He brought it up two weeks ago. He wanted me to meet his uncle and sister since they lived here in New York.
I was nervous; excited but mostly nervous.
"How are you so sure?"
"Because you are amazing and because they are my family and will soon see how amazing you are as well. And more importantly because I love you, they will too." He finished and that familiar feeling of giddiness erupted in my chest.
Three weeks ago, he finally convinced me to ride with him atop his death trap of a motorcycle and It had actually been invigorating. In that single moment with my arms around his waist and the wind blowing my hair about, I felt so alive.
Maybe it was as he told me he loved me later that night, or as we rode down the roads on the back of his motorcycle earlier that I realised, I loved him as well. All I knew was, without a doubt, my heart was full of him. My mouth never did form a reply that night but he was okay with it.
"Okay." I slowly smiled.
"That's my girl." He hugged me again. "Let me go change my shirt."
"Will," I called before he could enter his room.
"Yeah babe?"
"I love you." So much, I wanted to add.
He grinned and slowly made his way over to me. He held my face between his hands, tilting my head up a bit, "and I love you too." Then he kissed me.
Dinner with his family was great. He must have definitely inherited some of his funny genes from his uncle Mike while his little sister Erin, didn't run out of albums filled with old embarrassing pictures of him to show me.
That moment was everything.
***
"How is Erin? She must be all grown up now." I asked with a small smile on my lips. His uncle left about thirty minutes ago and once again it was just us.
"She studies abroad now and is an even bigger pain in the ass." He grumbled and I chuckled. Our eyes met and the elephant we'd been skittering around since meeting again in that boardroom weeks back, suddenly became much bigger. I broke the contact first.
"Any emails?" He asked.
"Just spam emails, mostly hack claims."
"The hackers," he scoffed. "Thank you, that will be all."
I nodded and left his office. Entering the little office, I sat behind the desk and desperately tried not to dwell on the past. The rest of my day was relatively mundane.
***
My second week at Illston tech was when things got rather interesting. Lilian's teachings finally started proving useful. It was Tuesday afternoon and I was in the little office when it all began.
The genesis of the series of rather unfortunate events was a woman who arrived with a scarf tied round her face and dark sunglasses.
"Is Mr Illston in?" She asked in a low tone. Due to her shades, her eyes weren't visible but her body language showed she was tense.
"Yes, he is. Do you have an appointment?" I asked and she quickly shook her head then bent to my level.
"No, but I need to see him. I don't have time," she hurriedly looked around. She seemed awfully familiar but I was unsure from where. My eyes darted around the office but saw nothing particularly out of the ordinary.
"It's actually mandatory for you to have an appointment before you can see him but why don't you sit down and I'll go notify him." I pointed to the set of chairs next to her.
"Okay, please hurry," she looked around again before sitting down.
"William there's a lady outside who looks like she's on the run from the mob or something, waiting to see you." William seemed positively perplexed as I entered his office with those words.
"The mob?" He stood up and walked towards me.
"Scarf, dark shades and super fidgety." I shrugged.
"Irene?" He muttered. "Let her in." He said and I nodded. When I went back out, she was gone.
Nearly two hours after, the next event occurred and it was probably the most hilarious of them all. I'd switched positions and was at the desk adjacent to William's office, arranging design templates when a woman decidedly made a straight line for the door. I immediately rose and blocked her path.
"Good afternoon, how may I help you?" She stopped and being taller than I was, stared down at me. She was blonde and wore a long black coat. She placed a hand on her waist.
"Is Will not inside?" She flipped her hair back.
"He is, do you have an appointment?"
"An appointment?" She chortled. "Who are you now?"
"Mr Illston's PA."
"I have never seen you before," she scrutinised me, "where is Lilian Borough?" Her eyes fleeted around the wide space, presumably in search of Lilian. I felt slightly uncomfortable but smiled and answered her nonetheless.
"I'm new. Lilian isn't here for now. So do you have an appointment miss?"
"Why would I need an appointment to see my boyfriend?" She dramatically sighed.
My smile genuinely widened now.
"I wasn't aware Mr Illston had a girlfriend."
"We are keeping it on the low." She smiled brightly.
"I'm sorry but I cannot let you in without an appointment or more concrete proof."
"Then I will let myself in sweetie." She unexpectedly pushed me to the side and adding to my disdain, made a run for William's office. What criteria did she belong to? I couldn't remember Lilian explicitly mentioning anything about crazy women! I rubbed my arm where she forcefully held unto.
My eyes then widened as I remembered she just ran into William's office. The sight I met on entering the office was rather something. Her coat was gone, to reveal the bright red lingerie she wore underneath. Her choice of clothing wasn't even the something. The something was her trying in vain, to straddle and kiss a startled looking William.
She was sputtering on about how much she loved him and how they could be together forever. I was baffled. I believed instances like this only happened in overly dramatic books or movies, not real life. Yet here I was, watching it all. I was unsure whether to take action or laugh.
"Ophelia, call security now!" William yelled.
I ran back out and quickly dialled the security unit through the office line. When I returned into the office, William was on his feet and the blonde was on his back pulling his hair and grabbing at his clothes wildly.
I couldn't help it anymore, I laughed. No, I cackled.
Barely a minute later, two tall men entered the office and it became even more hilarious watching as they tried to gently pry the woman off William's back. I wiped the tears that had formed underneath my eyes away. This was premium. Minutes later, they were finally successful. One man made the woman put her coat back on then dragged her away as she yelled, she'd be back again.
The door behind me shut without warning and I jumped a bit seeing William directly in front of me, with one of his hands beside my head and against the door. He didn't look pleased at all. Well, it wasn't my fault.
"You thought that was funny?" He asked and I nodded still laughing.
"It was hilarious, I wish I recorded it or something. I mean it was horrible but hilarious still."
"Oh it was hilarious, yeah?" He asked again then stepped even closer.
My laughter slowly faded.
"Uh, yeah." I cleared my throat. My back was now flat against the door and the space between us was almost nonexistent. He leisurely grinned and I felt my insides slowly twist. The situation went from zero to a hundred real fast.
What was happening?
"Why did you stop laughing then?" His minty breath fanned over my face. My lips were ready to form a reply but paused halfway when his other hand found its way to my waist, pulling me much closer. "I thought it was funny?" He leaned in and whispered against my ear. I instantly shivered from the contact. He slightly moved backwards and his dark eyes boldly regarded my lips before he spoke again, "or is it not?"
I gulped.
This couldn't be happening to me.
My body hadn't felt this way in a long time and the first male to come this close just had to be William?
"It is." I managed to say. He started leaning in and just as his lips dangerously hovered over mine, the warmth from his nearness disappeared. He completely moved away and started laughing instead.
"No, but that was funny."
I released a breath and held my chest. Then it dawned on me. He just fooled me. I was stupid and my resolve was apparently useless. I instantly turned my displeasure to the smug looking William.
"I'm not the one looking all disheveled." I said haughtily. His hair and clothes were still messy from his encounter with the crazy woman.
"Speak for yourself also Ophelia." He smirked and turned back to the direction of his desk.
I glared at his back then patted my flushed cheeks and moved away from the door. What an asshole.
"It's her third time here, she has come in a different colour hair and clothes all three times now." William said as he sat down on the chair behind the desk.
"She is clearly a stalker, have her arrested." I walked forward hoping I looked as cool and calm as he did.
"I think Lilian was working on it. You can continue it since you're here now. Also, go to my apartment and get me a new set of clothes."
"New clothes? What? Why?" I frowned.
"You said I was looking disheveled. It certainly isn't the proper look for a CEO of a multi billion dollar business, don't you think?" He smirked. I badly wanted to wipe the stupid smug grin off his face.
"It certainly isn't, " I responded angrily and turned to leave.
"Don't forget the keys," the sound of the dangling keys had me twisting back to snatch the stupid bunch of keys from his grip. But he was faster than I was. He held my hand in his, making the keys in his other hand inaccessible. He tugged me nearer and our gazes leveled. "Pick something nice."
"Asshole," I muttered before becoming victorious and snatching the keys away from his hold. I left his office with a bang to his door but my face was still hot and a bit flush. As I reached my seat, I thought wryly, he could have done a lot more than tease me and I'd have allowed it.
***
🎶turn around and just tease me, baby...🎵
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