How to find a Husband in 100 days

Twenty Two

"You don't have to be defensive."

"Did you check my mail at the office for Robert? Where are the copies for this morning's presentation?" I asked, changing the topic.

"I have everything. Don't worry. Let's go." He replied nonchalantly and waved his hand in dismissal. "Where is Russell?"

Before I could call him out on his behavior, Russell appeared in the room from hallway that led to the main door. It was like he had been there, waiting for his named to be called. "I will get the car ready in five minutes, Ms. Newman," he said monotonously in a professional demeanor.

I recovered from annoyed expression and gave him a curt nod in response. Russell disappeared towards the hallway and in a second I heard a door opened and closed. When we were alone again, I switched back to my previous expression and shot daggers at the back of Hugh's head with my eyes.

"Maria made you a ham and egg sandwich. It is in the fridge." Hugh suddenly said, breaking the eerie silence between us. "I will head out now. I will meet you downstairs." He added as he retreated towards the hallway to the main door.

I was about to give him my reply but he was already gone. I stared at the empty space from where he stood for a moment before turned around to the fridge. I opened it and found a well-packed sandwich. Without thinking twice, I got the zip lock bag with the sandwich and headed out to the door.

As I reached the lobby, I didn't see any signs of Hugh or Russell waiting for me. So I walked out of the building and found the car parked in front of the exit. I quickly made my way to the back passenger door. I was about to open it when someone beat me to it. I reeled in my surprised expression as I expected the person behind the tinted door.

"You took your dear time, didn't you?" Hugh asked rhetorically.

"And I still hold your paycheck and your future, Burns. Nothing changed since yesterday." I countered as I closed the door behind me. Russell didn't wait for my orders and drove the car towards the main street.

Beside me, I faintly heard Hugh's annoyed comment. "I was lighting up the mood."

It was a silent morning ride to my first meeting. I tried to fill the silence with work talk and prepped Hugh for today's event. To my surprise, he had already done what I asked him last night and it was still eight thirty five in the morning. I've got to hand it to him he did his job seriously.

At around nine twenty five, we reached the venue of my first appointment for the day. It was at a hotel, which I had planned to be a shareholder in the future. As I entered the lobby, I studied its interior design and took note for reference. The meeting is held at a private room.

The breakfast meeting started smoothly as we took time enjoying our meal before getting into business. It was great that my associated suggested on eating first since it might cause our appetite if this meeting went sour. But it didn't. As two hours passed, there were no foul languages or no man shouting lawsuits at each other. I felt proud of my team and myself for getting the job done so smoothly. After being dismissed, I could have sworn I felt like my day had ended. The moment was gone when Hugh opened his mouth to talk to me for the first time since we entered the hotel.

"We have thirty minutes to get to your lunch date. And I doubt we will get there in time," he stated in a whisper beside me as we headed towards the waiting car.

My eyebrow scrunched together at his word as I tried to ignore it. But Hugh didn't think I heard him. "If you don't like to ditch this guy, I suggest you call and tell him you will he half an hour late. You two are having that lunch back home, right?"