Fascinated by you

Chapter 4

At lunchtime, Bella and Kara met at the cafeteria. And as expected, news spread faster than she thought. There was no reason for Bella not to tell Kara about it but she wasn’t feeling well right now nevertheless she answered her friend’s questions.

“Bella, is it true that the name of the VP for Marketing that came from the US Main Branch is Mr. Charles Parker?” asked Kara while she was holding her spoon and fork.

“Yes,” she replied shortly, as her mind was preoccupied.

“Is Mr. Charles Parker the same as the handsome Charles, who I just met recently?” she asked again.

Bella nodded her head as she answered.

“Does that mean you will be working with him for the next three months?” Kara asked. She looked so happy with what she is hearing.

“I think so,” Bella replied, feeling uncertain.

“Then enjoy every moment with him…” she said.

She knows what Kara means by what she said. Her best friend wanted her to move on, enjoy life and forget about Greg.

She felt unusual. Her body felt sore. It was not typical for her to file a leave of absence due to sickness but she did. She excused herself to her immediate superior, Ms Carmen, and promised that if she'd get enough rest she'd get better tomorrow morning.

“I don’t think it’s possible, but you look pale and not feeling okay,” Ms. Carmen said. “Don’t forget to drink your med and rest okay,” she added. Ms Carmen may be tough when it comes to working, but Bella considered Ms. Carmen a mother figure.

“I will, Ma’am,” Bella said. She went to her desk and grabbed her bag.

Charles wanted to see Bella. She saw that Bella was quite shocked. He thought of an alibi and headed to their office to ask for a hard copy of the presentation.

“Mr. Parker,” Ms. Carmelita said in surprise.

“Oh! I was here to ask for a hard copy of Ms. Arabella’s presentation so I could study it,” Mr. Parker said while his eyes were looking for Bella, but he couldn’t find her.

“But I think she’s not here,” he added to confirm where she is.

“I’ll hand it to you, Mr. Parker. About Ms. Arabella, she excused herself as she was not feeling well. It was unusual of her. It was her first sick leave after two years of working. I think she felt sick, Ms. Carmelita explained in detail.

“Oh, I see. Thank you, I’ll just wait for it in my office then,” he replied. He headed back to his office thinking about how sick Bella is.

It was past 9 in the evening when he finished working on the first batch of paperwork handed to him. He is worried about Bella and decides to buy a basket of fruit for her.

He was about to touch the doorbell when he heard some noise inside.

“Bella,” Charles shouted from the outside.

“Who’s that?” Bella asked.

With her croaky voice, he could conclude that Bella was sick. But before he could introduce himself, the door was already opened.

“Bella, how are you? I’ve heard that you’re sick,” he asked with concern.

“It’s nothing. For sure, tomorrow I’ll be fine,” she replied. “Come in,” she added. Charles placed the basket of fruits on the dining table.

“I heard some noise-“Charles wanted to know what the noise was all about when he saw a cat eating canned tuna.

“Ah, that noise. It was a stray cat,” Bella explained.

“Anything you want to drink? Juice, coffee, tea-“Bella offered something.

“There’s no need, Bella. I just wanted to see if you’re okay,” Charles said honestly.

He wanted to see if I was okay? Why?

“Why?” Bella asked. Oh Bella, why did you ask him?

“Why? Because I’m worried,” Charles said.

“I’m worried that we might not finish our goal in three months,” he added. But actually, he was worried because he cared for Bella.

Of course, it was work-related. What do you expect, Bella? Wake up!

“Don’t worry, Mr. Parker. I’ll do my best to achieve our goal, so we can go back to our normal lives,” she replied, as she was disappointed by his answer.

“I won’t stay long, so you can rest now. I’ll see you tomorrow. I’ll pick you up at 8 in the morning,” Charles added.

“No need, Mr. Parker. The office is just a couple of minutes from here.” Bella refused.

“No, I insist. We can use our travel time to talk about work matters,” he insisted. Thankfully, he thought of an excuse.

“Thank you for coming, Mr. Parker,” Bella said.

“Bella, we're not in the office. You can call me Charles,” he replied as he noticed Bella felt distance.

“Okay, Charles, see you tomorrow then,” Bella answered back.

Bella came to her senses. She thought there were no reasons for her to be awkward in front of Charles. She has to be professional. He’s here to work, nothing more, nothing less.

Charles was at Bella’s house before 8 in the morning. He doesn’t want Bella to wait for her. From that day forward, they went to work together. They enjoyed being colleagues at work and friends outside. Bella bore in her mind that what they had was purely work-related.

There were times that they stayed late at night to work and finished urgent documents.

“Good job, Ms. Bella! Let’s call it a day,” said Charles. “Let’s eat dinner first before heading home, my treat,” he added.

“Okay then,” she smiled.

She thought they would be eating at a restaurant they used to dine in, but it was different. It is a place where you can’t dine without having a reservation-did he plans for this?

The ambience was tranquil and intimate-it was romantic. For a moment, she felt special. She wanted to enjoy this moment even for this once. Thought that Charles was doing it because he had a feeling for her. For that night-for that night, she only wanted to be honest with her feelings.

“Bella, thank you for everything,” Charles started to talk. “For your dedication at work and, of course, for being my friend,” he added.

“It’s my pleasure to work with a very competent marketer from the main branch and it’s a rare opportunity to be friends with the ‘boss’,” she said while looking at Charles.

“I think you’re not sincere about it,” he said while teasing her.

“Of course not, I mean it. I was grateful to be your friend,” she said.

“By the way, it’s been weeks since the last time I saw Kara, I miss her already,” Charles said.

“She has already signed her resignation. She's busy turning over her work,” she said, thinking how happy Kara is.

“Will she quit her job because she’s getting married?” Charles asked out of curiosity.

“Quitting her job means fulfilling her dream. She dreamed of raising her own family while managing her own flower boutique,” she explained.

“If that’s the case, I’m happy for her,” he said with relief. “Bella, what about you?” he asked.

“What about me?” she wanted for clarification.

“Yeah. You, what is your dream? Do you also dream of running your own business? With your hard work and potential, for sure you’ll be successful in no time,” Charles explained.

For a moment there was a deafening silence.

“Bella?” Charles interrupted Bella’s silence.

“Bella, are you okay?” Charles added. He knew there was something wrong.

“Huh?” Bella replied. She thought of her dream but she couldn’t find an answer. She had a dream but everything got ruined when Greg abandoned her.

“I…I don’t know,” she answered. “It’s getting late and I’m quite tired. Could we go home now,” she asked.

“Yeah it’s getting late already, we almost forgot it. I enjoy spending time with you,” Charles said. He knew how to read between the lines. Bella was bothered by something or maybe it was someone that she didn’t want to open up to.

They were inside the car when he finally broke the silence.

“Bella, if you need someone to talk to or just someone to listen to, just tell me. I’ll be willing to lend my broad shoulders,” he said while showing his shoulders.

He wanted to make Bella at ease. Without hesitation, Charles held Bella’s hand and smiled.

Bella smiled back.