The Billionaire's Bargain

Chapter 2

Ariel's POV

A Chess Game

The taxi which I hailed that morning was one of the bad starts of that fateful day. I should have known green was never my lucky color either. I had thought about that before I wore my green blouse and a pencil skirt. My mother had often told me that my eyes were the only thing that looked good in green - I know, I know, flattery, but I accepted it.

"I think I am running late, could you maybe..." I groaned and slumped behind, not knowing which other suggestions to give. We were stuck in traffic on my second day after the most horrible experience I had in the history of all first days. I could not believe my ill luck anymore, it was fast becoming a comic drama.

I could blame my lateness on the fact that I woke up late and that on the fact that I slept rather late too. I had after all been working until 10:43pm, precisely before Mr. Stone bathed me with noodle soup and sent me off for the night. I managed to get a bottle of shampoo that evening and give my hair a good wash, this time, pulling it into a tight bun and preventing the 'bird's nest' appearance.

"I'm twenty minutes late for Pete's sake! Could you please take a turn and use the express route!" I groaned as the driver finally got out of the long line and made a left turn.

I can't blame him, he had been attempting to beat traffic but ended up stuck in another, apparently everyone knew the same route and were trying to beat traffic too - the irony.

"Oh shoot!" I muttered as I paid the cab driver and realized that I had left my small plant on the floor of the car. It was something that had taken up space in my house and I couldn't wait to take it to the office. Surely it could be more useful there than the dark and lonely corner it hid in my kitchen.

With a shrug and my head raised as much as I could despite the humiliation of the previous night, I walked into the elevator and pressed the button for the third floor. I was there for my paycheck. I reminded myself why I was at Stone Inc. and how I wouldn't let him get to me, try as he might - assuming I still had a job.

A ding from the elevator came at the same time as the door glides open and right there stood the very object of my dread in the past 24 hours, Mr Stone.

"Sir...good morning, sir." I whispered almost inaudibly, trying not to make him notice me. True enough, all he did was glance at me with a blank look and then picked up his ringing phone. The elevator suddenly became too tight, his large and looking frame practically sucking all the air from the enclosed space. I breathed in nervously and inhaled one of the most alluring scents I had ever smelled on a man. It was rich, it filled the air and left me a little swooned.

"You don't get to tell me what to do, don't forget your place and don't ever ring my office line, again" His voice was cold as ice and I pitied whoever was on the other side of the call. He hung up and muttered a curse under his breath.

Now standing a few inches away, I could pursue him, his suit was a beige-colored fitted design, the trousers gripping his thick thighs like a second skin.

Abruptly, Sylvester turned and faced me, his body just an inch away, his eyes fixed below my chin, where my blouse dropped in a vivid v-neck.

"What's your name?" He asked and I stammered before muttering it. He raised his hands to my hair and moved a stray strand behind my ear, smoothening it over and almost making me purr.

But I jerked away and cleared my throat just as he blinked and turned around, stuffing his hands in his pockets like it didn't all happen. Actually, nothing happened. I reminded myself, I was merely being dramatic over a decent human communication.

Another ding sounded and I left the elevator, squeezing out beside him and walking as briskly as possible into the lobby, eager to escape his scent and fierce gaze. Out of sight, I sighed, trying to fathom if he could still recall me from yesterday or I'd been just another nuisance to his life.

At the lobby, I avoided as many stares and curious looks as I could and walked to my desk, the double station just outside his large office. Gina had stated that he didn't appreciate people in his space if he didn't know them and I'd have to be out there for a few more weeks until it was okay for me to work at the corner section in his office.

"Ariel, I'm glad you made it in today." I could pick out Gina's voice from the muttering and bickering in the hall, she was by the coffee machine and waving to me.

"Hi, Gina. I'm sorry I'm late, there was traffic." I said and even I winced at my own cliche excuse, true as it was.

"It's fine, you missed nothing, I guess everyone was knocked out after last night," she said and then whispered, "He even came in late too," with a mischievous tone.

I nodded at her and grabbed a cup of coffee for Mr Stone. I had no idea what he wanted on the third floor or what was even there but I knew one of my daily tasks was to keep freshly brewed coffee on his table before he walked in.

Dropping the coffee on his desk and sorting out his daily mail from the small mail cabinet, I went to my desk and sat. And that was when I saw it. An immaculate white envelope, with a red seal and what I believed strongly would be my letter of dismissal from work.

Hands shaky and panicked, I tore open the envelope and unfolded the letter. It was nothing like what I thought. I wasn't being fired, I wasn't being suspended.

I dropped the letter like I had been burned by it, then to be sure, I picked it up and checked the name and date. They were both accurate. Could this be a wrong address thing? I thought as I looked at the absurd contract in my hands.

Mr Sylvester Stone had just proposed to me a contract with an offer that was too good to be true. What?!