MELTING A FROZEN HEART

Chapter 10

"Ms. Anderson, inform Theo that the twins are here and lead them to his cabin. Make sure they walk to the cabin calmly.", Mr. Marino instructed his secretary.

"Yes, sir.", she replied and looked at the twins, who walked past me and followed her quietly, their expressions offended and annoyed.

As the three of them walked away, turning about to another corridor, Mr. Marino looked at me stoically.

"I'll lead you to the conference room, Ms. Baker.", he said curtly.

I nodded.

As we were walking side by side, there was a very brief silence, until Mr. Marino chose to break it.

"You have a knack for bickering, Ms. Baker.", he commented calmly, looking straight ahead at the path.

"And I presume it's genetic in your family to argue, Mr. Marino.", I retorted, equally calm.

"How did you know they're family?", he asked, glancing at me sideways for a quick moment.

"How else would two expensively dressed high-schoolers talk so casually in front of the head of this company?", I replied.

"You're surprisingly sharp at catching on to things.", he commented.

"And you're as surprisingly interrogative.", I said in a subtly dry tone.

"For someone who's so sharp, you definitely seem a little clumsy.", he said in a neutral voice, but I sensed a very slight mischief in his tone.

Or am I just imagining the mischief part?

"What makes you think I'm clumsy?", I asked, pursing my lips in irritation, ignoring the subtle change in his tone.

"Losing balance while punching, spilling coffee, getting into an accident, walking into men's washroom ...... ", he trailed off, giving me a sideward glance, his gray-eyes looking down at me.

I get it that I'm shorter than him, even though I fall under the tall category among women, but the way he looked down at me triggered my anger and the things he mentioned made embarrassment wash over me like a huge wave.

"You're childishly petty.", I commented, concealing the overwhelming embarrassment.

"You're changing the topic.", he said.

"I'm not.", I defended myself.

"You are starting to bicker again.", he retorted.

"And you are arguing. Again.", I replied.

"It's not always necessary to be the one to end the conversation, Ms. Baker.", he said.

"Right back at you, Mr. Marino.", I retorted, smiling in a pretentiously courteous way.

We were at the entrance of the conference room and I walked in, giving no chance for this gray-eyed man to comment.

Oof!

The whole family seems to enjoy pestering others.

Out of the people I met in their family, Theodore Marino is the only one who is humble and respectful.

I wonder why he hasn't taken back the reins of this project.

Not that it matters to me, but at least dealing with him is far more easy and professional.

The meeting started soon, diverting my mind from all the other thoughts, and we were completely engrossed in it, forgetting the earlier argument.

We argued, negotiated, compromised, bargained and the meeting still went on for two hours.