Chapter 38 – Beginning with a Daring Encounter

Celsie woke up with a start once she remembered she was resuming at her boss’ office that morning, and she quickly glanced at her bedside clock to make sure she hadn’t missed the sound of her alarm. Thankfully she was up early, and it wasn’t even six yet. She sat up and picked up her phone which was on top of the bedside drawer. Benne had said the boss loved communicating via texts and emails, so maybe it was best she made it a habit checking her mails now.

Her heart skipped a beat when she saw a text message notification from Harry, and she closed her eyes and took in a deep breath to calm her heart, before clicking on it.

“Please kindly note that Mr. Delgados doesn’t like ladies wearing their hair up, and he isn’t a fan of glasses either, so dress appropriately….”

Celsie paused at that point, and reread it to be sure her eyes weren’t deceiving her, “What? This is absolutely ridiculous! Who does he think he is to dictate how I wear my hair or what I use for my eye defect?” She asked no one in particular as she stood up from the bed angrily.

She remembered she was yet to read the remaining part of the text so she checked it, “Also, he doesn’t like being stared at or spoken to directly. Even if you’re in the office with him, you have to communicate via texts and emails.”

“Seriously? I’m supposed to work with someone like this?” Celsie asked as she threw her phone on the bed angrily. She closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath, before trying to count from one to ten. The more she counted, the angrier she became, so she gave up.

“This is preposterous! Simply because he is my benevolent boss, who pays me well and also gave me an official car and driver, doesn’t give him the right to tell me how to wear my hair or whether or not to use glasses! This is preposterous!” Celsie hissed angrily as she marched into her bathroom to ease herself.

She came out a moment later, still seething in anger as she sat in front of her dressing table. What sort of a weird being was he? How could he make such demands? And what was that about not being able to talk to him or look at him? Was he that ugly? He must be. That was the only thing that could explain it. But his voice hadn’t sounded so bad over the phone.

“Whatever!” Celsie muttered and then closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, and let it out while counting from one to ten again. She was not going to let her weird boss ruin a day that was yet to start.

When she was done she opened her eyes and stared at her reflection in the mirror, “Okay, I will just assume it’s a company dress code. It isn’t a big deal.”

Having come to that decision she stood up and returned to the bathroom to wash her hair and prepare herself for what she knew was going to be a tasking day.

Two hours later she stepped out of her apartment dressed in navy blue suit pants, a pink camisole, and white blazers, with a pink stiletto heel and handbag to match. Her green contact lens was in place, and her long curly jet black hair which she had spent quite some time washing and curling cascaded over her shoulders.

“You definitely do look like you’re ready for your new office,” Benne who was just heading towards the car commented from behind her, and grinned when she turned to look at him, “Good morning ma’am, you look good.”

“I might look it, but I certainly don’t feel it,” Celsie muttered, “Good morning,” she said dourly as she looked him over. Like yesterday he had left the top buttons of his shirt undone and he had rolled up his sleeves to reveal his arms. The scent of his cologne drifted into her nose and she tried to ignore it as she kept her gaze locked on his face.

“Seems like you’re in a foul mood? Besides, I thought you said you preferred using glasses? Why did you change your mind?” Benne asked innocently as he unlocked the car.

“I wish I did. That…” She took in a deep breath to stop herself, “I was informed the CEO doesn’t like glasses, so I had to make adjustments,” Celsie muttered as she got into the car.

“If it’s any consolation, you look even more beautiful without the glasses,” Benne assured her as he got into the car.

“Hey!”

They both looked out of the car when they heard the breathless feminine voice. They saw one of the girls from the previous morning approaching the car with a smile as she took off her earphone and placed it around her neck, She looked like she had just returned from jogging as her vest and tight was plastered to her sweaty body, and a sports phone strap holder was attached to her upper arm.

“Hi!” Benne said with a surprised smile as he stepped out of the car to talk to her, while Celsie tried to ignore them.

“Good morning. Hi! I’m Jas. As in Jasmine,” She said extending a hand to Benne.

“Good morning. I’m Benne. As in, Benne,” Benne said, and she giggled girlishly while Celsie rolled her eyes.

“I was wondering if she was your girlfriend?” Jas asked, jerking her head in Celsie’s direction.

“Not at all. She is my neighbor and I just happened to be her official driver,” Benne explained, making sure his voice was loud enough for Celsie to hear him.

“Oh! That is cool then. I suppose you have a girlfriend?” Jas asked again.

“None that I know of. Why? Wanna fill the space?” Benne asked with a cocky smile and Jas giggled.

Celsie stepped out of the car, “I’m sorry to interrupt your conversation, but I really don’t want to be late for work,” she said to Benne testily before turning to look at the young lady with a stiff smile, “Don’t you have to prepare for school?” Celsie asked, assuming she was a high schooler or college student because of her tiny stature.

“No, I don’t. I graduated two years ago,” Jas said, making Benne chuckle, “I shouldn’t keep you from your impatient boss lady, can I have your number? Maybe we can talk?” She asked, taking her phone from the strap and handing it to him to dial in his number.

“By the way, I love your new look. You look very hot,” she said, fanning her face dramatically as he typed in the number on her phone.

“You’re far too kind with your words,” Benne said with a grin as he returned her phone, happy that Bryan’s assignment had been accomplished without much effort.

“Alright handsome, you’ll hear from me before the end of the day,” she said with a wink and waved at Celsie before jogging away.

Celsie who was sitting in the front seat of the car with him, tried to refrain herself from speaking, but after a few minutes she gave up the struggle, “What sort of a person are you?”

“Me?” Benne asked, pretending like he had no idea what she wanted to talk about.

“I’m sure we are just two in the car,” Celsie aid irritably.

“It’s possible you were speaking to yourself out loud. I noticed you tend to voice your thoughts a lot,” Benne said, turning to look at her with a straight face, even though he was feeling very amused.

Celsie drew in a deep breath to stop herself from giving a sharp retort. Maybe it was because she had started her day in a bad mood, or maybe it was because the more she saw him flirt with other ladies the more scared she became of the possibility of having contracted an infectious disease from him, but whatever it was, she was feeling very annoyed.

“Okay, okay. Don’t get mad. You look like you’re about to blow up. Calm down and tell me what I did wrong,” Benne said, sounding reasonable.

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