Chapter 2 THE MAN IN THE ELEVATOR

"Awww...Are you serious?" Jessica asked as she smiled very broadly. "Of course yes. I'm here for you." Bob replied as he moved closer to Jessica. He held her on her waist with his two hands and looked into her eyes. "You're one of the best things that has ever happened to me." He was about to kiss her lips when he heard his phone ring.

"Hello," Bob answered the call and then listened carefully to the voice on the other end.

"So fast?... Okay then. I'll be there right away." Bob replied as he hung up the call.

It was his mechanic. His car had a minor fault and he had told the mechanic about it, and he had promised to come over to check Bob's car in an hour, but now, he called to tell him that he was free and would come over immediately. So Jack needed to leave Jessica's place.

"Jessy," as he fondly called Jessica. "I have to go now," Bob said, as he turned and walked towards the door without waiting for Jessica's response. He was used to acting this way. Since Jessica started a relationship with him, she knew him to be very proud and bossy though she always tried to ignore his attitude. She had made up her mind to ignore his negative side and focus on his positive side.

*******

It was a sunny Monday morning and Jessica had just finished having breakfast after having a brief virtual meeting with some of her clients from Germany. "Pack some for me in my lunch bag," Jessica said to one of the maids, as she munched on some loaves of bread, walking hurriedly towards the door to step out for work.

"Good morning Madam, you look great", James, Jessica's chauffeur), said to her as she approached the sparkling, tinted BMW SUV parked right in front of the eight-bedroom luxurious mansion. "Good morning James", Jessica responded.

She seemed unusually jagged as she threw herself in the back seat. As the car

engine revved back to life, she brought out her mini makeup kits from a purse she had laying on her lap and she began to tidy up her face. With a palm-sized mirror held up in her left hand and a powder brush in her right hand, she said to James, "You would have to speed up a little bit than usual, I am really behind time".

"Okay madam", he responded as he accelerated out of the compound.

"Can't they just hold on, I know I'm late. Gosh!! "She murmured abrasively to herself as she kept hanging up the calls that were coming in without responding

to them.

It has always been Jessica's desire to have a family of her own. There was a time she took more than a month's leave off work to focus on her life outside of work, and getting a man for herself with the hope of settling down and starting a family with him, which she did because she always had a way of getting what she wants. But unfortunately, her previous relationship broke up after two years as a result of Jessica's very busy work schedule and slap dashed attitude towards the relationship.

She loved him so dearly and always pleaded for more time from him, so she could sort things out work and build a structure that could make her enough time for herself and other

aspects of her life.

Her ex-boyfriend lived in a different city far away, which made the situation even worse. Because of the distance, Jessica wasn't able to see him frequently and anytime he came around to visit her, she was too busy to allocate enough time for him, so this affected their relationship and later led to a breakup.

Since then, Jessica had made up her mind to take her future relationship seriously. Six months after breakup with her ex-boyfriend, she met Bob. To sustain her current relationship, she always sacrificed her time and resources to be with Bob.

*******

James slowly brought the car to a halt, and Jessica hopped out hastily. This made her

hair bounce gently on her shoulders as she jugged softly towards the entrance

of the company.

"Good morning madam! Good morning madam! You are welcome, madam!" Her staff greeted her as she walked into the Bay. She waved back to them stylishly in response. As she walked towards her office, Janet, her Secretary, greeted her as she handed her a cup of coffee and began to read out Jessica's schedules and appointments for the day.

Jessica nodded simultaneously and kept rolling her right index finger in circles as the information was read out to her. Her office was just a few feet from the Bay, and she always kept her door open. Jessica always tried to be open and level-headed with her workers. She related with them not as a boss but as a co-worker. She always made herself visible to her team and constantly showed them how she valued them.

She had a routine of charging her workers every morning before the day's work began, but she couldn't do that this morning because she was a bit late and didn't want to interrupt their activities. Her schedule for the day consisted largely of connecting and networking with other peer CEOs and industry leaders and to also make rounds to various departments, so it helped her to catch up with her team."What time is the board meeting?" Jessica asked Janet. "It's in five minutes' time boss" Janet responded. Jessica had a few calls to make, so she picked up her phone and dial the numbers of her managers in the other branches.

Across the room were some of Jessica's subordinates who stared towards Jessica's office in disgust as they whispered to each other. "Of all days, she decided to come

late on a Monday" one of them said. "What do you expect from someone who had everything handed to her without having to work hard for it," the other worker responded. "We better get back to our desks before she starts barking at us," one of them said as they all left for their cubicles.

Sitting across her desk, Janet told Jessica, "It's time for the meeting ma." "Alright thank you, Janet," Jessica responded. Jessica cleared up her desk and switched off the desktop computer placed on the left side of her desk. She stood up and adjusted her skirt and headed out of the office with Janet walking

closely behind her. As she walked back into the bay, heading towards the elevator, she smiled at Kent who approached her with his arms open to greet her with a hug.

"You look stunning as always," Kent told Jessica. "Thank you Kent," Jessica responded lovingly. Kent was the head of the sales department and technical department. He had worked in the company, way before Jessica was born.

He was a very good friend of Jessica's Dad before he died. After having a small chat about the project the company had going on, Jessica told Kent: "I have to run now; we'd set up a proper meeting later, okay?" "No problem Boss",

he responded with a witty voice. Janet was already standing in the elevator waiting for Jessica to join her.

As Jessica stepped into the elevator with her

fixed on her phone, the door began to shut. Suddenly as the elevator door was about to close completely, a hand stopped it and this tall, bearded, brown-skinned young man tried to squeeze himself into the elevator. "Sir, can you hold on please?" Janet said to him as she tried to prevent him from getting in. "Come on. Be kind Janet. Let him in," Jessica interjected. He smiled with a puzzled facial expression,

wondering why Janet wanted to prevent him from getting in.

As the elevator continued to ascend, Jessica couldn't get her eyes off this man who had just

joined them in the Elevator. He was, well, different from all others. He was handsome, not perhaps in the conventional sense, but he had that appearance that could make him stand out in the crowd. He was brown-skinned.

His unfathomable, brown eyes blended exceptionally with his face. His eyes were deep and expressive, and you could get lost if you stared long enough. His face had that faraway look in it, which cannot be described in words.

His smile, which reached up to his eyes and wrinkled them, flaunted his modesty and humility. Jessica found him somewhat irresistible.