The Marriage Contract

Chapter 3

" Day dreaming!", a familiar voice said bringing Sophia back to reality . She opened her eyes and smiled at her friend who handed her a large cup of Caffe Latte from their favorite coffee shop across the road .

" Oh thank you Alex!", she said thanking the closest friend  she had at the office , Alexandrine.

" As if you knew I needed this , right at this instant!", she said smiling as she took a sip of the delicious coffee.

 The young barista from their favorite coffee shop from across the road  always put in an extra effort when making Alexandrine's order. She would flirt with him until he will hand  her, her  orders even adding  some extra delicious cookies.Alexandrine didn't mind people watching her , she was single and ready to mingle!

" You are welcome dear", Alexandrine said sitting down on the chair in front of her desk.

" Ok now Sophia ,where the heck were you? We searched the whole room for you we couldn't find you nor the handsome masked man!", her friend said looking at her ,anxiously waiting for her answer.

Sophia smiled as she sipped on her coffee and she looked at her friend whilst her face started to blush.

" Oh no! That look, are you blushing?!", Alexandrine said looking closely at Sophia's face and touching her cheeks.

Sophia burst out laughing,

" Gosh , nothing escapes the eyes of Alexandrine!", Sophia said smiling at her friend.

" Come on spill the beans!", Alexandrine said sitting on the edge of the chair anxiously waiting for Sophia to tell her about her whereabouts on Friday.

" Oh Alex, it was magical , it was a dream , that's it , a beautiful dream!", Sophia said to her friend and Alexandrine could feel the sadness in her friend's voice.

" And why the sad tone , if it was so incredible!", Alexandrine asked her friend.

" Because that what it was a dream, only a beautiful memory my friend", Sophia said sipping on her coffee and somewhat lost in her thoughts.

Her office phone rang, she picked up .

" Lexis Law firm, how may I assist you?", She said putting on her sweetest voice.

" Hello Mrs. May, yes I will tell her as well, Thank you!", Sophia said and hung up the phone.

" Tell my little friend we have a meeting with the directors this afternoon", Sophia said mimicking Mrs. May's voice and they both giggled. 

" Well I have to leave before we get into trouble", Alexandrine said getting up .

" Thanks for the coffee again, we will talk at lunch time", Sophie said blowing a kiss at her friend as she left her office.

" Meeting! I am so not  in the mood for a meeting today!", Sophia said as she got herself busy thinking about the holiday she needed for extra motivation.

It was lunch time , she thought that she was going to have a quiet lunch with her friend so she could let out everything on her chest, but unfortunately two other coworkers joined them so they only spoke about work and they wondered what is the sudden meeting about.

" Heard they will be changing some posts and reshuffling people around!", Gregory said taking a bite of his chicken sandwich.

He worked in the IT department and had been at the firm longer than Sophia and Alexandrine.

" What?!", Tanya said surprisingly.

" Well I am not too sure like I said , I heard", Gregory replied patting Tanya on her hand as she smiled sweetly at him.

Sophia had a feeling that those two were secretly seeing each other.  She looked at them and then at Alexandrine, they made eye contact and she  knew Alexandrine was thinking about the same thing as her ,  but they didn’t dare asked them anything as they were not that close and whatever was going between them was their business.

They sat there on the bench across the road from the firm eating their lunch ,  a white Range Rover pulling up outside the law firm  caught their attention and they stopped their conversation to see who it could be   .They all looked as the driver  got out and opened the back door. An older man got out being helped by the driver and then a younger man came out from the back and came around to help the old man . The old man took his walking stick from the driver and made his way inside the building. The younger man walked next to him and they were talking to each other and laughing .

" New client?", Tanya asked.

" Well , from far it looked like Mr.Egor Ivansky, the owner of all of that ", Gregory replied pointing to the buildings across the road.

The ladies all looked at each other, they had never met the great Mr. Ivansky in person , he was one of the top notch lawyers and one of the most respected man who had made a great name for himself and his family .

" I wonder why he came in today?", Sophia asked breaking the sudden silence.

" Well we have like twenty minutes to find out!", Alexandrine said looking at her watch reminding them of the meeting right after lunch .

They hurried and put their lunch away  and the ladies ran a hand over their dress removing the little pieces of breadcrumbs which  had fallen on their clothes.They hurried to the other side of the road , as soon as they entered  the building Sabrina asked them to come over .

" Did you guys see who walked in today? The big man himself!", she whispered excitedly.

" Yes , we saw him from far.  Now get back to work!", Gregory whispered back with a smile. 

Sabrina looked at him and pulled a silly face , they all laughed , as they heard footsteps behind them they all put on their serious face as they walked towards the elevator leaving Sabrina to attend to the people who had just  walked in. 

As soon as she walked in the office she was welcomed by Lucy again with her remarks. She has had enough of her for one day. Sophia remained calmed and walked into her office , once inside she let out a deep breath .

" That woman !", she whispered angrily referring to Lucy.

She checked her watch grabbed her diary and made her way to the conference room. She walked in and Alexandrine waved at her , she made her way to her friend and sat next to her. 

Soon the room was filled with the other staffs and all were whispering to one another.

The door opened and Mrs.May and other directors walked in followed by the old man they saw outside , a middle age man and the young man they saw earlier.

From up close the younger man looked so handsome , he looked like he was in his late thirties. Sophia and Alexandrine looked at each other and smiled. 

" Good afternoon everyone, thank you for being prompt and present for this meeting", Mr. Arkadi said.

He was in charge of the Human Resources department. He was a very friendly man and very approachable. 

" We are happy to have Mr. Ivansky present today , his son Mr. Albert and his grandson Mr. Lev , as you all may know they are the owners of this firm", Mr. Arkadi said as he greeted them individually.

" Grandson!", Alexandrine whispered and Sophia smiled and told her to be quiet.

The meeting continued and Sophia took some notes of the important changes that were taking place in the firm, the next point got all of her attention , when it was mentioned that soon the firm will offer their staffs who are willing to do a law degree a fully paid scholarship .

Sophia looked at Alexandrine and they smiled , they both had the dream of finishing their studies.

 Could this be my chance !?,  Sophia said to herself as she stared blankly at the man speaking whilst she was lost in her own world excited about the thought that she could finally finish her law degree !