Chapter Six
The moment she walked out from his car, Laurence felt a vacuum, a desperation to be with her again. He didn't understand this crazy feeling at all. He just couldn't drive away so he waited like a stalker to see the guy with whom she was living. Seeing her smile at her boyfriend as he opened the door made his blood boil. He felt like punching the man left and right till he was unable to stand up again.
After a very restless night and an equally restless morning Laurence got ready for office and drove over to her house. Sitting in his black Porsche he kept a watch from a distance, waiting for her to emerge. When she finally came out of her house and walked to the bus stop, he followed her. Stopping the car in front of her, he opened the door and came out. Her eyes widened seeing him.
"Arianna get into the car," he ordered. Thankfully she didn't argue and opened the passenger door and got inside, fixing her seat belt. Laurence too climbed in.
"Good morning sir," said Arianna, relieved that it was her boss and not some stranger who emerged from the black Porsche.
"Morning, " mumbled an annoyed Laurence. There was nothing good about the morning for him. He was jealous of her chirpy mood. Did she share a physical relationship with that guy? The answer made him all the more grumpy than he ever was. Arianna looked at his dark, grumpy sulking face and refrained from talking any further. That however made him grumpier. He drove towards his office furious that she wasn't behaving freely with him as she behaved with that guy.
Parking the car, he strode out and walked towards the elevators with a flustered Arianna following him, trying hard to match with his pace. She didn't understand her boss at all and thought maybe since he ran such a huge empire, he should be having a lot of problems to deal with. She quietly walked into the elevator with him and they went up to his floor. There was a deafening silence in the elevator as no one spoke a word to one another. Laurence just watched her, not knowing how to ask details about her relationship with the man.
As they reached his floor, he strode towards his room. "Come in and help me arrange my desk," he ordered.
Arianna nodded, "Yes sir," she said. As she kept her handbag in her cubicle she noticed that Mrs Drewett hadn't arrived yet. Maybe she came in later as it was just 7:45 in the morning. Walking up to Laurence's office, she knocked on his door. "Come in," he yelled and she quickly opened the door and went inside. She noticed that his desk was a mess with papers and files everywhere.
"Here sort the loose sheets first and start filing up in these files," he said as Arianna helplessly stood near the desk. "Come here and arrange with me, " he growled impatiently. Why couldn't she come and stand near him and help him sort the stuff. Arianna went around his desk and stood beside his chair. Picking up one sheet at a time, she read the contents and placed in the folder labelled with the similar heading. Laurence was acutely aware of the fresh scent of roses emanating from her. He wanted to pull her onto his lap and embed his nose in her neck. He could see her long creamy smooth legs exposed from below her skirt. He wanted to run his fingers along them. He had noticed her v-neck top today and it showed off her creamy neck. He wanted to trail his tongue all the way to the v of her top.
"Get me some coffee," he said in a hoarse voice. Arianna nodded and rushed out to get him coffee. After ten minutes, she returned with his coffee. Placing it beside him, she went further away from his side snd sorted the rest of the papers quietly. She was on the last document at last. She knew he was watching her as she sorted everything. It made her all the more conscious and clumsy.
"How will you sort my drawers standing there?" He asked her with a frown.
"Sorry sir," she said, finishing off with his desk and coming over to his side to sort his drawers. She was acutely aware of the smell of his cologne and his nearness. It disturbed her and she fumbled with the keys to the drawer. His hand shot out and he opened his drawer smoothly, brushing her hand in the process. Goosebumps erupted at his touch much to her discomfort.
"Take out everything and rearrange them properly, neatly in the drawers," he said, his voice husky. She nodded and did as asked. She didn't understand why he was making her rearrange when everything was already neatly arranged. But she couldn't argue and did as asked.
She was onto the last drawer when his phone buzzed. He took the call,"Yes Lisa," he said softly into the phone.
"No you're not going alone anywhere. I'll send my driver if no one's available right now. Where's Joe?" He asked.
"Fine call me when you reach and again call me when you return home," he spoke into the phone.
"No, I'm never too busy for you," he said disconnecting the call. Arianna silently heard him talk to his Lisa. Maybe she was his wife or girlfriend, she felt. She concentrated upon her work and hurriedly finished it all off.
"Sir it's done. Is there anything else you want me sort?" She asked him.
He looked up from his laptop at her. "Have you got your resume?" He asked gruffly. Arianna noticed the difference between the way he spoke to her and the way he spoke to his Lisa. It was obvious that he loved his Lisa while maybe he disliked her. No wonder he behaved the way he did and was always grumpy with her. The thought hurt Arianna's innocent mind a lot.
"Yes sir. I'll go and get it," she said quietly. No wonder he was always angry with her. He was repenting his decision to recruit her. Maybe he needed someone educated and more experienced to handle his workload. She went towards the door and to her cubicle. Taking out her resume she went back inside. She handed the resume over to him. He took it from her hands impatiently and went through her resume.
"There are many things missing from here," he said more gruffly.
"Oh, if you tell me sir, I'll add the missing details," she said, hesitantly. He was always angry at anything she did. Maybe she wouldn't be able to retain her job after all.
"Sit down, " he ordered and scribbled onto her resume. Then he handed it over to her. "Fill it up, now."
She nodded and looked at the headings that he had added.
Phone number-
She wrote down her new number beside it. Next was
Last school attended-
She added the name of her school. Then was
Date of birth-
She added her date of birth. Then was
Relationship status-
She added single. She handed her resume back to him. He scanned the entire page. "You need to mention a live-in relationship too if you're into it," he said with a frown.
"But I'm not in a live-in relationship, sir," she said, puzzled by his statement.
"Aren't you living in with your boyfriend?" Asked Laurence impatiently. Why was she denying when he had seen her boyfriend with his own eyes.
"No sir. I live with my best friend, Isabella at her house, " she said. Laurence was more aggravated at her admission. So she was maybe having an affair with her best friend's brother.
"Why don't you live in your own house?" He asked and her face fell. She didn't want to tell anyone about the hardships that she was facing in her life? It was her personal matter who she lived with. She wasn't answerable to her boss about her personal life.
"Sir I have problems at home," she answered and kept shut. She wouldn't tell him details about her father and his behaviour towards her.
Laurence pursed his lips with disapproval. He wanted to know more but a phone call from his production team made him get up and dismiss Arianna. She went outside and sat in her own cubicle. Mrs Drewett had arrived and gave her the work that needed to be done. Laurence strode out to the elevator without a glance towards them. He was more pissed off when she refrained from telling him what made her stay with her best friend. Was she marrying her brother? With these thoughts he went over to his production department ready to blast everyone.
Arianna was busy nearly the whole day. Laurence hadn't returned from his tour of the entire office. She learnt later that he had a number of meetings lined up for the day. It was already 6 o'clock and Mrs Drewett packed up to go home. "Are you coming along?" She asked a tired Arianna.
"No, I can't leave without informing sir," she said. Mrs Drewett nodded and left while Arianna continued to respond to the emails.
