Coming Home

Chapter 20

Chapter 20

"You should start on that presentation before the Board of Trustees gets here," Michael Collins said the moment she walked into his office. Her new employer, Michael, sat behind his desk; his blond hair slicked back with wax. His cool, brown eyes stared at her in boredom.

Venice nodded and immediately grabbed the new pile of folders stacked on his table. She'd left the office last night with a great feeling that she didn't have much to do today. But that feeling died down as soon as she saw the paperwork waiting for her. Her good mood turned sour in a matter of seconds. And it didn't help that her new boss was grumpy and moody--it almost reminded her of Max She remembered how much of an ass he'd been the first few months of working for him.

She couldn't remember how many times she'd tempted to quit. But knowing no one would pay her well the way her ex-boss had done; Venice had no choice but to stay in the company. Luckily, she'd stayed, otherwise she wouldn't have made such a wild bargain with Maxwell, and realized that the person she'd wanted to spend the rest of her life with had been right in front of her all along.

"Are you listening to me, Miss. Zane?" Michael said, bringing her back to reality.

She nodded and left his office.

"I don't know how you can handle him," Mrs. Gem said as she dropped by her desk after she'd sat down. "All he does is boss you around."

"That's his main purpose as the president, right?" Venice teased as she opened up the files on her computer. There were a lot of things to do and not enough time to complete them.

"I do hope he raises your salary by 10%," Mrs. Gem said as she flopped down on the seat opposite her. "I wouldn't even survive a week if my employer treats me like that." She was tempted to tell the older woman to that she had experience with asshole employers, but held herself back. Michael knew what company she'd come from but hadn't bothered to ask her why she'd decided to move. It wasn't his business but she'd been curious to why he hadn't when her previous employers had done so in the past.

I guess, each to their own, Venice thought as she started the pie charts she hated making the most. She spent a couple of hours doing the presentation and adding the charts of the sales they'd had for the last couple of months, making sure to attach a few comments from their usual customers. The company had just launched a new product and Michael wanted to see what the public thought. Fortunately, the feedback came out positive.

She was still making adjustments since the schedules were far different from what she was used to. It would take her a few more weeks to get familiarized with the system but Venice knew she'd keep the job for as long as she wanted to stay. Michael was an introvert and far too young to be a CEO of the company. He was younger than her; perhaps, in his middle twenties or much younger than that. She'd heard he was an early graduate and had started university at the age of sixteen. He'd graduated three-years later and inherited his share in the company.

Some of the executives hadn't agreed to him being the president, but bloodline won out over the votes of execution. Even some of his employees were still talking about the recent matter and made her wonder how he could manage such big company. A lot of people in the same age would be out partying, picking multiple women from clubs and coming home drunk and making it to another tabloid news. But not Michael Collins; he was too interested in pie charts and whatnot than to date. Truth be told, Venice saw him as a younger brother. Someone who needed to grow up fast after being entrusted to a world of adults when he wasn't a man himself.

No matter how much she wanted to give her opinion, Venice knew it wouldn't do anyone good, especially her. She was a newbie and the last thing she wanted was to get fired without lasting than a month.

As soon as the clock struck eleven, everyone from the Board of Trustees arrived at the conference room and the meeting began. She didn't hear much of it since her stomach was rumbling from hunger already. She couldn't wait to see Max at her lunch break. He'd agreed to meet up with her in spite of his busy schedules, always making sure to find the time to see her. The Smiths Inc. had launched a new product as well, something that dealt with personal CCTV cameras that could be used in every corner of the room. It was a tiny product but had a lot of useful things about it.

She bolted from her seat as soon as the meeting ended and her boss had given her the go-sign. She grabbed her bag from her desk and quickly hopped into her car. He'd chosen another secluded area but a cfe that had a lot of people in it. They didn't talk much outside; they did most of it while they were home and went over the personal things that needed to be discussed. But when they were outside, Max puts all of his attention to her and made sure to listen to her suggestions. And she was glad he'd chosen her favorite place to eat in.

Her husband was patiently waiting at the corner, holding the menu to cover his face. It was a public place and he'd never really liked having paparazzi following him around. It was pet peeve that Max had never gotten over no matter how long it happened.

"How long have you been waiting for me?" she asked as she slid in next to him.

A grin appeared. "Not quiet long. How was work?"

"Same as everyday," she answered.

"Michael still giving you a hard time?" Max knew him and had been friends with her boss for a long time now. But since her boss was an introvert and stayed away from people and from the internet, he never found out about their marriage, which was a good thing. She wanted to keep her personal life private.

"He's not as bad as I thought him to be," she admitted before gesturing for the waiter to get their order. "He's just really young and hadn't experienced fun before. I guess that's what happens when you're forced to grow up so quickly."

"Michael is an only child so he doesn't really know much about mingling with people his age. Growing up, his father had always brought him to work and met a lot of people twenty-years his senior. So I guess he got it in his head that he has to act the same way in spite of his age."

"That's kind of terrible," she whispered.

"It is," her husband agreed. "He never learnt to talk to women, ask them out and such."

"So, wait. He never dated before?"

Max shook his head. "He's an introvert, remember? He lacks human emotions--or so I thought anyway."

"No wonder women are so afraid of signing up to be his secretary," Venice said to herself. "Mrs. Gem--an old woman I work with have always complained about him and how much of a loner he is. I've always thought it was just her words, you know, not realizing that what she'd been saying was true."

"Well, that's just how his life work."

Coming to understand how much of an introvert Michael Collins was gave her the chance to understand the young man. She wasn't one to judge but the way he'd been isolating himself from his employees had sat oddly with her. But how did her husband come to know him so well if he avoided the crowd like a plague?

"How do you know all these things about him?" she asked, eyes narrowed in suspicion. "I guess he's not much of an introvert if he talks to you about these things."

Max shook his head, chuckling. "My parents grew up knowing his so we were kind of forced to hang out together. And in spite of how intimidating I can be, I'm very observant around my surroundings. I take in everything and leave out the unimportant parts."

"So how come you don't get together these days? You know? Help him out a bit, get him out of his shell and whatnot."

"I've tried doing that but he closes off whenever there's a lot of people around. He's not much of a talker, you see. But there's a particular woman that he gets tongue-tied with."

Her ears perked up, instantly propping a fist under her chin to listen. Her husband laughed once more. She would never get over how much she loved hearing him laugh. It was infectious. "So who is this woman?"

"My sister," Max replied drily.

Her mouth fell open. She'd thought it was someone from work! Even though Michael was young, Eunice was younger. There was at least three to four years gap between them if she could recall it. Her sister-in-law had just thrown a birthday party for her nineteeth and she'd thought she'd seen her boss somewhere in the venue.

"Did he go to her nineteeth party?" Venice asked knowing the answer already.

He nodded, confirming her assumption. "Eunice invited him in spite of the fact that I would be against it. I may be friends with your boss but I don't want him hanging around my sister. She's too innocent and fragile for someone like him."

"Because you're afraid he might take her away from you and break her heart in the end," Venice concluded. Just as the way I'd thought when you first proposed to me, she wondered but kept it to herself.

"I'm just protecting her," Max explained. "The last thing I want to happen to my little sister is to have her heart broken."

"That's inevitable," she argued. "You can't prevent anyone from coming into your sister's life and stop them from meeting her. There's some things you can't stop from happening, dear husband."

He pulled her close surprising her. "I know Michael is a great man but Eunice is young. I'm afraid she's already falling for him without him noticing. If he had as much experience as me with women, I'd think he would have made his move a long time ago."

Her ears perked at the first part of his words, and the soft glow inside of her died. She glared at him, hoping he understood why her happy mood turned slightly sour. "What did you just say? If he had as much experience as you with women? Excuse me? Did I hear that right?"

An apologetic smile instantly appeared on his face. "Sorry. You know what I mean."

She did know what he meant and as much as she wanted to keep pouting, she didn't want to ruin the mood. She was still in her good nature and she didn't want to ruin it with a simple argument.

"Aren't you going to be late?" Max asked after he glanced at his watch. "You've been out for more than thirty minutes."

"I asked for an extension today since I didn't get to have my lunch break yesterday."

"Why is that?" her husband asked, brows furrowed and she knew what that face meant. He'd have a talk with her boss and her cover would be for nothing. Her co-workers would find out about her marriage with Max and that was the last thing she wanted.

"Everyone was so busy so there wasn't a time for us to take a break," she explained before adding, "please don't say anything to him. Everyone in the company would find out about our marriage."

He scoffed. "You should just announce we're married. I'm sure everyone has seen that tabloid about us so what's the point of hiding it?"

"All in good time, my dear husband." Venice said before pecking him on the lips.

By the time she'd gone back to the office, she was grinning like an i***t. Mrs. Gem was at her desk to greet her back, and her question had the smile on her face fading. "What were you doing with Mr. Smith, Miss. Zane?"