She blinked at him in confusion when his right hand moved to her face and he moved his thumb over her cheek in a caress as he said, “However, no matter how pretty you look when you cry, I don’t want to see your tears.”
What was he doing? Why was he being so sweet? What was she doing? Why was her heart fluttering this way? Her main aim here was to make him fall in love with her, only after that could she fall in love with him. So why was her heart feeling funny? She asked herself as she turned to look around when she heard the clicking sound of cameras that reminded her that they were not alone in the living room. She couldn’t believe that for a moment there she had completely forgotten about everything and everyone else because she was engrossed in their conversation.
At last, now she knew why he was being so sweet. He was made for the camera after all and his actor mode had been activated, Sonia thought as she tried to calm her fluttering heart and play along with him.
“That’s so sweet of you,” Sonia said with a sweet smile as she allowed her face to rest on his palm. They both looked up when Mia stopped in front of them.
Bryan reached out his left hand and took the box she offered him, before turning to look at Sonia, “Although you already look perfect, and I hate to tamper with perfection, I think this piece of jewelry would be perfect on you,” Bryan said as he opened the box which held a diamond earring stud.
When he looked at her ears earlier, he had noticed that although the pair of earrings she was wearing looked new like she had just gotten them, they didn’t look very expensive. Knowing the kind of fans he had, he knew they were going to take note of that, and make comments that might embarrass Sonia. Hence, he had called Mia to find out if that was the only piece of jewelry they had purchased during their shopping. Mia had in turn informed him that Sonia had insisted that she didn’t want to use his money to buy anything that she couldn’t afford for herself.
On hearing that, he had asked Mia to look through his closet where he usually kept the gifts he received from both fans and companies whose products he endorsed, to see if she would find something better.
Sonia opened her mouth to refuse, but Bryan placed a finger on her lips to shut her up before leaning forward to whisper into her ear, “Don’t you think it is weird to reject a gift from your fiance? Be a good girl, and let me fix it, okay?” Bryan asked in a husky voice, and Sonia swallowed past the lump in her throat as she gave him a short nod, while Mia watched the both of them with an amused expression.
They could both deceive themselves all they liked that they were acting for the camera, but from where Mia stood, it was clear as daylight that Sonia was also beginning to fall for Bryan, whether she knew it or not. This was going to be fun to watch.. She couldn’t wait to see who would open up first.
Anita was seething with anger as she went to sit amongst the secretaries and assistants who were there to take the minute of whatever was going to be discussed there on behalf of their boss.
Anita’s secretary was the only person there who bothered to make room for her to sit down since she was directly under Anita’s payroll. In the past, every one of them feared Anita because their bosses were under Mr. Wyatt’s payroll, and as such if Anita so much as found any of them wanting in any regard, and wanted them out of the company, all she needed to do was report them to her uncle, and her uncle would ask the director in charge of that secretary to fire them. But now that the new CEO had announced to their hearing that it was no longer a family-run company, and it seemed like the CEO wasn’t very fond of Anita, they all didn’t see any reason to condone her excesses anymore.
Once Anita was seated, she pasted a false smile on her face as she watched the others who were seated on the table, especially Celsie who was seated in her spot. Even though she still didn’t think Celsie was qualified enough to be viewed as a threat, since Celsie was nothing compared to her, she also knew that she needed to get rid of Celsie. This was the second time the CEO had embarrassed her because of Celsie, and that wasn’t acceptable.
Why was he so protective of her? How many bosses were that protective of their employees? Perhaps something was going on between the CEO and Celsie that Celsie wasn’t telling her? Was Celsie pretending to be naive when she probably had ulterior motives and wanted the CEO for herself? Seeing how good-looking and wealthy the CEO was, how was it possible that any lady around him would claim not to be interested in him? She was just going to have to keep her eyes on Celsie by pretending to be her friend. She had to keep her very close to herself to be sure that Celsie wasn’t trying to take her man from her.
“So? What are we waiting for?” Benne asked Mr. Wyatt when everywhere remained silent after Anita was seated.
“The director you just sent away from the table is the person that’s making the speech,” Mr. Wyatt stated irritably.
“Ah! I see. Well, since she can’t speak from where she is seated, can nobody else tell me all I need to know?” Benne asked, cocking his head to the side as he looked around the table at the other directors.
Most of them bowed their head or looked away from Benne since they had been instructed to let Anita handle everything that involved speaking with the CEO. They had been threatened by both Mr. Wyatt and Anita that the new CEO was very mean and wouldn’t hesitate to fire anyone who made a mistake.
“I don’t know how you have managed to run your company until now, but in this place we are disciplined, and we do things in an organized and…”
Harry snorted, interrupting Mr. Wyatt’s sentence, “We have run things so well in our company that we are buying other companies that seem not to be doing so well,” Harry said irritably since it was becoming obvious that Mr. Wyatt wasn’t deserving of the respect they were showing him.
Mr. Wyatt tried his best not to look embarrassed as he met Anita’s gaze across the room. She flashed him an apologetic smile even though she was feeling pretty angry herself.
Benne grinned at Harry. Of course, they were best friends for a reason. He had been about to say exactly the same thing that Harry had just said. The old man was just as annoying as Anita was, and it was becoming quite clear that Anita’s problem was a genetic issue and not just personal.
“Am I to assume that Miss Miller is the only person here who can speak on behalf of the company? We should probably fire every one of them and retain just Miss Miller, shouldn’t we?” Benne asked Harry, making the others around the table sit up quickly.
The lady who had led Benne to the meeting hall earlier raised her hand when her colleagues urged her to speak on their behalf, and Benne gave her the go-ahead to speak.
“We were only informed of your coming yesterday, and we were told not to bother preparing for anything as Miss Miller would handle the presentation,” she explained as she didn’t want to lose her job over something that wasn’t her fault.
“Is that so?” Benne asked, turning to look at Mr. Wyatt, and then Anita who was still seated amongst the secretaries. When neither of them answered his question he nodded his head and looked at Harry who also gave him a nod to proceed with whatever he wanted to do.
Benne stood up from his seat and went to stand beside Mr. Wyatt, “If that is all, you can excuse us so that I can have my first meeting with my staff,” Benne said to Mr. Wyatt whose face became beet red with a mixture of anger and embarrassment.
“I beg your pardon?” Mr. Wyatt asked, his eyes shooting daggers at Benne.
“Our business with you ended the day we paid you for the airline in full. All the documents have been signed and as such your presence is no longer needed here. We only came here to honor you, and now that we are done with that, you can excuse us,” Harry spoke on behalf of Benne.
Celsie who had been sitting quietly this whole time thought that this had to be the worst meeting she had ever been present at in her entire life. As far as she was concerned the CEO was ruthless, and Mr. Harry wasn’t any different from him. Now she was kind of glad that she was on his good side, and wasn’t at the receiving end of his cold and ruthless treatment. She intended to remain on his good side, as it was more profitable to be on his side.
Mr. Wyatt looked around the table with a flushed face, and no one could tell if his face was that red because he was angry, or because he was feeling very embarrassed.
“You are keeping me waiting,” Benne told him coldly, and Mr. Wyatt reluctantly stood up before storming out of the office. Anita stood up as if to go after her uncle, but she paused when she remembered that she had a mission here, and her uncle’s humiliation would be for nothing if she didn’t stay back.
Benne sat on the head of the table where Mr. Wyatt had just vacated before looking at Anita, “Are you leaving with him or joining us?” He asked her before looking at Celsie and jerking his head to the seat he had just vacated for her to occupy it. Celsie quickly moved to the next seat.
“I’m staying,” Anita said politely.
“Good. Now you can occupy your place on the table,” Benne said, giving her the go-ahead to occupy the seat that Celsie had just vacated.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.