Chapter Three

The Next Day.

Stanley spent the rest of his yesterday working from home. He called Lauren several times but it went to voicemail. He left her a few voicemails but she didn't return any of them.

Just for his peace of mind, to make sure she hasn't done anything to hurt himself, he sent one of his security guards to find out how she was doing. It turned out that Lauren was okay, she was in her apartment all though except when she went grocery shopping in the afternoon.

Stanley woke up at his usual time; he did his morning rituals, dressed up for work, reached for his phones, wallets and briefcase and then made his way downstairs to have his breakfast.

He was approached by his Driver, Isaac, who greeted him and collected his briefcase.

"Where's Lauren?" He asked Issac.

"I have no idea Sir, I haven't seen her this morning, " Issac replied.

This has never happened before. Lauren was always punctual. As Stanley Chatwin's personal assistant, she reports to his mansion every morning and then they go to the office in the same ride with Lauren briefing Stanley about his schedule for the day.

Stanley exhaled.

"Alright, you can go." He said to his driver who nodded and then took his leave.

Stanley reached for his phone in his pocket and dialled Lauren as he made his way over to the dining room for breakfast. And just like the previous day, it went straight to voicemail.

After trying her number twice with no luck, Stan abandoned his phone and then focused on his breakfast. His appetite was gone but he managed to eat a little. He was getting scared as to whatever Lauren was up to.

Stan finished his breakfast and then an idea struck him. Lauren was close friends with Kathrine, the HR of his company. He then decided to call Kathrine to ask of Lauren.

Kathrine picked up the phone after two rings. "Good Morning Mr Chatwin."

"Morning Kathrine, Did you by any chance hear from Lauren?" he asked immediately.

"She didn't say anything to you, Sir?" Kathrine asked confused and surprised. She thought Stanley was aware.

Stanley ran his left fingers through his neatly combed hair.

"Lauren did not show up at my place this morning and neither is she picking up any of my calls or returning any of my messages. I'm really worried, What did she tell you?"

"She didn't say much over the phone. She only told me she would email me her resignation letter which I would help her submit to you. She promised to tell me why she's resigning when we see." Kathrine responded.

"A resignation letter?"

"She must be kidding!"

"Do not bring me any resignation letter, Kathrine. Lauren has no right to resign and neither am I letting her go."

"Thanks for the info, " Stan said and then ended the call.

He made his way out of his mansion, into the car and told his driver, Issac to drive to Lauren's apartment.

On the drive to Lauren's apartment, Stanley had a series of thoughts going through his head. He was mad, scared, angry and confused.

He wished he did not go too far the night he confessed his feelings to Lauren. There was no doubt that it was a combination of what he said and did that made her ignore him and decided she was going to resign.

Stan's greatest fear is losing Lauren because he cannot imagine how his life would be without her in it. Because of the fear of losing her, he kept his feelings to himself for as long as he could.

After a couple of minutes drive, they arrived at Lauren's apartment.

Stanley sighed in relief as soon as he saw her car parked in the driveway. That could only mean she was at home.

He made his way to the entrance of her apartment and pressed the doorbell. He waited for a while but got no answer. He pressed the doorbell again and again.

Then he resulted in knocking on the door. "I know you're in there Lauren and I know you can hear me."

"Please open up, we have a lot to discuss." Stanley's said with a loud, pleading voice.

Lauren did not still open up.

He knocked on her door again. "Please, Lauren." he pleaded.

No answer.

He sighed, "You of all people know me, Lauren, you know what I can do when I'm angry. I swear, I will bring down this door if you don't open up." Stanley threatened, but deep down, he would never do such.

A few seconds later, Lauren opened the door. Stanley did not think twice before pulling her into a bone-crushing hug, caressing her long hair and whispering words of relief at the same time.

After what seemed like forever, Stan pulled away from the hug and then shut the door behind him.

"I was worried about you!"

"You didn't pick up any of my calls, you didn't respond to my voicemails and to top it all you're planning to serve me with a resignation letter."

"You can't do this to me, Lauren, you can't leave me. How do you expect me to live the rest of my life without you in it." Stanley was saying until he was interrupted by Lauren.

"Please don't make things worse, Stan." She pleaded with a teary voice.

Stanley ran his fingers through his hair and then sighed. He closed the gap between himself and Lauren, he took her cold hands in his and looked into her puffy eyes as he spoke.

"I love you, Lauren." He confessed.

Stanley shook his head negatively and politely shunned her when she was about to say something. He knew she was about to lie about her feelings for him or talk about the impossibility of them being together because he is married.

"And I know you love me too." He looked into her eyes.

Lauren bit her bottom lip and looked away.

Stanley raised her chin.

"I've been in love with you for a very long time now and I didn't say anything because I didn't want to scare you away. I'm sorry I let it all out when I was drunk. I should have at least confessed my feelings to you in a more romantic way."

"I may have been drunk but I remember all that I said and did. It wasn't my intention to take advantage of you and I'll never do anything to you against your will."

He caressed her cheeks. "I'm sorry I went too far. I only wanted a kiss but one thing led to another. I promise to be more responsible and not get carried away again."

"I'm sorry, please forgive me." He pleaded.

Lauren bit her lip and nodded positively.

Stanley smiled and kissed her forehead.

"You're not resigning right?" He asked hopefully. Even though her response was going to be yes, he wasn't planning on letting her.

Lauren swallowed painfully, "I have to." She whispered.

Stan exhaled. He ushered her to the couch in the living room where they both sat down.

He has been to Lauren's apartment a couple of times and she has even made dinner for him a few times.

"I want you to tell me the truth, Lauren, Did Rita ever threaten you?" He asked.

She looked away.

Stanley took Lauren's hand in his and she looked at him.

"I thought I was in love with Rita so I got married to her. But I was wrong about loving her and so many other things."

"You walked into my life and showed me what true happiness and true love means. You are amazing Lauren, you care for me more than you even care about yourself and you even worry about my worries."

"My feelings towards you do not have anything to do with Rita. Rita does not love me, she's only with me for her benefit which is my influence."

"I don't want you to feel guilty about anything or about the fact that I will end up divorcing Rita. None of it is your fault. Things between Rita and I have not been going well for a very long time so the separation is bound to happen."

"But I'm also at fault." Lauren interrupted.

Stanley stopped talking and then gave her the opportunity to speak her mind.

"I was attracted to you since I started working for you. I told myself it wasn't right because you're my boss and you're married. I thought it was just a temporary crush, a temporary attraction, but I was wrong."

"Being your personal assistant gave me the opportunity to be closer to you and know the real you and that made me fall more for you."

"You were right. I was always jealous whenever you are together with Mrs Chatwin and when she starts acting romantic with you. The jealousy wasn't intentional but I used to feel a big pain in my heart and subconsciously wish I was Mrs Rita Chatwin."

"I knew my feelings for you is forbidden because you're my Boss and a married man. So I promised myself I was going to work for you for a little while and then I will resign."

Lauren looked into Stanley's eyes. "It was not what happened two nights ago that made me think of resigning. I've been thinking about it for a long time and then I confirmed it when your Wife confronted me a few days before she travelled."

"Rita came to your apartment to confront you?" Stanley asked and Lauren nodded slowly.

"Why didn't you tell me anything? Did she lay a finger on you?" He asked concerned, looking at her body for any mark or wound and at the same time trying to hide his anger.

"She didn't lay a finger on me. She came here to shout at me and warned me to stay away from you."

"She figured out I have feelings for you so she told me to keep my feelings to myself and go to hell. She also called me all sort of nasty names." A tear rolled down Lauren's cheek which Stanley wiped off immediately.

"She shouted at me and threatened to kill me if I ever do anything not related to my job with you or if you break up with her."

"All what she said didn't sound like a threat. She was serious about each and every word that came out of her mouth. It was after she left my place that I confirmed I was going to resign from being your Personal assistant."

"I knew you cared about me as your personal assistant but I had no idea if you like me or had feelings for me."

"At first, when you confessed it to me that night, I thought you didn't know what you were saying because you were drunk."

"I denied having feelings for you because I don't want your wife's wrath. If you divorce her, she will make me her prey."

"I don't blame you for what happened that night. We were both caught up in the moment. You are a good man Stanley and I know you will never take advantage of me."

"If there's anyone to be blamed, then it would be me because I was the sane one that night, I was not drunk so I should have stopped you."

"I didn't tell you about your wife's threat because she was right. I had no right to be loving her husband."

"Rita had no right to come to your apartment to harass you for anything or raise her voice at you. If she's truly innocent about her own deeds, She would have confronted me instead." Stan interrupted.

Lauren shrugged. "I didn't think you felt anything for me so that's why I didn't say anything about her visit."

Stanley heaved a sigh. He closed the gap between Lauren and pulled her into a hug.

"I'm sorry for what Rita said to you. It will never happen again, I promise."

Lauren pulled away from the hug and gave Stanley a worried look.

"I understand your insecurities but I assure you that there's nothing to be worried about. I promise to protect you from Rita and everybody else. You are my priority now and your well being comes first even before mine."

"If I knew the difference between Lust and Love, I would have never gotten married to Rita. She has hurt me in so many ways that I cannot begin to explain without shedding tears."

"It took me a long time to open up to you about my feelings because I wanted to make sure history doesn't repeat itself again. You made me understand what true love means and I blessed the day you walked into my office for an interview."

"I'm ready to fight for you and give up everything just to be with you. All I ask of you is to give me a chance to prove my love for you." He asked hopefully.

Stan did not fail to notice the conflict and worry in Lauren's eyes.

"Ca...can you give me time to think about it?" She whispered.

Stanley nodded. "You can take as much time as you want but that wouldn't stop me from showing or professing my love for you."

"So, we are good now?" He asked hopefully and she nodded positively.

Stanley kissed her hands.

"Will you still be able to come to work or you want the day off?" He asked as he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"I'll come today." She replied immediately.

"Are you sure?" He asked her and she nodded.

"You have a meeting by 11 and another one at noon. I'm not done preparing the handouts for your second meeting and I also have to be there to take notes."

Stan smiled proudly."You're a lifesaver."

Lauren made Stanley a cup of coffee before she made her way to her room to get ready for work and then they both left for the office.