Chapter One
"Floor It!"
“Taxi!” I shouted loudly, for what seemed like the hundredth time, and waved my hand. Once again the taxi was full and passed me by. It was my first day at work today and I didn’t want to be late, but there seemed to be no available taxi around. I should have just taken the bus.
I looked at my watch and frowned, I had fifteen minutes before I was late. Seeing another taxi coming by, I waved my hand, signaling it to stop. To my surprise, it slowly came to a halt.
Yes! I did a little happy dance in my head. I cautiously walked over to the car, being careful not to trip in my four inch stilettos. I had to buy high heels for this job, and as embarrassing as it is to admit it, I’m a twenty two year old woman who has never wore heels in her life, so I was taking extreme caution today.
Reaching the car, I flung open the left door and at the same time, someone opened the door on the opposite side. I looked up at the stranger across from me and I was instantly dazed, not because of his great looks, but because of his too familiar face.
He had dark blonde hair that curled at the end, and light blue eyes, that I somewhat recognized. The man was dressed in office attire, wearing a snug fitting light blue shirt rolled up neatly to below his elbows, and a striped tie along with black trousers. He was holding a briefcase in one hand and a coffee in another. I also noticed that he was wearing a frown upon his face.
“Sorry, but this taxi is already taken.” I said finally, snapping out of my daze.
“I don’t think so. Clearly, I got here first and I’ve been waiting for a taxi for a while now. So why don’t you just get another one.” He said while taking a sip of his coffee and quickly sat in the car. His voice sounded too familiar to my ears and made me feel uneasy.
As soon as he sat in the car, I did too. “Look mister, for twenty minutes I have been looking for a taxi and if I don’t reach my new job in fifteen minutes I’ll be late for my very first day. I have endured long line ups, snobby attitudes and three hours of shopping and these stupid, annoying high heels all for this job. Heck, I even woke up two hours earlier than my usual time today! I didn’t do that all just so I can be late for my new job, because some jerk is too lazy to get up and find another taxi. So if you’ll excuse me and get out of my taxi, I will be very happy.”
After I finished my rant, both the taxi driver and the man were both staring at me like I was lunatic. The rude man made no move to get out of the taxi and instead just cocked an eyebrow at me.
Okay Valerie, just think this through. I finally got an idea. I took the man’s briefcase and threw it out the open door.
“Why would you do that?” The man looked bewildered and angry as he got out of the taxi to retrieve his briefcase, almost spilling his coffee in the process.
“If you floor it right now, I’m willing to pay you an extra twenty bucks.” I said to the taxi driver and quickly closed both the doors, just as he sped the car. Looking back, I saw the man screaming at us. Screw it! Not like I’m going to see him again. So, I stuck my head out the window and blew him kisses, just as he gave me the finger.
Finally, I reached the building. To say it was huge would be an understatement. I walked up to the front desk, where a middle aged lady was sitting. She smiled warmly as I walked up to her.
“Hi, I’m Valerie Summers. It’s my first day today.” I said politely, trying to give a good impression.
The lady quickly checked something on her computer. “Ah, yes. You’re the new assistant to Mr. Reyes’ son.”
I nodded. “Would you mind telling me where I have to go?”
She pointed to the elevator where a man just walked in, strangely enough; his figure reminded me of the same man who stole my taxi. I brushed that thought off and concluded that I was probably just hallucinating due to my lack of sleep.
“Take that to the thirty-fourth floor and it’s going to be the second room on your right. Knock first though, the lad has privacy issues and not to mention some attitude problems. Try not to take anything he says to heart.” The lady continued.
“Okay, thank you.” I walked over to the elevator and pressed the up button. Oh god, I really hope he’s not some spoiled brat who’s going to make me get his coffee and do his annoying little errands all the time. On the bright side though, at least the job pays well.
I got inside the elevator, feeling uneasy and pressed the button to take me to the thirty-fourth floor. I knew it was a long way up, so I used the couple seconds I had to try to best prepare myself. My intentions were to keep this job under all conditions. From the way I see it, this job may be the only option I actually have available to me, in the time being.
I could see my reflection in the mirror, on the elevator. My curly brown hair was tied into a neat bun, with some wispy strands escaping. My best friend, Becky helped me choose out my outfit.
The outfit she had chose consisted of a frilly floral print top, tucked in a high waist black pencil skirt. I was carrying a beige purse which matched my nude heels. If I had gone shopping by myself, I would never have chosen this outfit. Good thing Becky wants to be a fashion designer.
The elevator dinged and I found the second door to the right. Not bothering to read the name plate, I knocked twice on the door.
“Come in.” A familiar voice said.
My face blanched.
Oh crap! I know that voice! The taxi thief! Okay, I just need to stay calm. It’s probably not even him. I mean what are the odds that I would see him here. It’s probably just someone who sounds like him. Men usually sound the same anyways, except for the ones with extremely squeaky voices. Or extremely low voices. Or thick accented voices or—
The door opened cutting me off from my internal freak out. I was staring at my feet. Then slowly, I moved my gaze to the leather shoes in front of me. Whoa, they looked expensive. Slowly, my eyes moved past his, what I assumed to be, thousand dollar suit.
Gathering up my courage and trying my best to stuff it in my mouth and swallow it, I looked up to meet the same blue eyes from before. I quickly glanced down, not paying much detailed attention to his facial features. I don’t know why, but it feels like I know the taxi thief from somewhere. Maybe I've seen him before in a mall or something.
“Are you just going to stare at me all day or come inside?” He spoke in his deep voice, raising one eyebrow. Another quick glance at his face, showed me that whatever emotions a person was supposed to have on their face, this man had wiped them straight off.
Okay Valerie, just walk inside and introduce yourself. Apologize for the taxi thing and then just start again. Buy him coffee, he seems to like that and hopefully you’ll be forgiven. I mentally gave myself a thumbs-up for the smart idea.
Walking inside his office, I noticed how messy it was, and the strong scent of coffee felt like it was slapping me in the face. He had some pictures hung up on his wall that caught my eye. I think I went as white as a ghost.
Crap.
Crap.
Crap.
The realization dawned upon me, as a tank full of memories threatened to explode. The man sitting in front of me was the same man I had hoped to never meet again in all my years of living. Just to confirm it, I read the name tag he had on his desk. Maybe he won’t remember me. I pondered at the thought, and concluding that he has probably and hopefully forgotten me by now. It’s been years and I’m a forgettable person anyways! No need to worry.
Hesitantly, I looked up to see him sitting at his desk, that familiar, yet sinister smirk was aimed in my direction.
“Miss Summers, so we meet again.”
A/N:
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