The Girl He Never Noticed

Chapter Two

"To the office, Sir?" Donovan's voice brought me back to the present.

"Yup." I leaned back on the passenger seat, feeling lightheaded.

Hmm, that was a delicious espresso, in fact, the most delicious espresso that I've ever tasted.

I spotted the coffee shop earlier on our way to the office when I had a sudden urge to drink another cup of coffee. I blamed my hangover for it, it was killing me. My head throbbed and I had red bloodshot eyes.

"We'll drop by again in that coffee shop tomorrow."

"Yes, Sir." I saw Donovan smile through my peripheral vision. I bet he enjoyed his coffee too.

Donovan was in his early forties, once a kickboxing champion and had undergone Executive Protection and Bodyguard Training. He was more than just my driver-bodyguard. Their family had been working in our mansion ever since. He was often hanging out with me when I was a kid, and he was a teenager at that time. We got along very well. I treated him like my older brother.

Aside from my best friend, Iñigo Monteiro, Donovan knew the real me. Sometimes, more than my family did. He was the first one to know that I was bullied in school when I was in 4th grade. The other kids bullied me because I was the richest kid in school, the heir of a multi-billion company, properties, and assets. Besides, I looked like a walking stick before, so tall and thin.

Donovan often saw me cry in our house's basement. I became miserable and didn't want to go to school because of the bullying. I even started hating my family and myself for being born rich.

One Saturday afternoon, when my parents had their vacation in Hawaii, Donovan taught me kickboxing. He showed me how to kick, punch, and practice self-defense. I started enjoying the sport a lot. I was so determined to learn and master the sport. Eventually, it helped me to become strong and gain weight. Since then, he had given me intensive training every weekend, and most often with my best friend, Iñigo.

I started gaining confidence in school. I knew I could beat every boy in my class. Some of them still bullied me, but I promised Donovan not to use what I learned in kickboxing unless someone started it for me. But when the leader of the group, Dexter, who often bullied me kicked my ass so hard, tried something I lost my patience. I immediately grabbed his shirt and punched his face so hard. He was instantly knocked down and scrambling up from the ground. He attempted to punch me back, but I was so quick in kicking his face. His mouth bled and his nose was broken.

Since that day, the bullying stopped. Everyone feared to cross me. They were scared of making me angry. But, on that day, I was brought to the principal's office, as well as my parents. My classmates testified that I was often bullied by Dexter, so, in the end, I got our principal's sympathy, and he forgave me for what I did.

When I became a teenager, Donovan was with me when I fought to become stupidly independent. He saw me get so drunk in the bar with my friends, try a drug, have meaningless sex with someone, go to strip clubs, etc. He still saw me getting vulnerable sometimes. He knew every time I messed up and helped me get out of such mess.

As I grew up, he taught me a lot of things. Things that would make my family freak out. He taught me what he learned in Bodyguard and Security Training School. I mastered assembling different types of rifles and weapons, tactics, assembling and dismantling bombs, etc. He was my partner in crime, my buddy and my friend. We raced cars and motorbikes at maximum speed. We did dangerous sports, like volcano bungee jumping, Heli-skiing, high wave surfing, mysterious cave diving, etc. We were both the same, adventurous and fearless.

But, the Eros my family and relatives knew was a very different guy. They thought of me as brilliant, goal-oriented, confident, powerful, tough and not capable of doing silly things; the perfect man. They had high regard for me, just like they did, with my ancestors, who were known as great men in their times.

Ever since I was born, they molded me to become a great man because I would rule the Petrakis fortune someday. I had the best tutor in academics and language. Aside from English, I learned to speak Greek, Portuguese, Spanish, French, Hindi, Filipino and Mandarin Chinese.

I graduated in Business Administration at Harvard University two years ago, at the age of twenty-two. Since then, I had devoted my time to running our family business, the Petrakis International Holding Corporation, a multi-billion world shipping company. Just recently, I took my place as the Executive Vice President of our company.

I knew some of my colleagues and employees believed the worst in me. Why? It was because I expected perfection from them, to be very skillful, efficient, excellent, and productive in their jobs. They just didn't realize that I was doing this for their own good.

Our world was full of competitors. There were many hungry shark-like businessmen out there, aiming to bring our organization down. They would even trade their souls just to see us crawling on the ground.

Never.

I wouldn't let our company fail. We have thousands of employees all over the globe who relied on us. They would starve, including their families if the organization suffered bankruptcy. No yearly increase in their salaries, no bonuses, no incentives and so on. I swore no one could ever bring us down.

The moment we arrived at the office building, the security guards greeted me. I nodded at them and went directly to the lobby, where my private elevator was. Many employees were there, some just arrived and the others waited for the elevator to open. The crowded and noisy area suddenly became solemn when I entered, like you were walking inside an empty church. The silence was so deafening that you could hear a drop of coin on the floor. Each employee stood frozen on their feet. Their eyes riveted on me. Fear and anxiety were visible on their faces.

"Good morning, Mr. Petrakis."

"Good morning, Sir."

"Have a nice day, Sir."

Everyone greeted me. As usual, I just nodded my head and went directly to the elevator. This was an everyday scenario in the lobby and I was already used to it.

I stepped out of the elevator and walked towards my office. Donovan was following behind me.

A girl with a black miniskirt, red blouse with a very plunging neckline and too bright red lipstick smiled at me.

"Good morning, Mr. Petrakis. I'm Viviene West, your new personal assistant." She was batting her thick false eyelashes at me.

I looked at her and then snapped my fingers. I immediately went inside my office.

"Miss West, you've just been fired." I heard Donovan said.