Her Suspected Billionaire

Chapter 23

Alice walked into the office, holding two hot cups of instant coffee, and feeling giddy and good about herself. She had had a nice night rest without any nightmares and Sheila had made a glorious breakfast of fluffy banana pancakes. She didn’t know if her glow this morning was because of her breakfast or because Sheila was back home. But either ways, she wanted to go through today without thinking about anything that could make it end badly.

​She greeted Edith on the way to her office and dropped a cup of coffee on her desk for her. Edith smiled in thanks. She and Edith were quite close and they picked up coffee in the mornings for each other when it wasn’t inconvenient to do so. She sometimes made their coffee using the coffee stand in her office when she couldn’t make it to a coffee shop on time before work.

​As she reached the door to her office, she leaned over and peeped at Evan’s office. His door was glass and transparent so she could see him already seated at his desk. She always wondered how and why he got to work so early everyday. It was just a few minutes past seven and he was already seated. She wondered if he’d slept in the office. She wouldn’t put it past him. Evan looked like someone who loved what he did and since the fiasco with Liam, he’d been busier in the office, checking records and correcting documents that should have been corrected. She felt more like his therapist these days, making him coffee and listening to him rant about the news or something in whatever document he was reading at the time she came into his office with his coffee. She didn’t mind. At least he was talking to her normally now and not transferring heated aggression and yelling at her every move.

​She dropped the bag that hung on her shoulder on the chair opposite her swirling office chair and walked over to the coffee stand. She made a cup of black coffee, put the cup in a saucer and carried it to Evan’s office.

​Evan looked up from the document he was perusing as she walked in. For the first time, he began to see his secretary in a flattering view. What was the occasion that it seemed as if she was glowing this morning? Alice had on a red turtleneck, long-sleeved body con top with a pair of palazzo pants that had a flowery print and a pair of black platform boots. Her hair was packed in a stylish chignon, with a few strands falling down both sides of her face, but not so much that would obscure her vision or come in her way while she worked.

“Good morning, Mr. Sterling,” she greeted cheerily, placing the cup on the table.

“Morning, Miss James. You look pretty…different today,” Evan complimented, a small smile playing on his lips. “Any special occasion?”

“No, Sir,” Alice replied, laughing softly. Evan’s way of complimenting was still not normal but she would take what he said as a compliment. Apart from the fact that it was better than nothing, it also meant someone was noticing her happy disposition today and she liked that. Evan picked up the cup of coffee and sipped it. He had already drunk a cup of coffee at home that Nathan had made him, but he wasn’t going to reject the one Alice had made. She’d mastered the art of making his coffee just the way he liked it, even better than his previous secretary had.

​While he drank, he spoke to Alice about the new stock market, a recipe for making cranberry muffins and what time of the year was best for booking flights. Alice was used to this now and it was fast becoming a favourite part of her day. The first time he’d randomly asked her what colour she thought would suit him if hr ever planned to dye his hair, she’d been shocked. She’d told him ox-blood would be fine on him and he’d simply nodded. She thought he’d show up to work one day with his hair dyed, but that never happened. And Evan knew a little bit about everything, so their early morning conversations proved to be insightful for Alice.

“Thank you for the coffee, Miss James,” Evan appreciated, dropping the now empty cup back on the saucer.

“You’re welcome,” Alice replied him and picked up the saucer. She was about to leave when his voice stopped her.

“Miss James, do you know of any meal places around this vicinity where one could unwind, say for lunch? Or even a takeaway?”

“First Bite. It’s not far from here,” Alice replied immediately, before realizing what her boss was asking.

“Wait. You want to go for lunch?” she asked slowly. Since she’d began working here, she hadn’t seen Evan leave the office for lunch.

“I might change my mind before lunch time. Just good to know if I don’t, there’s a place close by that I could pop in and out of quickly.” Alice laughed as she left the office.

​Alice was meeting Sheila at First Bite for lunch. The restaurant were starting a seafood menu tonight and Sheila had promised to let her have a taste for lunch since she would be home or still at work tonight. Sheila herself was sleeping over at Steven’s tonight. It was the first time she would since she’d returned from her trip to Denver.

​She checked on Evan again to be sure he wouldn’t need anything till she was back from lunch before she left. The weather was bright. Alice was feeling giddy and pretty confident of herself today, so she decided to walk. She was there in twenty minutes. Sheila met her at the door and they went in together. Sheila had just returned from the Farmers’ Market where she’d gone to buy some more seafood that would be cooked for the menu tonight. Alice helped her take in some of the bags to the kitchen and then went to the restaurant to sit and wait for her meal. The place was fuller than usual today. Sheila soon reappeared with a tray in her hands. She was wearing an apron Alice knew was new because she hadn’t seen her in it before.

“It looks as if First Bite is getting reopened after a long time,” Alice said, as Sheila set down the tray on the table and began taking out the plates. The foods inside looked quite colourful and Alice couldn’t hide her excitement.

“Everyone’s really excited about the seafood menu. And we’re having an early afternoon special. Steven’s coming over to help out when he’s done with work.”

“I could help too.”

“Oh, please. We both know your boss runs you dry. You fall asleep in the living room these days a lot more than you used to when you weren’t working there.”

“He’s better now. Now, I’m more like a therapist to Mr. Sterling. He was just pretty worked up about the money missing from the company account then.”

“It’s okay, Alice. Go home and get some rest after work. Steven and I can handle here just fine. All the staff will be around too. No one’s leaving after their shift.”

Alice felt bad that she couldn’t stay to help out. She figured she would be more of a nuisance than a help anyway. She knew she was pretty clumsy sometimes, if not most times.

“So what do we have here?” she asked Sheila enthusiastically, looking at the plates of food in front of her.

“This is our famous spring seafood stew made with scallops and shrimps, and for a side dish, you have crab cakes,” Sheila explained pointing at the plates respectively. “Mind you, we don’t serve side dishes. Hilda made these crab cakes specially for her because she saw the picture of you I uploaded on i********: today and said you looked delicious,” she added with a laugh. Alice laughed too. She made a mental note to thank Hilda when she saw her.

​She picked up one crab cake and bit into it slowly. A burst of flavour exploded in her mouth and she closed her eyes in delight.

“Wonderful, eh?” Sheila asked, smiling.

“Mm-hmm,” Alice mumbled, opening her eyes. Her mouth was too full for her to talk.

“I knew it’d be good. Hilda’s improved a lot since she came here. It’s my recipe though, but her cooking,” Sheila said, proudly.

​After asking Joe to get Alice some water, Sheila headed back to the kitchen to continue manning affairs there while Alice ate. She had ordered some crab cakes to take back to the office with her. Edith had to taste this delicious goodness. Alice was tearing into a shrimp when she heard her name. She licked her fingers clean before looking up and almost fell off her chair. Standing in front of her were Evan and a man she knew she recognized but couldn’t place where she’d seen him, both smiling at her.