Adam Wilson
The look on Sophia's face when I walked out of the closet was priceless. I didn't know I could have that much effect on her. She literally ran away!
I couldn't help but notice how gorgeous she looked with her hair styled that way, it made her look a lot more mature.
I called our driver and got ready before I came out of my room to join Sophia. She was sitting quietly at the dining table.
"Miss Parker, our driver should be here any minute. Are you ready?"
"Yes I am." She said not looking me in the eye, she was still embarrassed by what happened earlier.
I decided to respect her boundaries and put what happened completely behind us.
"What's in the portfolio?" I ask looking at the huge folder she had on her lap.
"Just business cards, contact information, a small bio and lists of our services."
"Brilliant."
The driver arrived few minutes later. We both took the elevator down and got into the car. The venue wasn't far from the hotel considering we got there in 10 minutes.
There were quite a number of people in attendance. The most innovate ideas were presented during the conference. Not only did we learn new things, but we made new business contacts. The sales pitch for Wilson & Co. went well and we made 8 new clients.
One of them was Spencer Hyde and he dealt with solar power equipment. We could really use those in our company so we planned to invest in each other. Luckily, his headquarters was located in New York just like ours so it wouldn't be a problem doing business with him.
The conference ended by 1pm but we stayed for a little longer for a networking session. Sophia was perfect during this, handing out business cards and information about our company to various people. We were done for the day and I could tell that Sophia was exhausted.
"Would you love to grab some lunch Miss Parker?"
"Yes please! I'm quite starved. But do you mind if I change out of my work clothes first?" She asked.
"Not a problem at all, let's head to the hotel first shall we?"
I lead her towards the car, trying to avoid photographs from the press as mush as possible. Once we were safely in the car, we could relax.
"So what did you think of today?" I asked her.
"Very groundbreaking." She smiled.
"Indeed."
"Where are we headed to, sir?" The driver asked. From the way he spoke, I could tell he was from Yorkshire.
"The hotel first for few minutes, then The Shard."
Sophia gasped. "That's in the tallest building in London!"
"It is indeed. It also has a lovely view." I said.
"Oh, I can't wait." She said excitedly. I loved doing things that made her happy. Her smile is my weakness. I could go the extra mile just to see her pretty face light up.
When we arrived at the hotel, Sophia quickly got out of the car to get changed. I didn't need to change because I was already in a suit, which is my normal attire. All I did was take of my tie and loosen the first button of my shirt to look more casual. I was beginning to get impatient when Sophia didn't come down after 5 minutes. Not to be sexist, but what is it with women always taking forever to dress up!
After another 5 minutes Sophia came down. She was wearing a see-through black dress that had long sleeves and was not too short, the way it hugged her body made me see her beautiful shape. She had changed to lower heels and her hair was now loose. She looked so amazing. She entered the car and sat beside me.
We got to The Shard and took the lift to the restaurant which was on the 31st floor. There were large glass windows everywhere that gave us a panoramic view of the city. I looked at Sophia and saw appreciation written all over her face.
"This is so lovely, Thank you Mr Wilson."
"No worries." I said while looking at her. She looked at me, about to say something but stopped when she realized how close our faces were. The urge to kiss her was too much and it took a lot of virtue to stop myself from making out with her in front of the whole restaurant, thankfully a waiter interrupted us. I got us a table for two beside the window and he led us there.
Instead of looking at the menu, Sophia kept peering out the window.
"Miss Parker, aren't you going to decide on what to eat-"
"Oh my god! I've spotted the London Eye! It's right over there!" She interrupted me. Sophia was pointing through the glass like a fascinated 6 year old. "Oh and the Tower Bridge is right there! Do you see it Mr Wilson?"
"Yes, yes, I see it. If you place your order now and we finish eating on time, we can go sightseeing if you want."
"Oh yes, I'd love that." She quickly picked up her menu and started scanning which made me laugh a little.
The waiter came after a while and took our orders. I ordered a roasted black cod with broccoli & green beans while Sophia ordered steamed monkfish with poached & roasted potatoes.
"Any drinks?" The waiter asked.
"Bordeaux 2001." I said.
"No Mr Wilson! That's way too expensive!"
"Don't worry about the money, this is what I drink regularly."
"Why would you buy a drink for £315 only on a date? That's not reasonable." She said firmly.
"A date?" I asked with amusement.
Sophia's eyes widened at what she had said.
Is that what this was to her? A date?
She didn't respond to me and I saw her cheeks turn red, as usual when she's extremely embarrassed.
"Make that Rosé instead." I said to the waiter quickly dispatching him with a wave of my hand.
"Miss Parker-" I started but she cut me off instantly.
"Look! I didn't know what else to call this okay! "Date" was the only word that popped into my mind at the time." She said defensively.
"Then would you consider all the times we had food together at restaurants as dates?"
"No... Those weren't dates. Neither is this. I shouldn't have used that word in the first place."
"I'm happy you used it. Let this be our first official date." I smiled.
"No, this is not a date!"
"Shhh, you argue too much Sophia."
"Sophia? Are we on first name basis now? Mr Wilson, I've told you this is not a date. You've just been so unusually nice to me and I forgot that you're my boss. Please call me Miss Parker like you always do."
"But I've called you by your first name before but you've never complained." I countered.
"Yes you have, but only when I did something wrong and you yelled at me."
"That is simply not true. Besides, me calling you Miss Parker is to keep things professional between us."
"Why would it be anything asides professional?" She said without a hitch. Her words bruised my ego a little bit.
It's either she was denying the burning attraction between us or she genuinely was not attracted to me, but that can't be possible. The way she reacted to me shirtless today was enough to prove that she felt something for me.
The waiter came back with our food and served it to us. Another waiter came with the bottle of rosé and two glasses.
"Are we still up for sightseeing?" She asked.
It was almost 3pm and it was already getting dark because it was early winter here in London.
"It's getting dark but we can if you still want to."
"I don't mind. I think the City looks very beautiful and well lit during the nighttime."
"Alright then."
We ate the rest of our food in silence and it took Sophia less than 10 minutes to finish her meal. She really wanted to see the City. I was happy to have brought her here.
As we were leaving The Shard I began to think of places we could visit first.
"Do you want us to use the driver or should we take the trains?"
"Let's take the trains! That'll be more fun!"
"Okay." I dismissed the driver. "Where do you want to go first?"
"I don't know, you take me anywhere." She said smiling.
"There's Madame Tussauds here in London. Have you been to the one in New York before?"
"I don't think so. Is it the one with life-size figures?"
"Yes, I think we should go there first." I said as I led her to London Bridge underground station. It was the closest because it was just a minute away. I got oyster cards for both of us and was about to top them up with £50 each but Sophia stopped me.
"Mr Wilson! £50 is too much, were not even going to use up to £30 today!"
"It doesn't matter Sophia, lets just have enough."
"Mr Wilson please, £30 is more than enough." She whined and I ended up putting £30 in both.
When we got underground, I held on to Sophia tight because there were so many people everywhere. I lead us to the jubilee line and our train was coming in 3 minutes.
"This is so complicated." She said to herself and I laughed. "Did I say that out loud."
"You did." I said looking at her as her cheeks turned red. "We're hopping on the train going towards Willesden Green but we'll get down at Baker Street Station. Okay?"
"Okay. How long would it take before we get there?"
"About 20 minutes."
The train arrived and luckily it wasn't full so Sophia and I got seats beside each other.
"Did you ever live in London Mr Wilson?" She asked me.
"Yes, I went to uni here for my masters degree."
"Really? What uni?"
"London School of Economics."
"No wonder why you're so familiar with the transport system here. I also heard that LSE is a very good university."
"Yes it is. It's Russell Group."
"Do you prefer it here or back home in New York?" She asked.
"I really love it here, but only for short periods like holidays, business, or a one year course. I think living in New York is better for me. That's where my real home is and my business is established there as well."
We talked some more and before we knew it, our stop was next.
'We are now approaching Baker Street. Change here for Madame Tussauds. Mind the gap between the train and the platform.'
Sophia was excited when we came out. We got to the museum in a few minutes and bought 2 Premium tickets for £150. I watched as Sophia delighted in the well sculpted life-sized figures of celebrities and notable people. She made me take thousands of pictures of her with Obama, Queen Elizabeth, George Clooney, David Beckham... literally almost everyone. She even forced me in some pictures as well.
"That was memorable! Thank you Mr Wilson!" She said as she pulled me in for a hug. I was surprised but I hugged her back.
"I should take you to Oxford Street. It's the busiest shopping street in the whole of Europe."
"Take me pwease." She said like a little child.
We got back into the station and took a two stop train to Oxford Circus Station. We got there in 8 minutes and the moment we came out of the station, the streets were bustling with so many people. I checked the time only to see that it was 6:00pm and the streets were as busy as peak period.
"There are so many people here. What time do the shops close?" Sophia asked.
"Most close by 9:00pm but others close earlier by 8:00pm. Come on, there's a Ted Baker right around the corner there. Lets go there first." I said pulling her with me.
We had entered quite a few stores and by the time we were done shopping, it was 7:15pm. We didn't spend much time but we had a lot of bags. I called my driver up to meet us at the station to take our bags to the hotel.
"There's one last place I want us to visit before we finally go home." I said to Sophia.
"Where is it?"
"It's a surprise. We have to hurry up because it'll be closing in less than 2 hours."
"Please Mr Wilson, tell me!" She pleaded as she followed me underground.
"Then it wouldn't be a surprise anymore. All I can tell you is that we're coming down at Waterloo Station."
"Where's that?"
"You'll see." I smirked.
She groaned then gave up. After about 15 minutes we got out of the train and when we came out of the station, Sophia's eyes widened like a tarsier. Just a few meters from us was the Eye of London.
"You brought me to see the London Eye?" She squealed.
"Not just see it, we're going on it."
"Yay!"
I bought us two fast tickets and in about 20 minutes, we were in our own private capsule.
"This is so beautiful, have you ever ridden the Eye before now?" She asked me.
"Of course."
"With who?"
"My family. Only once though."
I put my arm around her as we enjoyed the view and she rested her head on my shoulder. The view was magnificent and I was happy I was sharing it with her. We were like that for a few minutes until she spoke up.
"You've spent over £5,000 today."
"Have I?"
"Yes, I've been keeping track. From the food, to transport, to all the tickets and the shopping which was the most."
"See, this is the exact reason why I hired you as my personal assistant. You're very efficient. So far, you have been the best and longest I've ever had."
"Mr Wilson, I feel terrible for making you spend all that money. Everything you've done today was for me and-"
"Sophia." I lifted her face with my finger. "You don't have to feel bad because I spent money on you. £5,000 is nothing compared to what I have left. The most important thing is that we had an amazing time together today. You feeling terrible about money is ruining it." I said looking at her.
"Okay, I'm sorry." She said and I cupped the side her face in my hand.
"I really enjoyed today." I told her.
"Me too."
"There's just one more thing left to do."
"What's that?" She asked.
"This."
I held her face in my hands and slowly pressed my lips to hers for a gentle kiss.
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