I could feel his gaze on me and I stiffened again. I didn't really have much choice and the chances of escaping were thin. So, I sucked it up, lowered the menu, and said with a barely audible voice, "I'll have a meatball spaghetti and cranberry juice, please."
There was as short pause after that, which made me curious. I finally looked up at Terry, whose eyes were zoned in on me. He blinked in surprise and managed to choke out the first syllable of my name before William cut him off.
"That would be all, Terry."
Terry snapped out of his trance and gave him a curt nod. He glanced at me for a second before walking away to punch in our order. As I looked at his retreating back, I felt bad that I ignored him. I reacted terribly that moment. If it were up to me, I would have pleaded him for help with my eyes. But I didn't have my wits about since I didn't know what to make of the situation.
"Do you know him, Andy?" Michael asked.
"Ah, yes. He is my friend," I replied remorsefully.
"Oh. Why didn't you say hi?"
I stared him for a second then glanced at William, who was preoccupied with his phone. I looked back at Michael decisively and gave him a small smile.
"I'm sorry, but can you excuse me for a minute?" I asked, sliding out of the booth.
"Sure," Michael said with a beaming smile.
With a nod, I turned away from the table and marched towards the computer on the far end, where Terry typed in our order. Some of the waiters that I worked with turned to look at me in shock. I ignored them and half skipped to Terry's side. When I reached him, I wrapped my arm around his waist, surprising him.
"What?" he asked in consternation and turned around.
"Hello," I said softly, still feeling guilty about what happened a few minutes ago.
"And now you're talking to me."
"Yeah. I'm sorry about earlier. I was being shy and stupid," I admitted, releasing my hold on him but kept one of my arms on his waist.
"You? Shy? Really?" he asked, feigning shock as humor and amusement danced in his eyes. Then, I knew that he wasn't completely mad at me.
"Yes. I think being around Mr. Mogul is making me soft," I stated in annoyance, playing along.
Terry chuckled, making me sigh in relief. By then, I knew he had already forgiven me. The boy doesn't hold grudges like I do.
For a few minutes, we talked. Well, more appropriately, I was telling him the gist of how I got to my current situation. As to why I was having lunch with Mr. Mogul and his future brother-in-law? Even I don't know the answer to that. We haven't really gotten down to it yet. With that, I bid my farewell and returned to my seat.
Nineteen
When I got back, William and Michael were talking about something that was beyond my pay grade. My plan on asking them outright why I was here was pushed back. By the time they stopped talking, our food arrived, making me lose another chance to ask them. So I waited until we were done eating, but Michael beat me to it.
"Oh, Andy, here is what Alex wanted to give you," he said as he pushed a bulky brown envelope towards me.
"What is this?" I asked, picking up the envelope from the table.
"They are for your other work, from what she told me," Michael replied nonchalantly as he grabbed his glass of wine, taking a small sip from it. "She wanted you to file and finalize it," he added as he placed the glass back down. "You can check those when you get back."
I was about to open the envelope but stopped myself. I looked up at him and nodded in understanding. This only made me curious as to what was inside it.
William and I headed back to work and Michael decided to go to the airport for his flight back to Italy. I was itching to know what was inside the mysterious envelope. But I wasn't as aggravated by it as William.
"You know you can open it now that he's not here," William pointed out after a few minutes as he drove us back to the office.
I turned to look at him, eyeing him with suspicion. He wasn't looking at me. His eyes were fixed on the road in front of us. "I'm not falling for that trick," I snorted and kept the envelope secure on my lap, putting my bag on top of it.
"I know," he smiled.
I remained silent after that, not knowing how to come up with a new topic. I was too confused right now. It was much better when he and I were bickering instead of having this awkward friendly charade. How I miss the bickering.
When we reached the office, he parked the car in front of the building instead of the parking lot. I was about to scold him until I saw a familiar man dressed in a black suit come around William's door. The guy actually has a personal valet. This shouldn't have surprised me, knowing who he was.
I hopped out of the SUV as William got out of the driver's seat. I didn't wait as I entered the building ahead of him. Once I reached the entrance of the lobby, I looked up at the reception desk out of habit and gave Danny a short wave of greeting. She looked up at me and gave me a brief wave before getting back to work. She was talking to someone on the phone.
I quickly made my way to the elevator, pressing the call button. I waited for a few seconds until it opened. I was about to get in when I felt a hand grasping my arm. I looked up just in time for William to walk past me. He dragged me toward the empty elevator and pressed the close button, not letting anyone in but us.
When the door closed, I turned to him with my eyebrows scrunched together. "That was really rude, you know," I stated in annoyance.
"Now, can you open the envelope?" he asked, ignoring my mood.
"Why are you obsessed about the damn envelope? For all I know, it might be something about the art work for the gallery," I stated, grasping the said envelope in a protective hug.
"What gallery?" he asked, his eyes wide in surprise.
I mentally slapped myself in realization. If Michael didn't want me to open the envelope in front of him, it means Alexandra didn't want William to know. God, why am I such a dunce?
I sighed and turned away from him, pretending like I didn't slip. But he wasn't letting it go easily. I could feel his eyes on me. And then, without warning, he pressed against my side, pushing me in one swift move towards the metal wall. I flinched in surprise.
"I'm not moving if you don't tell me," he threatened, his warm breath caressing my cheeks.
I kept my eyes closed and stood still as he said those words. A different kind of feeling shot through my body, which made me shudder. Releasing a ragged breath and closing my eyes, I tried to move away from him but it was useless. He really had me cornered. Now, I could really feel his breath on my face.
"There is a camera here, Mr. Maxwell. You can't do anything to me with a witness," I stated back as harshly as I can, but my voice sounded husky.
"Am I making you uncomfortable?" he asked after a beat of silence. He ignored my feeble attempt at a threat.
Who was I kidding? I sounded like someone who was turned on rather than angry. And for that, I think I need one pack of beer. I tried to calm my breathing and my heart before opening my eyes.
The first thing I saw was his lip, which made me think that I made the wrong decision by looking up. His lips slightly parted, which made me gulp. I can't believe this was affecting me. I tore my eyes away from his lips to his eyes, which I thought was an even worse decision. His eyes were soft but blazing. His blue eyes looked like the Mediterranean Sea. The last time I've seen that look was actually, on television. I saw an episode on a television series where this incredibly hot man was about to sweep this girl he had been eyeing on.
But with just a snap, I lost those stunning dreamy-like eyes as William stepped away from me and moved towards the open door. Did I just imagine that look and those dazzling eyes? I can't believe I zoned out and didn't realize that we had reached our floor. What the hell did he do to me?
By the time I was able to pull myself back together, the elevator door almost closed on me. I had to put my hand on the edge to stop it from closing. Letting out a huge breath of relief, I walked out of the elevator towards my desk.
Maggie noticed me sit down and turned to me with a worried expression. "Are you okay, Andy? You look flushed," she asked.
I turned to her with a small smile and fanned myself a little. "I'm fine. I just feel a little warm, that's all," I replied softly.
She eyed me for a second and nodded slowly before turning back to her work as I sat down on my chair. I dropped my bag on the floor and placed the envelope on my desk. I hoped this was enough to take my mind off what just happened. I don't think that I would look at an elevator the same way again after what happened.
With another sigh, I straightened myself in my chair before opening the mystery envelope. The contents were exactly what I thought that they'd be. They were files and pictures of artwork for Alexandra's gallery. Why did Alexandra keep William in the dark? I didn't ponder much on that and went back to work.