Chapter 131 – Beginning with a Daring Encounter

Celsie who had just finished composing the text to tell him that her text to him was a mistake and he should ignore it, decided that it wasn’t necessary and erased it when his text message came in. She quickly typed a response, “No, I can’t talk right now. I’m in the car with Mr. Harry and the CEO,” Celsie explained.

Harry glance at Celsie and when he noticed that she was busy on her phone, he looked at Benne through the rearview mirror and noticed that he also seemed busy. Were they both communicating with each other right now, while he was busy doing the job of a driver? Harry thought with a scowl as he returned his gaze to the road.

“Why can’t you talk because you are with them? Are you scared of either of them?” Benne texted back curiously.

“Mr. Harry is very weird. I don’t feel comfortable talking when I’m around him,” Celsie texted back, and Benne burst out in laughter before he could stop himself, making Celsie turn to spare him a glance as she hadn’t expected someone like the CEO to laugh that way.

Harry also looked at Benne through the rearview mirror and rolled his eyes at him, not knowing that he was the reason for Benne’s laughter.

Benne didn’t notice that either of them had turned to look at him as he was still busy chuckling to himself in amusement as the thought that Harry who had called him weird was the one being referred to as weird.

Harry sighed, “I guess everyone else is busy having fun with their phones while poor old Harry has to be the driver,” Harry said pitifully so that Celsie would feel guilty and drop her phone, that way Benne would also have no one to text him.

“I also think he is weird.” Benne texted back.

“Let’s talk later, he is sulking already,” Celsie texted back before returning her phone to her handbag making Benne chuckle. It was obvious that Celsie wasn’t very fond of Harry.

“Well, we are here now,” Harry announced, and both Benne and Celsie looked up to see that Harry had just driven through the gates of Ocean Airlines, and most of the staff were standing in front of the building as though they were waiting for them.

The first person Celsie took note of amongst the staff who stood outside, was Anita who was dressed in the dress that they had picked out at the dress shop that weekend. Anita had made so much fuss over picking the perfect dress, and for what? This? This was the reason she had kept rejecting so many dresses insisting they weren’t fit for the occasion? This was the occasion? Meeting the CEO? Wow!

Harry parked the car in front of the building, and almost immediately one of the security personnel standing outside, opened the door for Benne to get out of the car, while Celsie and Harry also got out of the car. Harry handed the car key to the valet who stepped forward to take it from him, before joining Benne and Celsie where the staff of Ocean Airlines were standing.

Seeing the beads of sweat that coated Anita’s brows on closer observation, it was obvious to Celsie that Anita had been standing out there for a while. Wow! The length women could go to get a man. If she had any doubt that Anita was out to get the CEO, then this had just cleared it all. She would have to do well to not get in Anita’s way. The more she knew Anita, the more she wanted to stay away from her. If only Benne had been honest from the start, she wouldn’t have approached a person like Anita to be friends with her.

With a smile pasted on Anita’s face she took a step forward, “Good morning Mr. Delgado, Mr. Harry. I am MISS Anita Miller,” Anita greeted, ignoring Celsie while emphasizing on her marital status with a wide smile on her face as she extended her hand to Benne for a handshake. . She had been kind of worried about his physical appearance considering the fact that he had remained away from public view for so long. Seeing him now, she was more than happy that he was good looking, regardless of his beards and mustache.

Even though this was supposed to be the first time ‘Benedict Delgado’ was meeting Anita, he couldn’t seem to hide his dislike of her as he stared at her hand “Where is Mr. Wyatt?” Benne asked, without bothering to take her hand, and Anita dropped her hand to her side, but maintained the smile on her face even though she was feeling quite embarrassed. She wasn’t going to let his standoffish attitude deter her from trying to win his heart.

The other staff murmured amongst themselves when they noticed how the new CEO had ignored Anita.

“He is waiting for you in the meeting room. I will lead you…” Before she could finish her sentence Benne walked past her to another lady behind her, “Please show me the way to the meeting room.”

The lady glanced at Anita nervously, and when the young man standing behind her poked her back, as though reminding her that Benne was the new boss, and Anita didn’t call the shots anymore. The lady quickly stepped forward, and led them in the direction of the office.

Anita grabbed Celsie’s hand before she could walk past her like the others, “What is with your boss?” Anita asked with a slight frown. They had never met before, so why was he being rude to her?

Celsie who had noticed how Anita ignored her earlier, tried not to sound irritated as she looks at Anita, “What do you mean?” Celsie asked innocently, even though she had also noticed the CEO’s attitude towards Anita.

At first she had assumed that the CEO had a thing against females but that impression had been quickly corrected when he asked the other lady to lead him to the meeting room. Now it seemed to Celsie that it was just Anita who the CEO did not like. She found it funny that Anita had gone through so much stress to pick a dress that would impress him, only for him not to even accept a handshake from her. That served her right for treating a nice guy like Benne the way she had done.

“Don’t tell me you didn’t notice how he ignored me? Does he have a thing against me?” Anita asked, but before Celsie could respond to the question, Benne who had walked far ahead stopped in his track and turned around when he suddenly noticed that Celsie wasn’t walking beside him. He raised a brow when he saw Anita holding Celsie’s hand and walked back to join them, making the other staff who had been following him to also stop.

“What relationship do you have with my assistant to be holding her arm in that manner?” Benne coldly asked as he approached them, startling Celsie who hadn’t been expecting that.

“We are friends,” Anita said with a smile as she moved her hand from Celsie’s arm to place it around her shoulder.

“Then save your friendship for later. Miss Miller, shouldn’t you be walking by my side?” Benne asked, jerking his head to the side for Celsie to move.

Celsie quickly shook off Anita’s hand from her shoulder as she quickly went to stand beside Benne.

“What did you say was your name again?” Benne asked, pretending not to remember her name, while Harry who was standing few feets away from them tried not to roll his eyes at Benne.

“Miss Anita Miller,” Anita quickly answered.

“I’m thirsty, go and get us something cold to drink,” Benne ordered her, making Anita blink at him in disbelief, while the other staff who could overhear what they were saying tried to hold back their laughter. It was nice to see Anita being treated that way, considering how she liked to treat others like they were beneath her.

“I will have someone…”

“Get it yourself. And get something for all three of us. Don’t keep me waiting,” Benne said before walking away, and Celsie hurried to keep up with him.

Anita remained in that spot staring after them as they all disappeared one after the other. This wasn’t part of her plans. She hadn’t envisioned this when she was making her plans. She looked down at the dress she was wearing. She definitely hadn’t spent so much money to buy this dress just so that she would be his messenger. And why had he seemed so protective of his assistant?

Anita closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath. She was just going to get him the drinks he had requested for. As the saying goes, ‘Nothing Good Comes Easy’.. If she was going to get a man like Benedict Delgado, she would have to be prepared to do whatever it takes.

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