Sassy Orphan And The Twin CEOs

Valerie's life had taken a drastic turn since she had lost her job_ due to a fight. She had downsized to a way smaller apartment since then. She had made many adjustments. Sassy Valerie had been hoping to get another job in at least five months, that would have suited her budget until she got another job. Unfortunately for her, it happened otherwise and no job came by. She had sold off most of her clothes, her couch, her cupboard, wardrobe and electronics .

Infact, she had sold literally almost everything she owned and now she did not really have anything else to sell to buy food and pay for her apartment. Even if she could sell herself, no one would buy her anyway. Not that she was worthless, but you'd eventually have to pay people to take her off your hands.

A ray of hope shone when she was called for an interview at Nexus Global Company. That was one of the most prestigious companies in the country and she hoped for the best, hoping they would take her in, save her from starving, and not trace her up to her terrible fight records. In the last hours of the day before her interview, she turned her wardrobe upside down looking for the best outfit to wear from the few clothes she had not sold off. She finally settled for a midnight- blue dress with a black coat and black heels. She definitely had to make an impression, a good one this time. This was her chance to shine again. It was not that Valerie could not do a job well, just her terrible attitude made it difficult to keep a job for more than six months. Or even less.

Valerie stood nervously outside the company's glass doors, smoothing her dress and taking a deep breath. She had spent hours rehearsing her responses to common interview questions. With a confident smile, she pushed open the door and stepped into the bustling lobby. As she approached the reception desk, a friendly face greeted her. "Hi, you must be Valerie. I'm Karen, the HR manager. Please, follow me".

Valerie trailed behind Karen, and finally, she landed behind a long que. Despite her anxiety, when her turn came, she entered the conference room confidently, where two interviewers were seated. The conversation flew smoothly, with Valerie answering questions about her skills and experience.

After the interview, Karen escorted Valerie to the CEO's office. "The CEO has requested to see you in his office now," she said, opening the door. Although Valerie couldn't figure out the reason for this request, she felt quite uneasy.

Valerie's eyes widened as she stepped inside the CEOs office. The office was elegant and exquisitely decorated. Behind the massive desk sat a man familiar. Despite his disguise in their previous encounter, Valerie immediately recognized the man from their brief encounter about three months prior as Valerie had been on her way to work.

The day they had first met was the day Chris Malvins could not concentrate at work after experiencing the most embarrassing moment of his entire life. That morning, three months back, he was being driven to work and he couldn't help but notice this beautiful girl in a white shirt, black tie and black skirt, complemented by a gorgeous caramel coloured handbag. She appeared to be in her mid twenties. He was completely mesmerized by the ravishing woman he had seen. He had to recklessly stop the car in the middle of the road, bringing the traffic to a halt.

Chris had stepped out of his Bugatti Chiron, after making sure he made a perfect disguise of himself. He followed her to the door of the building she was going into. Unfortunately, he had received the coldest reaction ever. He could still hear her voice echoing in his ears as she shouted, "I'm not looking for a stalker, so get lost you creep", drawing everyone's attention and all eyes on him; some looking at him with pity, some laughing their lungs out. How embarrassing! Luckily, he had made a perfect disguise of himself that no one recognized it was Chris Malvins, the billionaire, CEO of Global Nexus.

As he had snapped back again into reality after the embarrassment from Valerie, he paced back to his car and the other driver insulted him, " Maybe you should stick to riding a bike!".

Chris felt humiliated to death, he literally felt like crawling under a rock. He wondered what went wrong, he had practised his pick up line perfectly, "Are you an egg? Because you're egg-cellent...and also because l love eggs, l guess". Couldn't she just have rejected him quietly, after all her looks and personality were two things, totally different. More like her looks and personality were fire and rain. Judging from her outlook, he had assumed he knew what she would be like, but now he got a little wiser, truly understanding what 'you never know until they talk' truly meant.

After talking to her, he thought she was a girl with the most terrible attitude he had ever seen. He was Chris Malvins, the most eligible bachelor in the city, a billionaire, women vied just for a piece of him and there she was, snapping at him. He vowed that he would one day 'help her understand her mistake' . Chris was a man of pride, the kind that would never beg nor forgive, so to him it was just a matter of time, they would meet again on a fateful day.

Finally, that fateful day had come. Valerie was right in front of him. As Valerie sat, recognizing Chris, she felt a sting of embarrassment and anger, but tried to compose herself. Valerie's mind reeled as she sat down. Why was she summoned to the CEO's office?

"Miss Jones", Chris started as he turned his back to her, gazing out the window at the high-rise buildings. "You do not stand a chance in this company, you're grossly underqualified for the job," he said dismissively.

"I am sorry, did l miss the part where you said , good morning, or welcome?", she asked, trying to conceal a stinging numbness, but then pretending not to have heard her complaint, he added, "However, I'm willing to make an exception... for you", her eyes sparkled with renewed hope. "I can offer you a position at my residence , as a housekeeper".

Valerie jerked her head up, taken aback by his insulting request. Was this some sort of payback for him?", she thought, looking at Chris. At this point, she felt she had had enough, "Is this some sort of joke, or test? And cleaning after your mess? No, thank you", she snapped, rising up.

He looked at her. " I hope your ego is not getting in the way of your survival", he said as he handed Valerie his card, "In case you change your mind!", he concluded.

The meeting with Chris was brief and awkward. He offered her a position as his housekeeper, which Valerie declined, feeling insulted. As she left the office building, her thoughts swirled, why had fate brought her back to this man and now that the job opportunity had slipped through her fingers, what was the next right thing for her to do? Valerie walked away from the building, feeling defeated and lost. The city streets seemed to blur around her as she struggled to process her emotions.

Chris felt satisfied with himself for belittling her. He had never intended to genuinely offer her a job, but rather to humiliate her by proposing a housekeeper position, just to show her how 'small' she was to him. Upon spotting her application, he had crafted the entire encounter, using the job offer as a means to get back to her. He just felt he just had to do that to that, so she would finally understand how humiliating Chris Malvins would get in the way of her survival. He had conducted a thorough research on her. Orphaned at a tender age, she had moved to an orphanage. Left the orphanage at the age of nineteen, started working and had a trail of terrible fight records. Her previous job had ended because of a fight, again and now, she was currently unemployed and probably broke.

In the next few weeks, Valerie juggled from placing job applications to doing part time cleaning, baby seating and housekeeping. With exhaustion, she realized that she may eventually have to move into a shelter if she found no stable job.

One Friday evening, as she munched on a stale slice of bread, she stared at Chris' business card, she could still hear his words echo... "I hope your ego does not getting the way of your survival?".

She kept thinking about her decision to deny his offer. At such a prestigious institute, being offered a position of the CEO's housekeeper was undeniably an insult. However wasn't her 'self respect' truly getting in the way of her survival. She could now admit she needed any work she could get, as soon as she could. Ultimately, she made the daring choice to accept the offer. As she dialled Chris' number, her heart was heavy with grief, but she just had to.

"Hello?", he answered on the first ring.

"Hello, am l talking to Chris Malvins?", she asked, trying to figure out where to start.

"Yes, who is it? New number! ", he replied sounding drowsy.

"Its Valerie. I have decided to take the offer", she said decisively. Valerie could hear a faint melody of old country music in the background. He did not answer for a moment.

"Hello, Mr Malvins, are you still there?", she asked, praying he had not changed his mind.

"Oh Valerie, that is such great news, now if you will give me your address l will fetch you tomorrow, first thing in the morning". Valerie wondered if he had to fetch her, when he could easily send a driver to her, but he insisted on taking her himself.

"I have a few things in my apartment, a few blankets, clothes, a mattress?", she said warned. "l cannot leave those here".

"I have a cellar in my house, you could keep them in there. You did great by choosing to do the right thing", he said, his voice with a bit of excitement. She told him the address and hung up. She lazily stood up and made a cup of tea and went to bed afterwards.

Valerie was twenty three years old. She had grown up in an orphanage after the demise of her parents. Her father was the infamous alcoholic; an abusive, wretched and reckless one. He would beat her mother up, eventually she became frail and ill, then she died. After her death, he wouldn't dare waste any chance he got to beat and torture her, even for the silliest mistakes she would make. He showed all colours of wickedness; he worshiped cruelty. She was in hell with no one to help her up until he died of drug abuse, and she was taken into an orphanage at twelve.

The orphanage was a sanctuary for her, a place where she finally felt safe and alive. For the first time, she was living, not just existing. However, the trauma of her dark past lingered, haunting her with nightmares and flashbacks. Despite the comfort and security of the orphanage, the memories of her past continued to torment her. Counseling sessions helped her heal, but the experience had left an indelible mark. She vowed that as an adult, she would never again be a victim. To protect herself, she adopted a tough exterior, becoming aggressive and guarded. She built walls around herself.

Valerie's call astonished Chris. He had never intended to genuinely offer her a housekeeper job. The offer had been only figurate, to make her feel small, but she had taken it literally. He had never anticipated that Valerie would actually accept being his housekeeper. He knew then that she was in a deeper predicament than he may have thought, and he felt bad about how he had treated her. For a moment, he wasn't sure of what to do as she spoke over the phone . He wondered if he could offer her a better position, but he finally decided to take her as a housekeeper.

Chris was not accustomed to sharing his residence since the demise of his parents four years prior. Just after their death, Chase had left too and he had been used to the silence. He knew that everyone imagined his mansion filled with cooks, and designers... but in fact he just lived alone in the mansion. The mansion janitor would come, but only occasionally.

Chris observed Valerie speculatively as she loaded her time worn belongings in his open truck, ready to take off to his house. He almost thought he was dreaming, completely swimming in disbelief of what he was doing. Chris felt that Valerie was too naive for a twenty five year old woman. The ride to his house was long and boring. There was dead silence in the car, until Valerie broke the silence.

"This is going to be the worst decision l have ever made!",

Chris deliberately ignored her comment focusing on his driving.

"Well if you must know, l am already planning my escape route. I have another job interview in a week".

"How about you focus on your new job as a housekeeper?", he responded coldly.

"Someone has got their grumpy pants today!", she snapped.

In disbelief of what she had just said, Chris took a glance at her. " What makes you think you can get away with talking to me like that, you are not intimidated by me at all, are you?", he asked, intrigued by curiosity.

"I'm more intimidated by your haircut! Who did that to you?", Valerie said, laughing her lungs out.

Chris just could not do it anymore. He kept quiet. Finally, they arrived at the mansion. Valerie was

Valerie was astonished at how huge Chris' mansion was, she assumed there would be loads of work to do but with the money he had offered that was thrice her salary at her former work where she'd been fired ,it was worth it. Chris carried her laugage from the car.

"This way,please",he said politely.

"Drop the act. I know you're not that nice!", she said.

"Don't start now", he said as he opened the door for her and she got in. She looked around.

"I can't believe how ignorant l can get sometimes, Mr Malvins. I was going to miss this?", she said as she went up the stairs.

"If you can wait l will show you around....",Chris said but Valerie was already on the second stair.

"Oh my God? There is a third stair too?", she screamed. Chris wasn't sure he would be able to deal with her. She was loads of work, but they needed each other's help and he had to be tolerant.

The first two days on the job had been rocky, with a series of incidents testing Valerie's patience. Chris had sent her back to re-clean the windows, deeming them not sparkling enough. He had also deducted money from her salary for a broken wine glass. Furthermore, he had insisted she wear a uniform at all times.

"I hate being forced into this uniform", she complained.

"Poor Valerie does not like a uniform...how ever will she survive?, he said sarcastically, walking up the stairs. His decision was final, no uniform or no deal. While Valerie had tolerated these demands out of respect for her boss, she now felt his behaviour was crossing into abuse, and she wasn't willing to stand for it, even if it was her only way to survive. She just had to find a way to get back to him.

A week later, it was eight in the morning as Chris sat for his breakfast, before leaving for work. He took a bite of what he thought was the most terrible sandwich he had ever tasted and coffee was the worst. But she had done all that deliberately and he knew it.

"Valerie?", he called angrily.

"Yeah,what?", she answered lazily as she pulled her legs to the lounge where Chris was sitted, a frown on his face.

"I'm not sure what's more disturbing to me, the flavour of this garbage coffee or the texture of this stale poisoned sandwich", he complained.

"What?", she acted confused, but she knew what she had done. She walked closer to Chris and held the cup which had the coffee.

"Yes, Valerie taste it, go on, I don't want you thinking l am exaggerating, taste the coffee", he said. Valerie sipped a mouthful of coffee and in a split second of drama, the coffee reappeared all over Chris shirt.

Chris growled with disgust. "Valerie, just how much more childish can you be?", he roared with anger. " Great, just what l needed. A caffeine bath! And l'm terribly late for work".

"I am sorry, Mr Malvins but this tastes really terrible. I am sorry, let me go take a clean shirt for you!",she said with a wide grin. She came back from his bedroom in a few moments. Chris watched her pretext. "So you think l am not aware that you did that on purpose?", he asked.

Valerie ignored him and said, "I took another shirt for you sir, its on the bed", she said.

He looked at her suspiciously but did not say another word. He stood up immediately and went upstairs to clean himself up. He came down again in a few minutes wearing the shirt Valerie had taken out for him. She smiled.

"Shall l make another meal for you,sir?",she asked tenderly and Chris wondered why, all he knew was she up to no good. Her wide smile was what worried him.

"No, please don't", he answered as he grabbed his car keys to go. "Bye!", she sang as he drove off. Valerie cleaned up and sat on the couch watching a movie, waiting for the moment Chris would come back home, angry as ever.

When Chris had left home the same morning he was upset because of what had happened, especially when his shirt got spoilt over the coffee Valerie had spat on him. That was one of his favourite shirts and he hoped she would take off the stain or he would have to buy an identical new one, but he would prefer deducting the money from her salary, that would 'serve her right' and teach her to be more careful, he thought. He arrived at work in a bad mood. He was having a meeting in thirty minutes with his manager, his personal assistant and two of his workers.

He had prepared his presentation carefully, in the meeting everyone nodded their heads in satisfaction. It was until he was a few minutes from finishing his presentation, that he felt too hot and decided to take off his coat, that he noticed the atmosphere in the room changed. Everyone was throwing talking glances at each other, looking like they wanted to burst into laughter. They laughed silently every time he turned his back on them as they looked at the large dark stain that was on the back of his white shirt.

"Excuse me, Sir?, Tess called out, trying to stifle a giggle. " I think you should know that...",

"What Tess? No talking in the meeting", he said.

"Your shirt has....",she tried speaking.

"My shirt is now the main agenda of the meeting?", he interrupted rudely. " Yes it's a vintage shirt, not to brag but only five of its kind in the whole world", he boasted. "Now can we all concentrate on the meeting and not my shirt, please?".

The meeting came to an end and they got out of his office. He sat down and took a breathe. He had made a great presentation and he deserved a treat at his favourite restaurant in town. The one that served ribs that would literally make you forget your name. So he thought he would use the restroom first and go out. It was on the toilet mirror that he saw the shock of his life. A big brown stain plastered on the back of his shirt.

"How dare she?", he groaned and gathered the last bit of strength he had. He wore his coat and stormed out of the office, furious. In about thirty minutes, he was at his home, still boiling with fury. Just how childish could she get.

Chris slammed the door, his anger palpable. "Valerie!" he bellowed.

Valerie descended the stairs, her tone cheerful. "Yes?"

Chris' face twisted in rage. "Ha! You think it's funny, don't you? That little prank of yours?"

Valerie's expression turned puzzled. "Someone's in a bad mood. What's going on?"

Chris' anger boiled over. "You deliberately gave me a stained shirt! Dammit!".

Valerie giggled. "What? I have no idea what you're talking about."

Chris' eyes narrowed. "Don't play dumb. You know exactly what I'm talking about."

Valerie's tone turned sharp. "Because l have telepathy or something?

Chris's grip on her shoulder tightened, his face inches from hers. Valerie could feel his heartbeat racing with fury.

"Chris, let go of me," she protested. "What are you-"

Chris cut her off, his voice low and menacing. "Shut up, Valerie. Now I'll talk, and you'll listen. You'll pack your belongings and get out of my house..."

"Chris?", a voice interrupted. That was Richey's voice calling from the hallway. He let go of Valerie, a few moments later Richey showed up in the room.

"Hey, what are you doing here?", Chris asked. He had not been expecting any one.

"You just stormed out from work, are you okay, man?", then he saw Valerie, "You never told me you have company these days", he asked curiously.

"This is Valerie my helper, Valerie...this is Richey my best friend", he acquainted them to each other, feeling irritated.

"Pleasure to meet you, Valerie. You have a beautiful name and you're beautiful by the way", Richey complemented and saw Chris throwing a yelling glance at him.

"Thank you very much, now if you will excuse me gentlemen, l will go make some food for the both of you", Valerie said in a chilled and well mannered way, then she went to the kitchen.

"What?", Richey asked as he saw Chris glancing weirdly at him.

"Don't even think about in. She is bad news!", he replied. "She is bad news do not let her looks deceive you. She is a bad cook too. This morning she..." he continued.

"Is there something you aren't telling me,Chris?",Richey interrupted. Chris raised his hands innocently, "None, nothing at all!".

An hour and half later , the food was ready. Valerie set the table for the two and called them. The two men ate quietly, until Richey broke the silence and said, "Chris you seem to be enjoying the food."

Chris suddenly choked and coughed, he took a few sips of water and cleared his throat.

"What?".

"I said you seem to be enjoying the food. Did you just say she is a bad cook? Because l would swear that this is one of the best meals l have had in a very long time."

Chris did not answer, the food was undeniably delicious, he felt embarrassed by how Valerie had made such a delicious meal after he had demeaned her as a bad cook. After they were done, Valerie came to clear up the table.

"Thank you very much and you are a great cook", Richey said as he smiled at her.

"Thank you, l am glad you appreciated my meal. Some people are just so hard to please" ,she answered as she looked at Chris with the corner of her eye. She could see how he was creasing his face, his eyes rolling from her to Richey and back to her again. Richey stood up.

"Thanks, I'll be off now," he said, extending his hand to Valerie. As they shook hands, their eyes locked, and Valerie's cheeks flushed.

"It was wonderful meeting you, Mr...?" Valerie asked, her voice barely above a whisper, her smile playful.

"Call me Richford," he replied, his eyes locked on Valerie, "Or just 'Richey'." He paused, his gaze lingering on hers. "I'll visit again soon. Maybe in two days?". His tone was low and inviting. Valerie's blush deepened as she nodded, a smile still plastered on her face. "I'm looking forward to it," she said, her voice melodious.

"In two days l will not be here, you will have to wait for my return", Chris interrupted as he took Richey's hand from Valerie's.

"Well, l can visit her in your absence, right?", Richey asked.

"I'm sure Mr Malvins would not mind, would you?", she asked. Chris felt annoyed to the core.

"Why Valerie...of course I wouldn't mind but l am pretty sure his lovely wife would mind", he said as he flashed a talking smile at Richey. Richey suddenly felt embarrassed. He was hoping Valerie would never find out he was married, but now the cat was out of the bag. Chris walked him out. Valerie did not really wish to see Richey again, she just wanted to annoy Chris and she had done exactly that. They went out and after a few moments Chris came back.

"What was that for?", he blurted as he came back.

"What was what?", she asked back, absently.

"So you flirt with my visitors now?", he asked. " My married visitors?",

"I wasn't flirting, alright? l was just talking to him, but have to admit the man is quite lovely, don't you think? He is handsome and he looks rich ...the irresistible kind", she answered.

Anger and resentment ; caustic resentment slowly spread sourly throughout his body, but he did not show it.

"Handsome and irresistible my foot", he chuckled as jealous shone in his eyes.

"Are you jealous?", she asked wonderingly.

He gasped in surprise and made a 'pfft' sound. "Jealous? Of what? You and Richey. Do not flatter yourself young lady. Is there anything to be jealous of about you guys,anyway?l mean you're all fat and ugly and Richey is all big and dump and mean", he said stonily...holding his waist uncomfortably with both hands.

"lf l am all fat and ugly, l am now concerned that your eyes are starting to fail you Mr Malvins", she replied." Because the other day, you had to halt the traffic just to..."

He sighed, getting tired of the conversation . He suddenly felt too weak and his heartbeat increased palpably. "Well, you two deserve each other!", he said, his voice low as he went away, upstairs. He wanted to get away from her. His sudden change of tone surprised her too. Valerie watched as he pulled his feet up the stairs, slowly like a baby learning how to walk. Chris spent the rest of the day behind closed doors in his room until it was time for dinner that Valerie went upstairs to call him.

"Mr Malvins , your dinner is ready", she said with a loud voice hoping he would hear her through the door, but no answer came. She thought he had gone out, but she saw his cars parked outside. Perhaps he was lying somewhere in the mansion, so she searched everywhere with no sign of him, which meant he was probably in the mansion, she knocked again. Silence.

"I don't have time for this, just come downstairs your food is getting cold", she shouted restlessly. Still no answer. "I'm calling for the last time, you answer or l will break the door", she said. Deafening silence!

"You know what, just suit yourself", she shouted, raising her arms, then turned to go but something stopped her. A terrible realization scared her. What if Chris was there and something had happened to him? What if robbers had gotten in and slit his throat? Perhaps she could break the door and find out for herself, if Chris scolded her she would just take it, at least after knowing he was just ignoring het but he was fine. She gathered her strength and hit the door with her knee.

"Ouch!Stupid,cursed door!", she wailed as she felt her whole knee get numb with pain. She kicked the door harder, this time with her foot and the door squeaked, then again. The door opened and banged on wall with a huge noise as it hit the frame that was on the wall behind it and it broke.

Her heartbeat stopped as she saw Chris lying unconsciously on the floor. Her hands shook as her body shivered, walking towards him, hesitantly.

"Sir?", she called. He did not move. She called the ambulance. A small bottle that was lying on the floor caught her eye. She took it, her hands trembling.

Glucophahe-metformin hydrochloride!?Metformin! The realization scared her.