The Billionaire’s Stripper

CHAPTER 10

I stared face to face with Mr Sanchez and right before my eyes, I saw my entire flash over.

Ironic. Ironic how a few minutes ago, I had actually thought that my life was taking a sharp turn for the better and everything was too good to be true, and now, here I was standing face to face with potential disaster.

Of course, it was all too good to be true. I mean, on my first trial, I was accepted to work at Ciel and to top it all off, I happened to find favour in the eyes of Michael McAllister who saw me as a woman that I was the complete opposite of, and things were just starting to go so well.

Only for one person to resurface and have all that I had going for me, thrown into the trenches.

Mr Sanchez stared at me for an awful amount of time and I could not even decipher the look he had on me and what it entailed. He had on a very impassive, almost too neutral look on his face and with the blankness in his stare, a part of me started to feel that he may not have even remembered who I am and where he had seen me from.

Even if I remembered him clearly.

I may have been overthinking things. It was all one night, and in that one night, there was every possibility that he did not even recall who I was or where he had seen me. I could still put up an act and hope that he did not recall who I was.

But, if that were so, why did he suddenly halt in his ranting towards Richard the very moment that he had caught eyes of me. I mean, that could mean a lot of things. I chose to believe that neither of them had to do with the fact that he actually remembered me being the escort that he had picked up from the Highway club.

"I apologize, sir, for the way that we barged in, and I promise that it will not happen again, sir—"

Mr Sanchez let out a hand to stop Richard immediately, cutting him off mid sentence in the middle of his rambling and apologies.

I swallowed hard and I didn't know why.

He stood up from his office desk and even if I was aware that he was not making an attempt to come towards me, I reflexively took a step back, and then, another. I stood there, with Richard a few steps more behind me, watching this man that they called Mr Sanchez, the apparent Head of HR of the Ciel McAllister Enterprise, stand before me and at one look, the glaring red of his tuxedo slapped me across the face.

Red meat danger. Not up until now had that fact hit harder. I was conflicted and so many thoughts ran back and forth my mind, and none of them were in any way, encouraging.

Quickly, he exchanged a glance between me and Richard, before he finally opened his mouth to speak to the man by my side.

"She's the new employee?" He said to Richard, and there was something about the tone of his voice that made me feel all sorts of discomfort.

Did he mean that because he knew me from somewhere? Or was this past him just knowing me? Was this on the surface? Did something about me make him feel like I did not deserve to be in this spot. The possibilities of that being the answer made me panic more than I should have because in all reality, I had a cover that I wanted the entire Ciel company to see and if this Mr Sanchez man could nor see that in me, then maybe, I was not trying hard enough.

So, just in case, I stood straighter and pulled my body into a more upright standing position that made my spine straighter, my nose higher in the air, and my entire body and demeanour screaming a harder, more defined form of confidence.

Mr Sanchez did not look at me anymore different and a part of me was starting to come to the conclusion that he did not remember me and he was just a hard-to-please asshole.

"Yes, sir," Richard had answered promptly.

"Well, that is quite a surprise," He commented as he raised a brow to scam me from head to toe, like he did not see the essence of me being here.

By all means, I was offended by that.

And as a matter of fact, I was not going to stand here and make anyone make me feel any less of what I already felt about myself. I did not care if this man was the Head o HR and whatever bullshit rank he had been placed in in this company.

But I held myself together with the mental note that there was every possibility that I was misunderstanding his words.

"She is the only one that Mr McAllister deemed it for for the job, sir," Richard told Mr Sanchez.

And I could not even pretend like hearing that did not even surprise me at all.

Did he really mean that? I mean, out of everyone, I was the only person that stood out enough for Michael McAllister to pick to work in this company. Wow. I was beyond flattered.

"I do not see the hype." Mr Sanchez as straightforward with his horrible jab, or clear diss at me and that shot at me like an arrow from a bow.

"Excuse me?" I raised a brow at him, my patience growing thin.

"On what standard did Mr McAllister make his choice?" He further went on, talking, making derogatory comments about me, like I was not just standing there beside him, "She lacks the potential to be here."

"And what exactly is this potential?" I snapped at him.

"Good impression, Miss Kelly." Richard was aggressively whispering beside me with all of his vigour and strength, and I ignored him so hard that if I was not so mad at Me Sanchez, I'd have felt so bad for him.

"Tell me, bald head,—" I fired back at Me Sanchez.

"Jesus Christ." I heard Richard mutter in shock of me.

"—What is the potential that I lack, since you happen to know it all. Since you are the Sultan of potential picking!" I asked him with hands folded, attitude in my body language and sass, dropping with every word that I muttered.

"Well, first off, manners," He said to me promptly.

Oh, please.

Like he had any.

"You don't seem to realise your place in this firm, Miss Kelly. Do you know who I am?" He asked me.

Yeah, an old man who goes to clubs during the weekend to sleep with girls half his age, what else?

But, of course, I did not say that out loud. I couldn't. I just stared at him as he spoke his trash.

"And, that attitude, coupled with the fact that you simply do not have the 'quality' of being an employee in this company, I can see right off the bat that your time here will not be too long," He said to me, and for a moment, I saw a deadly certainty in his eyes that almost shut me down, "And believe me when I say I have leverage over you. In every angle. So, keep running your mouth, and you will see just how how quickly I can ruin your chances of going far here."

Okay, that shut me down.

I mean, it was not supposed to. After all, I had already made sure that I got on the good grace of Michael McAllister and here was Mr Sanchez, a man, below the ranks of the CEO, threatening to end my stay here. I should not even have any feat or worries, having he should not have the chance.

But something about how he said it made me feel like as a matter of fact, he did have the leverage after all.

So, I wondered; What if he remembered me from the Highway Club? What if he was jus acting like he did not know me just to wait for the right time to attack? And what if I digging myself a deeper hole than neccesary? Could that be why he was also so certain that I was not fit for this job? I mean, a woman he had picked up as an escort from a notorious club would not be one considered to have the 'quality' of working in a big company like Ciel.

Could that be why this Mr Sanchez was so biased against me?

If that was it, if he remembered me, then damn it, I was screwed.

"Leave my office, Richard Weller." Mr Sanchez had ordered.

I wanted to protest, but before I even had the chance to say much, Richard had fled and away he was, out of the office as he was so ordered to do so.

He left and here I was, stuck in the same office with Mr Sanchez.

"Rachel Kelly," He called my name.

For the first time, I felt the need to be polite to him. I felt like I had done enough to trigger him, and if he remembered anything about him, it was not smart, or safe to make the man an enemy.

"Yes sir," I answered.

"What inspired you?" He asked me.

I stared at him, clueless and oblivious.

"I don't understand." I answered.

"No, tell me," He said, chuckled in a way that felt mocking, "What exactly inspired a w***e like you have the audacity to apply to work in a company like Ciel?"

That question hit me hard.

He remembered. He remembered every f*****g thing and that hit me over and over again. The fact that there was someone who knew that part of my life was a nightmare. If this man decided to tell anyone about this, if word got out about this and to Michael McAllister, then I would stand no chance in this place.

I could not lose this job before I even got it.

"Are you going to tell Mr McAllister?" I asked him.

"Of course not," He was too quick to answer and my head shot up in instant relief, and my eyes looked at him to see if there was evidence of cap in his own eyes, but all that stared back at me was sinister eyes that made me know right off that his silence came with a catch. It was not for free.

All my relief drained down the gutter.

"What do I do to keep you quiet?" I asked him, and I hoped the frustration did not show much in my voice because I was at the verge of losing my goddamn mind.

Mr Sanchez smiled and with every rise of the corners of his lips in a disgusting, teasing smile, I wanted to vomit in his face. Goosebumps formed on my skin.

"Well, Miss Kelly," The old man said to me, "I was hoping that you would ask that question."