The Thrill

39

A few days had passed, the same routine of my everyday life. Work, eat and sleep. And here was another day of me doing the exact same.

'Here you go. The files you asked for.' I hand Zane a handful of papers as he prepares himself for yet another meeting. Once he had them in hand, I turn around, ready to head back to my office.

'Where do you think you're going?' He speaks, stopping me in my tracks.

'Back to my office?' I turn around.

'No you're not.' He states as I raise my brows in confusion. 'You're coming with me. I told you, you're gonna start coming to these meetings from now on. I need someone there to take notes.'

I sigh, glaring at him once before following after him. Since the meeting was in our building this time round, I guess that made the journey less of a hassle but now I had an hour or so worth of notes to take which wasn't the best.

'Who's the meeting with?' I look over to Zane.

'Emilio Estrada. Don't worry, Sebastian said he couldn't make it.' He gives me a look of assurance but little did he know, my concern was directed more towards Emilio than Sebastian. My attention span was so much worse with him around.

We both enter the room, Zane pushing the door of the meeting room open as we see a person already here.

'And he's already here.' Zane extends his hand to Emilio who was already sat in the room. He gets up, accepting his gesture before they both take a seat opposite one another.

'Come here, Milan.' Zane beckons me closer, patting on the seat besides him as I rush into the chair. I notice the slight shift in Emilio's eyes as he watches me walk into the seat.

'So you got the paperwork sent to your office?' Zane starts, his tone turning completely professional.

'That's actually why I'm here today.' Emilio leans into his seat, his two fingers pressed against his head. 'I don't think this'll work out.' He states quite blunt, his face showing the little care he had for this.

'Why not? This would be good for the both of us.' Zane asks, completely taken aback by his response.

'I'm not exactly fond of your business partner, you see.' He tilts his neck, his head pressing against the back of the chair.

'You'll be working mainly with me-' Zane attempts to convince him, but Emilio was barely about to let him finish his sentence.

'That doesn't change the fact that he will be involved. Am I right?' He leans forward, much more serious than I'd ever seen him before.

'Yes.' Zane responds, seeming at a loss for words.

'Okay. So it's settled-'

'Hold on a minute.' I interrupt, both eyes in the room falling on me for the first time. 'You should put aside your personal issues when it comes to business, don't you think, Mr Estrada?'

Emilio looks to me with narrow eyes. 'So give Mr Forbes a chance here. He may just surprise you.' I shrug, hoping my few words would convince him. He pauses for a second, the room falling silent as both me and Zane anticipate his answer.

'My answers still no unfortunately.' He gets up from his seat, ready to walk out of the door until I instinctively grab onto his arm from across the table.

He looks to me with no expression whatsoever.

'Please?' I mouth at an angle, out of sight from Zane. I could tell he understood me perfectly, his arm falling limp in my grasp.

He sits back down, pulling at either side of his blazer before speaking. 'So what paperwork did you want me to see again?'

———

The meeting comes to an end, the three of us exiting the meeting room together. I was stood behind the two men, neither of them having much to say as I awkwardly trailed behind them.

But in the midst of the silence, a hand clasps against my fingertips, taking a hold of me. I look up to see Emilio's palm held against my wrist but his back still faced my direction. I try to pull my hand out of his, afraid Zane might notice but he resists my pull, tugging my arm away from my chest which held onto the paperwork from this meeting. Before I could react, the collection of sheets scatter across the grey carpeting as I rush to my knees.

He quickly lets go, turning around a second before Zane as he kneels down to help me pick the pieces up.

'Shit- Milan-' Zane looks down to the two of us on the ground but before he could get his words out, Emilio decides to interrupt.

'I'll help her. You can go.' He states, looking over his shoulder once before looking back down to me with a grin of success.

Zane takes a look at me. I nod with a smile as he takes it as reassurance before heading back to his office.

'What the fuck was that for?' I push Emilio's arm away from the papers as I question his actions.

'I needed to get a moment with you somehow, princesa.' He smirks flirtatiously, handing me the papers he collected.

'What I'm more curious about is why you wanted me to accept the deal in the first place.' He stands back onto his feet, offering an arm to help me up.

'Because everything Zane said was true...' My hand falls into his palm, helping me back onto my feet. 'If it will benefit your business, I don't want some stupid incident from the past to ruin that for you...' I explain, my lips held tightly together as my blinks become slow. 'And I'm fine with it so it's okay.'

'But still-' He protests as I put my finger against his lips.

'I don't want to hear it.'

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