The King's Beloved (The Beauty and The Beast Series)

Chapter 3. Delicious Repetition.

Walking up the steps of the L&V Cuisines the next day, was not easy, she was still embarrassed about what happened yesterday. Ivona had pulled at her nerves with her taunts, till she had fallen asleep. And that too didn't come easy, it's as if the golden lights knew, she was done for the day, so they had not bothered her too.

And she had not even realized that she had slept through the whole day yesterday until she had stepped out of the bedroom she was in, and into his humble abode. His office.

The lavishly decorated office had sparkled and shined under the beautiful golden light and she was absolutely in awe of the room. Long beautiful windows that covered the whole wall had her stuck to the scenery of the sparkling city so much, that her boss's taunt had to snap her into the reality, and had made her realize she was still clinging to him.

She had blushed deeply and had apologized awkwardly, before running away, but not before hearing his hearty laugh. Irina sighed. And why would she have to blush in front of him?

So what if he is handsome, he is still an as*hole.

A delicious one at that, who had her heart racing at the sight of him and dampened her to the c.

Stop. Stop. Stop.

The elevator did stop and to the sight of his boss wiping, what seemed to be the remnants of the delicious deed, from his mouth as he stared down the blushing woman standing in front of him with a determined promise of the repeat telecast before his green eyes sought out hers over the lady's head.

Her nose scrunched slightly as her lips draw in a straight line, not bothering to hide her... disgust? Or was it hatred, she didn't seem to decide as she walked past him, head bowed in acknowledgement, or was it a way to hide the pain in her eyes, and straight into the office deemed for a personal secretary. Just beside their boss.

The beautiful scenery of the city, peeking through the curtains of the wall-length windows, did nothing to calm her furious state and she did what was deemed necessary for her according to the contract signed with the company, which was not interfering in the personal life of her boss but fixing up the files.

... and just fixing up the files.

And why would it bother her? After all, that's what she was here for. Right?!

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Luciano the 'as§hole' Vitally didn't acknowledge her properly the whole day when he asked, bloody hell no, demanded her to do things, so it was not at all awkward from his side, because he didn't take notice of her discomfort and even if he did, he didn't mention it because he was too busy throwing orders.

The nagging clock ticked again, reminding her of the time yet again and her stomach growled in discomfort, while she tried to focus on her work.

Just a few more minutes...

Tick.

Tock.

Tick.

Tock.

Just two minutes more, before the lunch break.

-then she could shove as much food she wanted down her throat. Irina sighed dreamily as she thought of the delicious delicacies that she was going to eat.

The clock ticked the final time and the door opened, revealing the green-eyed asshole and he sighed in... relief? Her brows furrowed.

"You are here, good." He smiled at her charmingly and glanced at the clock behind, now jumping excitedly and moving faster so that her lunch break ended in a dump.

... and it happened.

No, the clock didn't jump from '6' to '12', but her world did the moment he expressed the reason for his relief.

"Ms. Valentino, there is a very important meeting after lunch, so do fix up the meeting room, will you?" Luciano Vitally smiled at her innocently as she stared at him, trying to figure out if he had lost it. Why would she miss her lunch for that?

Perhaps because she needed this job.
Her violet orbs fluttered with vulnerability as she nodded rigidly. His green eyes peered at her stunned for a minute before he smirked.

"I'll see you after lunch then." She just dropped her eyes to the floor and kept it there until he disappeared out of the door.

Irina sighed and dropped her head in defeat ignoring the uncontrollable fluttering in her stomach with one final thought as she started up her work.

Always bring lunch over. Or you'll most likely starve.

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When Irina entered her condo-cum-apartment after the stressful day, her heart swelled with happiness. The curtains were drawn to prevent the chill of the outside from entering inside and the crackles and embers of the wood in the fireplace were flying high up in the chimney.

The jingles of cutlery were heard in the kitchen along with the very familiar hum of her best friend's voice. The turbulence and crassness of the day disappeared, and Irina felt peace.

Irina shrugged off her coat and gloves, before skipping over towards the delicious smell of food.

"It smells delicious."

Ivona jumped, the scapular in her hand crashing harshly against the bottom of the utensil as the black-haired beauty turned to scowl at her best friend.

"You scared me."

"I am hungry."

"Go freshen up first. No touching and tasting until you do." Ivona rolled her eyes at her as she picked up the scapula again and began stirring the chicken soup again.

"....and I mean it!" Ivy looked over her shoulder to glare at the hand raised in an attempt to sneak in a piece of the deliciously barbequed food from the platter and Irina pouted unhappily as she drew the sneaky hand behind her back.

Ivona waved her free hand at her as she shooed her away. "Go on."

Her footsteps trotted away unhappily and Ivona chuckled as the door upstairs slammed shut.

Fifteen minutes later, Irina and Ivona sat opposite each other on the dining table, the proportion on Irina's plate large enough for the dinner, the lunch she missed and the torture she felt when she had to run errands back-to-back, which was disappearing rather quickly with the sparkling champagne.

"So? You are saying he threw orders at you and even didn't let you have lunch? Are you sure you are his personal assistant and not his slave?"

Irina told Ivona everything about the torture she had to go through the whole day, only missing out the "promise" her boss made to the curvy lady.

"I am telling you he's mad. Like totally mad. Only aliens could stay without food. And I am purely human species."

The corner of Irina's mouth twitched behind her champagne flute. Purely human species? More like...

"So? What now?"

"My own homemade lunch. What else?"

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