly at Emma, his eyes showing emotion that Emma couldn't comprehend as she waited for his final blow to her hope.

"Marry me," Lucas said calmly, Emma felt her eyes bulge out from their sockets when he said that. That was not the response she was expecting, she thought he was just going to tell her that she was not selected.

"Excuse me," Emma said after the shock of the question settled in.

"Now why would I do that? You need me and I need you, you need a job and money and I need a wife," Lucas said calmly, his face still stoic.

Emma wondered how he could remain calm, her mind was in a frenzy, and she didn't know what to feel.

"Truth is, I don't use females as my assistants. But if you decide to be my wife for a year, I might just consider that and I would pay you ten times your salary," Lucas continued, his eyes gazing at her, challenging her to say no.

Emma felt distraught, she was more disturbed about Lucas's confidence that she wouldn't say no. "Just who do you think you are?" she said angrily as she got up abruptly from her seat.

"If you want to buy a wife go buy one but there is no way that woman is going to be me" she added, rejecting his offer immediately.

Emma couldn't believe that Lucas would do something like that. Did he think that marriage was business? He used to hold marriage sacred, just what has gotten into him.

"Only you Emma, only you. You are the first and last woman I am going to give this offer to, it's up to you whether you take it or not," Lucas said unruffled by her outburst earlier.

She was about to leave his office, a hand on the doorknob when she thought to ask "Why me?" she asked Lucas taking one last look at him

"You look like someone I know," Lucas said, looking directly into her eyes.

Emma was sure that Lucas didn't recognize her so what did he mean by she looked like somebody he knew. 

She was at crossroads, she wanted the job but that would mean that she had to marry Lucas and relive her past that she wasn't ready to face. She just wanted the present, her past had hurt her too much and she just didn't want to go back.