I woke up to an annoying object dancing and screaming in font of me.

"Shut up", I mumbled in my sleep. After a few more seconds, it dawned on me that, the dancing object was my alarm clock.

I groaned and threw the alarm clock from the table to the ground. It stopped.

After last night's sobbing sessions, my head was like a stone and by the slightest movement, it felt like a knife was stuck inside my head. So, it took me 2 solid minutes to go to my bathroom from my bed.

As I was almost ready in my office attire to go to the office, I suddenly remembered about Peyton. Did she come home ?

Taking my coffee from the coffeemaker, I went to her bedroom only to find it empty.

"Oh well, maybe she had a bit too much fun last night."

Taking my phone, I left a message for her. "Call me if you get this. Let me know if you are OK."

Before getting out of the apartment, I took a deep breath and tried one last time to shake off the thought of last night.

As I was getting out of my car in the parking lot, I saw Lara, The receptionist.

"Good Morning, Ms. Annesley."

"Good Morning, Lara."

"What happened to your hand ?"

"Oh,umm...I cut myself...while cutting a..umm...tomato."

"Are you Okay ?''

"I'm fine, thanks."

Then I hurriedly entered the building and got into the elevator. My office was on the top floor, beside Mr. Alvarez's office.

I entered my office and sighed. Seeing all the files and papers on the desk and the messy file cabinet, it reminded me of just how messed up my life was.

"Not the time for whining, Adara. You've got a very irritating boss to impress."

Just when I thought about my boss, the telephone in my office began to ring. Shaking my head , I picked up the phone and before I could say anything, a really familiar voice said, "My office, 5 minutes."

"Of course, sir."

Then he hung up the phone.

I took the files I thought he'd need from my desk and went in front of his office. I knocked 2 times and went in.

There he sat in his chair with a file open in front of him.

I cleared my throat.

"Good morning, Mr. Alvarez."

5 seconds of silence.

"Good morning, Ms. Annesly."

He then looked up from his file with a hint of smile on his face.

"I was think-", he stopped talking mid sentence. I watched his smile fading away as he was staring at my bandaged hand.

"What happened to your hand ?"

"I cut myself while cutting a tomato, sir." I subtly lied.

"I see. You've gotta be careful, Ms. Annesley. I don't want anything to happen to my most trusted employee in the time of need."

I don't know why but I blushed a little.

Stupid blood, doesn't know how to control itself.

"Time of need, sir ?"

"I always need you, Ms. Annesley."
He said while his ocean blue eyes bored into mine.

Wasn't his tone a bit different ?

Nah, you're just over thinking, Adara.

I was a little taken aback but I cleared my throat and said,

"I'm just happy to do my job properly, Sir."

This seemed to bring him out of his trance.

"But There's a part of your job which must be very delicately taken care of."
I stared at him , silently waiting for him to continue.

"Have a seat, Ms. Annesly."

I sat in the chair in front of him and he stood up, standing with his back facing me, looking at the beautiful view of the city.

"I hope you've heard of the company called 'The Armsden Ltd'?"

"Yes, sir."

"I'm hoping you also know about their place in the market and how only this company holds the ability to compete with us ?"

"I do, sir."

"Well, in that case, we have a opportunity to show them that we are the best. There's an old armaments factory in Milan, worth millions. Its a complete junk now, because it fell on the wrong hands. But its a goldmine, Ms. Annesley. Just a little care and it could turn into one of the best factories there is. The location is grand, The area and the size of that place is huge. So, I want that factory."

"Then what's the problem, sir ?''

"The problem, Ms. Annesley, is that I'm not the only one who has their eyes on that property."

"Armsden?"

"Yes. Armsden. Their CEO, Jadon Armsden also has shown interest in that property."

Than he turned from the window and looked at me with clenched jaw. I could tell from his eyes that Jaden Armsden was not one of his favourite persons.

"I don't like to lose to anyone. I always like to have the best of everything. I have the best of everything and I won't hesitate to do anything to keep it that way."

"I know, sir." I firmly replied so that he'll believe me.

His jaw softened and he looked at me with a small smile playing on his lips.
"I know that you know. That's why you're the one for me."

Umm....okay ?

I felt that heat rise again.

Shut it, blood !!

"I mean, that's why you're the one I want to assign this task to." He said, clearing his throat.

"What task, Sir ?"

"The research part. Find out everything there is to know about the factory and its current owner. Don't leave the slightest information. I want you to make a profile on this man. I don't want Armsden to get his hands on him first."

"What's the owner's name, sir ?"

"Marino Longo. I want you to start working on him from today. We have a meeting with Mr. Longo in one month from now. I don't want to waste time. We'll talk about the details at lunch."

I nodded. As I was about to get out of the room , he said, "Ms. Annesley? How would you like it if we ate lunch somewhere else other than here?"

I was starstruck for a few seconds before I managed to answer,
"Sure, Sir.Whatever you say."

He smiled a small smile, "Great."

I left the the room with a very confused mind.

What the heck just happened ?

After two hours, I went to the cafeteria to grab a cup of coffee. I saw Anastasia, the head of The IT department and I stopped her.

"What's up , Adara ?"

"I just wanted to ask you a question, Anna. Doesn't Mr. Alvarez look a little different , today?"

"You mean a bit sexier than yesterday ? Of course, he does !"

"Anna! I'm not joking !" I said while playfully hitting her.

"Okay, okay, geez!! Yes, I have noticed that he seems unusually cheery today. He didn't even lecture me about not drinking coffee in front of the computer while working when he came to check on me."

Anna was also Mr. Alvarez's college friend. They were very close in college.

"Right. Thanks."

"Is everything alright, Ada ?"

"Yeah, no, everything's fine."

I returned to my office with a thousand thoughts roaming in my mind.

****************
A/N

Excited for their lunch, guys ?
What will Ethan say or do ?

Stay tuned....😋

Lots of Love....💝💙💜💛💚

Random Question : Marvel or D.C ?