The CEO's unwanted attraction

The last cup of coffee was hers. Lily Morgan had been thinking about that particular goal ever since five in the morning. After spending the better part of the night assisting her mother with taking orders for the cafe, her feet were killing her, her back was sore. The list of chores she had compiled for herself by the end of the week was long and excruciating. Still, she had a plan. Complete the morning rush successfully, have one decent cup of coffee, go to her afternoon interview, and, if fate allowed for such a miracle, survive the week with her budget not shattered by some random expense. Easy enough, right? As the universe would have it, apparently not. Lily heard her mother's voice from the kitchen. "Lily!" "Please tell me you haven't forgotten the order for delivery," her mother said. Lily closed her eyes briefly. "I haven't forgotten, Mum," she said. "And the supplier said he would come before noon," her mother continued. "I remember," Lily said. "And please don't let Mrs. Collins escape without paying the bill from yesterday." Lily turned around to face the kitchen doorway. "Is there anything else? Because I can personally vouch that the sun will rise tomorrow morning." Her mother emerged from the kitchen, holding a tray with a disapproving look on her face. "Very funny," her mother said. "I thought so." "Good, then you won't mind letting me remind you that you still owe me for the blender you broke last week." Lily gasped, "That blender was old!" "It worked fine before you decided to make a smoothie with ice in it." "One little mistake." "One very expensive mistake." They stared each other down before both burst into laughter. These little moments, for Lily, were worth it. It wasn't that the cafe was something to write home about, but it was a part of her. Small and a bit rundown, despite her mother's best efforts to keep it from being so. Still, her mother had worked the tail off her fingers to build that little enterprise. Lily grew up knowing that no matter how big or small the dream, there was potential to make it come true through sheer effort and determination. She would make her mother's dream come true. Hence, the interview today was important. If she got hired by one of the biggest companies in the city, it would propel her career as a business manager forward. Lily had prepared for this meeting extensively. She couldn't afford to let this slip away. The morning rush hour had officially started by eight fifteen. Lily flipped over another set of bills on the counter and was already on her way to the next table, when, on the dot of eight twenty-three, a familiar bell above the door jingled. The man who walked into the café looked like he had no idea what it was like to experience inconvenience in his life ever in his life. He was tall, impeccably dressed in a black suit, his dark hair was combed back. The watch on his wrist probably cost more than the entire stock of their cafe. His facial expression, however, was even more expensive. It was practically crackling with disdain. The man scanned the cafe as if surprised to find himself in such a place. When he reached the counter, he said, "Black coffee. No sugar." Lily nearly reached for the cup with a smile on her face before she remembered what it was for and took a step back. "Excuse me?" The man said, narrowing his eyes at the young woman behind the counter. ""Didn't ask for a greeting," he said. "Oh, I'm awfully sorry, sir, because I certainly don't remember asking for a personal talent show in this establishment." For the first time since walking into the cafe, the man seemed surprised. Then his expression darkened. "Do you always talk to your customers like this?" He asked. "Only the ones that act like I'm wasting my time with them." A woman waiting for her coffee nearby pretended to be engrossed in her phone. The man leaned in closer to the counter. "I am in a hurry," he said. "So are most of our customers, but I don't see you complaining about the service." The man's jaw tightened. Lily turned away to prepare his coffee, trying very hard not to pay any more attention to the man than necessary. Just as the morning rush hour seemed to lull a bit, Lily's elbow bumped another customer that rushed up to the counter, sending the man's coffee all over the counter and his shirt. A heavy silence fell in the café. Lily stared at the coffee stain on the gentleman's shirt. "Oh, no, I'm so sorry!" She said, reaching for a cloth towel from the counter to wipe the man's shirt clean. "Don't touch me." Lily stopped dead in her tracks. "I'm trying to help." "Then get me a competent waitress." Lily took another step closer and the gentleman's icy stare held her in place. "Actually, sir, you knocked the cup over." "What are you talking about?" "I am saying that your impatience resulted in the coffee being spilled all over your nice shirt." "Are you accusing me of being clumsy?" "I am stating a fact, and I did say I was sorry, even though you've been acting like I have committed a mortal sin by serving you." Something in the man's expression hardened. "Do you have any idea who I am?" Lily chuckled almost imperceptibly and said, "Should I? I have never met you." The remark only served to infuriate the gentleman. He pulled out a card from his jacket pocket and slid it on the counter. "Pay the cleaning bill to my office," he said, "I don't have time for this nonsense." Lily looked at the card resting on the counter. Alexander Bennett. Chief Executive Officer. Bennett International. Lily had heard of the company, and, in fact, everyone in the city had. It was one of those well-known, well-established organizations whose main building had a bird's-eye view of the city skyline and whose chief executive officer often enough graced the pages of business magazines. So, if the man was indeed who he claimed to be, he was a busy man. Perhaps, she could get her interview done quickly? Lily turned the card over in her hands. "We don't charge our customers for mistakes," she finally said, pushing the card back across the counter toward the man. "We charge them for what they ordered, and your coffee is on the house." Alexander gave her an incredulous look. "Excuse me?" "Because I am trying to be a professional, even if I am talking to a rude customer." Alexander Bennett stared at the young woman for a full minute, maybe longer. No one in their right minds spoke to Alexander Bennett like that. Not his staff, not his partners, and definitely not some random waitress in a run-down cafe. Alexander was used to people saying what he wanted them to say, doing only the tasks he had assigned them, and smiling when he frowned. This woman, clearly, had skipped the business school. Perhaps it was because she was ignorant of the proper ways to address someone of his position and stature, or, Alexander narrowed his eyes at the woman, maybe it was because she was audacious enough to defy him outright. "Good," he said, "Then perhaps, now that we are on a first-name basis, my dear Lily, you might want to try working a little faster." Lily turned back to the coffee she was preparing and said in a sickly-sweet voice: "Someone ought to show you a thing or two about how to behave in society." Alexander blinked once. This was the first time that morning that Lily Morgan had absolutely nothing to say. The man turned around and walked out of the café. Lily watched the man's retreating back for a moment. "Good heavens," she finally breathed. Her mother suddenly appeared alongside her, trying very hard to stifle a laugh. "Who was that?" Her mother asked. "Expensive trouble," Lily replied. "Lily!" "What? I got him a free cup of coffee." Her mother shook her head, laughing, and went back to the kitchen. Lily glanced at the clock on the opposite side of the counter. It was eight thirty-five, and she had an interview at two o'clock, so she had plenty of time to change, revise for the interview. Maybe have a proper cup of coffee in preparation for the upcoming talk with the hiring managers. Lily reached underneath the counter for her bag when a thought struck her: the man who had just walked out of their cafe, she wondered if he was already thinking of her. Alexander sat back in his limousine, looking at the dark coffee stain on the front of his shirt. "Cancel my next appointment," he said into his phone. "Your meeting with the directors has been scheduled for twenty minutes from now," his assistant informed him. "Cancel it," Alexander said. There was a pause. "Is something the matter, sir?" Alexander looked out of the limousine window at the little cafe. The woman at the counter was laughing at something her mother said. She looked completely and utterly unbothered by the fact that, for some unfathomable reason, that annoyed Alexander. "No," he said icily, "Everything is fine." Alexander ended the call and looked one last time at the sign above the entrance to the little café. Lily Morgan. He would be seeing more of that young woman. He had a feeling that she would be much more troublesome than a small coffee stain on his shirt.