Meeting Mr. Mogul(29)

 

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.