Falling for my Billionaire Boss

Chapter five

CHAPTER FIVE

The Unusual Employee

By the end of Evelyn's first week at the Hargrove mansion, she was already getting comfortable with her new character, Ethan, the male chef and her master. She was getting more comfortable with Damian Hargrove, and Ethan suspected that would become a problem because most of the staff treated Damian as though he were a walking storm cloud. Whenever his car entered the compound, conversations ended; whenever his footsteps sounded in the hallway, backs straightened; and whenever he spoke, everyone answered immediately, sometimes in unison.

Ethan, however, had never been particularly gifted at pretending to be frightened. Perhaps that was why Damian kept looking at him, or perhaps Damian simply hadn't figured out that Ethan was slowly becoming a menace to the peaceful order of his household. It's 6am. Ethan stood in the kitchen preparing breakfast. He had been given very specific instructions on how it should be made: eggs, toast, fresh fruit and black coffee, nothing complicated, nothing that could result in disaster. At least, that was what he thought. “Why would a man choose to eat a particular meal for breakfast every day?” She placed her index finger on her lips as if thinking of a solution "perhaps I might change his menu list one day”, she thought to herself.

A few minutes later, Ethan carried the tray into the dining room. Damian was already seated as usual; he looked as though he had been born wearing a suit. Ethan placed the breakfast in front of him.

He glanced at him. "You prepared this?"

"Yes."

"Everything?" Damian asked. He was getting more familiar and comfortable talking to Ethan than she could imagine.

"Unless someone sneaked in and helped me." She rolled her eyes.

Damian's eyes narrowed. Just confirming."

He picked up his fork and took a bite.

Ethan waited patiently for him to compliment her cook but Damian took another bite; still, he said nothing.

Finally, Ethan couldn't resist; she needed to know how he felt about her cooking.

"Well?" She asked.

Damian looked up. “Well, what?"

"Is it edible?"

"It is." He said plainly.

Evelyn placed a hand over her chest dramatically.

"What a relief. I was beginning to think I'd have to escape through the kitchen window." She teased.

"You wouldn't get very far," Damian said, trying to hide the smile on his lips.

Ethan looked toward the window. "You're probably right."

Damian continued eating, but there was something different in his expression. He had the faintest hint of amusement.

Of course Ethan noticed it, but she wasn't sure whether she had imagined it.

---

Later that morning, Damian was preparing to leave for work when he found Ethan standing near the entrance. The young man was holding a small package.

Damian stopped. "What is that?"

Ethan looked down. Your dry cleaning."

"Leave it there."

So she placed it on the table, then she noticed the expensive watch on Damian's wrist. She stared at it for a moment; obviously, Damian noticed.

"What?" He asked

"Nothing."

"You were staring."

"I was admiring the watch."

"Why?"

"It's nice."

Damian looked at him as though he had just asked why the sky was blue.

Ethan shrugged. I like nice things."

"You don't seem like someone who does."

Ethan's smile disappeared for a second, then she recovered. Of course she likes nice things, but the medical bills had been taking all her money; she can't buy just anything.

"What does someone who likes nice things look like?"

Damian didn't answer; instead, he picked up his car keys. Ethan watched him walk toward the door. Then, without thinking, she said, "You're leaving without eating lunch again, aren't you?"

Damian stopped, and slowly, he turned.

“This chef is getting brave every hour”, he thought to himself.

Ethan immediately realised how that sounded.

"I mean..." She searched for an explanation. "I'm just saying you should eat."

"I know what you meant; it's just that somehow you sound like a caring mother”, Damian replied.

Ethan smiled inwardly. “Because that's just who I'm, a caring mother who's willing to take any risk for her son”, she whispered to herself.

Damian stared at him. "You've been here for one week."

"Yes, I know"

"And you're already monitoring my meals?"

Ethan folded his arms. "Someone has to."

Damian's expression became unreadable. He walked toward him and stopped a few feet away, while Ethan remained where she was.

"You are unusually comfortable speaking to me."

She smiled slightly. Is that a problem?"

"I haven't decided," Damian replied.

" Then take your time."

Damian's eyebrows rose. “Really, that irritating little confidence. Most people would have backed away by now, but he isn't” he said inwardly.

For reasons Damian couldn't explain, he found himself strangely unwilling to tell him to leave instead. He said, "Make sure lunch is ready by one."

Ethan nodded. "Yes, sir."

Damian turned toward the door. He had only taken a few steps when Ethan called after him. "Mr Hargrove…..Don't forget your umbrella."

Damian glanced outside; the sky was clear.

"No rain."

Ethan pointed toward the window. "That's what people say five minutes before it starts raining."

Damian stared at him.

"You've been here only seven days."

"Still counts, right?" She said

Damian shook his head and walked out.

---

At one o'clock, Ethan stood in the dining room with lunch prepared. The clock moved gradually, and Damian still hadn't returned. Ethan sighed; she had already turned to leave when the entrance opened.

Damian walked inside with a darker expression than usual. His hair was slightly damp; rain had begun pouring outside.

Ethan slowly smiled.

"I told you, didn't I ?"

Damian removed his coat without a word.

Ethan pressed her lips together, trying to suppress something.

“Don't?” Damian finally said.

"I'm not saying anything." She said sharply.

Damian glanced at her "You are smiling."

" You know…..I'm naturally cheerful." She said.

Damian gave him a warning look.

Ethan finally burst into laughter; probably, if Damian hadn't looked at her that way, maybe she would have successfully suppressed the laugh.

"I told you to take the umbrella."

"I heard you."

"And you didn't."

"I didn't think it would rain."

"Exactly."

Damian stared at him.

For a moment, neither spoke.

Then, unexpectedly, Damian's lips twitched. It was barely visible, a tiny movement.

Of course Ethan saw it and was sure this time. She froze.

"Did you just smile?"

Damian's face immediately returned to its usual cold expression.

"No."

"You did."

"I didn't."

"I saw it."

"You imagined it."

Ethan folded his arms. "Mr Hargrove, I may be new here, but I'm not blind."

Damian walked past him.

"Get back to work, Ethan."

Evelyn blinked; Damian had called her name again, Ethan, even though it's her fake name- at least not “You”.

For some strange reason, hearing it from Damian made something inside her chest tighten. She quickly pushed the feeling away.

Behind her, Damian disappeared down the hallway. He didn't know why he had smiled, nor why Ethan's voice had begun sounding familiar; he certainly didn't understand why the mansion seemed quieter whenever Ethan wasn't around.

For the first time in years, Damian Hargrove had an employee he couldn't predict, even though he hated things he couldn't predict; yet, strangely enough...

He wasn't sure he wanted Ethan to change. He had no idea why.

He couldn't have known that the person who had begun disrupting the quiet routine of his carefully controlled life wasn't just another employee but a woman he had mourned. The wife he believed he had lost forever. The woman whose absence had left a silence in his life he had never managed to fill… was standing only a few

rooms away, wearing another identity and unknowingly becoming the very person Damian was beginning to look forward to seeing every day.