Chapter 6
Gabriel
I always had an interesting vision when it came to the design of buildings and interior design. One more than the other for obvious reasons. I always had a creative mind as my mother told me and always encouraged me to do something with it and that is how I fell in love with architecture. The different buildings you can design and how every design can be pure imagination at first that later on become real.
A small idea to a real-life building, always sounded so surreal to me until I started to study architecture and I knew I had found my passion and would use my imagination for something useful. For the last three years I have been working on my most anticipated project, the theme park of Wonderland. It already existed for the last eight years but I have been working on updates on rides and small stands. Recently I have been uncreative which not only concerns me but also my mother because she always reminds me it's unlike me to be this uncreative.
But I also think the recent distraction from my imagination is next door, the new assistant. She has been occupying my mind like crazy since the night in Monaco and I am not the kind of guy to get attached to a small kiss but fuck am I addicted to that kiss. To the taste of her pillow soft lips.
It may seem pathetic to admit that I tried to find out - with help from Charles - who she is and never in a million years thought but hoped we would meet again. At first sight she seemed like a Monegasque. Beautiful, riveting, illusive and breathtaking. She had been in my mind since that night and I am not complaining on my side.
While I have been working overtime to get the theme park back to its spark by adding and removing rides and stands, she is just there sitting on my mind and those lips of hers that she enchanted me with the very first night.
“I am just here to remind you, because according to your schedule, Mrs. King told me before she left that you have a meeting with the board at three pm tomorrow.” She comes barging into my office like she did in my head with a huge folder in her hands while she scribbles as she walks towards my desk, keeping her head down. Her gaze moves away from her folder towards me, her eyes widened when she realises I am on the phone. She mouths a sorry and starts to back up.
“I’ll call you later, Arden and we can finish this discussion about the sponsor deal.” I hang up the phone, lean against my desk, crossing my arms over my chest and she just stands there with her lips clamped together, waiting for me to say something. I take my time, letting my eyes travel to thoughts that shouldn’t be because she is my fucking assistant.
She holds the folder to her chest and taps against it with her pen, the red lipstick reminding me back to the night and fuck has that been driving me crazy. Don’t even get me started on the name calling because that woman has been driving me crazy in the head since the kiss. She has been saying it more often than anyone else and I am obsessed with how my name rolls off her tongue.
“You were saying?”
“Sorry I interrupted the call. If I had known I wouldn't have barged in, I should really stop doing that because no one knows what I might walk in on one day, I am so sorry first of all.”
“You are all good, love. I just finished the call and it was a private conversation. and even if it was, you could never be an interruption.”
“Okay, still I am sorry.” She apologises again and I have come to notice that she does that a lot. More than a normal person seems to apologise and I have only been graced by her company the last three days. “As I was starting earlier, you have a meeting at three pm tomorrow, thought I would remind you in case you forgot, which I am pretty sure you didn’t because no one forgets such important meetings, especially with a huge project currently in the works and I am not sure why I am here because a reminder seems a stupid idea. God, I am babbling away again, sorry.” She fires all the words all in one breath, taking a deep breath as soon as she is done. Even if she thinks she talks a lot, I could listen to her talk for hours because her voice is so angelic.
“Impressive.”
“What?”
“That was all in one breath.” I joke with her and realise I smile at her.
She breaks a smile in between the breathing, and I have already made it my mission to register that smile for any bad situation because it seems like a ray of sunshine every time she smiles.
“I talk a lot when I am nervous so if I talk too much one day, just tell me to keep it shut and I will.”
“Why would I do that?”
“Well, most people find it annoying when I talk a lot out of nowhere and mostly don’t have the heart to tell me to shut up. Most of the time I notice on their facial expression and their attention to me that they aren’t interested and that is when I stop but if you want me to stop, just say it and I will zip it." She laughs awkwardly and I find it hard how someone does not want to listen to her voice for hours.
If I could, I would. I should do that maybe, give her an out of pocket assignment where she reads to me because that would be like listening to an angel sing a lullaby. “I am talking too much again, aren’t I?”
I shake my head at her. “Keep going.”
“Oh,” a surprised expression covers her face and her features soften when she realises that I mean it. “Sure.” she huffs a relieved breath.
”May I?” she points to the empty stool stool of me.
I give her a subtle nod and she sits down, her folder wide open with God knows how many notes in them.
“According to Mrs. King also wrote down a two-week vacation in the last week of July and first week of August. The only note she wrote to it was Venice and I wanted to ask what that is supposed to mean. If it is private then I completely agree and just mark it as vacation.”
“It’s the two weeks of vacation for me and you because I will be away and you won’t have to work for obvious reasons, your boss won’t be here. Mrs King wrote down Venice because the event will be taking place in Italy.”
“Italy? Sounds like a lot of fun. Going there with your family?”
I nod and she smiles and her eyes start to spark at the word family.
“Then I will write that down and have fun in Italy. I know it sounds weird to say that now but until then I will forget to say it so beforehand is always better than never. "
I smile as she keeps her nervous talking going, smiling more than I have ever with a woman. “I am talking too much again aren’t I?”
“I find your talking quite interesting, so if you have more stories, please do continue, love.” I get up from the god-awful chair and walk around the table, leaning on the table at the side.
A red blush creeps up on her cheeks and I smile even brighter when she reaches to her cheeks, checking her temperature as if her cheeks are burning up. “You will never stop with the nickname, will you?”
“Nope. I am having too much fun watching you blush every time I call you love.”
“It’s the accent. It has nothing particularly to do with you.”
“Sure, love.”
“I mean it.”
“And I don’t believe you.”
“Of course you don’t.”
I wink at her and she scoffs at me with a smile on her face. Recently work has been getting on my nerves and most of the time the best part of it is when I get to talk to her and that somehow helps me keep my good mood for the rest of the day and for fucks sake it has only been three days since she officially started working with me.
“I would say stop with the flirting and start learning to tie your tie, Mr Harvey.” I look down to my shirt, my tie open and not even completely tied up. Must have come undone.
“I could use a little help with that.”
“You can’t tie your own tie?”
“Out of practice, and I only wore it because I have dinner with my mother later, so why don’t you be a sweetheart and help me out a little, love.”
“Only if you stop with the nickname.”
“That I can’t promise, but I can try, Lena.”
She raises her eyebrows at me, her eyes widened as I just said her nickname and fuck does her name roll perfectly off my tongue.
“He said my name correctly.” She says, sarcasm hiding behind her voice.
“Don’t be so surprised. I could after all make you scream mine.”
Her smile fades and she stutters on her words. I have no idea why I said that but I love seeing her blush at my comments. Especially since she is the one that kissed me first at the bar. It's fun getting her railed up.
“One of us is the boss here, so try keeping it professional.”
“Professional is boring if I don't get to watch you blush.”
“I don’t blush.”
“Doesn’t seem like it to me when your cheeks are red as hell but keep convincing yourself that.” I receive a small smile from her and I notice her eyes wander to my lips instead of my eyes.
Believe me, I am thinking of that too.
Something shifts between us as our eyes linger on one another, a magnetic field keeping us from looking away. She never takes her eyes away from me as she walks towards, slowly placing the folder down on my desk, she is eye level to as I am leaning against the desk and she slowly reaches for my tie. I feel myself stop breathing while she folds one part of the tie over the other. “Are you always this impossible?” The question slips from my mouth without a second thought.
“Depending on the person. Have you always been so infuriating?”
“Depends on if the woman in front of me wants me to be or not.”
“How romantic.”
“I wasn't trying to be. After all, you did call me a man with lack of honour yesterday, so why not honour that.”
“I didn’t mean it like that and you know that but I am not surprised you are honouring it.”
“And sooner or later you will find out how little of a gentleman I can be, love.”
“Rather not.” She says as she tightens the tie too tight around my neck, taking my breath away for a second and flashes me a small smile for the action. “Oops.” She jokes and slowly starts to loosen it and makes sure the collar looks okay, her arms travelling around my neck.
I was right. She is impossible.
“Am I interrupting something?” The voice of my younger brother drives me away from her. We both turn our heads towards where his voice came and he just stands there smiling, leaning against the wall.
“Charles?” She calls out for him, a confused expression written on his face.
“Elena?”
“You two know each other?” I ask the obvious question.
“He is my best friend’s ex.”
“She is my ex’s best friend.” They answer at the same time and my mouth gapes open at the situation.
“What are you doing here?” They ask each other in sync, making me more confused on what the hell is going on here.
“That is my brother you just choked.” He answers her question and she looks back and forth from my brother and back to me. She points her finger at me, poking her nail in my chest, repeating his question as if it is an insult.
“Surprisingly, yes.”
She looks at me once again and then turns her gaze to the door. “I am so confused.”
“Believe me I am confused too by the situation happening in front of me. I should get some holy water because that is not an image I want to keep of my brother in my head.”
“Fuck off, arsehole.” I curse at him.
“I could always bring you some too.” he suggests and I hear Elena chuckle at his joke, a small smile curls on her lips.
I will murder him.
That was my smile.
“I am still confused about what is happening.”
I take it as my job to explain it to her and wrap my arm around her waist and pull her closer to me, the presence of her being making a shiver run though my body. I notice her breath hitches as she is closer to me, not sure what she should do with her hand so she slowly places them on my chest. “This guy in front of us is my brother and he used to date your best friend if I picked up the information correctly and now we are stuck in this situation where he just saw his brother’s assistant choke him with his tie.”
“Was he with you in Monaco?” She asks me, pointing her finger at him as she looks at me with pure confusion written all over her face.
“Yes. Why?”
“Are you stalking my best friend?” She turns to him.
“Why yes I am.” He answered her question with no hesitation, smiling brightly as she put the puzzles together.
That is why we were in Monaco?
“Well,” she clears her throat, releasing my arm from her waist and pulls herself away from me, depriving me from touch. “Tell your brother to stop being a creep.” She flashes me an awkward smile, picks up her folder and leaves. Not before she announces that she is taking her lunch break, her heels clicking on the concrete floor with each step she takes.
I wait until the door closes behind her before I confront Charles. “Seriously?”
“I told you I had business there.”