Falling in love with the CEO's Assistant

Stranger Danger.

Pete came extra early to work that day so he could take his usual position by the window to see if Elena come with Gabriel again, and to his dismay she did, he watched the whole scenario play itself again as he tried to convince himself that nothing else was going on between the two but the idea that they were just friends didn't sit well with him either. He was probing too deep but he couldn't stop himself, he thought if Gabriel kept giving those free rides one day she would eventually invite him in and something that he didn't want to believe would happen and that to his surprise scared him.

Elena was in Linda's office catching a little free time before she got back to work when Rachel walked in without knocking and one thing Elena knew for sure was that whenever she and Rachel were in the same place, things didn't turn out well.

" Rachel, can I help you? " Linda asked as Rachel stormed in unannounced. Rachel stood in front of Elena, ignoring Linda.

" You're getting too comfortable here aren't you? "

Elena wasn't sure how to react so she just kept mute.

" Not to worry, I will make sure to remind you of your place, which is not here. " Rachel said with a smirk

" Ma'am__

Elena tried to understand the situation.

" Rachel you can't just come in here talking like that." Linda glanced at Elena " Elena please excuse us, will you? "

" Sure. " Elena replied and left

Linda turned back to Rachel " Why are you here? "

" I know what you're up to Linda, I'm not stupid. "

" What are you talking about? "

" You know what I'm talking about, whatever your plan is, it's not gonna work. "

Linda rested her chin on her hands. " If you're not gonna tell me, then please leave, I'm busy. "

" You bringing all these assistants, I know what you're doing Linda, you're pathetic. "

" Oh, so it's about the assistant. " Linda stood up " Look in the mirror Rachel, you're the one getting worked up and paranoid about everything and you've got the nerve to call me pathetic? "

Rachel pointed at her " You don't like me for Pete I know that, I don't care! but guess what? "

" What? " Linda sounded uninterested.

" I'm going to get married to him still, and there's nothing you or anyone else can do about that. "

Linda was smiling now " Oh really, I thought you were supposed to get married five months ago, and last month also? what happened Rachel? "

Rachel was turning red, she couldn't keep still. " Don't underestimate me you little wretch, I'm gonna__

" Stop taking those cheap drugs, we both know why you're engaged to Pete, and why you're still not married, I don't have to spell it out, it's time you stop blaming people for your misery and start looking for a therapist you crazy freak. " Linda walked over to the door and opened it for Rachel " Please leave "

" I'm gonna make you choke on those words " Rachel ranted and stormed out of the room.

Pete had conceived of the perfect plan that would yield in him giving Elena a ride home today, he wouldn't take the easy route of just asking he came up with an elaborate idea to attain his goals. He looked at the clock and it was almost 6 pm, he knew it was time for her to leave, he sat and patiently waited for her to enter the office and she did.

" There's a parcel coming into the office today, I have to step out briefly I need you to take it home for me. "

He watched how her look changed, he knew she was probably thinking about why he didn't just send it to his address instead, but he didn't mind.

" Um sure. "

" Have one of the drivers take you there, just drop it carefully inside. " He stood up and left before her.

Elena hopped into one of the company's vehicles as she was still perplexed at Pete's request, why couldn't he just mail it to his house instead? Or have someone else take it in for him? She wasn't sure yet, but who was she to question him. They soon arrived at Pete's home, she couldn't believe she was there, for some reason she was too nervous to go in. The security guard let her in after passing through some checks she was finally inside Pete's home.

She placed the box on the table and glanced around the sitting room in surprise, there were no windows in the house and it was very cold. There was a glass cup on the dining table, she figured he had a cup of tea before he left that morning. That was it, she had delivered the package it was time to leave now, but she didn't want to leave, she thought she had enough time so she would give in to the strong nudge urging her to take a look at Pete's abode.

She made her first stop at the kitchen, Pete must not be a fan of bright Colors because his house was painted dark blue and grey, the kitchen was so neat not a single utensil out of place. She opened the fridge and inspected inside it, there were a lot of leftovers, she concluded that Pete lived alone and also wondered why since he was practically engaged. She decided to make one last stop before calling it a day, she would visit the master bedroom which would be his for some perverted reason she didn't want to admit to herself.

She entered the room and made a stupid pirouette around the room, inhaling the air so deeply, that she laid on top of the extremely large bed, burying her face inside the pillow. Her next location was the table beside it, her eyes met something that blew her mind, what was her mother's song doing written inside a paper, stuck to the wall, how could he have known that song? she stood confused for a minute before realizing she didn't have much time to think, she had to explore his closet before leaving.

She made her way inside the closet and as she thought it was large, she opened the wardrobe and saw his neatly lined up clothes each in order of type. She flung her hands through every one of them and sniffed the warmest off of them, she was tempted to put one of them on but that would be weird. Just when she was about to close the wardrobe she saw a little picture frame hidden at the far end of the wardrobe, she picked it up and studied it. It was a family frame of Pete, it looked like he was 6 or 7 years old and his parents sat next to him with cheerful smiles on their faces. But someone was missing, Linda wasn't in the picture and she wondered why, with the way, Pete appeared she expected to see Linda seated somewhere in it.

" Elena? "

A familiar voice called her from behind, she wished the ground would open up for him to disappear into, she stood frozen and hope that voice was just a figment of her imagination.

" What are you doing in here? " Pete asked as he walked towards her taking the frame from her hands and placing it back to where it was, it was his plan all along, he knew she was still in here, he hoped she was still here, he asked the security before coming in and they informed him that she was still here so he wasn't surprised to find her here, what surprised him was that she was going through his stuff. What also surprised him was how his heart rate increased when she saw her looking fragile inside his closet.

" Sir.... " she replied still trying to catch her breath.

Pete was excited to watch her frolic around in shock, he wanted to smile but he must maintain a straight face.

" What are you doing in here Elena? "

" I was uh... looking for the bathroom__

" Inside my closet? " He asked rhetorically

" I'm so sorry... I got nosy, I'm sorry " She ran outside the closet in shame, and Pete followed her from behind.

" Well did you find the bathroom? "

Elena paused " Yeah... I'm so sorry sir, I...I should be going. "

This was his cue, as she was about leaving Pete grabbed her back by the arm, for that short moment, it was as if they went back to their first meeting on the hospital roof. She recognized this feeling and he wasn't a stranger to her anymore.

" I'll give you a ride home. "

" No sir, you don't have to. "

" I insist. "

She clung farther away from his gaze as possible, but she still managed to take a look at him. He looked different, even more, attractive than his usual look, his hair was not as arranged as it used to be, it was scattered around his face, but somehow he still managed to look good, the first three buttons of his shirt were loosened and the more she thought about it, the more lewd her thoughts were, she immediately snapped out of it.

She noticed how he tapped his hands on the wheels as he rode, he seemed unsteady, was he uncomfortable? she couldn't tell.

" I'm sorry. " Pete broke the silence

" Why are you apologizing? " she asked, she was not expecting an apology from him.

" The way I spoke to you the other day, about our meeting at the hospital. "

" Oh yeah... I suppose you have your reasons, you didn't expect a random stranger you met to be working as your assistant. "

" No it wasn't about you, remember I told you about someone I went to see? "

" Yeah.. the girl who was in a coma "

Pete paused " Yeah.. um.. "

Elena saw the distressed look on his face, " It's okay " she unknowingly rested her arms on his lap " You don't have to talk about it if you're not comfortable, okay? "

Pete was stunned, he just nodded.

They arrived at her destination and Elena thanked him and apologized once more for her trespassing, he assured her that it was okay, he didn't care about that, he was happy he had accomplished his goal. As a gentleman that he was he was gonna do more than open the door for her, he offered to walk her to her doorstep, and together they walked to the front door, Elena opened the door not ready for what she was about to see, her bag dropped from her hand when she saw the state of her home, she exchanged a shocked look at Pete who was equally disturbed.

The house had been brutally ransacked and ravaged and It was in a terrible state the chairs falling, the broken clock on the floor, the TV laying helplessly on the floor. S.he was suddenly clouded by fear, she covered her mouth with her hands in a bid to keep herself from crying, and Pete immediately drew her closer to himself in what would be a hug.