The Billionaire's Tomboy

Chapter 26

Rachel

The two hours spent on the journey moved slowly.

My numb buttocks sent signals of help once in a while.

Chase texted me that he was already at the hot spring resort. We would meet there.

My mind strayed to the thoughts of Julie.

Seeing Julie just as I was about to go somewhere to relax had the opposite effect. I was anything but relaxed right now.

I was tensed.

Not knowing what she was at Steel Cell Group for made me uneasy.

I shook my head to clear my thoughts.

I was supposed to be on a relaxing trip at an hot spring resort. I don't want to spoil the fun I would get by entertaining thoughts of Julie.

I will not ignore the threat she might pose to me but I wasn't going to make all my thoughts about her either.

That would be giving her a win. Even if it was a twisted kind of win she didn't know about.

A light rap sounded on the window directly behind me. I turned to look.

Mr Briggs was standing there. He was smiling at me.

"Miss Rachel, it looks like you have an habit of going on flights of fancy." He said jokingly.

I observed my surroundings.

Lo and behold, I was the only one left in the bus again.

I wasn't blocking anyone's way now so nobody bothered to say anything.

It was a little rude but I kept quiet.

Although going deep into my head was my fault, tapping me or calling me to remind me that everybody was vacating the bus was polite.

Still, nobody owed me anything. It still boiled down to the option of helping me or walking past.

I guess nobody wanted to be polite.

I felt more isolated than ever.

I didn't reply to Mr Briggs' joke, I just smiled at him before slugging my backpack over my shoulder.

I alighted from the bus and joined the crowd.

A majestic scene that looked like a piece of paradise was before us.

Streams that let out steam meandered about and evergreen vegetation finished the gorgeous look.

"All of you should follow me." Mr Briggs said before he headed to the sprawling building that sat in the middle of the beautiful wonder of nature.

The first thing we encountered was a lobby for receiving clients and guests.

A young lady with a sweet face was behind the reception desk.

A smile was on her lips.

"Hello, welcome to Nature Royale Hot Spring Resort. Do you have a reservation or do you want to book one?" The sweet receptionist said.

A name tag was pinned to her chest. I glanced at it.

Her name was Bisi Castillo.

Mr Briggs glanced at her name tag too before he moved closer to the desk.

"Miss Castillo, we already have a reservation under Mr Williams." Mr Briggs said to the receptionist.

She checked the computer before her before she flashed an even brighter smile.

"This is the keys to the locked facilities in the section Mr Williams booked." Miss Castillo said before taking a bunch of keys from the draw connected to her desk.

She handed the keys to Mr Briggs.

Mr Briggs began walking deeper into the resort and we followed.

The resort was built in an ingenious way.

The buildings was built in a way that supplemented the natural hot springs that came from the earth.

There was a huge hall that had a long dining table to the side and there was another separate hall.

This second hall housed the hot spring. The steam made everything seem unreal at first glance.

The heat seemed to chase away the chill that attacked me when I thought of Julie.

It relaxed my body and I wasn't even soaking in the hot springs yet.

"You guys can put your belongings in that corner. By 7PM, we will all gather here for dinner before we leave." Mr Briggs said as he glanced at the faces of everyone that was gathered here, "Before you are allocated the free time to do whatever you want, Mr Chase Williams had given me an irrefutable instruction."

The employees' outing was only for a day while the days off given by Chase to all employees was just two.

The next day is for everyone to get their spirits together so they can come to work the next day.

Murmurs rose at the mention of Chase.

"Mr Chase is handsome. Have you seen him? I would dropped everything for him in an heartbeat." A female voice whispered.

"Me too. He's rich, he's handsome and he is also charismatic too! He's quite the catch." Another female voice replied.

It seemed the friend of the first voice replied.

I tried all my possible best not to turn around to stare at them.

I had to constantly remind myself that Chase was his own person. He wasn't my property.

Still, I had difficulties keeping my jealousies under control.

It was a green and huge monster that threatened to consume me.

I knew this was what I was signing up for when I decided to pursue Chase.

I knew Chase would not give them a second thought. Even with this fact engrained in my heart, I could not help the jealousy that surged up whenever I see women admire him.

I closed my eyes to settle my emotions.

I opened them when I was sure that I wasn't projecting my inner thoughts.

Chase didn't know what he was getting into.

He thought he was obsessive.

He hadn't been in my mind yet. My thoughts were dark.

"The mandatory thing everybody here has to do is the team building event that Mr Williams organized. There is light refreshments to rejuvenate your body before the games begin." Mr Briggs pointed to the dining table.

There were assorted snacks and drinks on the table.

I thought it was for dinner.

"You guys should go and eat. We will start the games in ten minutes. Make use of your time carefully." Mr Briggs informed everybody as he glanced at his metal watch.

A choris of 'Yes sirs' echoed throughout the room for sometime before dying out.

Everybody walked to the dining table in an orderly way.

I don't know if I was being too strange. I just picked one of the little canned drinks and biscuits that was still in its airtight pack.

I can't be too careful with things like this.

I do not plan to fall for a scheme like the one Patricia concocted again.

Experiencing it once was enough.

Ten minutes passed by and it was now time for the team building activities that Mr Briggs mentioned.

Mr Briggs made all of us seat in a huge circle.

Thankfully, the huge hall we were in allowed us to create the human circle successfully.

I messaged Chase.

He told me he was working on something. He asked me to come to the spot he booked privately after the games was done.

"So," Mr Briggs started, "We are not going to take a huge chunk out of the private time you would have later. We are only going to play one game. We are going to play Two Truths and A Lie."

The game we were about to play brought memories of the school reunion to me.

A horrible school reunion for me.

Ted's annoying face came to my mind.

I was concentrating fully on Julie that I had forgotten her partner in crime.

Ted wasn't exempt from my revenge either. I just didn't have his time yet.

He better pray I don't have his time.

I could guess why this game was chosen. It was the best way for everyone to learn a thing or two about each other.

It would have been a thing I would love to fully participate in.

Right now, the game came at a bad time. I already have a bad memory about games like this and I had other—important—things to do.

"Miss Rachel, let us start with you." Mr Briggs said.

I realized that I had let my thoughts embarrass me again.

The gazes of everyone on the room shot to me instantly.

It felt like electricity was swimming across my skin.

I shrugged the feeling off before sitting up.

There are people that would make things a bit difficult during games like this but I wasn't going to do that.

I wanted the game to finish quickly so I could go be with my man.

I did not want to spare any extra time here.

"Okay. I am good in things that concerns computers and programs. I am not Chase's secretary. I have a happy family." I said quickly.

Nobody spoke for a brief second.

The second that silence reigned felt like it had been stretched to infinity.

All the eyes that were on me could literally burn a hole through me.

I was wondering what I did wrong before my blunder dawned on me.

I had called Chase by his name without adding any honorifics.

To these people, it would sound like utter disrespect to their male idol.

Besides, it would imply a closer relationship that they might not want to acknowledge.

It was a normal thing to me but it would be an insane action to them.

"Uh." I cleared my throat awkwardly, "I meant Mr Williams."

The intensity of the gazes on me reduced.

Mr Briggs clapped.

"Her lie is very obvious." Mr Briggs said with a smile as he addressed everybody.

I inwardly heaved a sigh of relief.

This game was going to be a tedious task to accomplish.