On the 50th floor, Xenia had never been so high up in Astoria in all the years she occupied her position.
"Mr. Ashton is expecting you," Xenia wondered how people did. They all appeared to take it well. No one was touched or in shock.
Xenia took a deep breath and opened the door. Gregory stood looking out of the window, turned.
"Xenia."
"Mr. Ashton."
She rehearsed all night to get the perfect and balanced Mr. Ashton out on an expressionless face.
"Please, Xenia," Gregory left the window.
"Stay where you are," Xenia took a step back. She didn't want him close or to have the strength of his aura weigh on her.
"Xenia."
She remained silent.
"Please say something, "Gregory urged, not used to the silent treatment from the lippy woman.
"Who are you?"
"Xenia, you know who I am?"
"I'm sorry, but the man I know is Gregory Carlton, an auditor from London."
"That was me, Xenia."
"And that," Xenia pointed to the name tablet on his desk where the executive president shone brightly.
"It's just a title, Xenia. It doesn't change my fundamental being or alter the feelings I have for you and the affection I have for Sia."
Xenia shook her head, "how can you say this so casually?"
"I can say it because it's true," the man said and advanced while the woman backed away a little more to stand a meter away from the door.
"Gregory, you lied to me during all these months. How could you? I trusted you. How dare you do this to me. I opened my heart to you and youー."
"Xenia, please, it's no big deal. It doesn't change a thing."
"Are you out of your mind, Gregory? You are THE ASHTON III. You are the boss of my bosses, and you say it doesn't change a thing. Oh, my God," Xenia said, grasping her hair. "I've been messing with my boss, like an office hoe."
"It's not what you are."
"But it's how you've made me feel, Gregory, cheap and slutty."
"Don't say that I'm sorry I shouldn't have. I didn't mean toㅡ. It was unexpected. We were unexpected."
"Gregory, are you serious? You amused yourself playing undercover boss. I keep thinking a camera crew is going to pop out and tell me I've been punked. Was it amusing to make fun of other people who have been sincere with you all this time and me? Were you happy playing, oh myー?
"Come on, Xenia, when we met, you had a suitcase full of lies, yet I didn't stop at that."
Xenia shook her head once more, denying the accusation, "you can't compare. We were strangers. Who tells someone they barely know their life's story?"
"Xenia, it's different; you got caught lying. You had no choice."
It was true, Gregory witnessed situations where Xenia's facade crumbled, and the woman couldn't do anything else but reveal herself.
"But we spent time together. I told you everything. I laid everything down and ironed it flat. You had more than one occasion to tell me. You kept quiet; why?"
"I was scared; I got anxious about how you would react."
"So, you weren't planning to tell me?"
"I was. I swear."
"When Gregory? Tell me when?" Xenia yelled. "I know you are leaving, so tell me, when were you going to explain? Were you going to text me on the plane or leave me a note? When Gregory?"
The tears dropped without warning. Xenia wiped them like a child with her sleeves before pursuing, "I told you, I was afraid. Sia is used to you; you are part of our lives. I told you I didn't want you to be to invest if you were going to ditch us, but you reassured me, you lied, Gregory."
Gregory linked his hands under his nose. The situation was worse than he expected. The man attempted to take a few steps towards her hoping to lock her in his arms and calm Xenia's agitation.
"Stop where you are, Gregory," Xenia stepped back to stand a few inches from the door.
"Xenia, I don't want it to end. I don't want to lose you."
"You've already lost me."
The phone on the desk rang. Gregory left it to ring while he and Xenia gazed at each other. His eyes were filled with regret, whereas hers were scorching with rage.
The phone stopped ringing, and there was a knock on the door.
"What is it?" Gregory yelled.
"Excuse me, Mr. Ashton, but you have to leave for the airport."
"Just a minute," Gregory stared at Xenia, "come with me to the airport, Xenia; we need to talk."
"I won't go anywhere with you. It's over, Gregory," the woman slipped past the secretary.
Gregory didn't follow; there was no use; Xenia was too angry.
Everything will be fine, you'll see her when you come back, and you'll arrange things.
XY XX
Xenia went back to her office.
"So Xenia, what happened?" Mariam asked when she sat down.
The question made Xenia stand up; she didn't want to be there, in the same building as Gregory, where the rumors and gossip were going to inflate. Xenia grabbed her jacket and left.
"What's up with her?"
"She's in love," Timothy replied.
"In love, with who?"
"Who do you think? Mr. Ashton," Timothy replied knowingly.
"Xenia can't. She's a lesbian, is she Bi?" Mariam asked, looking around her to see if anyone could enlighten her on the topic.
"You girls are blind; Xenia has never been gay. I'm gay, I know," Timothy said as he typed frantically.
"Then why didn't you tell us, Timothy?"
"If she didn't want to talk, I guessed she had her reasons."
"Then, wait a minute, you said she's in love, but Gregory and her hate each other."
"Wow, you are amazing, you love to gossip, and you don't even see the biggest scoop of the century. Xenia has been with Mr. Ashton for the last three or four months.
"I'm lost; how do you know?" Priscilla asked.
"Observation, in it, Miko?"
"Affirmative, they have 100% pheromones reaction like the Big bang," Miko added.
"You people are crazy. If it's true, why isn't she happy? I mean, Gregory is a millionaire, billionaire, trillionaire; what other naire is there?" Mariam asked.
"Correction, he is almost a trillionaire according to Index," Miko added.
"I think like us; she just found out who Gregory is," Timothy replied.
"So basically, you are telling us they started by falling through before falling in deep?" Priscilla said as she twirled a strand of hair around her finger.
Timothy and Miko nodded in unison.
"Poor Xenia."
XX XY
Xenia left the building, and Gregory was driven to the airport.
"Damn, Jaila, she was furious. You should have seen her."
"You messed up Gregory, what did you expect? I can't help you," Jaila said as she clicked on tabs on her notepad.
"I thought she might see the benefits. I mean, aren't most women happy to find out the man they are with is wealthy?" Gregory asked.
"Wow, it's probably the most absurd and stupid thing I've heard you say in ten years of friendship," Jalia said as she turned to face him, "that's true if they believe in fairytales, Gregory. Xenia's feet are firmly on the ground. It's insulting to say that. Look at the situation you are leaving her in; her reputation and everything she worked for will be criticized by colleagues who will doubt her work performances while you will be in the comfort of your mansion. Gregory, when were you going to tell her? I mean, the meeting was yesterday, and you knew you had to leave today."
Gregory kept his schedule a secret. No one knew how he raced against time during the last few days as he got the Nova lab papers and Sia's mediation ready. No one knew all the debates the man had with Margaret, who pressured him to leave Xenia. At the same time, he surveyed Ashton&Ashton's, Astoria Edmonds, and all the subsidiary's stock options on the different markets.
When one market closed, another opened, Gregory worked around the clock, not just for the love of filling his pockets or for the glory of the Ashton's. He was the keeper of people's livelihood. Nothing ever slipped out of control through his grasp until now.
Stressed and sure to have a new sprout of gray hair on his head, the man was on the edge of the cliff of a burnout, but he held.
"Sorry, I'm not thinking straight, Jaila. I didn't tell her because I was afraid," Gregory said, looking out the window.
Jalia remained silent. Gregory expressing his fears with words was something unknown to her. And she had to admit it was disturbing when one knew the empire he controlled.
His friend was right. Gregory hadn't reflected on what people's perception of his relationship with Xenia would be because it was a first for him.
The man never interacted with any employees in other ways than for professional matters. Here he was in a position in which he promised himself never to be not to resemble his father.
Everything was his fault; he correctly calculated everything when he came to Astoria Edmonds. Wendon would be the director, which was his right role. It was he who represented Mr. Ashton after Gregory's father's death. People knew very little about Gregory C. Ashton III, who embraced a military career very quickly. The financial columns had no interest in him until the succession started.
Gregory managed to dodge the media radars with only one rumor about his romance with an heiress. He used his money to wipe out his youthful errors for the rest, making him as clean as a newborn.
Playing undercover wasn't just a fantasy; it truly allowed him to get acquainted with the functions and people who composed his empire. He knew precisely measures were needed, and his method was efficient.
The only thing he didn't measure was the probability of meeting a woman like Xenia. Not at one instant, he had love in mind. He swapped Cassie for Xenia with pure intent to punish her for being late at the meeting. As the days went by, Xenia played and tugged on his patience. No love was not at the order of the day.
But without an invitation, it was there, and now it hurt the man to see where it had led him.
Gregory knew he instigated everything. Xenia told him not to touch her in the hall after Aurelie's wedding. Now he had to face the consequences of seducing her. The man with more naires than Bill Gates thought he could handle it, that he would be able to weigh the pain, but it was impossible.
Heavy raindrops fell to accompany the lover's sadness. The blue sky was a mushy gray, and Xenia cried in the metro, which took her home.
Xenia thought she had seen it all; never had she been so wrong. The moments spent together, from the chaotic first encounter to the passionate love, everything faded in front of one immutable truth. Gregory lied to her, and it's all Xenia registered.