She cleared her throat and Enrico immediately looked up at the direction of the sound. Cecile stood staring down at him before her eyes slightly shifted to the young lady seated across Enrico.

Enrico put up a broad smile as he stared at Cecile who, on the other hand, wasn't the least mesmerised by his charm.

"Can we leave now?" She asked and without waiting for a reply, she turned and began walking away.

Enrico quickly got up from his seat and walked over to the young lady. He put a hand into the pocket of his trouser and drew out his wallet, took a card from it, then handed it over to her.

"Call me sometime." He told her and she noded with a smile before he walked away and hastened his pace to catch up with Cecile.

"What took you so long? I've been waiting for quite a while." He explained as he met up with her pace. Suddenly, she stopped and turned to him. She looked him up, down and back up once more.

"Are you always such a pig?" She asked quite an unexpected question and Enrico raised an eyebrow at her, before letting out a light chuckle.

"Is this you being jealous, right now?" Enrico asked with quite an amusement on his face.

Cecile stared at him for what seemed like a while. Her face was quite unreadable.

"Does it always work? This attitude of yours. Does it always work on all women?"

"Yes. Well, except for one woman." Enrico stated, as he looked away from her.

"Hmm. She must be a great woman." Cecile added and Enrico shifted his eyes back to her. He let out a scoff.

"Perhaps." He added as well, before tilting his head a little to the side; a cocky smile on his face while his eyes remained on her.

"Is it working on you?" He asked, a little mischievous.

She stared at him silently, without an expression on her face.

"What do you think, Mr. Vos?" She asked, a little sarcasm lacing on her words before walking away, giving him no room for a reply.

Enrico stood still for a moment, took in a deep breath before letting it all out. He turned and followed behind her.

* * *

"Kiana, are you busy?" The receptionist asked from behind the counter where she stood.

Kiana, dressed in her housekeeping uniform turned her head to the lady, away from the trolley at hand.

"Um, not really..."

"Great. Could you please hand this over to the bartender?" She quickly stated with a hand stretched out and a folded piece of paper stuck between her fingers.

"I would go myself, but Josh just stepped out and I can't leave here unattended. Please, help me out." She pleaded with a smile on her face and although Kiana didn't plan on doing this, she decided to do so.

"Okay." She stated as she collected the paper from the lady.

"Please, watch this for me." Kiana added and the lady nodded in accordance, before Kiana was on her way across the lobby and towards the bar.

* * *

Enrico's eyes scanned the room before focusing back on Cecile.

"Why are we at a bar? We're supposed to be having dinner."

"You can still eat something if you so wish. I'll just have them make something for you. Don't you agree this way is easier for the both of us?" Cecile asked and Enrico let out a light scoff.

"Easier? Fine. Let's just say we had dinner. I did come to meet you and we're seated right across each other. Looks like the mission has been accomplished." Enrico added, before whooping up a smile.

Cecile looked away from him.

"I don't see your assistant with you." She stated before shifting her eyes back to him.

"Isn't she coming?" She asked, staring directly at Enrico who stared back.

"No." He replied after a while of hesitation before putting up a simple smile as he looked away from her and unto another direction.

"You can relax... She's not going to be here today or any other day." He added and her eyes remained on him.

She didn't quite know what to make out of him. Sometimes, Enrico seemed easy to read and just like a simple snap of fingers, the opposite occurs. Just like this moment when he seemed to be staring at something almost behind her. She watched as his brows slowly furrows, the expression on his face different from the one he had on about a minute ago. It made her wonder what he was staring at. So, she slightly turned, following the direction of his eyes and that's when she caught sight of a woman dressed in her family hotel's housekeeping uniform. She stood a little closer to the bar with a hand stretched out to the bartender, a little piece of paper stuck in between her fingers.

Cecile slightly furrowed her brows as she still had not gotten a good glimpse of her face. Eventually, she did as the bartender collected the paper from her, said a few things and she smiled a little before turning. Cecile's eyes widened a little, as she recognised the woman as Enrico's assistant. Her eyes shifted to Enrico and she watched just how glued his eyes were to her. He only looked elsewhere when she left the bar.

"Looks like fate says otherwise." Cecile commented and Enrico shifted his eyes to her. She stared back at him. The look on his face told her of the fact that he understood exactly what she meant.

"If it helps, I didn't know she worked here." She added and after a moment of silence, he let out a light chuckle.

"What she does with her life after work hours is none of my business." He stated.

"I see." Cecile added and Enrico raised an eyebrow at her before looking away. He stared anywhere else but her. A large part of his mind was still on Kiana. He knew she worked part-time as well, but not at one of Cecile's family hotels.

He recalled the simple smile she gave the bartender after he said a few words to her. A part of him wondered about what he might have said to her. Were they anything other than colleagues? Curiosity ate him up from within.

Sitting in his car right outside Sterling's Hotel, a lot still went on in his mind. He had no idea what he was still doing here about thirty minutes after both him and Cecile said their goodbyes. He should have left, right? But unfortunately, it wasn't that easy for him. The image of her smiling to the bartender kept reappearing in his mind, it made him insane.

"What, on earth, did he say to her?" Enrico asked no one in particular. The fact that he couldn't figure it out made him angrier. He hadn't seen her genuine smile in years. It drove him nuts that a bartender made her smile. With both of his hands on the steering wheel, he shifted his eyes to the entrance of the hotel. Perhaps, was he her secret boyfriend? Suddenly, it made sense to him at her eagerness earlier, to find out if he was leaving the office for the day. Probably, her favourite part of working there would be to see him. Enrico let out a ridiculous chuckle, then he made a decision to find out exactly what was going on.

What am I doing?

His subconscious asked him. Suddenly, Enrico felt really stupid. He blinked several times as he looked away from the entrance, as if trying to regain himself. He was doing it again. He was cooking up nothing but a recipe for disaster. He had told himself several times that the past should always remain in the past and the present, in the present. What, on earth, was he doing? He was letting her get to him. Little by little, she might somehow get to him.

Enrico let out a sigh as he shut his eyes with his head bowed. It had to stop, so he raised up his head, then turned on the car's engine.

* * *

Kiana let out a little yawn as she walked through the lobby, back into her own clothes. She wore her handbag over her shoulder and as she made her way towards the exit of the hotel, she rubbed the back of her neck to soothe the little pain she felt there. As soon as she stepped out of the building, the clouds rumbled and Kiana was forced to slightly look up, although the wind had gotten a little heavier. A few lightning flashed in the clouds and her brows furrowed.

"Is it really going to rain?" She asked no one in particular and recalled the one fact that she wasn't with an umbrella and she still has to walk to her bus stop. She pleaded within her heart for it to not rain.

As if out to torture her alone, the rain began pouring down. Light at first, but eventually grew heavy. Kiana let out a sigh. She would have to make her way through the rain if she ever wants to get home on time. At the moment, she didn't even know if Enrico was home. She still had her responsibilities to him. They had a deal. She stayed at his place only as a maid. It would be bad of her if he got home and met nothing more than dinner. She would just have to bare it all.

While everyone was heading for a shelter away from the rain, Kiana prepared her mind as well as hands. She counted one to three in her mind then put her hands slightly above her forehead before taking her first few steps away from the hotel's shade. She only came to a halt when she realised that she couldn't feel the rain on her anymore. Staring down at the ground, she could see the downpour which made her realise the rain was still at its peak. Curious as to why she seemed untouched, she slightly looked up and that's when she noticed the umbrella above her. She followed the hand on the handle and to the face of its owner. Her eyes slightly widened as she stared at Enrico getting drenched under the rain. He stared down back at her.

Eventually, she had somehow really gotten to him. Funny, right?