Billionaire’s plight

Chapter three. The Arrival

and focus on my spreadsheets, while the rest of the office talked about nothing but the big arrival. Everyone was busy planning their outfits and hair appointments, because they all wanted to look their best for the boss.

"Ava, you really need to wear something else besides those big sweaters," Zara said, while she leaned on my desk with a cup of coffee.

"I like my sweaters, Zara, because they are comfortable and they don't make people look at me," I replied, without moving my eyes from the screen.

"Well, being invisible might not work this time, because he is going to check every single department," she whispered, leaning in closer so no one else could hear us.

I just nodded and kept typing, hoping that the next few months would pass by without any trouble. I had spent all night fixing the mistakes in the audit, and I didn't want anyone to know it was me. I just wanted to do my job, get my paycheck, and go home to my quiet apartment.

But my plan for a peaceful week broke on Tuesday morning, when the office was still half-empty and quiet. I was at my desk early, sipping my tea and finishing a report, when the elevator doors opened with a really loud ding. I didn't look up at first, because I thought it was just the janitor or another early worker.

"He's not supposed to be here until next week," I heard a faint whisper from the reception desk, and I paused for a second.

I slowly lifted my head, and there he was, standing by the glass doors.

Dominic Hale.

He was a week early, and he was looking straight toward my corner of the office with those sharp eyes of his. He looked exactly the same as the last time I saw him, only more tired and much more dangerous.

"Good morning," he said.

The receptionist was shaking while she tried to stand up and greet him, but he just waved his hand to tell her to sit back down. He didn't want the big welcome or the flowers, he just wanted to get to work. He started walking down the passageway, and I tried to hide behind my computer screen, but it was too late because he was already standing right in front of my desk.

"You're in early," he said, looking at my name tag and then back at my face.

"I like the quiet, sir," I whispered.

"The quiet is good for thinking, but it is also good for hiding things," he replied, and for a moment, I thought he knew exactly who I was and what I had done two years ago.

*_**_*_

What was hidden was a secret that could cost me my job and maybe even more.

Two years ago, I wasn't just a server at that gala; I was there because I had hacked into the event's guest list to find James Lee from Orientek. I was desperate and young, and I used my skills with computers to get past the security so I could get close to the rich people in that room.

"You're not supposed to be here," he had whispered back then, leaning close to my ear while the music played loudly in the background.

"I'm just serving drinks, sir," I had lied, my heart beating so fast I thought it would burst out of my chest.

"A server doesn't carry a flash drive in her pocket, Ava," he said, and my blood turned to ice because I didn't even know he knew my name yet.

He had seen me plugging that drive into a laptop in the coatroom just ten minutes before we met on the balcony. Instead of calling the police, he had just watched me, a small smile on his face like he was watching a movie he liked. He let me leave that night, but he kept the flash drive, and I ran away as fast as I could without ever looking back.

Now, standing in this office, I realized he had kept my secret for two years like a weapon he was waiting to use against me at every given opportunity. I wasn't just a girl who fixed spreadsheets; I was a girl who had broken the law, and he was the only witness who could prove it.

*_**_

He didn't say anything else, he just turned around and walked toward the big corner office that had been empty for months. I watched him go, and I felt like I couldn't breathe well until the door closed behind him. Zara came running over to my desk a few minutes later, and her eyes were wide with shock.

"Did he just talk to you? Ava, he's a week early and he already knows your name!" she cried out, while she looked at the closed door of the boss's office.

"He just said I was early, Zara, it's not a big deal," I told her, but I knew it was a very big deal because my plan to stay invisible had failed on the very first day.

***

I watched Zara walk away, but my hands were still shaking so much that I had to hide them under my desk. Every time the office phone rang, I jumped because I thought it was him calling me into his office to talk about the past.

I tried to look at my computer, but I couldn't focus on the numbers at all. It felt like the whole room was different now that he was sitting just a few feet away from me.

"Ava, the manager needs the files for the meeting right now," a coworker called out, which made me jump in my seat.

I stood up slowly and picked up the yellow folders, trying to keep my hands steady so nobody would notice I was nervous. I knew that if I acted scared, people would start asking questions I couldn't answer.

It is about to be five months of mixed feelings or emotions.