Adam's POV

I'd been busy with my work when James barged into my office. In his hands were a few files and a plastic bag. A beautiful aroma hit my nose, making my stomach growl. The bag definitely had food in it, because James had his food grin on.

"Why didn't you come here this morning?", I asked while I looked into the bag.

"I, too, have an office, you know?"

I rolled my eyes and took out the contents in the bag. Just as I was about to eat, I heard a gasp form James. Looking up, I saw that he was looking at my hand.

"What is it?"

"You don't have your ring on! Where is it?"

I raised a brow at him.

"It's at home. I left it there."

He looked at me, his shocked expression not showing any signs of disappearing.

"You what? I mean, this is good but........what made you remove it?"

I ate my food, and took a gulp of the juice he'd brought.

"I figured that it was time I did."

He smiled then, as if he knew what was going on.

"It was because of Leila, wasn't it?"

A small smile was about to reveal itself, but I shoved food down my throat, making sure that he wouldn't see it.

At that moment at home, I'd been brushing my teeth when I saw it. I played with it a little, but it didn't feel right anymore. My finger felt naked without it, but a smile couldn't help but make itself present. I put it in a small box and placed it in the box that had Katherine's pictures.

"It is!! Finally, mate."

"What do you mean by that?"

He rolled his eyes then, opening up his beverage.

"I saw how you were looking at her on the sports day we had. You had that dooey look in your eyes."

He laughed then, making me wish that I'd worn it today to avoid this.

"I'm kinda sceptical though."

He stopped laughing when he heard that, and put on a serious expression while he shoved more food into his mouth. He rose his brow, signalling me to continue.

"Would she be with me, even though I have a kid?"

"What? That's your reason?! Emilia and Leila are like two peas in a pod. They get along very well, which, is actually a good thing for you, come to think of it."

I thought more while I ate my food, when there was a knock and someone I wasn't expecting to see entered.

"Jane!"

She smiled at us and made her way to the other free chair.

"I see that you still eat in the office, boys."

James laughed then, making me smile at how we were still connected after so long. Jane, James, Katherine and I played together in high school and became the best of friends. We all had different dreams, and had vowed to achieve them.
James and I wanted to be businessmen, while Katherine wanted to be an artist and Jane a fashion designer. We had all done well in our dreams, but we had lost our connection with Jane because she'd left for Italy to pursue her dream while we stayed and went to college.

"Sometimes. We do it when we're super busy."

She laughed then, looking at the disarray on my table. We had a few conversations and then James left the two of us in the room.

"Adam. Can you help a friend out?"

I quickly shook my head, laughing lightly.

"Last time you said that, I was chased down the street by dogs."

She laughed then, showing that she'd remembered what had happened.

"Don't worry. You won't be chased this time."

"Ok then. What is it?"

She sat up and smiled.

"There's a fashion show this weekend and I'd like to go with you, if you aren't busy."

Oh...

"Why me, though? I'm pretty sure that you'd have a line of men ready to take you."

She waved her hands then, showing that that whole idea wasn't acceptable.

"They bore me. At least I'll have fun if it is you who's with me."

I thought to myself. Maybe going with her could boost my business somehow, and although I hated going to such occasions, she looked like she really needed my help.

"Fine. I'll go with you."

She clapped her hands in mirth, and I laughed then, realizing that her crazy loud self hadn't left her completely.

"Thank you. Would you be willing to show me a good restaurant in this city? I have a client whom I'm going to meet up with and they are quite fancy. It'll be like old times."

"Seems like you haven't left the habit of dragging people around. If I remember correctly, I was usually your prey."

"Well, that's because you're such a gentleman. You wouldn't let me wonder about a city I'm not quite familiar with on my own."

*********

Leila's POV

Emilia and I sat down for dinner but Adam hadn't come back from work yet. We ate in silence, and I could see that the little one was not happy. I was somewhat worried. He didn't say anything about coming back late today.

After our meal, I tucked Emilia in while I cleaned up the place. Not feeling tired, I took my novel and began to read it in the sitting room. I just remembered reading a few pages when sleep overtook me. I then felt something trail my cheek. It was soft and warm. I slowly opened my eyes, still drowsy from sleep when I saw Adam sitting on the couch's hand. I quickly sat up and wiped the sleep out of my eyes.

"Good evening, Leila. Shouldn't you be sleeping in your room?"

I yawned answering him.

"I was waiting for you."

He raised his brows, a smirk growing on his face.

"Oh, really now? You missed me?"

I quickly shook my head, and blushed while at the same time wished that I hadn't done this. Without looking at him, I replied.

"I was just worried. You usually say something when you're gonna be late."

"Oh, I got caught up today. Someone came whom I didn't expect to see."

I stood up, stretched then looked at him.

"I guess it went well?"

He smiled then and stood up too.

"Yes. Very well indeed."

"That's great then. I'm going to sleep now."

Just as I had turned, I was held from taking a step. It was Adam's hand.

"Sorry for making you wait."

I shook my head.

"Don't worry about it."

He didn't let go of my hand.

"Let me make it up to you. I'll take you to the office with me. At least you won't be bored all morning here."

My eyes widened, shocked that he'd said that.

"Really? There's no need for that. I wouldn't want to be a problem."

"Trust me, you are anything but a problem to me."

After a short while, I saw that there were more pros than cons if I went there tomorrow.

"Okay then. I'll go with you."

•°•°•°•°

I sat in his car while the engine purred on our way to his workplace. I'd never been there before, and I was excited and anxious a little. Some country music from the radio played on, and although I wasn't a fan, I didn't turn it off. Maybe he had a thing for cowboy music. I laughed to myself at how stupid that sounded.

When we got there, I was shocked to see how big it was. When we got out, people were buzzing about with their work.

"Let me give you a tour."

I turned to look at him, and I noticed that he was looking about the busy reception area.

"Don't you have work to do?"

He smiled at that.

"I'm the boss. I don't think anyone would eat me alive if I was late."

Feeling stupid, I laughed nervously and allowed him to show me around. Some employees looked at us in shock, and others in curiosity. Most of them outright didn't notice us. Those we came across greeted us with warm smiles and he greeted them back.

After a long while, we got into the elevator that led to his office. When it opened, there was a woman who sat by the desk typing away with earphones in her ears. When she saw us, she pulled them out and greeted us and went on with her work.

"Is she supposed to do that?"

He laughed a little while he opened his office door. We walked into his office and it was almost a replica of his man cave, only that it was bigger and it was more formal. There was little to no color in there; only grey, white and black were to be seen.

"Make yourself comfortable. And don't worry about her."

I took a seat on a chair and heaved out a breath. All that walking around had made me tired.

"Are you okay?"

I laughed when I saw his smile. It was clear that he was teasing me.

"I'll be fine. Just a couple of minutes. This is one big building you got here."

He sat down on his seat and he called someone. When the told the receiver of the call that he needed his list of appointments for the day, I knew that it was his assistant.

I stood up while he was still talking and went to the big glass wall. I gasped when I saw the beautiful view of the city. You could see the buildings up to the sea shore. I couldn't keep my eyes off of it.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

I turned around to see that Adam was behind me, with a couple of feet separating us. Looking up, I saw that he was looking down at me with a small smile on his face.

"Yes. It is."

I couldn't take my eyes off of him, and to my shock, he didn't look away from me. He took a small step closer when the office door opened, making me take a step back while his gaze went to the door.

James was standing at the door, his eyes showing confusion.

"Leila? What are you doing here?"

I looked at Adam, who had begun to walk to his desk. Exhaling the air I didn't know I had been holding, I told him about the invite I'd been given. He looked pleased when he turned his attention back to Adam and they began to talk about work.

I took a seat on another chair and began to play with my phone. When I looked up a little, Adam was looking at me. Not knowing what to do, I looked back on my phone, not really able to focus on my game anymore.

What would've happened if James hadn't walked in?