Chapter 7 You can call me David

It was a large room with a long table sitting in the middle surrounded by chairs. There was a TV projection at the end which was facing the audience. Everyone got seated awaiting the boss.

The door "clicked" and heads turned to the direction where the footsteps were coming from. He looked as dashing as usual. He had that aura of authority that demands respect. His eyes roam around the room in search of the one person. And when he caught sight of her and his eyes met a pair of enchanting eyes, he was filled with emotions that he couldn't explain. So he took a deep breath to get a hold of himself. "You're not going to fall for her David" he told himself mentally.

The meeting proceeded and each member of the team presented their ideas and he made a few corrections where possible. He noticed she had something handy and maybe she would want to contribute to the discussion so that she wouldn't be left out.

"Alice, you might as well have something to say" he said and she looked up to meet his gaze.

Alice wasn't expecting him to ask her, and she looked at him in surprise. When their eyes first met when he walked into the room, she observed he looked away quickly like he was trying to avoid looking at her. And now he calls her name. She stood up with the sketch she had made and presented her ideas to the team. When she was done everyone seemed to be impressed. She even noticed a hint of a smile on his lips which made her glad. But the next minute, that smile disappeared

"Well done Alice, but there is room for improvement. I want you to make all the necessary corrections and submit them to me before the end of today" he said with a stern voice after marking out some areas she needs to work on. Why did he have a change of attitude all of a sudden? Did she do something wrong? Alice pondered. The meeting closed and the team left the room, heading to the cafeteria since it was already lunch time.

"Hey! Don't take that to heart. The boss is a nice person, maybe he's just reacting over something else" Jane said

"Something like what?" Alice asked, she was curious

"Well, His relationship is having a setback. In Fact, he broke up his engagement with his fiance two weeks before their wedding and the story of her dating his brother is all over social media" Jane explained.

"I think she's pregnant for his brother" Jane whispered into Alice's ear with her hand covering one side of her mouth. He must be going through a lot, trying to bear all that and yet acting like nothing happened.

"That is sad" was the only thing Alice said. Although she had a lot in mind. They had lunch together after which Alice went back to continue with her work so that she would be done with it before the close of her working hours.

As he went back to his office, David started feeling regret for the way he behaved at the meeting. He shouldn't have acted like that. But it was too late to take it back. He just didn't want to be too attached to her since she was already taken, yet he couldn't bear the thought of seeing her with someone else. Remembering the scene from this morning only made him frustrated. He picked up his phone to check if he had any new messages then he saw a video of his brother and his ex girlfriend flaunting themselves on social media. The news was everywhere, how his fiance ditched him for his younger brother two weeks to their wedding. All this news circulating in the media would definitely have an impact on his reputation. He felt like he was being suffocated. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't forget the pain and how they stabbed him in the back. And everyone pretended as if it was nothing. His eyes began to sting with tears, but he wouldn't let it out. A knock on the door brought him back from his deep thoughts. He had to compose himself and cleared his voice before asking the person to come in.

She pushed the door open and walked in. As he saw her, anger and frustration began to build inside him. He recalled what he saw this morning through the window and he felt helpless. 'Was he jealous?' he didn't even know the answer to that question.

"What do you want?" He said in a harsh tone which took her by surprise.

"I.. I brought you the designs you asked me to work on. I'm done with it already" she stuttered

"Drop it on the desk, I'll check it later. You may leave" he said without looking at her.

"But.. sir, are you okay?" She said in a cautious tone.

"I said leave. Why do you care? I'm sure you should have a boyfriend or parents to take care of. So just go" he thundered. Venting all his frustration and helplessness. Alice couldn't say a word, cause she wasn't expecting such a harsh reaction from him. Besides, that's a good question, "why do I care?" She thought. All her efforts for putting in extra time were pointless.

"Yes sir" she said and silently dropped the sketch and was about to walk out of the office when he held her hand back. Alice looked at him, surprised.

He regretted the words he said right after they flew out of his mouth. It was an outburst of his frustration. That was really rude and even if she tried not to show it, his words must have hurt her. He had to apologize. "I... I'm sorry. I didn't mean what I said"

"It's no big deal. You're my boss anyway" she said.

"But that doesn't give me the leverage to be rude to you. I shouldn't have said that" David said and she nodded in agreement. Silence prevailed and it became awkward as he was still holding her hand, not wanting to let go.

"Why don't you have a seat, let me briefly go through it". He said and she sat on the chair opposite him. He took the sketch from the table and made a quick glance. He noticed she worked on the parts he pointed out and even made a new sketch. For someone with a very small experience in graphic designing, her work was very impressive. She's a smart one. He concluded. He could see she was nervous as he went through the sketch. She was probably scared of being rejected again.

"It's great. I'll go with this" he said with a smile. And her eyes twinkled like the shining star. And that smile of his made her heart feel warm and fuzzy. Thinking of it, this was the first time she saw him smile and it added some radiance to his masculine face.

"Really?" She exclaimed and nearly jumped out of her seat with excitement written all over her face. Her smile was contagious and he didn't know when he started smiling too. She looked so cute at that moment and David wanted it to last forever. That one smile made him forget all his worries and the problems he had to deal with.

"I'm sorry, I just don't get commendations that often" she said feeling quite embarrassed with the way she just reacted and he was actually smiling at her. Probably at her childishness. But little did she know the thoughts running through his mind. Her cheeks were flushed, and her eyes darted to the ground.

He liked the fact that she expressed herself freely and even admitted why she was so excited. She was different. David couldn't stop watching the bundle of sweetness sitting in front of him and he just felt like kissing those red cheeks. He blinked his eyes a few times to get those perverted thoughts out of his head. It seemed like she was ready to disappear if she had the chance. He didn't want it to get anymore uncomfortable for her.

"Here you go," he said and handed her the sketch.

"Thank you sir," Alice said.

"You can call me David" he said

"Okay s.... David" about to make that mistake, she quickly corrected herself before leaving the office.

Alice quickly went to get her back as it was already the close of work and most of her colleagues had left. She only had to stay back for an extra fifteen minutes because of the characters she was working on and the corrections he asked her to make. At least her efforts did not go down the drain. As she walked out of the building, she heard him call her name, and didn't need to turn back before she knew it was him.

"Since I'm going home now, I can drop you off. It's my fault you're here by this time after all" he suggested

"Ummm! Thanks, but I'll manage" she said. She didn't want him to drop her off since she was going to Luke's place. And at the same time, I didn't want to sound ungrateful. He already understood the whole ordeal and didn't persist any further. What was he even thinking? She had a boyfriend. Jealousy began to kick in.

"Alright then, but at least let me order you a cab as a compensation" he said, to which she agreed. The cab arrived in no time and she hopped in.

"Good night David"

"Good night" he said before the car zoomed off.

She spoke with Luke earlier and explained to him that she had to work extra time and would be coming later. She also called Audrey to inform her that she would be going to Luke's place.