Fascinated by you

Chapter 3

Bella’s face becomes red. She doesn’t know how to react. Somehow she felt embarrassed about her action that night. She could have just thanked him instead of giving him money. At that moment, she decided to leave with Kara.

“If that’s the case, we’ll leave then. It’s late already,” Bella said hurriedly.

“Late? It’s just past 8, my dear. Are you avoiding Charles?” Kara said.

“Of course not, but you need to go home since Tita is expecting you to be home before 9. Am I right, Kara?” Bella whispered.

“Oh! I almost forgot. Charles, see you next time,” Kara said.

“If you don’t mind, I can give you a ride since we’re neighbours,” he insisted.

“We are neighbours?” Bella asked out of surprise.

“That night when I sent you home, I noticed that the unit near your place is for rent. I looked into it and it’s good. Our company is near the place so I catch the deal,” he explained.

Oh, we’re neighbours; does that mean that I’ll see him every day? No! Of course not. You almost spent your whole day at the office, Bella. Wake up.

On their way home, there was no special conversation between them, as Charles is busy driving, Kara is talking to her mom on the phone, and Bella’s mind is preoccupied.

“Charles, you can just drop me at the white gate on the corner, please,” Kara said while pointing in the direction of their house.

“Thank you very much. I owe you one. Please take care of Bella. Bye, See you tomorrow,” she said hurriedly, as she saw her mom and Andy waiting with her mom outside the gate.

Kara and Andy were college sweethearts and they’ve been dating for almost 6 years and are planning to get married by the end of the year. They got engaged last year and they’ve been planning a church wedding since then. Andy and Greg were cousins. So, she can’t help thinking of Greg whenever she sees Andy. The silence inside the car continues until Charles breaks it with a statement.

“I will start working on Monday. I am hoping we can still hang out together,” Charles said to break the loud silence.

“We can if fate permits,” she replied.

What? If fate permits? What are you thinking, Bella?

“Then, I hope that fate will permit us to see more often,” he smiled.

“It’s my house already, by the way, thanks for the ride, Mr. Charles,” she said to avoid him.

“Charles, Bella. Goodnight then,” he said.

Bella said nothing but ended it with a smile on her face. Not too long ago, she fell asleep with a smile on her face.

“No, please don’t go. I can’t live without you,” Bella uttered while sleeping.

And she dreamed that day again. The day she and Greg broke up. Greg came from a well-known family and was the only heir of the company. They’re both graduates of a business course. They started as friends and eventually fell in love with each other. Greg may be rich, but he is simple and well mannered. They go to school, eat snacks and go home together during their college days. They were once called a ‘perfect couple’ back then. They dreamed of having a happy family and getting married after he finished his Master's. Everything went well before graduation day.

Since he was the only heir of the family, he needed to prove himself. His parents wanted him to attend his Master's-abroad, where he could hone his skills in handling business matters.

Though they love each other, Greg decides to leave Bella and promises her that he’ll get back once everything is okay and that they’ll keep in touch with each other. Bella holds on to that promise. But just after a month, they lost communication. Greg stopped messaging her. She was left without even a single goodbye. Some say that it is the very reason why she didn’t entertain any single suitor that she had but they were wrong. It is because she has a hard time trusting a man again.

Bella wakes up from her dream. She thinks about how Greg is doing. How come he didn’t even call her once?

“Maybe Greg is happy now and I should be,” she said silently.

The day passed like an ordinary day. She cleans her house, does household chores, and prepares her long-week outfit. She added extra care to choosing her outfits since she is to be meeting the VP for Marketing from the US Branch- whom she will be working with as the assistant head of the marketing of the Philippine Branch.

She is quite nervous but she’ll do everything she can to help solve the company’s financial crisis.

It was exactly 7:30 in the morning when she left home. As always, she wakes up early and doesn’t want to be late. When she arrived at the office, everyone was talking about the VP of Marketing from the US main branch and they were calling him Mr. Parker.

“Have you seen Mr. Parker? I heard he is still single,” said the receptionist to one of the company’s staff.

“Yes, I saw him and he was handsomely perfect,” the office staff replied.

She passed through the corridor without even asking. Why would I bother to ask if I can personally meet him later? But honest to goodness, she was curious.

She was at her office when they called for the meeting. She headed to the conference room where everyone was waiting for the ‘handsome Mr. Parker’. She was about to excuse herself to go to the powder room when she heard that the CEO was coming and a familiar voice from her back.

“Good Morning, everyone! We’re sorry for the delay. An unexpected call from the Main Branch comes up as if they want Mr. Parker to go back as soon as possible even without finishing his 3 months here,” the CEO said jokingly.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to formally introduce to you the VP for Marketing from the US Main Branch, Mr. Charles Parker,” he added.

Everyone was smiling and clapping their hands, but she couldn’t move because she was shocked. The person whom she will be working with is Charles.

“Thank you everyone for the warm welcome. I will be here for the next three months and I’m looking forward to working with you all,” Mr. Parker said.

Everyone was asked to introduce themselves. And she noticed that Charles was a bit surprised when she saw her, but a broad smile could be seen on his face. Today Bella will present her proposal and, as expected, she delivered her presentation faultless. She discussed the strategy and did not leave any single detail about it.

“It seems that you don’t need me here anymore,” Mr. Parker said he was impressed with Bella’s presentation. “The proposal was good and feasible. I bet we can target the company’s sales goal in no time,” he added with confidence.

“I believe that the two of you will make it,” the CEO said. “If that’s the case, then, we can now go back to our post so the two of them can start anything they needed to start,” the CEO said in jest.

Everyone inside the room teases Bella and she doesn’t know how to react. Her face turns pinkish. She was about to speak when she heard Charles speaking.

“Bella is my friend,” he said. “I know that we can build a good rapport with each other,” he added, seeing Bella stuck in her place.

“I’m happy to hear that,” the CEO said while tapping Mr. Parker’s shoulder. The conference room stays quiet for minutes. All of them went back to their work, leaving the two of them to discuss important matters.

“I think fate allows us to meet, Bella,” Charles said as he smiled.

Bella was quite distant as he considered Charles his superior. She couldn’t explain what she was feeling right now but she needed to become as professional as possible as she could be. She answers all the questions asked by Charles. Charles noticed Bella’s reaction and he didn’t want to create a misunderstanding between them.