Chapter 55 – Beginning with a Daring Encounter

“Celsie is completely different from me, don’t worry. She is the sane and sweet one between us. Maybe that is why we are best of friends,” Sonia said with a wide smile as she thought of Celsie.

Thank goodness! He couldn’t imagine his cool brother having to be in a relationship with someone as crazy as Sonia. Benne would never survive it, “That’s good. I hope I get to meet her someday,” Bryan said, making Sonia narrow her eyes suspiciously.

“Why?”

“Are you really asking me that? Isn’t she the best friend of the love of my life? What sort of a fiance would I be if I don’t meet someone who is that important to you?” Bryan asked, making Sonia giggle.

“Love of your life? One minute you are talking to me like I’m a nutcase and the next minute you’re calling me the love of your life. You need to stick to a script, darling,” Sonia said with an amused smile.

Bryan dropped his cup on the counter closest to him, and took a few steps in her direction, covering the space between them as he stopped in front of her. He said nothing as he looked down at her and into her mischievous green eyes, “I told you I was going to be the doting fiance, didn’t I? Being the doting fiance doesn’t mean I no longer think you are a nutcase.” He whispered to her as he reached out a hand and tucked her hair behind her ear, without taking his eyes away from hers.

Sonia held his gaze but said nothing as she waited to see what he was going to do next. Bryan leaned forward and brought his face closer to hers, making her blink involuntarily. She swallowed when he brushed his soft lips on hers, making her heart flutter.

“By the way, my best friend is coming over today. I want him to meet you,” Bryan whispered over her lips before taking a step back.

What was he up to? She wondered as her eyes narrowed into slits, “Matt?”

“I see you know him already,” Bryan said in an impressed tone. Just how much research had she done for her to know the names of almost everyone associated with him? Bryan mused.

“Even your devoted fans know him. How can you expect your fiancee not to know him?” Sonia asked making a clucking sound with her tongue as she turned away from him to serve the breakfast into a dish.

Bryan raised a brow when she sat down to eat, and he realized she had served everything for herself and had left nothing for him. He opened his mouth to say something about it but snapped it shut as his ego wouldn’t let him admit that he wanted a taste of the food.

Sonia ate in silence for a while, expecting him to at least say something or ask if she wasn’t going to offer him breakfast. When he didn’t, she raised her head to look at him and met his glaring eyes. If eyes could kill, she was sure she would be lying lifeless on the floor by now, Sonia thought in amusement.

She flashed him a smile when she remembered Celsie’s request. Perhaps she could stylishly ask him about his siblings and find out the little she could about his brother. “By the way, you have two siblings, right?” She asked, making Bryan snort.

Did she really think she had any right to ask him questions right now after choosing to starve him in his own house? Bryan thought in disbelief, and without responding to her question he stood up and walked over to the sink where he emptied the rest of his coffee and rinsed the cup before walking out of the kitchen.

He decided to just use the time to go around his house and see if he had any picture of Benne around somewhere. He picked up Sonia’s luggage from the spot he had left it earlier and carried it to the bedroom at the end of the hall.. He had no intention of sharing his closet with her.

After his conversation with Bryan, Benne decided to leave his costume for later, since he didn’t want to go through the stress of wearing it now and taking it off later to go get lunch for Celsie, and then wearing it again.

He had thought of asking Harry to send someone to deliver lunch to Celsie on his behalf, but he had decided against that since it would not only stir suspicion among the staff but would also defeat the purpose of the whole thing. It wouldn’t make sense if Harry was to ask one of the staff to deliver lunch to Celsie and have them tell her that it was from her driver who was too busy with another lady to bring her lunch up to her.

Benne let out a sigh as he glanced at the large wall clock which was hanging on the wall directly opposite his seat. He still had about two hours before lunchtime. Perhaps he could just change now and then take off the costume during lunch break? The costume was more for Celsie’s benefit than his, and there would be no need for her to come to his office twice in a day.

Once he made up his mind he stood up from his seat and walked into his mini bedroom where he had kept the costumes. Thankfully he had practiced enough within the last hour, so dressing u wasn’t very difficult. When he was done putting on his costume, he dialed Harry’s line and asked him to meet him in his office.

Less than five minutes later Harry walked into the office and stopped by Celsie’s desk, “The CEO is in his office now, I’m going in to have a word with him,” Harry said politely before unlocking Benne’s office door and walking inside. He shut the door behind him and stared at Benne for some seconds with his head cocked to the side as though he was trying to find faults.

“What do you think?” Benne asked impatiently.

“I don’t think she will recognize you. You look boring,” Harry said with a grin, and Benne glared at him, “I think you should wear the glasses too. It will complete the look,” Harry added thoughtfully, making Benne pick up the glasses which was on his desk.

“Now you’re good to go,” Harry said with a nod of approval after Benne had put on the glasses, “This is exactly what a weird boss like you should look like,” he said with an amused chuckle as he took out his phone to snap a picture.

“You seem to be having too much fun, don’t you think?” Benne observed with a slightly raised brow.

“Yeah. It’s not every day you see a full-grown man doing something this crazy,” Harry said as he took some snapshots and then returned his phone to his pocket.

“Whatever.”

Harry chuckled, “If that’s all, I should return to my office. I have to attend a meeting on behalf of the CEO who is on leave of his senses,” Harry said as he headed for the door, “I suppose you’re ready to meet your assistant?” He asked once he got to the door.

“Send her in,” Benne said, choosing to ignore Harry’s taunt.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the door, Celsie kept staring at the laptop screen in front of her with a distant look in her eyes. Never had she been more distracted in her life than she was at the moment. Ever since she got into her office that morning, her mind had wandered from Benne to her boss and then back again, taking turns each time.

Even though she had made up her mind to friend zone Benne, it seemed like her brain had a mind of its own, and kept replaying everything he had said to her the previous evening. The memories made butterflies flutter in her belly each time the thought crossed her mind. Especially the memory of him squatting in front of her, and grazing her lower lip with his thumb.

On the other hand, her thoughts concerning her boss were completely different. She had initially been asking herself a lot of questions and trying to figure him out. What did he look like? What kind of personality did he have? Was he going to try to make things difficult for her? When would he get to the office?

And then after Harry informed her that the CEO was in the office, her heartbeat had doubled, and now her palms were sweaty as she stared at the screen with unseeing eyes. Between her driver and her boss, she was sure she was going to get a heart attack if she continued this way.

She snapped out of her thoughts when she heard the doorknob turn and she saw Harry step out of the office.

She quickly stood up when he approached her desk, “It’s time for you to catch your first glimpse of the CEO. He wants to see you now,” He said, making her stomach churn.

Harry looked at her for a brief moment, and he almost smiled when he noticed how tense she seemed. If only she knew how much trouble his mad friend was putting himself through just for her sake, she wouldn’t be so nervous, Harry mused. He looked forward to seeing how this whole madness would end though.

“You should breathe,” he suggested, making Celsie realize that she had been holding her breath. She gave him a nod as she took in a deep breath and let it out slowly.

“Don’t worry. He doesn’t bite… Unless he is very upset,” Harry added with a straight face before walking away, leaving Celsie to wonder whether if that was meant to be a joke, or he was serious.

She glanced at the door as if a wild animal was positioned behind it, waiting to attack her, “Calm down. Just calm down,” She whispered to herself a couple of times before heading for the door. She paused to adjust her suit jacket and quickly patted her hair to make sure it was well arranged before knocking on the door very lightly. Even though he had requested for her, she still believed that was the polite thing to do, since she had no idea what he was doing.

Hearing the knock, Benne’s brow creased in a frown as he glanced at the door. He had expected her to just walk in since he had sent for her. Did she really expect him to respond and invite her in? Even after he had told her that he didn’t like talking but preferred to communicate through texts and emails? He was just going to ignore her. Perhaps if he failed to respond, she would realize he had no intention of speaking.

Celsie stood there waiting for him to invite her in, but when she didn’t hear anything after some time, she shut her eyes as she reluctantly reached for the doorknob and turned it.

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