Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Laila

I entered the living room and saw a lady in her forties, maybe? She looked younger, but if that guy was her son, then she had to be older. Oh wow! She looked beautiful with her green eyes and blond hair. During our video calls, the blurry pixels did no good to her natural beauty. Now that I see her up close in real life, she looks stunning. I approached her hastily and extended my hand:

- Hello, Mrs. Montgomery, I’m sorry I’m a bit late.

She smiled brightly at me.

- Oh, don’t worry, dear! Welcome! Come and sit, Miss Apine! I hope I pronounced that correctly.

No, she didn’t, but I kept on smiling.

- Can I call you Laila?

She smiled at me. Maybe my face gave away that my surname was not pronounced correctly.

- Of course!

I nodded my head.

-  I was just sipping my tea. I have a day off, so I am not in a rush at all.

She had a motherly vibe flowing from her. During the video calls she seemed a nice lady and now facing her it was confirmed .

- Good to know that!

I smiled at her and sat on the beige sofa next to her. I started to pull my laptop and portfolio out and placed it on the glass coffee table in front of me. The living room had the same posh Victorian-style interior with big golden tone curtains, sand-color oriental carpets, golden chandeliers and many painting on the walls. This room alone had 5 same-style beige sofas. I guess they had guests and parties often. I have seen this room in pictures and videos many times. In my head I already saw how it is going to look after the renovation.

- So, as I have arrived here at last, we can go through all the details again. If, during this time, since we last spoke, any other ideas have appeared, or you have changed your mind about something we agreed before, please let me know now.

I looked at her expectantly while moving my hands and pulling out objects. She looked thoughtful. Then she shook her head.

- No. No new ideas or changes. I think you nicely created the project to the smallest detail.

She praised me with a bright smile, and I smiled back at her.

- Good to know. Then let’s just confirm it again and go through the timeline.

The guy I saw on the stairs entered the room. I could hear his footsteps when approaching. I didn’t look at him though. But I could see him in my peripheral vision when he came closer. Somehow, his presence was distracting. I forced myself to do the work. I already drooled enough over the guy, so there was no need to repeat it. I unlocked my laptop and started clicking on different files that I had for this project. I heard Mrs. Montgomery and her son’s conversation though. 

- Ah, good morning honey! Breakfast is in the kitchen. I’ll be having a short meeting with the house redecoration project manager here and then I can join you.

Mrs. Montgomery sweetly conversed with her son. It was her son, right? Wah, who cares?

- Will I bother you if I stay here?

The guy’s deep baritone sent shivers down my spine. What the hell? Who has such a reaction to just a voice? This must be a red alarm for me. I glanced at him quickly before averting my eyes back to the screen. Now that he was in the room, I started to feel nervous. Why was a guy making me anxious? Was this a bad intuition thing or something that I felt while coming here? Could he blow up the whole project? Should I be extra nice to him? I bet my bosses will be angry if this project gets canceled. Wah.. Am I overthinking? Nothing has happened yet! But I could feel how my hands were slightly trembling on the keyboard. F*ck. Get a grip! I can do this. It's not my first day on the market. I have dealt with other tough clients. The silent pause between the mother and her son extended until Mrs.Montgomery replied.

- Well, sure honey... Come, sit! This is Laila. She is from the Décor&Design company. As I said, she will be the one who will redecorate our house. You probably remember that one of my good friends gave a good review of their company's work, and as the rumors were true, I hired them. I truly believe Laila will do beautiful work on our modest home.

She sounded sincere while talking which was a nice thing as they were super-wealthy people and you could never know what to expect from such people. I smiled politely while she praised my and the company’s work. I was happy the word spread out, it gave us more opportunities here, which in turn meant more money and business rolling.

-  Thank you for your praise, Mrs. Montgomery. I truly hope you will enjoy the work done at your house as well. This is an interesting project and I like it myself a lot.

I smiled at Mrs. Montgomery. What I said was true - it was an interesting project that I liked a lot. I wasn’t just nice and polite because corporate etiquette demanded it.

Meanwhile, the handsome guy… I didn’t know his name, but Mrs. Montgomery referred to him only as “honey”. Okay, so Mr. Playboy sat on the opposite sofa looking at us. I didn’t say anything, just nodded at him with a tight smile. I was grateful we had some distance and a table between us. I already had enough weird reactions to him. The last thing I needed was him brushing his knee against mine. That imaginary thought sent a wave of goosebumps over my leg. What the he*l? I can't dwell on this thought, I have work to do.

I went over all the ideas again, showing pictures to Mrs. Montgomery. But in my peripheral vision, I could see that Mr. Playboy was intensely looking at us. I didn’t know how much he was involved in the project as I conversed only with Mrs. Montgomery. I thought he might want to see the pictures as well. I looked directly at him, and he seemed like he was staring at me, not at the work I was showing.

- Sir, would you like to see the project designs as well?

He kept on staring at me with a blank expression. Did he hear me? He looked like he didn’t hear a word, but at the same time, couldn’t take his eyes off me. Is this…?

- Mr. Montgomery?

I said, with a frown. Did he not hear me? Did he not listen to what we were discussing?

- Oh, I’m sorry... What were you saying?

Are you for real? Has he truly not listened to a word I said?! I thought he wanted to hear and see everything himself. I felt myself drifting away while looking into his eyes which turned out to be blue. Something about his deep blue eyes, sharp jaw lines, model-like face overall, and very well-built body made my heart whisper that I could even fall for a guy like him. But this whisper sent another set of red alarms into my rational mind. I don’t do model-like handsome, I don’t do rich, I don’t do Americans and I don’t do my clients. A big fat NO. Focus on the work, please!

- Would you like to see the ideas for the redecoration?

I asked again with a neutral expression on my face. Let’s stay professional. I’m good at this!

- Sure!

The guy replied with a careless shrug. What the..? His words don’t go much with his actions now, do they?