《Trouble With The Billionaires》 2 Chapter 1 Vanessa and Nathaniel. "Please mom, don''t start again." Nathaniel pinched the bridge of his nose to calm himself. "I don''t have any plans to marry yet so stop trying." "When will you stop your one night stands?" She thundered at her son, her voice harsh and he flinched. "Get settled, Nathaniel. I want to see my grandchild before I die." Nathaniel Black had always been a playboy in the big industry, a cold hearted bastard, who used girls like tissues. Just one look from him and they would spread their legs for him. His looks to be blamed, staring from the finely carved cheek bones, to the chocolate brown eyes, the silky mane of messy brown hairs and deliciously toned body. It didn''t just end here, his cold hearted and ruthless nature could be seen in his company. The man demanded utmost respect and dedication, nope not towards him, but for their work. That''s the reason why he and his company was flourishing and now, he had crossed the par of billionaire and had still not stopped. "Mom...listen..." He was cut off by her mother, a sudden spark in her eyes and his brows furrowed. "Atleast see the picture." Lisa chirped with delight, as she shuffled through her purse and Nathaniel''s brow raised. Who is this and what had she done to my fiery mother? Her hand raised up in triumph, with the supposed trophy and she hand it over to Nathaniel, as if to mock him. The moment he saw the picture, she knew she had won. The beauty in the picture was mesmerising, her chestnut brown hairs cascading down her back brings a colour to her fair features and he found himself drawn to those blue eyes sparkling in delight, while looking at the camera. It seems as if a spell had fallen over him that he couldn''t take his eyes off her. Absolutely Mesmerisingly Beautiful. "You remember Vanessa, right? She is Sera''s daughter." Lisa broke the spell, looking absolutely giddy at her bumblebee''s name. Sera and Lisa had been the best friends since they had known each other and their friendship had never vanished between the warm fights of George Survin and Glen Black, warm because of this little bumblebee. Her little baby. Sweet little baby. The sweet girl with two pigtails, as he had known since his childhood, was now this oh-so-delicious fair vixen. His mother smirked in triumph as she watched the swirl of emotions pass through his face and his brown eyes squinted, as if trying to look away, but couldn''t. "So...?" She drawled, as she pursed her lips to prevent herself from laughing giddily and his brown eyes still didn''t waver from the picture. "I will think about it." Atleast it''s not a straight no.... She had made progress and to tease him more, she snatched the picture from his hand without a warning. A frown etched on his face and his hands clenched in a fist as he looked at her mother in irritation. But he doesn''t know why? ¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è "Vanessa baby, he is settled and he is a nice boy." Sera knocked on Vanessa''s door, which had been bolted, ever since she had heard about marriage. "No." She refused firmly and her mother sighed in frustration. "I will not marry him." "Vinni, you know Lisa''s son... Nathaniel?" Sera tried to confirm and instead of the answer she waited, she heard fast shuffling of stuff from the other side. "You remember him, right?" Sera asked again and heard Vanessa groan. "Ah yes! I read about him in newspaper just yesterday, the sweet headlines of the front page, ''the hotshot bachelor with a new woman on his arm and it''s not been a day!''" "I don''t want to be sideline buisness of his, so no thank you." Vanessa yelled out her mind from the other side of the door. Sera frowned. Vanessa, though a sweetheart, could be a ball of stubborness and childishness sometimes. "Sera. Don''t force her, she was now a grown up and could decide for herslef." George put his arm around her and Sera opened his mouth to speak but failed as a delighted squeal cut in. "Dad...." The door opened hurriedly and Vinni jumped happily in her father''s arms. "I got a call." "Well, is someone going to tell me what''s going on here? And what call are you talking about?" Sera ask looking at the two suspiciously and Vanessa giggles. "I filled a form for the post of manager yesterday and I got a call from the company for interview." Vanessa said and Sera frown. "But George, she can take a job in your company." "Sera, she is a big girl now. Let her make her own decisions sometimes." "How.....?" Sera cried and vinni sigh. "She is your daughter, George Survin''s daughter. Anyone can take advantage of her." "Sera, she is a strong girl and I will make sure she is safe darling." George said, putting his arms around his wife and pressed his lips against her ear. "Plus we have so many advantages." "George!" Sera blushed slightly and Vanessa giggled slightly at the intimate moment. "We are talking about Vanessa here." He whispered something in her ear and she blushed harder, before glaring at him. "A driver will drop you and pick you up....." Sera was cut off by Vanessa''s squeal and she hugged her mother tightly. "Yay, I love you mom." "This is not over yet. Sera said and Vanessa looked at her mother confused. "Now tell me, do they know your name." "No." "Good." Sera said and nodded to herself, contemplating everything. "I want you to promise me that it will stay that way." "Mom, I have an interview tomorrow." She reasoned and George butted in. "And I have a plan." "Plan?" Vanessa raised an eyebrow at him questionably and he smiled secretly. "Well we know you are homeschooled but no one outside knows that....." George started incospiciously and Sera finished for him excitedly. "... so we just have to create fake resume out for a different name. And we can give the address of one of the apartment house we bought anonymously." "That''s the plan. Now, come on give me a hug, you too." George added in and opened his arms wide and two ladies ignored him and instead enveloped each other in a hug. He rolled his eyes and just put his arms around the most important women of his world, while Vanessa was thanking the god for the right timmimg of Stephan''s trip. Her brother was even more possessive of her than her parents and would have not let the conversation move after the anonymous form. ¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è¡è 3 Chapter 2 The Disaster Everything was settled, George and Sera just had to put some of her things in her new house, to make her feel at home. "Now Selena, I want you to give her a new look, a little combination of sexiness and professionalism, she should not look like our Vinni." Selena Foster, the world famous designer listened attentively to Sera, as she fixed up an attire in her mind. "Hmm....." Selena looked at Vinni from head to toe and then back, up and a light bulb fluttered in her brain, before she turned back to her collection she brought. Her lips curved up in a smile as she finally got what she wanted and pulled out the zipper bag. "Try this." Selena said and Vanessa looked at the bag in her hand with caution. "Do you promise it will not be revealing? Too itchy? Too uncomfortable?" Vanessa looked relieved as Selena nodded at all her questions and took the bag from her, before walking into her new little closet. When she stepped out of the closet, Selena gave her work an appreciative nod. It was a beautifully blood red coloured blazer suit with soft cream shirt underneath. A perfection of professionalism and hotness! Unlike their sweet Vinni! "Ah Selena! You are a genius!" Sera praised Selena who gave her an arrogant smirk in return. "I know." "Now, for your hairs and face, Selena pulled out her ''makeover'' labelled silver vanity box, from the black leather bag. She unclipped the box and pulled out the box of coloured contacts, a small square framed glasses and a black haired wig and ushered her onto the the leather chair of her dressing table. She pulled at her brown hairs, twists it and tie it up in a fixed up bun, before setting the black wig over. She supports the strands of barbie haircut by a head band, before going to work on the back of her hairs and fix it in professional half braid, succesfully hiding the brown hairs underneath. Selena looked at her face in the mirror, and nodded pleased at her work and then pulled out the headband, before fixing the little strands and clapped her hand excitedly as she finally got that look. She then tool in her face and then picked up a green coloured contacts, and then settles it over her blue eyes and as Vanessa blinked, it settled and Selena repeated the process with the second one. Next, she opened her vanity and pulled out a large lump of things, a few Vinni had never heard about and Vanessa groaned. "If it itches, I swear....." "Vinni! Sit straight and let Selena do her job." Sera gave her daughter a warning glare and Vanessa groaned again. "Fine." This is going to be a long day. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Selena put the glasses over her nose carefully, without disturbing her great artwork and clapped her hands excitedly. "...and done!" Sera looked at her daughter''s new facade with approval, the sexy dark red lip colour, the professional hairs, cute glasses and not to forget the ''oh-so-hot!'' outfit, clearly not giving ''Vanessa Survin'' vibes. "So, now tell me something about yourself Sapphire Jones....." Sera gave Vanessa a professional smile and Vanessa took in a deep breathe. "Hello, My name is Sapphire Jones and I am......." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sera was pacing the room, worried, Vanessa had not called yet, and Selena rolled her eyes at her, while munching on the tangy chips. Her phone rang and she picked it up almost immediately. "Hello? Vanessa? Are you alright? Why didn''t you call me-" "Mom... relax! I am fine." Vanessa''s voice was that of the fake professionalism she had pasted on, with no hint of her sweetness. "Please tell me, no one recognized you!" Sera urged her daughter to speak and heard her sigh on the other side. "Uh- you can take a deep breathe, mom!... Hi, good morning...." Sera heard her greet someone on the oher side. "...Your daughter is a great actress." "Hmm.....good." "Mom?" "Yes Vinni?" "Nope, you are talking Sapphire Jones, the new manager of one of the largest company of London." Vanessa''s voice was full of pride and Sera squealed so loudly that Vanessa has to mover her phone away from her ear while Selena had to put her hands on her ears to prevent her ear drums from bursting. "Mom? Seriously? How old are you, again?" Vanessa asked, sarcasm dripping from every word she spoke and Sera huffed. "Oh please, don''t tell me you''re not squealing yourself when you got the job." "She got..... the job? I will go tell Mr. Survin." Vanessa heard Selena''s voice in the back ground and then greeted someone passing by. "Hi!....Mom, I know how to control myself." Vanessa scowled at her and Sera huffed again. "Fine....." "Yeah mom love you too. I will see you-!" Vanessa word''s died in the receiver and Sera looked at her phone, to check if she was still on line. "Vanessa?" "Mom..... I''ll see you at home." "Vinni? What''s going on there?" Sera asked worried and Vanessa groaned. "Later mom, later." And the call was cut. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ She scowled at the sight of her ruined suit, and winced as she felt hot coffee seep through her shirt. She held the front of her shirt to let the cold air pass through to prevent the burns, but it didn''t help much. She winced again and then looked at the idiot, who has ruined her brand new suit and froze as her ''now'' green eyes meet his chocolate brown ones. Her gaze wandered to the girl beside him, who was now holding the empty cup, obviously, because the black coffee in it was all over her now and she cringed at the sight of the fake sympathy, over her fake face. She threw away the urge to roll her eyes at her and looked at the man, staring at her blankly and then at the crowd, whispering loudly. The whole room stilled as the brown eyed man glared at everyone and then look at Vanessa with a strange look, before turning to look at the receptionist, and ordering her to help her. How did she manage to get stuck in situations like this? The blonde receptionist hurried off to help her and held onto her arm, before dragging her through the crowd and towards a room, which she assumed as laundary room. "Thanks." Vanessa muttered as she helped her in removing her blazer and the blonde girl gave her a sweet smile. "No problem....." "Sapphire... Sapphire Jones, but you can call me Saph...." Vanessa outstretched her hand with a smile and Carl took her hand, returning the smile. "I am Carl..... you are the new manager, right?" Carl asked as she helped her with her shirt and Vanessa nodded. "Yeah... and I have received such a great welcome." Vanessa muttered sarcastically and Carl cringed at the sight of the red marks on her fair skin. "Well, you can wear this shirt for now,...." Carl pulled out a white shirt and Vanessa thanked her. "...until I get you some ointment for the marks and hope that the bitch doesn''t come here." "Um?" "Well, the girl who ''accidentally'' pour coffee on you, I am telling you, she is a total bitch and Boss''s personnel assistant, all the more reason for her to hire therapist." Carl muttered another curse under her breath and Vanessa sighed as she put on the shirt over her bra. "I don''t understand." "There are rumours that Cathy has slept with the boss, to get this job, and whenever she sees a competitor, which she sees in you, when the boss looked at you curiously, she tries to rub her ...." "Ok. I get it..... no need to elaborate...." Vanessa scowled at her and Carl giggled slightly. "Alright, I get it. You are a virgin." Carl grinned mischievously and Vanessa groaned. ".....and I hope you are not a lesbian." "Ah! Feisty too... and no, I am not a lesbian." Carl grinned again and walked out of the room to bring some ointment. Her phone took that chance to ring and she gulped as she checked the caller ID. Stephan? ¡è¡è?¡è¡è?¡è¡è?¡è¡è?¡è¡è?¡è¡è?¡è¡è?¡è¡è?¡è¡è?¡è¡è?¡è¡è 4 Chapter 3 The Boss. "Vanessa Survin! What the fuck am I hearing? Do you have any....." Vanessa moved her phone away as his elder brother babbled on and on and on, while she casually hummed the lyrics of her favourite song under her breath. "Vanessa? Vanessa? Are you even listening to me?" Stephan''s voice sounded like an angry ringmaster, and Vanessa giggled. "Yes bro! What''s up?" "What''s up? You are asking me what''s fucking up? Do you have any idea how dangerous..." "Steph....." "...Do you have any sense..." "Steph..." ".....What was mom and dad thinking....." And she hanged up on him. She sighed as her phone rang again and she swipes the arrow towards right. "Hello?" "Quit!" "No!" Vanessa scowled at her brother and heard him sigh. "Vinni-" "No, I will not quit!! This is my only chance to stand up on my feet, alone!" "Vanessa....." "Pretty please with a cherry on the top." Vinni gave him, her best and heard him sigh again. "Ok fine....." "Yay! Love you too. Bye!" Vanessa cut the call before he could change his mind and giggled like a schoolgirl whose crush just reciprocated her feelings. "Wohoo! I did it." She fist pump the air in victory and froze as someone cleared his throat from behind her. She swallowed nervously and turned to face the person who had interrupted her. Oh damn! She froze as her eyes meet those chocolate browns again, that had a hint of amusement lingering in them, instead of blankness. Her new boss. What is she supposed to say? Good afternoon sir, my name is Sapphire Jones, I am the new manager and do thank your PA for ruining my beautiful suit. It will look bad. "Are you the new manager?" His deep voice formed goosebumps on her arms and she managed a timid nod, after throwing away the thought to itch it. "I can''t hear you......." He gave her a cold look and Vanessa clammed up severely. "Y-yes sir." "Hmm....." He nodded satisfied and looked over her intrigued and she suddenly felt self-conscious under his gaze. Her hands clutched onto the hem of her shirt in support and his eyes followed the action. ".... Welcome to Black''s Corporation Miss...." "S-Sapphire. Sapphire Jones." "Miss Jones, I''ll see you tomorrow, first thing in the morning, 9am sharp." Black''s Corporation, I have heard it somewhere. "Sure sir." "Have a good day, Ms. Jones." He nodded at her politely and she gave him a toothy smile. "You too, sir." Her smile widened as his eyes widened in surprise, probably due to the fact she greeted him back but stepped out of the room, without making any comment. Black''s Corporations. "Oh my god!" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "What?!" Sera shrieked like a banshee and Vanessa cringed, and put her hands on her ears. "Mom, you need to calm down." "Calm down?! Calm down?! Vinni, this is not a game.....! If he somehow find out that you are not Sapphire Jones, rather the woman my best friend, aka his mother has put forward for him to marry, all hell will break loose." Sera exclaimed and Vanessa rolled her eyes at her mother. "You are exaggerating, mum." "I am not EXAGGERATING!" Sera shreiked out the last word at the highest pitch and Vanessa winced at the toll it took on her ears. "Mum!" "Vanessa!" Cue rolling of eyes here. "He will not find out." "That''s it? Your mother is worrying her ass over here and you are making four line sentence over there." "Five actual-" "That''s not the fucking point here." Vanessa winced at the sight of the murderous expression on her mother''s face and laughed nervously "Mum..... you look like a... a... a.." "A what?!" "A ghost in Conjuring! And you are really scaring me." Silence. "Vanessa Elizabeth Survin!" "Aah!" Vanessa dodged her mother''s claw attack and ran out of the door, screaming the whole house, with her raging mother behind her. She hurried towards the door as she heard the engine of her father''s car and screamed as she saw her mother in the middle of the golden stairs, and threw open the main door, before running out of the house. "Dad! Dad! Help me... Mom looks like a Conjuring ghost and- Oh shoot!" Vanessa gasped out loud as she bumped into someone, knocking the person to the ground. Her ''now'' blue eyes widened in shock as her eyes met the familiar brown ones and she gasped in disbelief as they travelled down to her heaving bossoms that were now visible due to her ''over the top'' straddling position "You perverted monster! Get off from me!" She threw him a dirty glare as she held onto the front of her top and he grinned mischievously. "Actually! You should get off me." He fold his arms underneath his head, looking extremely comfortable and Vanessa looked down at her top. ???? "No! You get off from underneath me." Vanessa crossed her arms over her chest and Nathaniel rolled his eyes at her childish behaviour. "Vanessa Elizabeth Survin, you are so dead today - Oh hello Nathaniel dear!" Sera murderous expression, smoothed down to a warm, yet awkward smile, at the vibe of the situation. "Hello Mrs. Survin, a pleasure to see-" "Mom, Can we, like postpone the pleasantries for later? I need your help, because someone can''t keep his dirty perverted thoughts at the back of his mind." And he has the audacity to smirk at her. The perverted shoothole! She gave him a glare and Sera sighed in frustration as she walked towards them. This is going to be a long day. 5 Chapter 4. At The Dinner. Vanessa had hurried off to her room to change after giving Nathaniel, a sneer and at the same time, to call her father to warn him of the situation they were now trapped in. Ringing... "Hello." He picked up almost immediately, as if he was waiting for her call. "Dad.... There is a problem." She said hesitantly and heard her father laugh nervously on the other side. "Did your mother find out about the plates?" "Plates? What plates?" Vanessa asked curiously and her father faked a confused laugh. "Plates? Who said plates?" "Daaaad..." "Ok fine, I might have broken her favourite plates!" "Oh my gosh..... you are so dead, dad!" Vanessa burst out laughing hysterically and George scowled at her over the phone. "Vinni!" "Yes Dad?!" Vanessa asked sweetly, too sweetly and she smirked as she heard her father sigh. "Don''t tell her." "I will not, but you have to promise me that you''ll favour me on what I am about to tell you." "Anything!" His father exclaimed happily and Vanessa laughed nervously. Hesitantly. "Iamworkinginblackscorporation." "Come again?" "I am working in Black''s Corporations." "What the fu-" "Dad!" "And you are telling me this now? What were you doing when you were filling the resume?" George asked sarcastically and Vanessa chuckled dryly. "Dancing?" "I was excited, so I kind of forgot to check the details.." "And when they were welcoming you?" "Too nervous, I guess." She heard her father spew out colourful curses on the other side. "Well, your mother must have gone crazy!" "She looked like a Conjuring Ghost!" Vanessa giggled, remembering the murderous expression on her mother''s face and George chuckled. "So?" "So what?" "What is Mr. Black doing at our house?" Vanessa asked in ''Sapphire'' tone and George spew out another curse. "Nathaniel..... oh shit! I forgot about it entirely!" "Dad? Is there something I should know?" "Um- well, you know, Glen and I decided to put an end to this rivalry and work together for a new project, and I might have invited Nathaniel over for dinner, so we can discuss the contract." George answered hesitantly and Vanessa scowled at him over the phone. "Thank you very much father, for inviting that perverted monster!" George laughed at her choice of words, "He is not that bad, darling." "Right... And I am Madonna!" She snorted and George chuckled at his daughter''s sarcasm. "More beautiful, Vinns!" "I love you, Dad." "Hmm... I love you too, Mio prezioso (itallian~ my precious). See you soon." And he hanged up. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Vanessa had not stepped out of the room until her father had stepped inside the house and to Nathaniel''s sadness, had ignored her entire existence, when he was fixing the buisness meeting for the project and he had the hoped that it will change when they would settle down for dinner. He knew it was his fault that he thought that his perverted mind will be sated by just a glimpse of the beauty she had grown into, but it had only awaken his need, the inner desire to devour her. And he surely will apologize, only if she gives him a chance. His brown eyes wandered to the right, where she was seated, beside her mother looking solely focussed on the food. So fucking mesmerisingly beautiful. Can he not have her for dessert? A clank broke him out of his reverie and as his gaze fell on the fork that had slipped out of George''s hand, in shock, he cursed as he realised that he had spoken his thoughts aloud. As his gaze wandered to Vanessa, she threw him a dirty glare, to which he responded with a wink. He grinned as her eyes widened in response and Sera immediately jumped up from her place. "Um- I will go bring the dessert..... George, will you lend me a hand?" He gave her husband a stern ''warning'' behind the sweet smile as he tried to protest. "There is a wine in the cabinet, that Is yet to be popped and I can''t carry everything alone." You traitor. Vanessa gave her father a stink eye as he stood up from his place at the head and thumped Nathaniel, who was sitting on his right, on the shoulder. "We''ll be back in a minute son." Until then fix everything. He didn''t add and Nathaniel smiled warmly at him. "Take your time Mr. Survin." Until then I''ll try to fix everything. He watched them until they disappeared in the kitchen and turned to look at the blue eyed girl, who was busy stabbing her food with her fork. Probably imagining it to be him. "It''s not my head, darling." He chuckled as she blushed slightly but didn''t lower her guard. "I wish it was...." Vanessa sneered at him, and stood up from her place, and her lace white dress straightened with her. "Tell my mom I am done." "You''ll not stay for desert." He asked innocently as she pushed the chair under the table and she scowled at him. He had the audacity to ask that. "My appetite is lost, thanks to a perverted idiot, who can''t keep his dirt in his mind." And the perverted shoothole had the audacity to grin at her. "Well.... It was the truth." She squirmed uneasily as he looked dead in her eye seriously and leaned back into the chair. "I do want to devour-" Vanessa''s eyes closed shut and he grinned as she put her hands on her ears and shook her head repeatedly, to prevent his dirty thoughts from reaching her mind. So fucking innocent. Nathaniel smiled at her softly and stood up from his seat. Vanessa''s entire form tensed as he felt his hands remove her hands from her ears. Her blue eyes follow the trail of goosebumps as his hand down her left arm, and her eyes shut instinctively as he swept her long brown hairs over her right shoulder. "de sorte fucking s¨¦duisant." He placed a tender kiss on her shoulder and smiled pleasantly as he felt her shiver pleasurably. "ma petite fleur." Another shiver passed through her at his foreign words. Is he trying to seduce me? Vanessa whirled around in his arms and scowled at his smug face. "What did you just speak to me?" "French?" He smiled innocently as she threw eye-daggers at him and he was sure, he would have been dead if they woukd have been real. "Nathaniel....." She warned slightly and his heart skipped a beat, but he kept his cool. "Ahan, you know my name....." He gave her a toothy grin and Vanessa glared at him "No! I guessed it..... Of course, I know your name, do you have a loose screw here?" She tapped the side of his head and he shrugged and smiled goofily, that Vanessa couldn''t help but return his smile. "votre sourire est tellement beau." Nathaniel''s eyes twinkled as he tucked some of her loose hairs behind her ear and Vanessa sighed in defeat, unable to decipher his words. "I seriously don''t get you." Vanessa''s lips pursed and brows knitted in adorable confusion, and Nathaniel smiled at her cuteness. "I said your smile is beautiful." "Oh.." Maybe, he is not that bad. "...Thanks." Vanessa smiled at him shyly and pulled her chair back out, before settling down gracefully in her seat again. "Well Vanessa, aren''t you done?" He quoted her words mockingly as he settled down back in his seat. "Well..... a little dessert won''t hurt." Vanessa picked up the small spoon from the cutlery. "Mom. Dad. You can stop leaning your ear on the door and come out now." "I told you not to hear, but do you ever listen to me?" Sera spoke up loudly from behind the closed door and Nathaniel chuckled. "What?! You asked me to find you a glass, so you can hear-" "What the hell are you talking about?" "Oh I''ll tell you...." "Dad, did you tell her about the plates?" Vanessa asked innocently and Nathaniel chuckled. "What plates?" "It''s noth-" "Oh dad, you didn''t tell her that you broke her favourite plates..... oops, my bad." Vanessa called out and heard her mother shriek in response. "George Theodore Survin!" "Oh fuck!" The door was unbolted, to a scene of her mother holding a broom, chasing her father and Vanessa giggled as she thumped it on her father''s head, until he gained speed. Vanessa stood up from her seat, and walked over to Nathaniel, and took ahold of his hand. "Come on, lets go out for some icecream!" Vanessa tugged on his hand and Nathaniel glanced in the direction where her parents had run off to. "It is not going to cool off until dad brings that same set of plates again..." Vanessa gave his hand another tug. ".... and I really want icecream." "Ok fine." He finally gave in and stood up from his chair and Vanessa beamed at him. "Yes! I''ll go grab my jacket." Vanessa thumped him playfully and happily skipped towards her room. She is so beautiful, without even trying. Nathaniel thought as he watched her hum to herself happily. ...And loves to eat icecream. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Translations(french): de sorte fucking s¨¦duisant: So fucking alluring. ma petite fleur: My little flower. votre sourire est tellement beau: your smile is so beautiful. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 6 Chapter 5. First Day. Vanessa stared unblinkingly at the wooden door and her hand tightened on her black handbag in support. What support? Even the encouragement and assured smiles of her parents and Carl was not enough to cover up the fact that she was meeting Nathaniel. ... who was now not the same person ...who had spend the whole night with her. ... who had listened to her chatter, without interrupting her. ... who had preferred plain icecream over the one with nuts because he is allergic to nuts. ... who preferred Vanilla icecream over any other. ... who had smiled dazzingly when she had wiped the icecream from his nose. ... who had sneaked glances at her when he thought she was not looking. No Vanessa, no! Don''t think of him as Nathaniel! Think of him as your boss, yes! Your boss. Your strict cold boss! Yes, now put on that professional ''Sapphire Jones'' smile and knock yes, but don''t get knocked by those brown eyes. Ah Damn! Vinni- "Good morning Ms. Jones." She shrieked and whirled around immediately, her handbag colliding with the someone and immediately recoiled back, to prevent her suit from being messed up again. Great. So fudging great. "I am beginning to think you had something against my coffee." Vanessa closed her now green eyes in embarrassment and looked at her new boss. Nathaniel Black. "G-Good m-morning sir-r." Vanessa stuttered nervously and blushed as Nathaniel''s brow raised in amusement. "I-I am S-Sorry." "Huh?" "F-For y-your c-coffee." Vanessa looked down at the pool of black near her feet and then up at him with apologetic smile. "S-Sorry." "Hmm... your sorry is neither going to bring my coffee back....." Nathaniel massaged his temples to soothe the pain and grimaced as he felt an invisible tug on his nerves. "..... nor it can relieve this shit load of pain in my head, so don''t." "Um?" "Ahan.... nothing. Please follow me Ms. Jones." Nathaniel entered his office with his natural grace, while Vanessa followed him, with maintained professional, yet safe distance. Vanessa looked around the beautiful wooden office with awe, the carved wooden styled cupboards filled with books, folders, files, that occupied the back of the room. If that was not enough, he had a bedroom and the walk in closet as an addition, which is obviously unknown to Vanessa''s green eyes which observe the wooden door curiously. But what mesmerised her was the scenery, the large windows to her left displayed the beautiful view of the New York''s shining morning proudly. Flauntingly. "Ms. Jones." "Ms. Jones!" Vanessa''s green orbs snapped to her boss, yes, her boss, not her hunk of fiance¨¨, as mother had put forward. Yes, her handsome, drool worthy fiance¨¨ as he stretched lazily, giving her the show of his daily work out, as those strong muscles flexed under his shirt. He is so.... yum! Vanessa Elizabeth Survin! Erase that! Erase that now! "Ms. Jones? Are you listening to me?" "Um.. I am sorry sir. What did you say?" Vanessa cleared her throat nervously as his brown eyes scrutinized her intensely and he motioned towards the visitor''s chair. "Sit down Ms. Jones." "Umh?" Vanessa eyed the chair with wary and gave him a slight shake of her head as an answer. "I am fine sir." Nathaniel''s brow raised with amusement, "Don''t be afraid, Ms. Jones. I don''t bite." "Um..." Vanessa didn''t protest this time and settled down on the leather chair stiffly and looked up at Nathaniel. ".... thank you?" Nathaniel hummed leisurely, obviously enjoying her discomfort, probably the result of their first meeting and pulled out a sealed white box from underneath his table. Vanessa blinked confused as he laid down the sealed box on the table and pushed it towards her. "This is for you, Ms. Jones." Nathaniel answered her unasked question and Vanessa frowned. "I don''t understand...." "Ms. Jones, this box had a laptop, which had been fixed with applications, files and documents accordingly for your use. We always provide our employees, such extra tokens, so that everything will process out smoothly." Nathaniel explained and Vanessa nodded. "You''ll find the password of the laptop in the box, along with the instructions and if you still have any queries or problems, you can go to the technical department. Is that clear?" "Yes sir." "Good then, let''s start with the main work then." Nathaniel picked up the blue inked pen and open the leather folder, placed in the middle on his desk. "First, you need to go through the accounts file, that you''ll find in your cabin. Second, attend to the files on the projects going on and lastly, find the file for the latest project with the Survin''s. Go through it thoroughly, because it''ll be needed for the upcoming joint meeting." "That''s all?" "Yes, Ms. Jones. If there will be anything more, I''ll ask....." Nathaniel looked up from the file briefly and dismissed her. "..... you can go now." Vanessa stood up from the leather chair picked up the box, muttered a ''good day'' to him, and walked out of his office, all ready to start her new life. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 7 Chapter 6. The Meeting~Part 1 It had been a week since Vanessa had started working for the Black''s Corporations, but it felt like she had always belonged here, all thanks to Carl. True, she didn''t interact much with Nathaniel, but that''s just a plus point for her, because of the green eyes she was hiding behind. ..... and today is the meeting. The meeting between the two famous rivals, that would open a new door of partnership and togetherness for them. The meeting between her father and her uncle. She is ready. Vanessa couldn''t help the sarcastic comments that bubbled inside her, how could she?! She was attending the meeting as the manager of the Black''s, despite being the daughter of the Survin''s. She couldn''t fudging help it! But she had to keep calm. Vanessa nodded with determination and fixed up her royal blue blazer suit. Chin up and smile. Vanessa walked towards the meeting room and greeted her colleagues with sweet smiles as she entered the meeting room. The table had been divided such that the left side of the table was for the committee of Black''s and other side for Survin''s and Vanessa couldn''t help the turmoil burning her. "Sapphire!" A voice called out her name, breaking her gaze from the leather chair she was eyeing and smiled as her gaze landed on Jake. She met him in the elevator one day, and she found out that he was in Carl''s gang of ''The best'', the one she was alloted into without even being asked. "Jake. Hi!" Sapphire walked towards him and Jake stood up from his chair and hugged her good naturedly. Jake was the head of the HR department, so Vanessa was not surprised to see him in the meeting. "So? What''s wrong?" Jake asked with a small smile and Vanessa looked around the room nervously. "I don''t know." She lied as Jake pulled out a chair for her and she sighed, before settling down on the white chair. "Umhm.... it''s your first time." Jake remarked, once he settled in the chair and Vanessa nodded, even though she realised that it was not a question. "Saph, it''s normal, ok! All you have to do is believe in yourself and everything will be alright." Jake patted her shoulder encouragingly and Vanessa raise a mocking brow at him. "Did you just quote the theme song of winx club?" Vanessa giggled as he turned red with embarrassment and swatted her hands away as she pinched his cheek. "Aww...." "I have a little sister." Jake crossed his arms over his chest and scowled at her, while Vanessa giggled behind her hand. "Oops. Sorry" She pouted sadly and Jake waved off her apology with her hand. "It''s fine." "No. No, it''s not. I shouldn''t have accused you of... watching Winx. Oh shoot." She gave him an apologetic look, before she burst out laughing. "Oh my god. I am so sorry." She wiped the tear that roll down her cheek and everyone looked at her, confused not able to get anything. The smiles broke around the room as Jake pouted angrily, while the new manager paid no heed to the blonde man''s anger and kept on laughing. Vanessa alerted as the door opened and the committee of the Survin''s followed the owner and CEO of the company. She stood up from her seat, along with others and welcomed the members of her father''s company. And, well the situation couldn''t get anymore awkward, as the two survins stand opposite each other, getting introduced by Jack. "Mr. Survin, allow me to introduce you to our new manager..... Ms. Sapphire Jones." Vanessa and her father exchanged secret smiles as they shook hands. "A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Survin." Vanessa grinned proudly and her father smiled back at her. "You too, Ms. Jones." "Please sir, have a seat. Mr. Black will be here soon." Jack said with a curt nod and the committee members settled back down in their fixed positions. The door opened once again and everyone stand up again as, her uncle Glen, his features so similar to Nathaniel, the same brown eyes, she was knocked with, standing out as he looked at everyone with kindness, which Natahniel certainly lacked when it comes to the employees of the company. "Hello everyone, let''s start the meeting, yes?" Glen settled down on the head of the table, opposite the projector, with her father on his right. Vanessa sat, two chairs away, opposite her father, with Jack on her right and two empty chairs on her left. "Wait Glen, where is Nathaniel?" Her father piped in and Vanessa''s lips pursed. Really dad, are you signing a death certificate for me? "Um... I don''t know." Glen looked at the empty chairs beside him and Vanessa smiled politely as her green eyes meet his brown ones, from behind her glasses. "You are the new manager, yes?" Glen tilt his head to the side as he scrutinized her and Vanessa nodded curtly. "Ms. Sapphire Jones, if I am not wrong." Glen added with a smile and Vanessa observed his eyes crinkle at the corner, before nodding. "Can you go and bring Nathaniel?" He asked politely, leaving it on her and she nodded. "Sure sir." Vanessa stand up from her place, ignoring the stunned face of her father and walked towards the door. But before she can push it, it was pulled open and she stumbled slightly but managed to gain her balance. Vanessa looked up at his dishevelled state and bit her lower lip at the sight of the large bite mark on his neck. A large detectable mark, a big sign of his playboy nature and she looked up at him with concealed hatred. Why play with her emotions, when he couldn''t commit to a relationship? The man, after ignoring her entire existence, passed by her as he walked in and settled down on his chair. Cathy followed him and settled down in the chair beside him smugly and Vanessa eyed the empty chair beside the bitch with disgust. "Ms. Jones, please close the door and come here." Glen smiled at her sweetly and Vanessa closed the door, before walking towards him. "Can you pass these to everyone?" Glen pointed at the files, laid out on the cabinets behind and Vanessa nodded. "Sure sir." "I''ll help." Jack piped in and stand up from his chair and looked at the big boss. ".... if you don''t mind, Mr. Black." "Of course Jack, its no big deal." Glen added with a kind smile and Vanessa shot Jack a grateful smile as he walked towards her. "Thanks Jack." Vanessa whispered as he helped her untie the bundles of files and Jack nudged her lightly. "You are my friend and in friendship, there is no sorry and especially, no thank you needed." Jack added with a smile and Vanessa giggled lightly, before picking up half a bundle of files and walked towards Glen. She placed the file in front of her uncle, then her father who smiled lovingly and proudly at her, while Jack started from Nathaniel''s side, followed by Cathy, who snatched it ftom him, before he can place it in front of her and he rolled his eyes at her. Bitch. Vanessa frowned as she looked at the empty cabinet and then at Jack with a confused frown, marring her face and he shrugged. Glen must have sensed the problem by looking at the lone file in Jack''s hand. "There must be some mistake in the numbers, whose duty was to keep the files ready?" Every eye from the committee of Black''s, landed on Cathy who turned red with embarrassment. "I am sorry sir, but I think I forgot to count Ms. Jones, since we had been left out of the post of manager for a month and..." "Never again." Glen gave her a stern look and smiled apologetically at the manager of his company. "I am sorry, dear..... I''ll fix up this problem right away." Glen smiled apologetically and Vanessa shook her head, as she settled down on her chair. "There is no need, sir. I can share it with Jack." Vanessa said with a kind smile and Jack nodded as he sat on the leather chair. He opened the file, revealing the details of the upcoming projects and put it in between. "So, Shall we start?" 8 Chapter 7. The Meeting~ Part 2 "So shall we start?" The lights dimmed as the man reeled the tape on the projector and Vanessa watched him confidently add ideas about the fine raw materials, to be added in project, from her father''s side. Then, the man sitting at the edge on the Black''s side added ideas for the excellent machine work, before settling down back on their seats. The lights brightened again and the chatters of opinions flew around the room and Vanessa''s eyes collided with her father briefly, before she put her attention back on the descriptions of the machinery and raw materials. "If I may add something sir..." Vanessa raised her hand a little and every eye landed on her in surprise and Glen nodded with confirmation. "Yes Ms. Jones." "Sir, you have added excellent machinery, then Mr. Survin has added fine raw materials, which is a good thing that we are providing the customers are best, but..." Vanessa took a deep breathe and looked everyone in the eye, before continuing. "..... their prices are so high, that only the rich would be able to afford them, not the common people." "What are you trying to say, dear?" Glen asked with a slight tilt of his head and Vanessa sighed. "What I am trying to say is that, the majority of our population consists of common man, so we should make something they could afford. If we keep the profit paycheck in our mind, we should something affordable for them. I am not trying to decrease the quality, I am just trying to hit what''s affordable, as an addition in this project, of course, there will be no changes in the rest of the ideas." Vanessa finished and looked at the two heads, nervously, waiting for their opinion. "She has a point." Every gaze landed on the person, who speak for the first time, after taking his grand entry and Vanessa''s lips curled down in pain at the reminder of his presence. She shouldn''t have opened up...... ..... and lay all her trust in him. Too late, Vinni! There is no use of crying over spilled milk. Her hand collided with her notepad and it toppled down from the table, successfully breaking her out of her pain stricken trance. Every gaze once again fell on her and she smiled apologetically. "I am sorry. Please continue." She bowed her head apologetically and Nathaniel frowned with utmost confusion, at the hint of sadness in her voice. He leaned back on his chair and tilt his head slightly, and watch her bend down to pick up her notepad and he nearly toppled over from his chair as something hanged down from around her neck. The beautiful crystal rose pendant, beaded with diamonds hanged down from her neck and Nathaniel''s eyes widened with utmost disbelief. But, the pendant was selected for... Vanessa! For her eighteenth birthday! What the fuck is going on?! "Nathaniel?" Nathaniel jumped in his seat and looked at his father, only to find him looking at him with confusion. "Is something wrong?" "No...." Nathaniel cleared his throat uncomfortably and looked at everyone in the room, before continuing what he was saying. "... it can make us good profits." Vanessa frowned as she realised that she had zoned out again and tried to focus on the conversation, instead of his deep voice. "That''s it then, the deal is done." As Glen stand up from his chair, everyone followed suit and Vanessa smiled as she watched her father and uncle hug each other, the old best friends coming back together. This couldn''t have gone any better. Vanessa grinned as the two sides of rivalry shook hands and exchanged hearty smiles as they congratulated each other. Vanessa looked at Jack and held out her hand for him to shake and he grinned, before throwing his arms around her, instead of shaking hands with her. Vanessa couldn''t help but giggle at his over excitement and thumped him on the back lightly. "Idiot." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The meeting was officially over, the deal had been signed and now it''s time for the committee of the Survin''s to depart. George was the last to depart and Vanessa couldn''t resist the chance to see her father, before he left, so she followed him outside. As soon as she stepped out of the glass doors, she hollered for her father, who was about to sit in the car and George''s face lit up on seeing her. "What are you doing here, Ms. Jones? Are you slacking off from your work?" George teased her as she throw herself in his arms and Vanessa rolled her eyes at him. "Daaad..." "Yes, my precious." "Shut up." Vanessa glowered at him and George chuckled as she snuggled into his arms and tapped her head lovingly. "Your wish is my command, Vinni!" "Vinni?" They froze instantly at the very familiar voice and both turned to look towards him, and Vanessa couldn''t help the gasp that escape her as her eyes meet chocolate brown ones. Oh my god! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 9 Chapter 8. Revealations. Flashback: He was absolutely tired after the long meeting and need a good night sleep. The conference for the new upcoming brand was today and while it was easy to convince his other business partners, it took nearly four hours to settle on the common grounds with the Redrose corporations, thanks to his great CEO Daniel Rayfox. Well, that man is a devil''s incarnation. You got on his bad side, you go down. Well, keeping him and his large publishing company aside, the deal was done and that''s a thing to celebrate. A few additions including half a million pay check for the publicity of the brand, some tokens here and there, and not to forget, 25 percent of profit at his name, it''s all settled. His attention and travel from London to New York was worth it. Nathaniel didn''t bother changing out of his Armani suit and plop down on the bed. A sigh escaped his lips at the comfort of the silk sheets underneath him and he thought about her mother. If only he could be with her. But he can''t, the whole new additions to the contract had to be added and finalized, which means atleast two-three days more in this bustling city. He highly crave for London''s morning coffee right now, because he was not satisfied with the one here. It''s not that it was bad, afterall this five star hotel was the best of the best in New York, but he loved his black coffee very much and need that perfect taste for it. Absolutely no offence to D-towers group, especially to the owner. William Danford. His phone ringed, successfully snapping him out of his thoughts and he leaned over to pick up the phone from the side table. Mom? Video calling? He answered the call and watched the video crack slightly, until it finally settled on his mother''s smiling face. "Hey son! What''s up?" "Mom, I know you are an early riser but it''s three o''clock in the morning here and I am tired. Can we not do this later?" Nathaniel sighed exasperatedly and Lisa ignored his comment entirely. "So, as you know that it''s Vanessa''s eighteenth birthday tomorrow, so come back before the party." She explained and he groaned as he realized that he had forgotten her birthday because of the deal. "You forgot her birthday, Nathaniel! How could you?!" Lisa snarled at him and he winced slightly. "That means you are not coming tomorrow!" Lisa exclaimed with anger and Nathaniel frowned at her. "Mom, the deal was important otherwise Cameron Lakewood would have stolen it!" Nathaniel remarked seriously and Lisa scowled at her son. "What about her present?" Lisa ignored her son''s important remark completely and Nathaniel sighed. "First drawer of the closet in my room, you''ll find two velvet boxes. Choose whichever you like the most for her and let me sleep!" He cut the call before her mother could argue with him again and fell into deep slumber. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ How can it be fucking possible? Nathaniel growled in frustration, as he thumped himself to do the reality check. That rose pendant..... It was a gift, which was delivered by his mother, as his birthday gift for his little flower! How could the same be in the hands of manager of his company? Was it just a hallucination? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ What the heck is going on, George Survin?" He glowered at her father and Vanessa looked between the two with worry in her eyes. The idea of the two splitting up on the bad terms again was terrifying for her. She couldn''t let that happen. "Uncle Glen, let me explain." Vanessa pleaded and Glen''s face softened slightly at the sound of her naturally sweet angelic voice, instead of the fake professionalism she had taped on for the show. "You.... Get lost." Glen pointed an accusing finger at George and motioned him to disappear. "And don''t you dare come here, until I am sure that it''s not your fault." ".... and you, my dear! Follow me." Glen said, as he motioned Vanessa towards the automatic glass doors, ignoring the scowl on her father''s face, probably due to the orders thrown his way. Vanessa followed her uncle to the shiny elevator dutifully and shuffled on her feet with nervousness at his stare. The elevator pinged, cutting short the way to their destination and Vanessa looked up at the cause of interruption. His brown eyes meet hers briefly as he step in the elevator, but she averted her gaze away, as Nathaniel''s personnel assistant followed him, looking giddy. "Dad? What are you doing here? Shouldn''t you be seeing off your new partner?" Nathaniel asked as he stood beside Vanessa, causing Vanessa to step away from him and closer to her uncle. "Oh! I already have seen off that bastard! And thank the lord, without a broken nose!" He snarled, causing Vanessa to cringe slightly. Nathaniel''s brow raised at his furious self, absolutely ignoring the arm that wound around her arm from his other side. Her gaze shifted from the brown eyed man to the witch, who pulled out compact from her bag, the moment the doors of the elevator closed shut and started refreshing her already white face to whitishness and Vanessa rolled her eyes at her. "Is something wrong?" She jumped slightly, thinking that she had been caught, but sigh in relief as Uncle Glen answered the question. What a save! "That bastard had once again crossed his limits." "Dad, can you stop explaining in riddles and get to the point." Nathaniel asked with boredom and Glen took a deep breath. "That bastard had put Vanessa....." Vanessa''s eyes widened and took in a sharp breath. Her windpipe burned due to excessive pressure and she burst into series of gut wrenching coughs, an effect due to the pressure on her diaphragm, successfully cutting off Glen, before he could spill the beans. (An advice to not try such things.) It was a bad idea, considering the reports of her respiratory system, she has shown the symptoms of asthma, but it was minor, a precaution. But there was no other way to get the hell out of this situation. And it seemed like she just made the situation worse, because just realised she didn''t brought her safety device. Her inhaler. Her body swayed slightly as she tried to sober up, but failed and nearly toppled down on the floor, if it weren''t for the arm that wrapped around her waist. "Ms. Jones? Ms. Jones?" "I-I can''t b-breathe." She whispered and the last thing she remembered was the panicked voice of Nathaniel, ordering her to stay awake, before darkness engulfed her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Daniel Rayfox - the male lead of my story on Wattpad ~ The Billionaire''s Obsession. William Danford - the male lead of my story on Wattpad ~ The Billionaire''s Possession. 10 Chapter 9. A Heated Argument. Vanessa''s eyes blinked again, waiting for whatever apparition or dream she was in, to disappear and her hands clutched the soft duvet closer to herself in an attempt to comfort herself. Vanessa''s eyes once again looked around the lavishly decorated room, a sparkle of something akin to awe along with mighty curiousity of where she was, shined in her room. The lovely creamish white textured walls, stood as a huge contrast to the wooden shaded furniture. One side of the wall was entirely covered up with satin curtains, which she guessed has windows behind it. And apart from that, nothing else! No, television or any kind of modern technology. The moment she woke up, she found herself here, still dressed up in her work clothes which was an abundant relief for her, and the fact that she couldn''t remember anything cancelled out everything. The last thing she remembered was being in the lift with her uncle, then Nathaniel stepped in with the lady bee. Sharp breath. Lots of coughing. Lack of oxygen. ..... and Bam! Game over! Now the question is, WHERE THE HECK IS SHE?! She threw the duvet away and edged herself over the bed, so that her legs dangled in the space and slide her heels into her feet. She picked up her notepad, that laid idly on the side table and stride towards the door. She turns the knob and stepped into the very familiar room, catching the attention of the two pair of brown eyes which landed on her the moment she opened the door. "You are awake." Her uncle voiced out his relief as he stood up from the plush leather couch and walked towards her, while she looked like a deer caught in headlights, standing there being observed and scrutinized intensely. "Are you alright?" Glen asked, a large pint of concern in his voice and Vanessa gave him a pearly smile. "I am fine, sir." "There is no use of hiding the truth, now." Vanessa stilled as a very familiar voice spoke up from behind her uncle. His brown orbs bore into her as he walked towards her and she paled instantly, her eyes wandering to her uncle for help, who looked confused, but without any line of worry on his face. What the heck?! "I-I don''t u-understand....." "Don''t lie." His tone was stern as he walked closer to her and closer, before her boss decided to pass by, to walk behind her. Her green orbs closed in an attempt to calm her hyperventilating heartbeat, before looking at her uncle. "Uncle Glen?" She called out quietly and his brown eyes snapped to her immediately. "Did you tell him?" He shook her head, "No, I didn''t. I was too focussed on your health." Vanessa took a huge breath of relief, "So, he doesn''t know?" "Ms. Jones!" She jumped around to face him and swallowed the painful lump in his throat at the sight of darkened eyes. "Care to tell me, why the company is not made aware of the fact that you have asthma?!" Nathaniel glowered at her and Glen took in a sharp breath. "You have asthma?" Glen questioned with a scowl and Vanessa shook her head. "No. No, there is some misunderstanding! I don''t have asthma!" Vanessa countered his words and Nathaniel''s brow raised mockingly. "Oh really?! Explain your fainting in the elevator then and these reports..." Nathaniel picked up the envelope from the glass shelf he was blocking from their sight, until this moment. "... clearly shows that you have respiratory problems." "Yes! I have respiratory problems! But that doesn''t mean I have asthma. Everyone has their problems, Mr. Black and I don''t want mine to be displayed and talked about openly." She held her cool as she levelled an eye contact with Nathaniel and his face hardened. "Ms Jones, I understand you have problems but here the reputation of my company is at stake, because you took it upon yourself to hide behind the shell and it could cost me very much because it is my duty to provide a safe place to work in. So, I hope you fucking understand that it was not just about you, that I am fucking talking about." "Nathaniel-" "It won''t happpen again, sir." Vanessa cut in, before Glen could speak any further and took a deep breath to prevent the tears that hung on her lashes from flowing freely. "If that''s all, do I have the permission to leave. I have already slacked off too much feom the work." She asked politely and Nathaniel''s jaw clenched. "Ms. Jones, can you please go up to my office. There are a few files, I need you to review." Glen put the heated conversation to an end and Vanessa looked up at him, before nodding. "Sure, Mr. Black." Vanessa smiled sweetly at him, a smile put on to hide the sadness in her eyes and scurried out of the door, without sparing any glance at her boss. Nathaniel''s eyes didn''t waver from the door, until it was shut and his gaze wandered to his father. "Dad? Did I do something wrong?" He asked, a hint of concern in his voice and his father scruntized him with the brown eyes he had inherited and sighed. "If Vanessa was in her place, what would you have done?! Would you still have shown her, your dominance in the matter?" His father asked and Nathaniel paled at his words. "Never." He whispered softly and closed his eyes as he tried to shake off the image of him making Vanessa cry. "I would never hurt her. She is my precious flower." Glen''s brow raised mockingly, "Oh really?! Where was this thought, before you decided to fuck your PA, before the meeting?! The meeting in which you very well knew that Vanessa''s father would be present, do you thing he will let it go?!" Nathaniel growled in frustration, "I am so stupid." "Well, I''ll leave you to your stupidness, till you calm down and was ready to apologise to Sapphire and Vanessa, if she find out somehow." Glen added mockingly, without an ounced of repentence and walked out of Nathaniel''s office. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 11 Chapter 10. A Visit At The Blacks! This is so not happening. This is so not fudging happening. Oh! But it was really happening! Vanessa scowled at the sight of her vibrant light blue dress, not because it was not beautiful. Nope, that''s not her nature. It was because the dress was absolutely gorgeous, with those netted sleeves with flower borders, and the swirling flare skirt, that reached just her knees, which she was forced into. Just because it was a night at the Black''s.... A dinner celebration! The result of the deal signed between the two rivals! A grand celebration! ....and Nathaniel was going to be there. Everything was once again settled between her father and Uncle Glen, once she had blabbered out the whole truth, starting from the anonymous job application, to the fake resume and then her wish, which could only be fulfilled if she agreed to her mother''s condition. Vanessa even put an option to resign!But he refused! So now, she was officially, with the permission of the big boss, a part of The Black''s Corporations! .... and she had just sorted out this situation when another situation befalled her! The Grand Celebration! Oh the joy she felt made her gag! "Vanessa! Hurry up! We are getting late!" Her mother chirped with excitement as she called from downstairs, as if she didn''t know anything. Well, she did know about the asthmatic attack, and calmed down after her uncle assured her of her wellness. But she have no clue about what happened at the Meeting! She didn''t not know about the f - affair, Nathaniel indulged himself in with his PA, before the meeting! She didn''t know about the trust, she had laid in Nathainel, when she had spilled everything about her. She didn''t know about the large bite on Nathaniel''s neck! She didn''t know about the heartbreak and pain she had gone through, when he played with her emotions! She didn''t know! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The ride to the Black''s Residence didn''t last long and Vanessa could feel her throat constricting at every step they take towards the beautiful mansion. Sapphire Jones had avoided Nathaniel Black''s entire dominating presence, which included handling files and forms, via email and with human contact between them limited to, unless it''s important. Very important. And Vanessa, had ignored every message, every phone call and didn''t dare listen to any of his voicemails. She had given that fudging shoothole, a taste of his own bitter medicine. But, now him being, what looked like 20 steps away, she could feel her mind fogging with insecurities. What if Cathy was here? As his date? She could feel her heart hammering against her ribcage at the dirty possibilities linked with it and she took a deep breath to keep her emotions at bay. He is a playboy, Vanessa. A man, who is so used to using the women as tissue papers, that she forget that she would just be another tissue paper for him, to be used and thrown away, to only pick up the next. The Survin''s stopped short on the porch of the house and her mother pressed the bell and waited. Vanessa could hear the commotion from the other side of the door, the footsteps and then, the click of the lock and almost immediately, her eyes locked with the sparkling greys peering at her, from over her parents'' shoulders. "Vanessa baby." Lisa Black pushed her parents'' out of her way, without any single thought, and pulled her in a motherly hug. "It''s been so long since you come here. Don''t you miss your poor auntie enough, to give her a visit?" Lisa pulled her through the main door, once again paying no attention to her parents and Vanessa giggled at the look of annoyance on her parents'' faces. "I do, aunt Lisa. I promise to visit you more often." Vanessa assured her with a smile and Lisa gave her forehead a small peck. "Still the same sweet bumblebee. My little baby." "She is not a baby anymore, Lisa." The very familiar voice spoke up from behind her and Vanessa''s eyes peered at her uncle from over her aunt''s shoulder. He gave her a sweet smile, before giving his wife a look of annoyance, "..... and you do know, you left two of our guests outside." "Oh. They''ll let themselves in," Lisa waved her hand as if it''s no big deal and motioned Vanessa towards the stairs. "until then I''ll give Vanessa the tour of our house. Yes?" Vanessa looked at him over her shoulder for confirmation, before nodding at her excited aunt. "Lead the way Aunt Lisa." "Good. Good. First I''ll show you the gallery, then the game room, then we''ll see the gym, the game room and then your favourite place, the library, then I''ll show you the room your uncle has specially designed for you for, when you stay over with us and then there is indoor pool and...." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~ Vanessa was exhausted. Absolutely exhausted and they had yet to see the room, her uncle had designed for her and several others her aunt has mentioned. She was really having a hard time coping with the double storey mansion, which did not include the ground floor, in those high ''touch-the-bloody-sky'' sparkling heels. Really. She had to take training from her aunt, on how to stand upright on her feet, after covering almost a whole floor and yet, have the energy to keep up for the second. "Can we.... can we take a break?" Vanessa asked, after she managed to stumble on her feet twice and her aunt looked over her, before nodding. Praise the lord. "Yes, after I show you, your room." Bloody hell. Finally, after nearly tripping over the first stair and regaining her balance, she managed to follow her aunt up, towards the second floor. Her aunt stepped into the second corridor, opposite to the corridor of the master bedroom and stopped at the second last door of the corridor, just before the main bedroom at the end of the corridor. "..... and here it is." Lisa pushed the door open and Vanessa froze instantly, first at the sight of the scantically dressed lady in the cute bed, specified for her and second at the sight of the fully dressed Nathaniel Black, staring at the half naked lady with burning rage. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 12 Chapter 11. Precious Little Flower. Lisa''s eyes widened. Jaw dropped. And world slipped from beneath her feet. "Nathaniel F*cking Black! What the f*ck is going on here?!" Lisa, the mother hen, took on a full angry goddess mode and stomped inside the room, while Vanessa was yet to reveal herself. "Why is this half naked witch in my daughter''s bed?!" Lisa demanded an answer and she need it fast, before she cause any serious injuries. "You have a sister?" Cathy asked, her hazy self still sprawled on Vanessa''s bed, as if she owned it and Lisa turned to give her a sweet sarcastic smile. "My daughter in-law''s bed. Now, is that enough information for you to f*ck off." Nathaniel''s brown orbs softened as his mother brought up his little flower, but Cathy took it as a stupid joke and just waved it off with a laugh. "The day Nathaniel Black settle down will be the day, that would never come." Lisa''s brows raised up at her confident tone, "Oh? Is that so, my dear?" Cathy''s confident smile faltered immediately as Lisa''s eyes twinkled and she looked at Nathaniel, who looked calm and composed. "Now. Now. Don''t fret, my dear. You are in luck. She is here, just outside the door. I''ll call her." Lisa gave her a toothy smiled and twisted her head slightly to look at the cherry wood door. "Vinni baby. Come on in and meet our very special guest." Lisa called her bumblebee cheerfully. Cathy''s eyes widened as the winner of the five times beauty pageant, Vanessa Survin filled the frame of the door, her beautiful blue eyes taking in the scene dubiously. Cautiously. "Now. Now. Don''t be shy, Vinni. She is a friend." Lisa waved her over with an excited smile and Vanessa''s lips pursed together to prevent herself from bubbling up. Lisa took a hold of her wrist, the moment she was in her range and pushed her forward, which happens to be where her fianc¨¦e is standing calmly, with his left hand deep in his pant pocket. And she being the clumsy one, instead of balancing herself beside him, she found herself balancing herself in his arms and his free arm curled it''s way around her waist, like a snake holding his prey. Vanessa blushed. Nathaniel smiled. Cathy froze. And, the dear culprit, Lisa Black smirked. "You were saying something." Lisa put her hand on her hip as she looked at the half naked witch, the warm gaze she held few moments ago disappearing into hard shade of grey. Cathy didn''t answer, just stared, dumbstruck and dismayed, at the infamous playboy, staring at the beautiful girl with utmost adoration, as if she''s the most beautiful thing in this world. Cathy took that as a cue to disappear, first from the bed, which was not hers, the company, that was also not hers and from the life of the Nathaniel, who was also not hers. But she''ll be back. When Nathaniel would be bored of her fianc¨¦e''s little sparkling self, he''ll call her. And, she''ll be back. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Now. Now. If you need some privacy, you can always ask nicely and I''ll not tell anyone." Lisa smirked at Nathaniel, who still had an uncontrollably blushing Vanessa in his arms and Nathaniel rolled his eyes at her mother. "Mom. Out." Nathaniel jerked his chin towards the door, very nicely, breaking his mother''s bubble world and Lisa threw him a dirty glare. "Fine. Do whatever you want. But if you hurt Vanessa in any way, you''ll have to face the wrath of two mothers and two fathers, and then a deranged brother, who acts viciously when it comes to his little sister." Lisa warned him with a dangerous twisted smile and Nathaniel ignored her and just kept her gaze on the long lashes, that had still not raised up. "Mom." "Alright. Alright. I''ll see you two downstairs. Vanessa holler for me, if he tries to hurt you." "Mom." "I am going. I am going." The moment door closed, Vanessa pushed him away and swayed back and, out of his hold. Her blue eyes raised up, to look at the brown orbs with a levelled determined gaze and his brow rose in amusement. "Are you trying to kill me with your deadly glares?" No answer. "Vanessa." He sighed, a hint of desperation in his voice, "It''s not what you think..." Silence. Silence colder than the night in a desert. Silence colder than Antarctica. "It was just a stupid fling! She doesn''t matter. None of them do." Nathaniel took a step towards her and took her face in his hands, before gently brushing his lips against her forehead. "You do. Always. No matter what happens. You''ll always be my precious little flower. Always." Nathaniel gazed at the sparkling ocean blues and he could see the sadness and longing in them. Deep guttural longing. "Promise me! You''ll not.... hurt me again." A tear rolled down her cheek and he tilted his face to kiss it away. "I promise. Never again. Ever." That was enough. She let him pull her in his arms and smiled as the faint hint of his familiar autumn perfume teased her nostrils. And, she could feel a sense of belonging. Enough for her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The parents of the two can sense the thin line of tension, disappearing between the two and fluttering feelings had took it''s place, considering the longing looks Nathaniel was giving Vanessa. ... who was either too naive to understand, or too shy to return them... Vanessa settled down the fork on her plate and picked up the spoon, only to drop it a second later, earning her confused glances. Vanessa smiled apologetically, before picking up the spoon again and then, threw Nathaniel a dirty glare. "Nathan. Your hand is on my thigh." She hissed at him quietly and his brown eyes looked at his beautiful flower with an intense emotions in his eyes. "You called me Nathan. You had not called me that, after you''ve turned.... plump." He grinned mischievously and Vanessa''s cheeks tinted red, but she managed to keep the scowl on her face. "Nathaniel-" "Nathan." He cut in, before she could speak any further and she sighed. "Nathan. Your hand is still on my thigh." "..." His hand shifted, causing Vanessa to still in her chair, and her blue eyes dipped to confirm her suspicion. Her thighs clenched and she froze as Nathaniel let out a low groan. Vanessa stand up from her seat abruptly, "I need to..... go to washroom." And she ran away. Nathaniel smiled, "Cos¨¬ adorabile." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Translations: Italian~ Cos¨¬ adorabile --> So adorable. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 13 Chapter 12. He heard?! When Vanessa reached the office next day, she was met with bummed faces instead of the usual smiles, thrown her way by her colleagues and Carl looked like she had been affected the most of this plague. "Carl?" "Carl?" Vanessa''s brows furrowed in amusement as Carl supported a smile, as if trying to mimic someone, before her face became sloppy again. "Carl!" Vanessa thumped her hand against Carl''s desk, startling the hell out of her and Carl immediately repeated the crammed line, as if Vanessa would chew her ear if she would not. "Good morning mam, how can I help you to..." "Carl?" Vanessa leaned over her desk to shake her best friend into real world, and received a slumped look in response, before Carl finally gained her senses. "Huh?" Now, Vanessa was worried. "Carl? What''s wrong? I had been calling you for minutes, first you were gazing at the wall..... like you have been stumped out." "He smiled." What the fudge? "Carl, did you finally realize you have lost it?" Vanessa asked with fake concern and Carl scowled at her bad joke. "Ok. Ok. You have not, my bad." Vanessa giggled at her own joke and received another scowl in response. "Ok. I am done. What''s up?" Carl rolled her eyes as Sapphire (Vanessa) put her hand on her mouth as if to prevent another bad joke from tumbling out of her mouth and Carl sighed dreamily, as if she was back in her bubble world. "He smiled." Vanessa removed her hand from her mouth and looked at Carl in disbelief. "Ok, some man smiled at you, so what? You are hot." "No, I didn''t mean it like that, I was talking about him." Vanessa gave her a look, "Ok, now I am feeling like you have certainly lost it. When you''ll find out what, find me." "He smiled, Vanessa." Vanessa was about to reprimand her, when Carl dropped the atom bomb on her. "Nathaniel Black just smiled at me, the f*ck! I feel like I have just been smashed in the head?" Seriously? "Well, what''s wrong with him, smiling?" Vanessa demanded rather defensively, but Carl couldn''t quite catch the blinking fishy signals from her dreamland and spoke mystically, what was a thing of great importance. "He is Nathaniel Black." What the- Vanessa gave her a deadpanned look, before hurrying towards her office, ignoring Carl''s whines of desperation that she had not lost it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Vanessa was busy fixing up files of the company, and trying to ignore the whispered gossips of her stumped colleagues, when her office telephone rang. She picked up the phone and put it to her left ear, without bothering to look up from the file she was studying and repeated the thoroughly practised line. "Hello, this is Black''s Corporations, how can I help you?" "Ms. Jones." "Sh*t." Vanessa straightened up on her seat in fright and immediately apologized for not checking the number and blurting out the crammed line and then, apologized again for what she just said, before she finally shut up realising she was rambling and waited for him to start his lecture. And he did what?! He laughed at her silliness. Vanessa stilled in shock. Nathaniel Black, who didn''t leave a chance to reprimand his employees just laughed it off as if it''s nothing. "Ms. Jones. Are you there?" Vanessa jumped back into reality. "Yes sir. What can I do for you?" "Um, Is something wrong with the receptionist on the ground floor?" Vanessa''s brows furrowed. "Carl?" "Yes, Ms. Stevens was behaving oddly when I called to inform her to put an advertisement for my new PA in newspaper. She is your friend, so I thought you would know something." Nathaniel inquired sceptically, while Vanessa smiled to herself finally catching everything thing. Carl must have seriously lost it. Vanessa giggled to herself, completely forgetting that Nathaniel was still on the line, until he made himself known "Ms. Jones? Are you laughing at me?" There was a tinge of annoyance in his voice and Vanessa jumped in fright yet again. "No sir, it''s just you don''t have to worry about Carl, she is always like this." "Oh. Well if that''s the case..." Before he could say anything more, the door to Vanessa''s cabin was thrown open and a loud squeal rang through the room "Carl, what the heck? Have you finally lost it?!" Vanessa threw her friend a dirty glare and received another squeal in response. "She is gone. That b*tch is gone." "Carl!" Vanessa hissed warningly, but Carl just ignored her. "Oh, the happiness just exceeded the one of being a graduate and well, of course I regret not getting the chance to bash her fake face, but it''s alright I think I would let it go." Carl murmured with delight and giggled, and Vanessa sighed as she remembered something. "Yeah. Yeah. I still had to get her to buy me a new suit, but I think I''ll get over it too." Vanessa giggled softly, the fake professionalism wearing out slightly and Carl smiled excitedly. "So, what would you think of hitting the club, tonight. Let''s celebrate." Vanessa tensed slightly, "Not today, I have a prior engagement today." "Oh well, may be this weekend?" "I''ll have to ask my brother, he doesn''t allow me fifteen Kilometers near any club." Vanessa smiled apologetically and Carl sighed. "Too overprotective, huh?" Vanessa sighed. "You have no idea." "Well, I guess, I''ll see you in the cafeteria for lunch. Please carry on with your call." Carl urged her and Vanessa froze. "Sh*t." "What happened?" Carl looked at her skeptically as she picked up the stranded phone and put it on her left ear, and received a constant beep of the line being cut in the chilling silence. "Saph, what happened?" "He heard us." Carl froze. "You mean...?" Vanessa nodded. "He heard..... Everything?" Vanessa nodded. Carl gulped the uneasy lump in her throat. We are.... Dead! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 14 Chapter 13. The Tinted Nigh Flashback: "Vanessa. You are being childish." Vanessa ignored him for what seemed like umpteenth time and Nathaniel sighed. If none of you had guessed, Vanessa was just being her stubborn childish self and had refused to talk with him, after he had broken the lock of the room she was hiding in, caught ahold of her slippery little self when she tried to run and thrown over his shoulder as she tried to wriggle out out of his hold, before carrying her all the way down and dumped her in the car with a secure child lock. Gosh, it was a sight to see her cheeks puffed up as she had tried to look vicious and had just looked cute. He had laughed when she panted like a fish, after deflating her two bubbles, leaving a tinge of red on her cheeks. But now... Nathaniel glanced at Vanessa, who had not lift her eyes from the window, ever since the incident and had ignored his entire existence. Vanessa felt the car slowed down, till it stopped and twitched as the engine of the car turned off. "Vinni." She shifted on her seat uneasily, but refused to respond and kept her eyes on the wide spread forest. "Look up." Vanessa shifted again and very slowly raise her head up slowly and looked out of the windshield of the car, before she stilled in shock. The bright tinted lights shimmered in her eyes as she gazed out of the window in awe and her lips twitched in a beautiful smile. The Carnival. The passenger door clicked open and Vanessa turned to look at his outstretched hand in surprise. She had not even heard him move... "Let''s go." Vanessa giggled in utmost delight as she put her hand in his and let him pull her out of the car, before the two hurried towards the entry of the carnival, hand in hand. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Vanessa gazed at the closed door with wary and ignored the shredder beside her, who had nearly shredded the half of her poor nails. My condolences blue coloured fibres..... There, there, look who is back? Vanessa welcomed the nagging voice of her brain as if she was her best friend, instead of Carl, who always appeared when she was in trouble. Just to enjoy a bloody good show.... Thanks! Vanessa sighed. Female dog. Silence. Vanessa muttered a prayer of thanks under her breath and received more cutting and shredding in response. So, she took it upon herself to be a man and knocked. But wait, she is not a man, she is a woman..... .... who had disguised herself in a fake bubble. .... who had her boss hear them talk about his ex-lover. ..... who was officially her fiance¨¨. .... who had taken her to the carnival last night. .... who had once again eaten Vanilla ice cream, because of his allergy. .... who had taken her first kiss in the giant ferris wheel. Vanessa unknowingly blushed as she remembered the sweet kiss. She remembered how she was viewing the beautiful sights of London from the Ferris wheel and had felt his gaze on her. She remembered how he had trapped her against the wall behind her. She remembered how she had blushed when he smiled sinisterly as he had stared at her lips. She remembered how he had kissed her, as soft as a feather, as sweet as a strawberry as his lips had moved against her tenderly. She remembered how flushed she looked, when she panted against his chest like a fish. She remembered how he had chuckled and had called her adorable little flower. She remembered everything, every little thing. "Ms. Jones and Ms. Stevens!" The two girls squeaked like a duck of the same pond as his familiar voice spoke up from the behind and they immediately turned around to face him. "I was expecting you two." His lips quirked up in amusement as the two girls exchanged nervous looks, certainly due to his words and gulped in fear. "Sir.. w-we can e-explain." Vanessa stumbled on her words as soon as his familiar brown eyes landed on her and Carl, being the duck of the same pond, bobbed her like crazy as if trying to throw out her sucked off voice. Nathaniel''s brow raised up intrigued, "... please do." "Um..." Vanessa looked at Carl for help but the latter was too busy staring at her shredded blue coloured nails. "..... Carl will explain." Carl''s throat jutted down in her chest and she turned her face slightly to glare at the traitor, before she looked at their boss with a nervous smile. "Um.... I... we... are sorry. We would not speak of that bi-eautiful lady again." Carl bowed down in apology immediately and Vanessa gaped at her like a fish, but bowed her head in apology too. Was that an explanation? .... and bi-eautiful lady? Vanessa looked at Carl from the corner of her eyes and gave her a look of disbelief, which was returned as an arctic glare. ..... atleast its something! Oh? Vanessa''s brow raised up incredulously and was returned as a vicious glower, which spoke louder than before. .... what did you do? Vanessa smiled at her innocently, which caused Carl to huff in displeasure and Nathaniel cleared his throat to show them that he was still there and observing their mute exchange of words. Their heads bowed down even lower and Nathaniel chuckled, causing them to blush in embarrassment. "Don''t make promises you can''t keep about the bi-eautiful lady, Ms. Stevens." Nathaniel reprimand Carl half-sternly, half-jokingly and Vanessa snickered under her breath causing Carl to glower at her. I am gonna kill you. "And Ms. Jones, put the phone on hold the next time, if you wish to discuss something private with Ms. Stevens." Nathaniel addressed her with a sinister smirk as Vanessa gave Carl a stink eye as she snickered leisurely. I am gonna kill you too. Nathaniel looked at them amused. They are really best friends. "Ms. Stevens, you can go." "I can? You are not gonna fire me?" Carl blabbered out without thinking and received a sharp nudge in her ribs by Vanessa and Carl flushed in embarrassment as she realised what she had said. She had practically asked for her death certificate..... Nathaniel barked out a laugh, "No, Ms. Stevens. You are in luck today." ".... and Sapphire?" Vanessa nudged Carl in the ribs with her elbow again and mentally grinned as she heard her hiss in pain. Nathaniel sighed. "I am afraid no Ms. Stevens." Carl choked a sob of cry and put her arms around Vanessa, "You are gonna fire my best friend." Nathaniel and Vanessa looked at Carl incredulously before they both burst out laughing. "Y-You are laughing?" Carl stared up at her incredulously and Vanessa grinned at her. "You misunderstand him, Carl. By ''I am afraid no'' means he was answering he was not gonna fire me, but I didn''t know you love me that much." "Oh?" Carl chuckled nervously as she stared at the two with embarrassment and sighed. "I.... should go now." Nathaniel smiled. "I should definitely go now." ..... and she fled. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 15 Chapter 14. An Embarrassing Moment. Vanessa nearly screamed out her frustration as she stared at the highest shelf of the wall with hatred, as if it would make the shelf come a bit lower. Well, if none of you had guessed, Vanessa had been handed a task by her boss, before he had disappeared off to somewhere. Get files of the new projects and make it''s accountancy details, to calculate the profit percentage. It was an easy task. A cup of the green tea for her. If only, those files were not on the highest shelf. Well, she would have managed any shelf, but not the highest shelf, even when she stood 6 six inches high on her heels. So, now she had two options, one is to wait for Nathaniel to appear and get scolded, and other is pull over one of that uneven looking strong chair that rested in front of the window and be the winner. Pssh.. the first option was not even a chance. She sighed as she pushed the chaired cushion towards the shelves, chaired cushion?, or was it cushioned chair?, Meh, not a matter, it was going to hold her frame as she was gonna leisurely pick up the required files from the shelves. '' 1.. 2.. Cha cha cha. The file adventure soon became fun for her as she hummed out some 1,2, cha cha cha, nonsense under her breath as she looked for the required file at first number, pulled it out at the second and then, tuck it under her arm at the ''cha, cha, cha'' like some soldier marching, with stupidly adding goofy smiles and giggles. 3.. 4.. Cha cha cha. Vanessa giggled goofily again as she shuffled the files tucked under her arm and leaned over to pick up the file buried at the corner of the shelf. 5.. 6.. "... cha cha ch-" "What are you doing?" Vanessa squeaked like loudly pitched speaker mic, the words of victory dying in her throat and the world, no actually the chair slipped from under her feet. She screamed and her hands flew up to her eyes as she waited for the deep impact, somewhere in the mid of her butt breaking into pieces due to her rough landing or her head shredding to bits. ..... and then, everything stopped. Her heart jerked. Did her head break? Or did her butt get shredded? No wait, it was the opposite. Her head was gonna get shredded and her butt was gonna break down. Does it matter? "F*cking hell." Vanessa''s hands flew down and she felt him, nope not that of him, but his arms around her holding her up and then before she could make sense of anything, she was back on her feet. He.... saved her? Too late, gurl! Vanessa shunned her out. "Ms. Jones. What the heck were you thinking? Standing on some uneven sofachair, are you mad?" Nathaniel growled low from the back of his throat and Vanessa flinched slightly. He is..... scolding her? Her throat went dry. "Ms. Jones. I am not talking to the f*cking air. I am bloody talking to you." Nathaniel hissed at her warningly and her lower lip trembled slightly. "I am sorry..... I just couldn''t reach the files and.... so, I...." She trailed off, her head dropping low in embarrassement and heard him sigh in response. "You could have just waited for me to return. It was not like I am gonna get scared of my own office and will not gonna return." Vanessa blushed in embarrassment. "I am sorry." "You are not hurt, are you?" Nathaniel looked her over, trying to find any scratches or bruises and Vanessa shook her head. "No sir, I am fine." He nodded. "Did you get the files I ask for?" He asked, his gaze browsing her facial expressions and she nervously pushed her spectacles up her nose, before nodding. "Good then, pick up the files, take them to your office and send me the reports by tomorrow." Nathaniel ordered as he walked towards his leather chair and Vanessa nodded, muttering something related to playing cha cha cha game akin to stupidness as she dropped to her knees to pick up the files. "Did you say something, Ms. Jones?" Nathaniel asked as he unbuttoned the coat of his Armani. "Erm. No, sir." Vanessa chimed from behind as she gathered the files from the floor and put it on the cushioned chair, before pushing it towards its original place. Nathaniel draped his coat on the back of his leather chair as he looked over her and settled down on his chair with a sigh. "Ms. Jones, you don''t have to do that." "It''s alright, sir." Vanessa pushed the chair, until it was perfectly aligned in front of other sofa chair and picked up the pile of files, before walking towards the door. "Ms. Jones." She paused, before turning her head slightly to look at her boss. "Yes sir?" Nathaniel leaned back in his leather chair and grinned smugly. "You are welcome." Her cheeks blossomed with colour. "Oh. Erm, thank you sir." "It''s alright, Ms. Jones." He chuckled and she fled out of his office, not wanting to make it more embarrassing than it already was. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The whole day pass by in a blur for Vanessa, the only thing she tapped and chit was the files she worked on and for once, no one seemed to stop by to remind her, they are also there, not even Nathaniel and she couldn''t be anymore happier, because she was not sure if she would kept the embarrassment from being visible on her cheeks. But the whole report took more than her office hours, so she was still buried in her silver manager cabin. Now, it was time to fix in the reports in one attatchment and send it to Nathaniel. She logged into her email account, she had formed just before she had taken over the job and typed in a new mail. From: SJones@gmail.com To: NathanielJBlack@gmail.com Subject: The New Accountancy Details For Upcoming Projects. Attachmentxxxxnewproject.jpg There are few minor complications in some projects, that are already marked and highlighted in the attachement. Let me know if something was left. I would revise it again. Regards, Sapphire Jones. ~ Vanessa was just packing her things, when her phone pinged with notification and she unlocked her phone to see mail from Nathaniel. From: NathanielJBlack@gmail.com To: SJones@gmail.com Why are you still in the office? It''s late. Go home. ~ Gosh, he must have liked her presentation and had just send it as a reward for her. Vanessa smiled as she typed an answer. From: SJones@gmail.com To: NathanielJBlack@gmail.com Just want to finish the work off. I am leaving now. ~ From: NathanielJBlack@gmail.com To: SJones@gmail.com Wait there. I''ll drive you home. ~ Oh no! Vanessa''s jaw dropped to the floor as she read his message, before re-reading it again to confirm if her eyesight was working properly before typing in a reply. From: SJones@gmail.com To: NathanielJBlack@gmail.com There is no need sir. I can call a cab. ~ Vanessa looked down at her phone, awaiting his message and frowned as the clock tocked two minutes more. Erm, he must have seen her message, so ahm, she could leave. Good, Vanessa nodded pleased and slung her handbag over her shoulder, before accessing the room to check if she forgot anything and walked over to her door. But before she can push it, it was pulled open and she stumbled slightly but she managed to gain her balance. Not bloody again. Nathaniel put his hands deep in his pant pocket as he regarded her sternly, almost warningly, as if to dare defy him. "Ms Jones? Shall we?" Vanessa looked up at him from behind the glasses and smiled sheepishly. "Of course, sir." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 16 Chapter 15. The Beautiful Bond. The next day was a normal day for Vanessa, the events of the last night, where her boss so kindly offered to give her a ''lift'' home, completely forgotten like an illusion at the lack of acknowledgement from the big party. She was now handling the procedures for the newly appointed personnel assistant, showing her around and getting her familiar with the office handlers and procedures, the departments and investments, and the board and share load. The New PA, Betty was just as sweet as she looked, her black hairs pulled up in a cute bun and eyes a charming crescent moon and not to forget the winged glasses that rested cutely on her nose, that Vanessa had no doubt she''d soon be forced to join Carl''s group. So, it wasn''t until later in the afternoon, that she was done being the tour guide of Betty and headed towards her station aka her cabin, which was strangely open, the door slightly parted for Vanessa to catch the figure of Carl leaning over her desk. Vanessa pushed the door open and immediately paused at the sight of her IPhone in the hands of her blonde friend, who was now looking at her warily. "You... You are not Sapphire." Carl raised her chin to look up at her as if daring her to contradict her and Vanessa''s lips parted briefly, before shutting down to close, unable to form a sentence. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. "You are not, are you?" Carl took her silence as a confirmation and glared at her. "Who are you? And, what did you do to Saph?" Vanessa looked at her, as if trying to figure out if she was being serious, before she burst out laughing. "Carl? Really?" Carl glared at her. "Who. Are. You?" Vanessa took a step forward, causing Carl to jump back in automatic defense and Carl blushed as Vanessa looked at her amused. "Follow me." Vanessa pointed towards the door of the washroom and almost immediately, Carl''s chin jutted out defensively. "Why should I?" "Don''t you want to know, who I am?" That was encouragingly enough for Carl and she followed Vanessa into the washroom. Vanessa locked the door as soon as both of them entered the bathroom and removed the fake glasses. The brown locks sprouted free, from underneath the wig, as she pulled at the pins holding it and she pulled it off her, revealing herself completely. Carl tumbled on her feet in shock. Vanessa smiled. "This is me." Vanessa tilted her head to the side as she looked at her best friend, who was still trying to check if she was not seeing a dream by pinching her arm as hard as she could. Her poor arm. "Carl..." "You are.... you are....." Vanessa smiled charmingly at her and outstretched her hand for her to shake. "Hi! I am Vanessa. Vanessa Survin. It''s a pleasure to truthfully meet you, Carl." "Oh my god...." Carl was hyperventilating, more than and larger than the word itself and that too just by staring at the hand outstretched for her to shake in the sign of the continuation of the deep unspoken trustworthy friendship. "Oh my god..." Vanessa smiled. "Oh my god...." "Oh my god....." ~~~~~~~~~~~~ It took time but Vanessa managed to fill in Carl thoroughly, "The Story Of Her Life", where it all "Started With An Interview" and landed her right in "Her Fiance¨¨''s Company", where her life was as exhilarating as a Thriller Romance and to say, Carl was stunned would be an understatement of the century. She looked like she was gonna faint any moment. After that, she was back to being Carl again, asking for her autograph, slurping two burgers with extra large diet coke to make the emotional burns of revelations to disappear and officially forcing Betty to join her group, both on real and social site. Nothing changed, yet at the same time something did change. "To The Earth, Vinni!" Her mom flicked her forehead, bringing her back to the reality rather harshly and settled herself on the empty comfy loveseat in her room. "Had a safe trip to moon?" Vanessa rolled her eyes and resumed reading the monthly financial report of her father''s company, while her mother busied herself by picking up one of the accountancy report and clucked her tongue as her eyes roamed on the dishevelled report. "What is this nonsense?" Sera gaped at the thin parchment paper and peered at her daughter''s baby blues in disbelief. "Do they think rich people are all "brains" of the old generation?" Vanessa sighed. "I am gonna talk to Dad about it, once he returns." Sera huffed as she slammed the report shut and put it back on the heap of files of other reports. "No. Seriously? What kind of people is your father working with? F*cking Malicious As¡ìholes?! And he is An Alumni of Harvard!!" Vanessa chuckled. "Mom. You really need to stop talking about Dad like that." Sera smirked mischievously and Vanessa''s face twisted as she realised what was coming next. But it was already too late. "No way. He loves it when I talk shit." Vanessa send her a disgruntled look. "Please. Keep. It. PG13." Sera smiled cheekily. "If we did, there would be noway we''d have gotten you and Stephan." Vanessa paled. "Mom." Sera giggled. "Alright. Alright. I''ll stop." Fudging yes!! "But only if you tell me the stage you crossed with your dearest Nathaniel." Oh Lorrdd! "So? Did he swoop you off your feet and kiss you yet?" Vanessa ignored her mother and stared blankly at the papers in her hands. "Or perhaps you have done the deed?" Vanessa stared at her mother in confusion. "Um?" Her mother grinned like a madman. Woman. With poison bites in her smile. "You know, the nasty stuff, the deed under the sheets." Vanessa choked on the air horrified. "What the-" And in the next moment, she had found herself in the bathroom under the safety of the bolt of the door away from her teasing smirk. "Hey Vinni. As much as I''d appreciate the little versions of you and Nathaniel, we''d like to hold a beautiful wedding ceremony first for you." Vanessa stuffed the cotton buds in her ears. She can get used to it. Not. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 17 Chapter 16. The So Not Shotgun. The next day, the temperature of the city dropped considerably due to the overnight snowfall and Vanessa was thoroughly ready to start the morning late since it was Saturday. The sleepy flower felt her warm blanket swish up in the morning chill, before the warmth settled over her again that Vanessa couldn''t help but lean back unconsciously. Warmth nipped at her skin as she felt softness bury its way in her neck and Vanessa couldn''t help the moan of delight that escaped her lips. \"Cos¨¬ adorabile.\" Teeth nipped at her ear and Vanessa''s eyelaahes fluttered as shuffled under the warm covers in disbelief. Am I dreaming of Nathan? A chuckle resonated near her ear. \"Good morning, mon amour.\" Vanessa gasped in surprise and almost immediately, her hand flew up to touch the so called warm covers and met the jaws all too familiar. This is not a dream. \"Now, why do you think this would be a dream? Didn''t you just feel me? Right here.\" His lips touched the palm of the hand that rested on his cheek and she immediately turned around to face her fiance¨¨. The said man looked devilishly handsome in V-neck sweater as he loomed over her with his gaze burnig deep into her blue eyes as he supported his head on one hand while the other hand wounded around her waist. \"Nathan.\" \"How do you do, my love?\" His lips tilted up in a smile as Vanessa raised her hand to carefully touch his cheek in an attempt to check if he was real. The moment she was sure he''d not disappear, she pounced. Nathaniel chuckled as her tiny face buried in his neck and her little hands clawed at his arms as she tried to draw him closer, which he happily obliged. \"Ma petite fleur pr¨¦cieuse.\" Her blue eyes raised to meet his in disbelief. \"You are doing it again.\" \"I apologize, mon amour.\" Vanessa sighed. Why did she even try? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ \"My, Isn''t this a sight and might I say, a wonderfully delightful sight, without my darling daughter''s favourite blanket in sight.\" Sera smiled at her daughter with a pointed smile, which earned her a scowl. \"And, without messy hairs and dribbled drools too.\" \"Mom!\" Sera chuckled at the sight of dismay on her daughter''s face and turned to look at her daughter''s fiance¨¨. Nathaniel Black had always been nore than a name on business card. He was a brand. A Hot brand. And might she say, a good one too. Especially for her daughter. \"And Morning, Nathaniel. Might I say it is a good one too, since you got Vanessa out of bed before 10 on a Saturday Morning.\" Vanessa''s cheeks turned even more embarrassingly red as Nathaniel chuckled. \"Good morning to you too, Aunt Sera.\" Her mother smiled like a mad woman and Vanessa froze. Oh dear lord. Fudging heck. Vanessa choked and barely managed to cover the scream in, with forced coughing sounds. Nathaniel''s brows tightened as he patted her back in an attempt to soothe her. \"You ok?\" His warm voice fanned her with affection and her blue eyes settled on him with equal warmth. A low hum of reassurance escaped her throat and her cheeks unconsciously flushed red at how meek her voice sounded. Nathaniel smoothed her hairs gently while Sera took that as a cue to wave away the petals of love around them and cleared her throat. Loudly. \"Nathaniel dear, come sit.\" Sera patted the table as an invitation of the happy family breakfast. \"Vinni''s father is making his special pancakes today.\" \"Did you call for me, darling?\" Her father''s head poked out from behind the kitchen door, before his eyes caught the sight of her daughter and widened. \"Oh. Vinni baby, where is your blanket?\" Not again. Vanessa pouted unhappily at her father''s words and Nathaniel chuckled at the sight of the adorably red inflated cheeks and pick that as a cue. \"Actually since it''s weekend I thought me and Vanessa could spend it together at my lodge. So, I''d like your permission...\" \"Oh dear. There is no need for that, afterall she is all yours.\" And just to add a force to her point, Sera winked at Nathaniel. Like, actually cheekily winked at him meaningfully and Vanessa''s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. Nathaniel laughed. \"I''ll keep that in mind for the next time.\" Vanessa was sure by now that she was making a world record of blushing the most. \"Are you sure you don''t want to have my special pancakes?\" Her father leaned against the door of the kitchen, the white and pink striped apron tied around his waist stained as he stirred the batter in the glass bowl. \"No. It''s alright. We''ll have something on the way to the lodge. Sorry, Uncle George.\" Nathaniel declined politely and George shook his head in dismay at their so called loss, his hands never one stopping. \"You''d be missing out my special juice too.\" \"Dad. I am sure, we''ll live.\" Vanessa rolled her eyes as at her father and urged Nathaniel towards the door of the living room. George harrumphed in annoyance like he couldn''t believe that and walked back into the kitchen. \"Bye Mama.\" Vanessa leaned over Nathaniel''s shoulder to wave at her mother and Sera smiled as she waved back. \"Bye, baby. Have fun. And as we have talked,\" The smile turned mischievous at the edge. \"No shotgun wedd-.\" The door slammed shut. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Vanessa watched Nathaniel roll the Touristar-suitcase down the pavement of her house and towards his car, his V-neck completely hidden underneath the black trench coat and the grey and black muffler hanging from the scruff of his neck. She had yet to close the final zip of the bag, she had packed for the little vacation, when Nathaniel decided that first and foremost priority was to take her parents'' permission. And....God? Do all parents love to embarrass their children like that? ... Vanessa walked down the steps of the house, and stalked the clear pavement, from where the snow had been cleared and smoothed down their garden. The green trees were now blanketed by the snow, and even her mom''s fruit garden was buried under. The clear staccato of her boots, caused him to look behind him and he smiled at her before closing the trunk of his black sports car. \"Excited?\" Vanessa nodded giddily and Nathaniel cupped her cheek affectionately. \"And, are you warm enough?\" Vanessa glanced down at the cherry red overcoat that she had pulled over her wooly white dress. The white wool stockings covered her legs and ended into her cherry coloured boots. The bordered cherry, white scarf snuggled around her neck matched her wooly cap that rested on the top of her hairs. \"Do you want to check?\" Vanessa tilted her head playfully and he chuckled as he opened the door for her. \"Sit.\" Her eyebrow raised suggestively. \"Are you sure?\" His eyes darkened in warning. \"Vanessa.\" She giggled as she climbed inside the car, letting him close the door behind her and watched him as he jogged around the car and settled himself on the driver''s seat. \"Seat belt.\" He cautioned and Vanessa leaned back against the seat and fluttered her lashes at him. \"Please?\" Nathaniel loomed over her head and pulled at the seat belt, before tucking it in the place, the brown and blue clashing midway like sand and sea. \"Vinni. You need to stop.\" His deep voice sounded hoarse. He was holding back. He was holding back for her. Vanessa smiled, the blue in her eyes shimmering like sunkissed ocean and, he held his breath. Beautiful. He gnashed his teeth and waited for her to stop him. She didn''t. And, he kissed her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~