Meeting Mr. Mogul: A Billionaire Contemporary Romance (31 page)

“Why are you asking about Ms. Alex? You know she’s in Italy right now,” Maggie looked at me in confusion.

“She didn’t tell you? Did she tell William?” I asked, confused about her reaction.

“William is in his office right now. If he knew, he would have informed me,” she replied and glanced at William’s office for a second.

I followed her eyes and looked at William’s closed door. He is here. What was I going to do?

“What did Alex tell you?” Maggie suddenly asked, tearing my eyes away from the door.

“Ah… She told me to place the files that are ready to be signed on her table,” I replied, recalling her instructions.

“Okay,” Maggie nodded in understanding as she started to pull some papers out of her desk drawer on her table. “Can you get a file for me from HR department? It’s on the seventh floor,” she asked as she looked back at me and neatly placed the files together.

“Sure. What am I going to get?” I asked, slightly taken aback that she knew what to do.

Maggie grabbed a post-it note from her desk and started to write something down. When she was finished, she handed it to me. “Give this to the receptionist. They’ll know what to do,” she instructed. It made me sigh in relief internally.

“Thank you, Maggie,” I called towards her as I quickly made my way towards the elevator.

I reached the said floor and was slightly disoriented with the different interior design. Despite my confusion, I was able to spot the reception desk easily since it was placed at the entrance of the floor. The receptionist was very welcoming and helped me get the job done in no time.

Half an hour had passed and I was on my way back up to my floor with the files in hand. As the metal doors opened, I was startled at the person standing in front of me.

“Ah… Hey. Good morning,” William stuttered a bit.

“Good morning,” I countered in a whisper.

“Oh! Andy, you’re here!” a familiar female voice interrupted, making us both turn towards the voice.

“Ms. Maxwell. Good morning.” I quickly made my way towards her and passed William by like we didn’t have that quiet greeting a few moments ago.

“Ah… Andy, can you wait for me before you leave work tonight?” William softly asked, making me stop in my track.

I took a step back when there was little distance between us. “Oh… sure,” I replied quickly, not sure about why he was asking me such a question.

William gave me a curt nod as goodbye. When he was finally gone, I turned back towards my desk only to find Maggie and Alexandra looking at me with a small smile on their faces.

“What?”

Alexandra’s smile only grew wider as she shook her head. “Can you help me file these papers in my office?” she asked, changing the topic.

“Okay,” I replied and did not press on the matter.

Alexandra entered her office while I made a quick trip to my desk to get our coffee and some of the files that she needed. While I was there, I turned to Maggie and stared at her suspiciously.

“Maggie! Maggie!” I called her, my voice a whisper. Maggie finally turned towards me. I didn’t give her a chance to change the topic. “What was that all about?” I asked after she looked at me.

In reply, Maggie gave me a secret smile before she turned back to her work. I was about to call her again when Alexandra called my name. I would have to ambush her later during lunch. I hoped this was not about William and me, but that was very unlikely from the direction they were looking a while ago. 

As I sat across Alexandra, I admit that I wasn’t paying attention to most of the papers I was handling. Since this morning, I couldn’t help but be distracted by a certain someone who was stirring up my personal life right now. In addition, that someone had asked me to wait after work for something.
What did he want from me now?

Halfway through sorting the papers, my eyes caught one of the titles in the paper, which was printed in huge, bold print in the topmost part. I eyed it for a second before grasping the information. I couldn’t help myself and asked.

“Excuse me, Ms. Maxwell. Are these resignation and transfer papers?”

Across me, Alexandra looked up from a paper she was reading before I unnecessarily voiced out my curiosity. She assessed me for a moment before she gave me a truthful reply. “Yes. It is.”

“You’re leaving the company? I thought you’re the one running it,” I continued, not really contented with the information she shared.

“The company is under my name. I don’t personally run it. William does,” she replied confidently as she gave me a small smile when she mentioned her brother’s name.

“But why do you have to leave? And if you’re leaving, that would mean I won’t have a job anymore…” I asked, my thoughts linking to my current professional situation. In the end, I was back at square one.

“Did you forget about the other job after the three month duration of being my secretary?” she asked with a chuckle.

I can’t help but give her a small smile in reply. “Oh. Right. The curator job,” I replied shyly, feeling stupid for forgetting the reason on why I accepted this job.

“I thought you forgot about it already…” she trailed off as she shook her head in amusement, “the art works are still being shipped here, so you’ll have at least a week of leave before starting your work at the gallery,” she continued, her voice taking on a more serious tone.

“Oh. That’s good to hear. When would that be?” I hesitantly asked, internally cringing for actually voicing out another question. Then, a thought crossed my mind. I’ll be jobless for a week.

“If you’re thinking about not getting paid for the leave, you don’t have to worry. You’ll still get paid and I still need you to help me clear out my office for that week,” she stated. “I only said it as a leave since you wouldn’t be doing any reporting anymore other than sending my things to my place.”

“Oh. Okay. Thank you so much for that assurance,” I said shyly, my voice raising an octave as my nerves got the better of me. I can’t believe she read me like how her brother did yesterday.

Am I that easy to read? Is there a signboard on my forehead that displays what I was thinking?

“I’ll be filing these today, so that will take at least a week before it can take effect. Your leave might start next week,” she informed me as she looked back down at the paper she was holding and continued to read.

I took this as a cue that the conversation had ended. Even though I knew she wouldn’t see me, I gave her a curt nod in reply. Though there were still things I wanted to ask her, I didn’t dare to press on that matter. I reckoned she didn’t want to talk about it from the way she didn’t tell me the reasons why she had to leave the company.
Does that mean William is going to be the official owner starting next week?

I shrugged it off and quickly disregarded my thoughts. As the day slowly passed, the chance on asking Maggie about what happened this morning was gone. It was rather odd in some way that when I was about to approach her, Maggie suddenly stood up from her desk and excused herself to get some lunch and when she got back, she was already done eating and went straight back to work. I wanted to approach her again. But then Alexandra got back from her lunch out with some associates, so I didn’t get any answers.

The afternoon passed, and the sky turned dark and I was now uncertain on asking Maggie about it. I was on my last round in filing Alexandra’s things when her office door suddenly burst open.

“Oh, god! I thought you’d already gone home!” William exclaimed in relief, yet the way he was holding himself, he looked beat.

I stared at his tired face before talking. “Good evening, Mr. Maxwell. Is there something we can do for you? Ms. Maxwell and I are in a middle of work at moment,” I asked in a monotonous tone as I tried to look unaffected.

William quickly scanned the room, from Alexandra’s desk to her and down to me. “What are you working on?” he countered my question with a question as he looked at me.

I was about to reply but Alexandra beat me to it. “What do you want William?” she asked, finally looking up from the paper she was currently signing.

William turned his attention to her, which changed his demeanor entirely. The last time I saw William around his sister was at her engagement party. From my observation then, she had some control over him, which hadn’t changed the least.

“I have some plans with Andy today. Is she free to go now?” he asked in the same tone, his question catching me off guard at its frankness.

Alexandra scoffed while I stared at William in shock. After a moment, she turned to look at me with a small smile. “Are you done today, Andy?” she asked softly. Her demeanor changed entirely.

I nodded in reply, not entirely sure on how to respond to the situation. Alexandra took it as a proper reply before looking at William. “She can go now,” she said to him before glancing towards my direction. “You can go now, Andy,” she said with a lighter tone.

I stared at her, unsure for a second.
Was she serious?
When she finally gave me a reassuring smile, I stood up and quickly made my way towards William, who was still standing by the door.

“I’ll be going now, Ms. Maxwell. Thank you for today, and have a nice evening,” I greeted softly as I reached William’s side.

“Thank you too, Andy, and have a wonderful evening,” she replied in the same light tone.

Before I could give her a smile, William suddenly grabbed my wrist, gaining my full attention. “I’ll see you later,” William called sternly at his sister before he swiftly pulled me out of the office and closed the door behind him.

I was frustrated by his action and felt the need to knock some senses into him. As we reached the empty elevator, luck was with me when it opened after I pressed the call button. We both quietly entered the lift. I made it known that I was pissed at him as I stomped my foot on the way inside. Behind me, I felt William let out a huge, strained sigh.

From the way he was letting out his breath, I knew he was anticipating my outburst. I stood away from him, keeping my mouth shut for the first time. By now, I would have exploded in annoyance but I was trying to turn over a new leaf.

“Aren’t you going to scream or something?” he asked, finally breaking the uneasy silence that rang in the confined space.

“No,” I replied shortly, my voice almost as low as a whisper.

I could feel his eyes on my face while I stared at the metal door in front of us. Then, I felt his warm breath as he sighed again.

“Have you eaten dinner?” he asked after a few seconds of silence.

I raised my eyebrow at the sudden change of topic and turned my head towards him. “I just got out of work. I thought the answer to that question was a given,” I replied sarcastically, yet there was no hint of humor in my voice.

“Why are you angry with me? Don’t deny it, Andy. Your mood is written all over your face,” he asked, changing the subject again. It was like he was trying to avoid something.

“What do you want with me, William? I’m tired, so please go straight to the point,” I asked with refined disinterest and let out a heavy breath before turning back to staring at the metal door.

“How about I’ll take you to dinner tonight? To make up for now and for all the things I’ve done wrong since we met,” he replied, turning his whole body towards me as he leaned on the metal wall behind him.

I shifted in my stance as I turned my body half way in his direction. “Are you asking me out on a date? Again?” I asked in disbelief.

“Well… You offered me at least three dates. I’m not going to waste time and let go of that offer,” he replied with a wolfish grin, an expression that I’ve never seen on him.

I hadn’t anticipated the reaction that my body seemed to have from his expression. I could feel warmth rising from deep within my belly. Maybe this was what they called butterflies in your stomach. Then another sensation ran through my body, from my neck up to my cheeks, making them both warm and cool at the same time.

William looked amused as he turned away from me while he covered his mouth like he was going to cough. From there, we had a short moment of awkward dead air as we avoided each other’s gaze. I didn’t understand why we were embarrassed.

“So, where are we eating out?” I asked softly.

This had snapped him out of his reverie. “That’s a secret,” he answered with a chuckle, his arrogance lurking again.

I was about to pester him to tell me the place when the metal door suddenly opened, showing the lobby. So I closed my mouth and stared at him for a second. When I didn’t move from where I stood, William gestured for me to go first.

“Good evening, Ms. Peterson,” Mark greeted as he opened the back door when we reached the car outside.

My head whipped in his direction, startled by his presence. I can’t believe I was so preoccupied with thoughts of the man who was standing behind me. As I quickly gathered my wits about me, I gave him a small smile and greeted back, “Good evening to you, too.”

I jumped in the black SUV that we used yesterday. By now, I was getting familiar and comfortable with the car I scooted to the far end of the seat, sticking myself near the other end of the door. I heard the soft slam of the door as William settled himself on his side of the seat.

“Comfortable?” he asked casually.

“Yes. Thank you,” I replied softy, not really sure how to respond to the new Mr. Mogul. I was somewhat nauseated by his change of attitude.

William looked up front as the driver got inside the car. “We’re eating out tonight. We are going to that place for dinner,” he ordered, his demeanor changing yet again.

“Don’t you get tired of having a split personality?” I bluntly asked, feeling confident to say anything at the moment.

“You think I have a split personality?” he countered, answering me with a question.

“Yes. You’re doing it right now,” I replied, gesturing him from head to toe.

Somehow, the way I might have replied seemed to be funny since he laughed. “What’s so funny?” I asked, feeling stupid that he found something funny that I didn’t understand.

“It’s nothing,” he replied after he got ahold of himself, though the smile in his lips never left.

Irritated with his lack of explanation, I kept quiet for the rest of the way and patiently waited until I knew where we were going. I vowed to myself that if things don’t go right, I was going to bail without thinking twice about it. But could I actually do that when the situation arose?

The car slowed down on a familiar street and I had a hunch where we were going. And I was right when the car stopped on that place. He is taking me back to the restaurant where it all began. Did he think that such a place would be romantic? If we had met in better circumstances, it would have been sweet. All I had remembered on that first meeting was my impression of him being awful. But after I got to know him better, I realized he wasn’t totally an arrogant bastard.

“We’re having dinner here? Really?” I asked dumbfounded as I glanced between him and the tinted window behind him, giving me a full view of the main entrance.

Before he could reply, the door opened beside him. Then, he turned towards the man who opened it. From the way his mouth tensed, I think he was pissed that he was interrupted.

William got out of the car swiftly and turned around as I followed behind him. He offered me his hand as I jumped down without any grace. Somewhere in my peripheral vision, I swore I saw a couple that got out of the restaurant eyeing both of us. Their eyes filled with awe and envy as they looked at William, while they looked at me with plain curiosity and jealousy, especially from the woman. I refrained from glancing at their direction as William looped my arm around his and slowly guided me towards the entrance. I didn’t want to embarrass myself even more.

When the door opened in front of us, Reyna, the person who tended the podium, looked up towards us in surprise. Her eyes zoned in towards William first for a full half-minute. I gathered enough confidence to acknowledge Reyna before she died of suffocation. I knew for sure she wasn’t breathing right now but William ignored her as he got his phone from his inner pocket. Slowly, his attention centered on his phone.

“Reyna. Hey!” I whispered her direction. “Is Mr. Maxwell’s booth still reserved?” I asked out of curiosity, though I knew that the booth would be forever empty unless he eats here.

“Oh! It’s you again…” she replied as her eyes grew wide in recognition. “I think the table is occupied,” she continued as she composed herself.

“What do you mean occupied?” I asked in confusion. I cursed her under my breath for forgetting my name again

“Well…” she started in reply, but trailed off as she was distracted by the person beside me.