Who Is She?
2441 Words
As Mia sat in the backseat of the car, her mind drifted back to yesterday’s incident.
She had fought with anger—anger from the past. She had been venting her pent-up emotions, all the pain she had buried deep inside. Her murdered parents, the uncle she had killed, and the other guy…
She hadn't been able to sleep last night. All she had wanted was to cry the pain out, but she couldn’t. Instead, she tossed and turned in bed, trying to shut out her thoughts. Then, a question crept into her mind.
Why did she help Anton?
Why did she fight for him?
She could have died, yet she hadn't even thought about that before stepping in.
She wanted to kill him. It didn’t make sense that she had saved him.
Finally, she justified it to herself—she was the one who would kill him, not anybody else. And when she did, it would be a cold and merciless death.
She eventually managed to get some sleep, but not without a murder tape playing in her head—her nightmares.
She hadn’t had one in a while, but the fight had triggered them. Each time she tried sleeping again, she woke up drenched in sweat. Eventually, she gave up and stayed awake until dawn. An hour later, she forced herself into a bath and went to prepare breakfast.
Surprising, she had grown to love cooking.
When Anton had walked into the kitchen with his half-awake, disheveled look, she had almost laughed—it was quite hilarious.
And when he finally realized what he looked like, his face screamed embarrassment.
The car hit a road bump, snapping Mia back to the present. She instinctively held the lunchbox beside her to keep it from falling over.
Now she had gotten herself into this.
At first, she had been annoyed about bringing him lunch. But then she saw it as a golden opportunity—a chance to get closer to the truth and end everything.
But that nosy guard had to ruin it.
She had gone into the mansion intending to prepare lunch, but first, she needed to check something in the study. Just as she was about to go upstairs, the front door clicked open. She immediately changed direction and headed to the kitchen instead.
When she glanced back, she saw him—the same guard who always gave her a stink eye. Naturally, she returned it before shutting the kitchen door behind her.
Annoyance was written all over her face as she prepared Anton’s lunch.
Why wasn’t luck on her side today?
She could have found out the truth today and ended everything. But this guard...
When she finished cooking, she packed the turkey sandwiches into a lunchbox and left, the guard trailing behind her.
A lost opportunity. She sighed.
She added the nosy guard to her to-kill list.
The driver pulled up in front of Hugh’s Empire, and Mia stepped out. She wore navy blue jeans and a black shirt with the words ‘I Rule My World’ boldly inscribed on it. Her hair was tied in her usual ponytail.
She introduced herself to the security guard, who confirmed her identity before letting her in. Walking confidently, she made her way to the front desk, where the receptionist also confirmed her visit and directed her to Anton’s office—the last floor.
Taking the elevator up, she stepped out and walked toward the secretary’s desk. The woman’s gaze immediately swept over her in irritation.
“How may I help you?” she asked, eyeing Mia up and down.
Mia returned the stink eye before responding.
“I’m here to see CEO Hugh.”
The secretary almost laughed.
Was this woman serious?
She’s dressed so plain and simple. What business does she have with the CEO? she thought, feeling an unexpected tinge of envy, plainly because despite her casual clothes and bare face, she looked pretty.
“Do you have an appointment?”
“He already knows I’m coming. He told me to. Can you inform him that I’m here?”
The secretary’s jaw clenched. ‘She sure has guts’ she thought irritated by how casually this woman referred to CEO Hugh.
“I’m sorry, but you need to book an appointment first.”
“Oh, for goodness’ sake, just call him and ask.”
“He’s in a meeting right now.”
“But you can still call him, right? I don’t have all day.”
Tension crackled between them, an unspoken battle of wills.
The secretary clenched her teeth. “What’s your name?”
“Natasha Donald.”
With a lazy sigh, the secretary made the call.
“Sir, there’s a lady here requesting to see you.”
“What’s her name?”
“Natasha Donald.”
A short silence. Then Anton’s voice came through.
“Tell her to wait outside.”
The line went dead.
The secretary gave Mia a smug look.
“He said you should wait outside. Told you he was busy.”
Mia didn’t acknowledge her, walking straight to the waiting area and settling onto a couch.
It wasn’t long before Robert walked out of Anton’s office. Spotting her, he raised a brow.
“Chef Natasha?”
She looked up. “Good day, Mr…” she trailed off, realizing she had forgotten his name.
“Robert. Shan Robert.”
“Good day, Mr. Robert. Mr. Hugh assigned me to bring his lunch.”
Robert frowned. What was Anton up to?
Why would he have her bring lunch when there was a cafeteria? Unless…
“Okay, he’s busy now, but he should be done soon.”
“Can’t I just drop it off with the secretary or someone?”
“I don’t think so. He didn’t say anything about that. Just be patient.”
Mia sighed and nodded.
Twenty minutes later, two more men entered Anton’s office for yet another meeting.
Robert passed by again and frowned when he saw her still waiting.
“Isn’t the meeting over yet?”
“It is, but two men stepped in afterward.”
Her flat tone made her annoyance clear.
Robert entered Anton’s office and signaled him to wrap things up, seeing the it was just a meeting with employees.
Anton glanced up. “Is there a problem?”
“Yes,” Robert said bluntly. “Your chef has been waiting outside for almost an hour, and I’m pretty sure you know that but refuse to acknowledge her. Why?”
Anton smirked. “I want her to see how important and busy I am. Maybe she’ll respect me more.”
Robert’s face twisted in disbelief. “Does she disrespect you?”
“No… not really.”
“Then what’s the point? Or do you want her to like you?”
“I never said that.”
Robert chuckled. “Your eyes say otherwise.”
Anton scoffed. “She’s just… interesting. I want to know her more.”
“And you think ignoring her is the way to do that? You’re a fool.”
“Hey—”
“I mean it, Anton. This is dumb. If you want to win over a woman, come to me—the ladies’ man.”
Anton laughed. “You’ve been single for two years. No thanks.”
“Says the guy who’s never had to ask a woman out. You've always been approached by ladies that's why you don't know how hard it is. The rejection, the looks and ...ugh"
Anton chuckled, his eyes still focused on the screen in front of him.
Robert’s tone turned serious. "Jokes aside though, chef Natasha has been waiting for a long time"
"I'll let her in immediately you leave"
"Some advice to win a lady, give her flowers, chocolate, poems and money"
"I bet Nat might hate all those things you mentioned. I don't think she's a normal lady. She's dark, dangerous, feisty, stubborn and interesting; a great fighter too"
"Probably a weirdo I guess." Anton shot him a glare which made him grin.
"And wait—Nat? Really? Your choices are bizarre. Why not call her Tasha?"
"I do want I want. And besides Tasha is a common name" he shrugged.
"Okay" Robert raised his hands up in a surrendering gesture.
"But did you give her anything to appreciate her heroic behavior last night?"
"I didn't really think about it"
"Such a fool. She fought for you man" He teased and glanced at his watch.
"I'll leave soon but let me give you some lady advice. Try asking her what she likes and..."he paused "Do you know when her birthday is?"
"No..no I don't...Why?"
"Its in two days time."
"What? And how do you know that?" He asked quizzically.
"I checked her information for you remember? And I clearly remember her birthday being the 13th of October. Check her info"
Anton searched her name in a folder on his laptop and her information was displayed on the screen.
"You're correct"
"This is your chance to get her to warm up to you."
"How?"
"Get her gifts, maybe an outing or something, anything...we'll talk later" He rose up from his seat when his phone rang.
"Okay...thanks." Anton smiled
"It's a pleasure."
"Send her in"Anton ordered.
Robert responded with a slight nod.
Anton heard a small knock on the door.
"Come in"
"Good day Mr Hugh" She greeted when she got to his desk.
He nodded in response.
"Sorry for the long wait, I had some urgent matters to attend to"
"No problem sir. I'll just set your lunch down and leave"
"No"
"Huh?"
"We'll leave together. Okay?"
"I don't..."
"You'll stay. Its an order"
"Okay sir" She said after some cusses in her head.
"I'll leave in an hour—I have some work to do at home. So what do you want to do for an hour? A tour?"
"It seems okay"
He made a phone call and a young man walked into the office minutes later. Anton gave him orders which he nodded to and left with Mia.
Anton ate his lunch with a smile plastered on his lip.
Exactly an hour later, Mia and the young man walked in with light expressions.
"I'll be going now sir" He bowed and Anton nodded.
"Hope to see you again Miss Natasha, it's been a pleasure"
"I enjoyed every bit of the tour Mr More. Thank you" Her lips curved up a small smile.
Anton raised his brows as he watched them.
'What exactly is going on here?' He thought
"Its all my pleasure miss Natasha" He curtsied and left.
"So...?" Anton couldn't help it.
"Huh?"
"Just forget about it" He placed a call to the driver and stood up to go.
They walked out; abreast.
His secretary—who just had to be a lady— kept ogling and it could be concluded that she had some funny ideas in her head.
Anton acknowledge her now with a nod.
They entered into the elevator which felt suffocating for Mia, because of Anton's presence. Thankfully, two employees walked in after bowing to them.
The employees who were talking about something earlier fell silent, as they stood in front. Both had a similar thought in mind.
'Who is she?'
The elevator dinged and they all got out. The first floor seemed like the busiest but actually it wasn't.
All employees stared at them with the same thought the other two had but Anton couldn't care less.
He would have even held her hand to get more questions in their head but he knew Mia was likely going to disgrace him.
Mia kept her head high as she walked, no doubt she felt underdressed but who cares?
She wasn't going to let herself feel low—she never did.
But she didn't see the step up ahead and almost fell flat on her face but Anton was quick to help her by wrapping his arm around her stomach.
Mia's eyes was slightly bigger than usual as she stared at the bright tiles that her face would have been on.
Anton raised her up and asked,
"Are you okay?"
"Yes" She replied curtly, waving off the shock.
'She didn't say thank you' Anton thought, though he wasn't surprised.
"What are you all looking at?" Anton asked, annoyed at how gossipy his employees were.
They immediately went back to work.
As Mia took a step, she felt a vein pop out in her leg and let out a low groan— unwillingly.
Anton didn't waste a second in lifting her up in his arm, and taking large strides towards the door.
The reason for the large strides was not because she was weighty—infact, she had a very light weight, which was concerning— he had to take large strides because she might choose to embarrass him in front of his employees, and he couldn't risk it.
They were almost at the door already so he reasoned that he might be able to walk out without any drama—and he did.
The employees gasped, and whispered to each other.
Mia was still blank as she stared at the side view of Anton's face, her hands interlocked behind his neck—unknowingly and instinctively.
Her mind went blank.
She wanted to think, to understand what she was feeling at the moment but she couldn't. All she knew was that she was being held by Anton—the supposed murderer and her 'boss'—and had an unusual feeling in her stomach.
'What is all this?' She thought to herself, somewhat annoyed by this new feeling, and her frantically beating heart.
'Why did she even let him hold her?'
'But I hate being touched' she told herself, confused as to why she didn't feel the usual irritation she felt when someone touched her.
"Mr Hugh put me down" she demanded after putting everything together in her head.
He looked at her and gave her a sweet smile that made something 'ding' inside her before carefully putting her inside the car and shutting the door.
Mia was surprised.
She hadn't realized when they had walked out of the building to the car waiting for them.
He walked around the car and got in, sitting beside her. The driver closed the door after him.
Mia wriggled her leg a bit and the pain seemed to have disappeared.
She didn't find it strange—it was actually usual—because that was how her body works.
They both stayed quiet through out the ride home, each in his own thoughts.
One sentence hung in Anton's mind,
"It's in two days time"
- Writer
