Discovering My Stranger

Apology and Dinner

The next morning, I tried to convince myself I didn’t need this job but then I remembered daddy always told me never to give up on anything. Janet was fast asleep when I left the house at 6:20am. I left home early so that I can arrive before 7am, I wasn’t going to give that jerk any reason to ruin my day.

I got to the office 15mins before time, I settled on my desk and had a hot cup of coffee with a sandwich I made before leaving home. He never came in until 11am and wasn’t dressed for work, one would assume he had a hangover or something. He kept his distance and stayed in his office all day. He only called my office once to cancel his 5pm meeting. The day went by like a flash and by 4:30pm all the work I had for the day had been completed. Soon I saw him walk into my office,

“Am sorry about yesterday, I shouldn’t have kept you till late and raised my voice at you. I was just really having a bad day and the meeting at Intercontinental Hotel didn’t go as planned.” He took a deep breath before he continued. “I hope we can start afresh” he stretched his hand forward towards me “Am Liam Palmer, your boss” we both laughed and I couldn’t believe he was actually being nice to me.

“Apology accepted.” I shyly smiled after saying this, I don’t know why I was shy but yes I was.

“I think you deserve to leave early after leaving so late yesterday.” He pulled a chair towards my table and took his seat placing both his hands on the table. I interrupted before he could continue

“Leave early?” I shifted abit in my chair confused about him telling me I could leave early when this was almost 5pm

“And exactly how many hours am I supposed work in a week?” I looked him straight in the eye and my straight face was back on.

“Reporting time is 07am because I get here that time, you can leave by 5pm but just check in with me if I need your help or not. I know yesterday was just messed up and I will make it up to you”

“How exactly are you going to do that?” My left brow rose forming an arc.

“Let me take you to dinner” a smile was slowly forming on his face after he said that.

Was he fliting with me or trying to bed me? No way was I going to have dinner with him.

“No thanks I’ll pass.”

“But why not. It’s just a piece offering”

“And have the whole office gossip about me having an affair with my boss? Not happening sorry.” I turned away and started packing my things into my bag.

“I will fire who ever gossips” now his face was serious.

“No why” I frowned.

“Because they are gossiping and it makes you uncomfortable” his face was straight and showed so much concern. I grabbed my things and went the other way round my table to leave then he grabbed my wrist towards his body making me face him and only inches in between us now.

“I really want to make it up to you. Please let me” he was looking straight into my eyes not blinking even once and I just stared back at him. I started feeling strange about how close we were standing next to each other. I had to accept this dinner or things were going to get out of hand. What if someone passed by my office, they would definitely think something was going on between Liam and I. We stood in the same position for what I think must have been 5mins now and neither one of us moved until his phone started to ring. He soon let go of my hand and started talking on his phone. His call was less than a minute and he turned again and faced me.

“Please let me treat you to dinner” this time he was serious and I couldn’t say no.

“Just this once” a smile popped up on his face when I agreed and he rushed to his office to get his jacket and car keys.

We left the building just after 5pm and he asked me to follow him behind to Latitude 15 degrease as that’s where we were going to have dinner.

When we arrived we got a table inside, in a far corner giving us some privacy from everyone. A waiter came through with menus and we placed our orders soon after.

“So Ms. Katherine, tell me about yourself.” He asked

“What does my boss want to know about me?” I smiled

He started laughing “Please drop the formalities we are outside work. I told you to just call me Liam okay?” I just nodded my head in agreement.

“Well are you gonna tell me anything?” he asked.

“Where to start”

“Anywhere”

“Okay, close friends call me Kate and not Katherine”

“But I like Katherine” he smiled

“I prefer Kate. My parents died in a car accident 3 years ago, I have no siblings or relatives in Zambia. All my relatives are based in Canada. I have an option to relocate there and run the family business but I decided to stay here and live my life my way” I shrugged.

“Wow that’s kind of my story, I am on orphan too parents died over 10 years ago. I was raised by my grandparents in London and I grew up taking over my family business. I have one elder sister who’s married to a duke in London. My grandmother wants me back in London and I insisted on staying in Africa. Am definitely not married or have any kids yet” we both started laughing.

“Do you intend to get married some day?” I asked.

“It all depends if I find a good woman to marry”

“Wouldn’t you want to marry for love?”

“Well that’s one of the things to consider. The past women I have been with are all just gold diggers. All they care about is shopping and travelling the world. I would love a women I can talk business with, investments and what not. Is that too much to ask?” We both burst into laughter.

The dinner actually went well, we shared a bottle of wine making sure we both didn’t drink too much. I got home after 9pm and Janet had gone back to her house. I kind of wished she was around so that I could tell her about my dinner which wasn’t a date but seemed so.

After having dinner things changed between us and I didn’t feel like quitting anymore. I accompanied Liam to almost all his meetings including the short trips he made within Africa to meet investors. Before I realized it 3 months had already passed since I joined Palmer Enterprise and completed my probation and I was now officially Liam’s executive assistant.