Chapter 130 – Beginning with a Daring Encounter

“I just got here. Let’s leave now so we don’t keep her waiting,” Benne said in his broad voice as they both approached the car. Once he opened the back door of the car to get inside, he paused when his phone vibrated in his pocket.

He took it out to see if it was Jade returning his call but looked slightly surprised when he saw that it was a call from Celsie and he stepped away from the car. Why was she calling him when she was supposed to be outside waiting for them to pick her up? He wondered as he received the call.

He cleared his throat, “Sup, love?” He asked in his normal voice, and Harry who had gotten into the driver’s seat of the car looked at him with a slightly raised brow.

The private investigator narrowed his eyes when he heard the automatic switch in Benne’s voice. Why was he using a different voice? And who was he talking to? Was he in a relationship?

Celsie felt butterflies flutter in her stomach when she heard his voice. Love? Why did that sound so good in her ear? She cleared her throat, “Are you at your workplace now?” Celsie asked, trying to sound unaffected.

“Yes, I’m busy with work at the moment. How are things going over there in the office?” He asked as he got into the car. Harry didn’t bother to start the car since he knew Benne was speaking with Celsie. There was no need to be in a hurry to pick her up when she was busy on the phone.

“Everything is alright. Uhm… I don’t know if it’s necessary but I’m just calling to let you know that I’m leaving with Mr. Delgado for a business meeting, and we might go out to have lunch after that. You don’t have to rush back to pick me up, I will find my way home. So you can take your time to do whatever you need to do, we can see when you get back,” Celsie said in a rush, and Benne’s lips curved in a smile. She might not know it, but she was gradually beginning to act like a girlfriend.

“Sure. Let’s talk when I get back then,” Benne said before hanging up with a grin on his face.

“That was your girlfriend I suppose?” Harry asked in amusement as Benne returned to the car.

“Yeah, she’s calling to let me know about her movement. We should leave now so we don’t keep them waiting,” Benne said as he got into the car, and Harry drove off immediately.

Once the car had left the driving lot the private investigator stepped out from where he had been hiding. One thing was sure from all he had heard, Mr. Benedict Delgado had a lady in his life. However, there were only two questions plaguing his mind as he walked away from there.

Who was the other man who had used the private elevator earlier? And why hadn’t he come out with Mr. Delgado?

Once the car came to a stop in front of Celsie who was standing in front of the company, she opened the front passenger seat and got in. She didn’t risk glancing at the backseat of the car where the CEO was seated, rather she gave Harry a polite bow before buckling her seatbelt.

Between the CEO and Mr. Harry, Celsie couldn’t decide on who made her feel more nervous. While Mr. Harry was always looking at her with an expression on his face that seemed like he could see through her or he knew something that she didn’t know, the CEO just seemed very intimidating. Maybe it was because no one really knew anything about him as he hardly interacted with others, hence she didn’t know how to interact with him.

Celsie wondered whether she was being unnecessarily anxious and wary of them or perhaps any other staff would also feel just as anxious as she was around them when seated with both men.

Harry turned to spare Celsie a glance and his lips twitched in amusement when he noticed how she sat still like a statue, looking straight ahead of her. He feared that she would faint soon if she continued to hold her breath for much longer so he decided to engage her in a discussion.

“I hope you are enjoying your stay in the City?” He asked, turning to look at her.

Was this man ever going to leave her alone? Why was he always trying to start a conversation with her? Celsie wondered as she gave him her fake smile, “Yes. There are lots of nice places around,” she managed to say before looking out of the window.

“So, about your driver…” Harry started, making Celsie shift in her seat uncomfortably as she turned to look at him in once again, while Benne cleared his throat in a silent warning, making Harry grin at him through the rearview mirror, “I guess you get along with him now,” Harry said, and Celsie couldn’t help but wonder why he was so interested in her relationship with her driver. Why was he bringing it up again after she had already told him so earlier?

“Yes, sir.”

“By the way, as I was driving in earlier I noticed that your car wasn’t parked in the parking lot l. Did something happen to the car? Perhaps it has developed a fault?” Harry asked, ignoring Benne who he could see was glaring at him through the rearview mirror.

“The car is in perfect condition. I sent him on am errand after he dropped me off this morning,” Celsie rushed to explain.

“Oh! I see. It’s a good thing you are putting him to good use. He seems like a rascal to me, doesn’t he?” Harry asked with a grin.

“I’m not sure about that,” Celsie said with an awkward smile since she didn’t know how else she could respond to his question. She remembered Benne complaining about him this morning. Did he have something against Benne? Or perhaps he was trying to make her say something that would make her look bad in the presence of the CEO?

“Of course you’re not,” Harry said with a small chuckle, as though he was enjoying himself. He risked a glance at the rearview mirror and chuckled some more when he noticed that Benne was still glaring at him.

“Do you make it a habit badmouthing the employees?” Benne asked with disapproval.

“We weren’t badmouthing anyone, were we?” Harry asked Celsie.

What did he mean by ‘Were we’? Who was the we? Why was he involving her in this when he had been the one badmouthing her boyfriend? Without saying a word Celsie gave him a stiff smile and shook her head. All she wanted was for them to get to their destination very quickly so that she would finally be able to breathe.

Celsie decided that she needed to keep herself busy until they got to their destination, so that Mr. Harry wouldn’t talk to her anymore. She took out her phone from her handbag to send Sonia a text since she couldn’t talk over the phone at the moment.

“Sup? Are you very busy?” She typed, and her eyes widened in surprise immediately she clicked on send and then realized that she had mistakenly sent the text to Benne instead of Sonia.

Oh God! Now he was going to think that she was a clingy girlfriend and was reaching out to him for the second time because she was missing him badly, Celsie thought, cringing with embarrassment. She started to type another text to let him know that the first text had been a mistake.

Benne who had just been sitting in the car thinking about the meeting they were about to attend, looked at his phone when it vibrated and then glanced at Celsie when he saw that the text was from her. Why was she texting him? He wondered as he placed his phone on silent so that she wouldn’t hear the vibration of his phone each time he received her text.

“Not busy enough to ignore you. Want to talk?” He asked since he knew that Celsie wouldn’t be able to receive a call from him in their presence.

---