Shay Mitchell as Olivia!

Chapter 5. 

Cherry loves it rough.

~~~

Lima stared at the truck with glowering eyes. Two men carried the motorbike from inside of the truck to her porch and kept it on the ground.

"What the hell is that?" Lima questioned furiously. It was too early for this, it was barely past 8 in the morning and she hadn't even had her coffee yet. The loud doorbell had woken her up and she was enraged by the sudden intrusion.

"A motorbike." One of the guys replied, looking at her with a smirk.

She was dressed in a dark maroon nightgown that stopped just above her knees, she had covered it up with a long matching translucent shrug. Her eyes narrowed at the men's lewd gaze. "What are you looking at? Should I pull out those eyeballs?"

The men instantly looked away.

"Whose is this?" She pointed at the hug red bike. It was most certainly not hers. She was not a fan of such death traps.

One man removed a paper, scanning it to read the name. "Viaan Mehra."

Lima closed her eyes, her teeth gritting together in exasperation, one could see the fire coming from her ears. "Those useless dumb kids." She mumbled under breath, wanting to snap their necks in two. It had been just a week with them and every day all she wanted to do was wring their necks. Today all the more so.

She waved at the bike, motioning them to get it off her property. "Don't need it. Take it back and-"

"My baby!" Viaan's sudden elated scream almost made Lima lose her balance and stumble down the step in her half-asleep state.

Viaan ran out and hugged the bike like it really was his long lost child.

From behind him Rishit came, rubbing his eyes to fight off the sleep. His eyes landed on a scantily dressed Lima and his eyes widened, sleep quickly disappearing.

He walked closer to her, gazing at her from head to toe. Her flawless skin peeked through the transparent shrug and showed off her hourglass figure. His lips part in surprise. He hadn't expected to see Lima dressed so...sexily. "What are you wearing?"

Lima looked at her lace nightgown. "A potato sack? What does it look like to you?"

Rishit rolled her eyes. He could see the two men continuously glancing at her from the corner of their eyes. It irked him, his jaw clenched. "Go back inside." He ordered, glaring at the men.

Lima scoffed, folding her arms, making her chest pop out more. Her sleep had now completely vanished and all that was left was the frustration and irritation from lack of coffee. She couldn't believe some actually had the audacity to give her a command. "Excuse me?"

Rishit pointed at her chest, the cleavage noticeably tempting. "Go back in and wear proper clothes."

No one had ever dared to order Lima, not even her own managers and bosses. "Are you ordering me?"

"No. I am requesting you."

"Request denied." Lima snapped, her lips pressed together and she turned to see Viaan still hugging his bike. "Why is that thing here?"

Viaan smiled at Lima, caressing the seat of his bike. "This is Cherry, my love." 

Lima fisted her hands so they wouldn't punch Cherry's mirrors off. "She's disgusting. Get her off my property."

Viaan gasped, covering the bike with his hands and body. "Shh. She'll hear you. She'll feel bad."

Lima rolled her eyes. She couldn't believe this was a conversation she was having at 8 in the morning, in a lacy nightdress in front of her porch. "This is my house."

"This is my bike."

"It's still in my property."

Viaan shut up. He looked at Rishit for help. "I can't live without Cherry." He sniffled, pretending to cry.

"Then die." Lima retorted with a serious face.

"Why do you keep telling everybody to die?" Rishit grumbled.

"Because me saying that doesn't mean it actually happens."

"And if it did?"

"Then I would have said it more often." Lima countered back. "Now take that bike, put it back in the truck and send-"

"I'll pay extra." Viaan said desperately wanting to be with Cherry.

Lima stopped talking. Her lips thinned and her eyes narrowed. "How much?"

Viaan swallowed, now regretting the sudden burst of confidence. "How much do you want?"

Rishit couldn't believe she was considering this offer for money. She already had so much. She owned a castle, two cars and even a freaking lake.

Lima paused to think, her manicured nail tapping on her chin.

The two delivery men continued to stare at Lima and that annoyed Rishit even more. He had to do something about that.

"So, we aren't sending the bike back?" He asked Lima and Viaan.

"No!" Viaan answered, hugging Cherry again.

Lima sighed in defeat, scowling at Viaan's pleading face. "Fine. Not yet." She responded.

Rishit glowered at the two men. "Your work here is done. Get out of here. Now. No, stop staring!"

Rishit practically pushed the men back into the truck.

The truck soon disappeared and Lima raised her eyebrows at Viaan. "How good is your driving?"

Viaan smirked proudly. "The best."

"The roads here are dangerous. This is a hilly area." She warned him.

Viaan patted on the bike. "Cherry loves it rough."

Lima wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Fine. Keep it. I'll ask for the pay later. But if something happens, if you fall from that bike, if you get hurt or better yet die, I want it in writing that I am not to blame. I did my part by warning you, heeding it is completely your choice."

Viaan nodded, smiling joyfully as he spun with the bike key in his finger. "Yes, Lima. Thanks!"

"Ms. Fox." She corrected.

"Aren't we of the same age?"

Lima blinked with no emotions. "Aren't I your boss?"

Viaan looked down and nodded. "Yes, Ms. Fox."

She breathed out, her shoulders slumping down. A familiar headache was starting to arise. She pressed her lean fingers to the forehead, rubbing it firmly. "I need coffee." She muttered, walking back inside.

"I drink dark."

Lima rolled her eyes at Rishit's suggestive command. "Like your soul?"

Rishit chuckled lightly, the sound made her head throb a little less. "Nope, like most of your outfits."

Lima removed a cup from the cupboard.

"Where's my mug?"

"In the cupboard."

"Aren't you making it for me?"

"Do I look like your maid? Make it yourself." Lima snapped, getting milk out of the fridge.

She was already considering sending them back or asking them to stay in a hotel. It was a stupid idea to have people live in her place, crowd her personal space.

Rishit gave her a dirty look. He opened the cupboard and picked up a cup.

"That's mine. Don't touch it."

He chose another one.

"That's mine."

Rishit smacked his lips together. He pointed at another cup.

Lima didn't even care to see what he pointed at. She continued to say. "That's mine too."

He pointed at the plates.

Lima heated the milk, not glancing at Rishit. "Mine."

He pointed at himself.

"That's also mine."

He cleared his throat making Lima turn. Her eyes widened as she realized she had just called Rishit hers. A faint blush rose up her neck.

Rishit smirked, winking at her awkward stance. "Am I yours?"

Lima looked away, feeling a little flushed. She passed her mug to him, desperate to get off the topic. "You can take this."

Rishit smiled, picking it up. It was amusing to see her react like that. "Thanks!"

"Oh, I smell coffee!" Alesha entered, flexing her arms and yawning. She froze as soon as she saw Lima standing there.

Her shoulders straightened and her mouth closed mid-yawn. "Ms. Fox."

Lima nodded at her. "Good morning."

"Good morning." Alesha greeted, she gave a questioning glance towards Rishit, asking him what he was doing with her. He just shrugged a shoulder in reply. He didn't know why he was here, with her, when he could be anywhere else. But he didn't want to be anywhere else.

"I smelled coffee." Alesha repeated, her tone a little low now.

"Lemon cheesecake is making it for you all." Lima answered.

"I have a name you know." Rishit voiced out.

Lima poured her coffee in another mug. "I know. The sample designs should be ready before lunch." She walked out of the kitchen, a red mug in her hand.

Alesha breathed out in relief as soon as Lima disappeared up the stairs.

"I feel like I can't breathe around her." She told Rishit, removing a mug form the cupboard.

Rishit looked at the black cup she had given him. It had Lima written on cursive in white color. This was her mug and she gave it to him. "Me too." Of course, the reason for him being breathless around her was a completely different one.

"How are we going to have the design ready in 5 hours?" Alesha groaned, banging her head against the cupboard.

Rishit sighed. "By working while drinking coffee." He muttered, pouring four cups of coffee.

Alesha carried two and he carried the remaining two into the study room.

Viaan was on a video call.

"Yes, I just got Cherry. I am so happy to have her back. My baby, I missed her."

Olivia was next to him, her head resting on the table as she scowled at Viaan's loud voice. "Shut up!" she grunted.

Alesha placed the cups on the table, Viaan immediately grabbed one for himself.

"Isn't Cherry his bike?"

Rishit nodded at Alesha's question. "She just arrived which is why Lima was downstairs."

"Ms. Fox." Viaan automatically corrected him.

Rishit didn't correct himself. He wasn't going to start calling her Ms. Fox, he didn't want to. It was far too professional and he was looking for a way to get past that professional line.

"Anyway." Alesha pointed at Viaan's call. "She needs the design in 5 hours. So, chop chop, keep the call."

Olivia complained with a loud groan, rubbing her ankle. "But I am hurt. I almost fell down the cliff, in case you have forgotten."

"That was days ago. And you don't use your feet to design, do you?" Rishit taunted.

"I use my brain and my brain is in pain." Olivia retorted back, taking a big sip of the coffee. She spat it out instantly. "Eww. No sugar?"

Rishit smiled sheepishly. "I forgot you need double. I'll get it." He went back into the kitchen.

"I'll get the papers and blueprints." Alesha said, running upwards.

After five hours of constant bickering, groans, complaints and a dozen cups of coffee. The four leaned their heads on the wooden table, exhausted and half dead.

"The sample design is ready." Alesha exhaled. She patted her growling stomach. "I am starving."

"Let's show this to the witch and then eat something nice." Olivia said.

Just then Lima Fox came downstairs, dressed in a midnight blue dress that reached till mid-thigh. It was sleeveless and paired with a matching blue round sun hat. She removed her sunglasses from the blue purse with light silver design on it. Her red pumps clinking on the floor as she walked towards the door.

Alesha ran towards her. "Ms. Fox!"

Lima paused her process of putting on the rimmed sunglasses. She raised an eyebrow with a light frown. "Yes?"

"The sample design is ready." Alesha said with a big grin, expecting admiration for all their efforts.

Lima wore the sunglasses unconcernedly. "Good for you." She took a step ahead.

"Don't you want to see it now?"

"No."

Alesha was dumbfounded. "Didn't-didn't you say that you wanted to see it before lunch?"

Lima lowered her sunglasses peeking from the top at Alesha's astounded face. "I said the sample design should be ready before lunch, I never said I would be seeing it before lunch." She waved once as a goodbye and walked out of the door without a care in the world.

Alesha could only stare at her with an open flabbergasted mouth as Lima got into her car and drove away without a second glance towards her.

"It's official. I want to go back home." She complained, dropping down on the floor, sniffing into the back of her hand. She hadn't felt this rejected since her mother claimed she was too big for teddy bears.

Olivia was aghast and furious. "She really is a witch!"

Viaan sat down next to Alesha. "Who does she think she is?"

Rishit stood behind them, he stared at the empty car space with a curious frown. "Where the hell did she go?"

Mr. Pence came through the door holding a large McDonald's package.

Alesha and Viaan instantly stood up with hopeful eyes, licking their lips at the package. "Is that food? For us?"

Mr. Pence smiled at them, shaking the two bags. "Yes. Burgers, Fries, Coke and even Nuggets."

Viaan grabbed the bag with a giddy smile. "Oh, you're the best. Really! We wouldn't survive here without you. You are our savior!"

Alesha wanted to hug the old man but held herself back. She was starting to tear up. All the frustration of the work, lack of hunger and Lima's dismissive attitude was starting to get to her.

Mr. Pence looked at her in concern. "Are you okay?"

"She gets emotional when she's hungry. Ignore her." Viaan piped in, pulling Alesha into the kitchen with him.

Olivia managed to at Mr. Pence. "Thank you!"

Rishit was the only one left with Mr. Pence. "Did Lima tell you to order food for us?"

Mr. Pence looked at the young boy who had passionate and kind eyes. He was different, good different, Mr. Pence hoped. "You think too much of Ms. Fox."

Rishit didn't back down. "So she did or she didn't?"

Mr. Pence chuckled softly. He was starting to like this boy. Maybe he'd be able to break through the tough and tall walls Lima has surrounded herself with. He kept a forefinger on his curved lips. "Shh. Somethings you must take to the grave." He patted the young boy on his shoulder and walked out. "Eat before it gets cold."

Rishit knew it was Lima who ordered the food for them, he just knew it. But she'd kill him if he ever tried to prove it.

...

LIMA parked the car in the garage, getting out gracefully and slamming the door shut.

Someone screamed from behind her for parking so ill-manneredly and she raised her middle finger in the air, waving it to them as a reply.

Her heels clinked and she checked her make-up in a nearby car mirror. She smacked her lips to spread out the wine shade of lipstick. "Beautiful. Very beautiful." She whispered to her own reflection.

She got into the lift and pressed the button to the top floor. A small child got in with her mother. The girl, maybe 6 years old, smiled at Lima politely, Lima stared back at the girl emotionlessly. The girl got a little frightened and looked away. Lima then smiled, pleased with the reaction.

Wait till you grow up, young girl, you won't smile so easily then.

The young girl and her mother got off on the 14th floor. Once the elevator reached the 22nd floor, she stepped out. Red heels hitting the floor as she walked across like a model.

was talking and chuckling and mingling around until an employee shrieked, "The witch is here!"

Everyone instantly started to scurry out of the way, getting back to their desks and pretending to work. The chocolate wrappers, the half-eaten biscuits, the packet of chips were all hastily stuffed into drawers.

Her neighboring male colleague sighed. "I know right. It's only Monday. Shouldn't she be sleeping in her haunted castle? The worst way to start a week is to see her face."

"Really now Mr. Feet? The worst way?"

The bald employee fell off his chair at the smooth intimidating voice. With shaking legs, he kneeled and bowed. "I-I wasn't talking about you, Ms. Fox."

Lima walked towards the kneeling employee. "I thought you must have missed me."

He coughed nervously. "Yes yes, yes, I did."

Lima sighed heavily. "Now Mr. Feet, we all know that's a lie."

He cleared his throat uneasily, correcting Lima for the hundredth time. "It's Mr. Fleet."

Lima ignored the correction and opened his drawer to reveal a bunch of waste wrappers and papers. "Mr. Feet." She continued, as if she hadn't heard him speak the first time. "Is this your drawer?"

He closed his eyes and stood up. He knew his mother-in-law coming into town was bad luck. Look how his week was starting. The witch herself was meters away from him. "Yes Ma'am."

Lima ruffled through the waste, wincing as she mentally counted the wrappers. There were more than twenty. "Does your wife not feed you enough?"

Mr. Feet bowed lower. "She does."

"Then I guess you want to die early, possibly of a heart attack and diabetes." Lima noted, looking at all the junk he ate. She dropped all the wrappers on the floor. "Clean this up and all the remaining drawers. I'll come out in an hour, if I find a single wrapper on the floor or in any drawer." She looked at the 30 plus employees, all standing and looking at her terrified eyes. Lima made sure they knew that she meant every word. "I'll fire you all."

She strolled away from the crowd, entering the conference room at the far end.

As soon as she was out of ear shot, the employees groaned and complained to each other.

"Mr. Feet." One employee said, blaming him for the extra work. "You just had to talk."

"It's Fleet." The bald man screamed, glaring at everyone. "Mr. Fleet not Mr. Feet! Mr. Fleet!"

"Shut up and clean!" the other employees snapped back, starting to clear out their dirty drawers.

Lima closed the blinds of the conference room, proud of the havoc she had created. They were too dirty anyways; don't they know what a dustbin is and what its purpose is? Shouldn't they be able to use it at this age?

"Stop shouting at my employees." Noah grunted, looking at the woman standing in his conference room. "You are an employee just like them."

Lima sat on the chair facing the British man with wavy blond hair and a chiseled jaw. She shrugged nonchalantly. "They think I am their boss, that's not my problem. And I am almost like a partner here."

"They think that because you act like that. You act like you own them."

Lima raised her eyebrows. "Again, how is that my problem? I am just that...charming."

"The word you mean is tyrannical!" Noah sighed in resignation, knowing it was useless getting into a fight with this ignorant woman. "How's the game coming along?"

"Not enough people getting killed." Lima answered truthfully.

Noah groaned, rubbing his neck. "That game is for all ages, not psychopaths. Stop killing people in all your games."

"They like it. They can't kill in real life so they use this game to satisfy their needs."

"But can you at least lower the killing rate?" Noah suggested pleadingly. A few parents had complained that their children are playing these games and that is affecting their mental health. "Aren't your graphics too vulgar and bloody?"

"And yet my games are downloaded the most." Lima countered back. She pointed at the huge board in the conference room, it held the number of downloads, the ratings and success rates of each of the company game applications.

The top three were all her games – A Witch's Hunt, The Cursed Castle and The Road to Evil.

All of them involved killing lots of people, villages, soldiers, even demons to accomplish each level. The games were strategic and vicious.

Noah couldn't argue about the ratings. She had bought them a lot of profit and improved their place in the share market. She owned a fair share in the company and was just a few steps away from being the owner of the video gaming company. Of course, that was the last thing Noah wanted.

Noah changed the topic. "What's the next idea?"

Lima drummed her nails on the table. "I am still thinking."

Noah was surprised. "So, you came here without an idea?"

The truth was she just wanted to get away from Rishit as soon as possible. He had been on her mind constantly for a few days now and she told herself that it was solely because she was physically too close to him, that it was the close proximity causing her heart to race and her mind to wander. His face plagued her at nights and even when she was gaming. She hated that distraction.

She needed distance and now that she got it, that stupid man was still lurking in the corners of her mind, slowly nibbling away each sane thought.

She vividly remembered his features, the smooth bow of his forehead under the messy bunch of black hair, the rough but flattering slant of his cheekbones, his long-fanned eyelashes covering his deep hazel eyes and his straight nose, all leading down to a sinful mouth that made Lima's belly clench and throat dry up.

Lima stopped tapping her nails, licking her lips to dampen the dry mouth. "Do you want to eat something?"

Noah was significantly taken aback at the sudden question. In the past 5 years of working together, this was the first time she had ever asked him that question. He nodded hesitantly. "Sure, what?"

She smiled. "Lemon cheesecake."

~~~

Now I am craving Lemon Cheesecake!! 

Care to join me?