*Anne's pov*
"Oh my... god" I placed both hands on my lips to hide the laughter that was about to come bursting out of me.
Nathan was also laughing on the screen of my computer, my dad's old one which I kept in a box with all his other things but earlier this week, I pulled it out.
Nathan was in his house in Australia and you could see the beautiful paintings and expensive furniture behind him. The curtains with their beautiful designs, the lamps and windows. He was wearing a black long sleeve shirt with the arms folded up and sitting behind a desk.
After calling me a week ago, Nathan and I started talking on a normal base and then we started video chatting and I've gotten to know him a lot.
I had my hair packed in a bun with some strands escaping the loose knot. I had just washed my face and wasn't wearing any makeup. I relaxed in a white shirt that said 'I am a positive, lovable person' as I sat on my bed.
"It was an accident!" He exclaimed and that just made me laugh even more. "I swear. I don't know how but I tripped and tipped over the bucket containing blue paint and it spilled all over them."
"So what did you do?"
"I tried to run but those eight grade boys stood in my way and I was taken to the principal office. It was so humiliating."
"Did you get suspended?"
"I got detention. One week of detention, by far the most embarrassed I've been in middle school."
"Wow. Those kids really would have gone through a lot to get that much paint out of their hair."
"I never want to go back to middle school ever again."
"I'm sure you don't." His laughter slowly died down. "Are you sure you didn't like it?" I teased and he rolled his eyes, making me giggle.
"Why do people assume I did it on purpose." With the look of laughter in his eyes, i knew my answer. I placed a hand in front of the screen to calm him down.
"Calm down Nathan. I was teasing you."
"I know. So how's your weekend?"
"Pretty much the same. I met up with catherine, talked to a few friends of my dad and went training with camila."
"Catherine isn't out of the hospital yet?"
"She's about to be. She can't wait to get out of there and I really miss talking to her outside the hospital."
"You've known her for a few months and you guys are this close?"
"Well, you know." I tucked my hair back. "She's my person. We've both never met someone who understood everything about us. Just how impossible and crazy and broken we can be."
"You're not broken. Far from it, actually."
"It has been taking all my energy to stay sane and strong, and catherine gets it. Things we can't even comprehend about ourselves the other understands." I continued. "She's my person. There's no other way to describe it."
"Good friends are hard to come by." Once he said that his phone started ringing. He looked at me to show he had to take the call and I gave him a reassuring look.
Once he started talking I did my best to make it look like I wasn't ease dropping on him so I pulled out my phone and began surfing the net.
"Ciao. Gli stai parlando." I heard him say.
Hi. You are speaking to him.
'Is he speaking Italian?'i wondered, paying no attention to what was happening on my phone. 'Does everyone know different languages?'
I shook the thought out of my mind and went back to checking my Instagram.
I stopped being active on social media after dad passed away, but for the past few weeks I kind of went back to it and started posting again. I had a few thousand followers. 3.4k to be exact.
"Ok, buona giornata. Addio."he pulled the phone from his ears,gazed at it for awhile then set it on his desk.
Ok,have a great day. Goodbye.
Once he was done he turned his attention back to me.
"Is everything okay?" Throwing my phone on the bed, I pulled the laptop closer to me.
"Yeah no, everything's okay." I nodded repeatedly until I remembered what I wanted to ask him.
"Nathan, you went to one of the finest business schools in the world, right?"
"I wouldn't put it that way, but yeah."
"So do all brilliant successful men like yourself have to learn different things?" I tried to put it in a sentence.
"Like what?"
"Well you are like the third man I've seen who've spoken other languages so fluently." Once I said it I saw him smile.
"Well going into business is hard work and it requires a lot of traveling, as you've seen from where I am." I chuckled because I knew he loved being home. "And that means meeting other clients and some of which don't speak English. My parents got me private tutors and they taught me all the languages I know."
"Like with the Italian just then." I pointed at him, a bit baffled. "I mean if I didn't know you I would've said you were an Italian. It was fluent."
"Thanks."
"So, out of curiosity, how many languages do you know?"
"Um that would be Korean, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, French, and Japanese." My mouth open a little.
"You speak six languages?" He pulled out a glass of water from the side and took a sip. "I only know two."
"You want me to teach you?"
"Its okay. I am perfectly fine being a part spanish part french lady." I giggled. He just sat there, looking at me and soon there was this silence. I diverted my eyes from the screen, trying to look at something other than him.
"You look pretty." He came closer to the screen and whispered
'Well,that was out of the blue.'
"I'm not even wearing makeup"
"You don't have to."
"Nate, thanks for the compliment."
He immediately smirked. "Did you just call me Nate?"
"Oh..."I licked my bottom lip."I think I did. It just flew right out of my mouth"
"I like when you call me Nate." He gave me that devilishly handsome smile. He backed away from the screen and cleared his throat. "Now its your turn. Tell me your most embarrassing middle school memory."
"Do I have to?" I groaned.
"Seeing as I told you mine, definitely." it was almost as if he was enjoying seeing me getting so embarrassed.
"Don't you have somewhere to be mr millionaire?" I teased.
"No." He shook his head from side to side and balanced on his seat, to show me he was getting comfortable. "I've got all day."
*Duncan's pov*
I lay awake on my bed, my eyes felt heavy because I barely got any sleep. Even before my alarm went off, I was already off my bed and on my way towards my bathroom. My neck felt stiff, rubbing it I went into the stall for a quick shower.
Less than ten minutes later I came out with a towel around my waistline. I dried my body and hair, simultaneously looking through my closet. I quickly scanned through the clothes and shoes, trying to pick.
I pulled out a denim jacket out of my collection of denim,also a plain white shirt, a pair of dark black trousers and some white sneakers. After getting dressed I styled my hair. The heaviness I felt on my eyes were gone and I was fully awake but I still needed my coffee.
A few minutes later, I was rushing to my kitchen, heading straight for the coffee machine.
"Good morning, Duncan." Mrs Dawson called from a corner of the kitchen, I almost didn't see her.
"Morning Aunt Allie. How are you feeling?"
"Very good. Do you want some breakfast?"
"I would love some." I brush my fingers against the stiffness of my neck. "But I'll make it myself, thanks."
She patted my shoulder before leaving me to carry on. I pulled out my granola from my fridge. I decided to make a sweet and salty maple granola bark. It was easy to prepare if you already had all the things you needed around.
The granola settled in the bowl and I added milk to it. I also added some fresh blueberries and raspberries. I found an apple and added a few slices to the bowl. The granola was done and I couldn't wait to taste it. The maple sweetness was really what went well with the berries and pretty soon I was done eating.
I took my keys and decided to go with my Koenigsegg CCXR Trevita. I had two, one in green and the other in white. I went with the white, stepping into the driver's seat. I had a few errands to run and I wanted to get it done as fast as I could.
* * *
I pulled my car into a parking space. I could still feel the stiffness around my neck as I rubbed the spot. My eyes caught the time on my phone, it showed it was past one pm. I fondled with the seat belt until it unlocked. I opened the door and rose from the seat, at first the bright sunlight stole my gaze.
I shield the bright light with my hand and Adrien's mansion came into view. His mansion was about the same size as mine but it was painted in white with hints of different colours.
I rang the doorbell and the bell echoed through the entire house. The faint sounds of footsteps were getting closer until I could see Adrien's shadow under the door. He opened the door, with a relaxed expression. His hair was soaking wet and his shirt was damp. His skin was Fresh from just taking a bath.
"Are you just waking up?" I asked, sounding bored.
"We get up early every morning Duncan. Unlike you I like to sleep in on weekends." He replied coolly. Once inside I headed straight for his kitchen and sat on one of his stools. Adrien, just like me, was also knew his way around the kitchen. Although he didn't do much cooking or enjoyed it as much as I did.
"Hey." he opened up his fridge "do you want a drink?"
"I'm good, thanks." I waved him off. I was still baffled at the thought that he just woke up. "Have you even had breakfast yet?"
"I'm going to." I rolled my eyes at him.
"Hey, how's work?" Adrien pulled out some toast, bacon and eggs. He was going for a simple breakfast. "You know, the new assistant?"
"Strangely, she's okay. She does...almost everything she's told and she's attentive and fast." I listed, watching Adrien crack and egg. "She's also a bit hotheaded and sometimes stubborn."
He grinned at me "I'm surprised she's not already gone. The only person who can ever measure up to your fantasy of a perfect assistant is you." He placed some bacon in the frying pan.
"Well, she hasn't given me a good reason to fire her." I vividly remembered the sight of her and Nathan saintgnue and I suddenly got irritated. "Except when she was obviously flirting with Nathan Saintgnue"
"Really?" He turned the bacon around.
"Yeah. They even flirted after I told her not to speak to anyone."
"Maybe they were just talking. You could have misread. And also, I don't know why you're so pissed."
"Saintgnue had his eyes all over her, glancing at her, gesturing towards her, please." I shivered, growing irritated. Adrien pulled out his bacon and placed it next to his eggs on his plate.
"Sounds like you're mad at her more than him." He muttered, starting to stuff his face.
"What do you mean?" I blinked at him a couple of times. He sighed in a frustrated tone and shook his head.
"He was coming on to her, not the other way around so if you wanted to be mad at someone for the inappropriate act then it should be him not her."Adrien said. He was right. I glared at him as he ate happily.
"So stop being so rude to her. You said it yourself, she's really good."
"Why do you always have to be right about these sorts of things." Adrien shrugged his shoulders because his mouth was full. His cheeks were full of food.
He shrugged his shoulders again, taking a bite of his food. His phone buzzed by his side and he picked it up, gazing at the screen. His lip slowly curved into a smile.
"What's with that stupid look on your face?" He looked up, with a blank expression.
"What?" He blinked at me. I scoffed at him, rolling my eyes.
"That smug grin." I pointed. "It's disturbing. On many levels." He looked down at his phone again and no matter how hard I tried I couldn't get a look.
"What the hell is on that phone." I muttered. His eyebrows rose in fraction.
"Forget it. Just work" he said again. He continued the rest of his food in silence.
"You and I both know that's a fucking lie." I replied to him. "I have to meet someone in a few hours." I stood up from the stool, reaching over and taking bacon from his plate.
"See you later then?" he asked.
"Sure." I replied even though I wasn't facing him.
"Duncan" he called again and just as I turned around I saw him throwing my car keys to me. I caught it at once.
"Thanks." I continued heading for the door.