Chapter 5 Quatre

Leo's POV

Iyana was being skittish around me. There were times I caught her looking at me when she thought I was not looking and then she'd have this guilty expression on her face, shake her head and go back to work.

"She likes you." Sammy supplied from the other side of the table and I sighed and shook my head.

"Who likes me? And why the fuck are you in my office? Shouldn't you be at work?" I snapped and he laughed out loud as he stretched out his long legs and relaxed and I felt like throwing him out the window.

"Unlike some people I know, I always find time to leave my office. Relax, disturb you, harass Keith, get laid and shit. And by she I mean your secretary. And she fine."

I rubbed the bridge of my nose. "No she doesn't like me. And I relax and shit as well. Go and disturb Keith. Leave me.... And leave my secretary."

"I don't want her when she wants you." he replied with a shrug and I sighed again for the one hundredth time since he came to my office 5 minutes ago.

"What's there to like?" I asked as I finally dropped the pen in my hand and leaned back into the seat. I wasn't a prize. What was there to like about me? "And how do you know she does? And why are you here making my life hell?"

"I heard girls like pretty guys."

"Fuck you." I replied with a laugh. He calls me pretty to annoy me because he knows I hate it.

"Just fuck around a little. Live a little."

"I'm living." I replied with a shrug. I was existing but that was no one's business.

"You're existing. You wake up in the morning, walk your dogs, go to work, go home and sleep. It's a cycle. That's not living. You're 33 today and you've never even had a girlfriend."

"I have had a girlfriend...and you don't hear me complain about my life." I replied with an eye roll. I had a girlfriend once. She left me for a really buff guy. Awesome. "You don't hear me complaining."

"Yes. I hear ya. Anyway clubbing tonight by 10pm."

"I'm not going." I deadpanned.

"Dude. It's your fucking birthday. You're going clubbing."

"I'm not."

"Yes you are. It's my duty as a friend to ensure that you have fun and get laid. Keith would too but Danica would skin him alive if he stepped into a strip club for any reason and so it's up to me. You could dabble around with your secretary if she's interested." Sammy replied and I laughed a little at that.

Danica wasn't going to skin Keith alive for going to a strip club. She was just going to either leave the room for days until he was grovelling or be really nice to him and act like nothing happened and then deny him sex after getting him really turned on, and he is too pussy whipped to let it happen.

"Hmm. I'm still not going clubbing." Why do I have to go out because it's my birthday? I didn't get the reasoning behind that mentality. I found it strange and overrated. I could easily go out and do all those things whenever I wanted to. "I don't mix business and pleasure. I have a policy going on here. I won't be the one to break it."

"You're the boss. Rules are meant to be broken." he completed with a grin and I hmm-ed again. There was a knock on the door and Iyana walked in with a green file.

"Are those the letters?" I asked as she walked to towards the table. "Yes Sir." she replied with a nod as her eyes focused on everything but me. I coughed a bit and uncapped my pen while opening the file. I signed all four letters and looked at my watch to check the time before telling her to send them before 5pm. She had 15 minutes. I pulled out a flash drive from my drawer and dropped it into her open palm and she pulled back like I was made of fire when my fingers brushed against her hand. "Edit the content of this flash drive and forward it to the email address attached to it."

"Yes Sir." she replied again and then left with the green file.

"I told you so." Sammy replied with a grin as he stood up. "She's beautiful and as thick as you like em. Ask her. If she wants in, just one time with the boss won't hurt anyone. I expect you to be done in the next hour." I noticed all that. Beautiful face and an appealing body. I just didn't look at her in that manner because I was trying to maintain a good air of professionalism. Besides, to me, women are so much more than a lay.

"I'm not going clubbing with you guys." I said lightly while stretching out my arms and yawning. I was tired and really needed sleep. I didn't want to go clubbing or go anywhere. I just wanted to go home and eat in peace and go to bed.

"We will see. Peace bro." he said and then he was out the door as fast as he came in. I groaned ran my fingers through my hair. It is my birthday and I finally turned 33. I liked it, a year older and hopefully wiser and a better person. I stayed back and waited for her to round up with what she had to do that day because I'm the one that gave her extra work when it was almost time to go. I moved to the couch and laid down to stretch my back a little and next thing I knew, I was being shaken awake by Iyana.

"Sir?" she said softly and I hmm-ed as my mind processed her voice. Beautiful. "it's 6:30pm."she completed and I nodded and my eyes slid close again. I cherished sleep on those days I could easily sleep without pills.

"Sir?" she said softly again and I groaned. Why was her voice so soft and sweet? I groaned and rolled over as much as I could on the couch as I began cursing Sammy. His stupid idea was beginning to take root in my mind, otherwise, why would I think she has a soft and sweet voice? I have worked with her for 4 years and I never even thought that before. I groaned again and she asked if I was okay and I nodded and pushed myself off the couch.

I sighed ran my fingers through my hair. I really do need a haircut but hate going to the barber's, hence the longer hair. I heard the door close as she left the office and I sat up to get my stuff together. I checked the time and it was 6:39pm and I began dreading the night and the fun things I may be put through. There was another knock before the door opened and Iyana walked back in with a package in her hands. She cleared her throat and gave it to me with a shy smile.

"I-" she cleared her throat again. "I didn't know what else to get. I wasn't sure about what you like and things like that, so I just-" she cleared her throat again before continuing. "-I hope this is okay. Happy Birthday Sir."

I dropped my briefcase that I already picked up and sat down to open the gift. "Thank you very much Iyana." I replied with a big smile. She looked too nervous, like she thought I'd fire her for giving me the wrong gift. The first was a customized coffee mug with the picture of my dogs and I on it. It was a picture I posted 2 days ago, so it was really recent.

I opened my mouth to talk but she beat me to it. "I got the picture from Instagram. I follow you there. A lot of us follow each other actually." she rambled and then pinched her lips to shut herself up which I found funny.

"I thought as much. I just wanted to say thank you is all." I replied with a chuckle and she ohh-ed.

The next one was a new Executive Ball clicker. "I've been meaning to replace the old one for the past few months now. Finally! Thank you!!"

She gave me a big smile and excused herself while I put the game on the table and pulled the first ball sideways and off it went. Nice. After watching it for some seconds, I heard my phone buzz and looked at the screen. It was a text from Keith which I didn't bother reading because I didn't see the point when I already knew what the subject matter is. I picked up my briefcase again and turned off the lights before closing the door behind me.

Iyana was already out and waiting for me. I already told her over and over again that she didn't need to wait for me but she continued doing so just in case I need her help with something. I stopped asking after a while. She was on the phone when I walked out and I found myself looking at her. Yes, she is beautiful but she did remind me of Danica just a little. They were both brown skinned but Danica was slightly taller and just a bit thicker than Iyana. They have the same brown eyes. That was where the similarities between them ended. I let out a sigh and judged and blamed Samuel for putting the thought in my head in the first place.

My mind fleeted back to a week ago when she was on the phone before we left. If she had someone, what was the point of liking me? What was there to like? Did Samuel even know what he was talking about? My eyes flicked down to her ring finger. No wedding ring. Her name bore Miss not Mrs. She could still be in a relationship even if she wasn't married. I sighed again.

She gave a small smile which I returned and she pressed the button to open the elevator door. My phone rang immediately we stepped into the elevator and the doors closed.

"Harper." I said with a roll of my eyes.

"Bro save me. Get me out of here. I need a drink." Keith whined and I sighed. I will die of sighing one of these days. My tombstone will probably read Here lies Leo Harper. He died of sighing all the time because he didn't understand how and why he was friends with these people.

"You know I don't drink." I replied as I loosened my tie and unbuttoned the top buttons of my shirt. I don't drink because I easily get wasted and I don't want that because you can make life changing mistakes when you get that wasted. Like the day Keith got wasted and got a tattoo of his wife's name on his back. He could have gotten a disease if he had gone to an unreliable or disreputable place.

"You can sip your apple juice while I drink."

"Fuck you and apple juice."

"Maya won't let me drink. Whenever I reach for the bottle she gives me the look and then gives me an apple juice box. I can't take it anymore. It's your birthday. Let it be my cheat day. I can't continue sipping from juice boxes at this point in my life. It doesn't matter if you don't party. Maya is putting something together for you. Come with a bottle of wine or whiskey and a date and you're welcome into the house."

"I don't have a date."

"Samuel is blackmailing me. Bring a date and you can eat the freaking pot roast she's making for you. Pot roast and other things. I don't know what the rest of the food is. Just bring a date and whiskey. Please. You know...."

I cut him off before he began reminding me of what he has done for me."Fine."

"Thank you." and the rude ass dropped the call without a goodbye. If I wasn't interested in Maya's pot of food, I'd have promised him the whiskey and then stood him up. Ass. I swallowed the hard lump in my throat and inhaled deeply through my nose and tightened and released my fist over and over again.

I cleared my throat. Twice actually. "I...I know this will look very unprofessional. It is unprofessional. But my friends are putting something together for me. If you don't have anyone that will complain if you go out with a man, can you come with me?" I asked and suddenly felt awkward. What the hell was that? Of course she has someone that will complain you douche.

There was silence and then the ding of the elevator doors opening. I rubbed my chest with my right palm and coughed awkwardly before pushing my glasses back up my face.

"I can come." she finally said when I was about telling her she didn't have to come and I let out the breath I was holding. "Do I need to change my outfit?"

I looked at what she was wearing and shook my head. "No you look good." I completed and she gave a shy smile before saying thank you. She had on a grey long sleeve peplum blouse that was wrapped around what looked like a very generous bosom. I looked away before she saw me looking.

Fucking Samuel. Curse you for planting this idea into my head.