LIORA

I enter the meeting room and see William waiting for me. I place my files in front of my chair. He takes a look at my mask and raises his eyebrows.

"What's that mask for?" he asks, noticing the mask I hadn't worn in the morning. He would think I am weird.

"Umm, I got the flu so I don't want to spread it?" It comes out more like a question.

I am so bad at lying. This seems like a bad idea. Maybe running away is the only safe option now.

He furrows his brows. "You looked fine in the morning."

Crap! Think of an excuse!

"I guess it wasn't that noticeable in the morning." I laugh it off and fake cough a little bit.

I can feel like he can see through my bullshit but keep quiet and don't point it out.

Before he can say anything else, our CEO, Logan Martinez, enters the room and we all settle in our seats. Mr. Martinez sits at the head of the table, a couple of chairs away from me, and his secretary stands beside him. There is an empty table beside him.

He didn't come. Where is he?

I mentally hit myself for thinking about him. I should be avoiding him not daydreaming about him.

However, my thoughts are interrupted when the door opens. My heart skips a beat. The person who is the reason for my anxiety enters the room. He is in his navy blue suit and pants, looking like he is ready to crack some business deals. He runs his hand through his messy hair as he walks towards his father with his secretary behind and nods his head.

The silence in the room makes me realize that everyone is intimidated by him. His eyes start assessing the room, and everyone is trying hard to not appear scared and meet his eyes. When his green eyes settle on me, like a fool, I avert my gaze. He might think I am guilty or scared. After a moment, I look back at him. His eyes are still on me, and he appears deep in thought.

Does he recognize me? My mind races. I adjust my mask and fake a cough, hoping to hide my identity. He looks away, and I breathe a sigh of relief. The meeting starts.

"Good Morning, everyone. I called this meeting to tell you something important. You all must have heard about me retiring. It's true; I think it's time for me to get down as a CEO. I am in my old age and I shouldn't be surrounded by work and stress. I should go around the world and have some fun." He laughs, lightening the tension in the room. Everyone smiles at his words except Dexter. He is still staring coldly at everyone. Does he ever smile?

"I am going to introduce my grandson, Dexter Martinez. He has been studying and training himself abroad to take over my position. Last week, we had a board meeting about this and they decided for the next five months he will be a temporary CEO. After the five-month period, he will be appointed as a permanent CEO after seeing his abilities." He motions for his son to speak.

"Mr. Martinez already gave my introduction so I am going to be direct with all of you. I hope that all the heads of all departments coordinate with me and update me with all the necessary information. Even though I checked in with my secretary about what's going on around I want to hear from you. I saw a little confusion and blunders going on with some of your work. I hope you will sort them out soon or else the only last conversation you are going to have in this office is with the HR." Dexter says in a monotone voice which gives chills to my body. I take a look around; everyone is literally sweating. Some people can't meet his eyes. He basically made half of the employees shit their pants.

"Don't threaten my employees," Mr. Martinez hisses at Dexter.

"They are my employees from today," Dexter states.

"You!" He points his finger at his son like he is about to scold him but doesn't say anything.

"James, Take Mr. Martinez for his doctor's appointment. He is already late." Dexter says to his father's secretary.

"I'll take my leave," Mr. Martinez says and mumbles something like 'I am still your grandfather' to Dexter and leaves the room.

Dexter also stands up. "All the heads of the departments send the updates to my email by the end of the day. The meeting ends now."

He leaves the room with his secretary trailing behind him, probably blabbering about his next schedule.

I sigh with relief that I've gone unnoticed, but I know it's only a matter of time before Dexter finds out about my mishap.

Seeing him today all serious and cold scares the hell out of me. I no longer doubt that he is going to fire me when he finds out.

"The meeting is over in less time but it scared more than half of the employees," William says. He is sitting beside me the whole time.

"It's gonna be tough dealing with him, but that's the person we need to keep the work moving forward efficiently."

I don't understand why I am defending him.

"Yeah, probably," he says, collecting his stuff. "Maybe you should go home and take rest as you got the flu."

"It's okay. It's not that serious and I should send him the updates by the end of the day," I say.

He hesitates but finally leaves to do his work.

I hate lying. I couldn't even look him in the eye and speak to him properly.

I go back to my cabin to do my work and keep my mask on in case I bump into him.

I am so busy with my work that I don't notice it's past my lunchtime. I wrap up the work I was doing and take my bag and decide to go out to have my lunch.

I go to a small restaurant which is in front of the office. I order a hamburger. This is always my go-to restaurant because it's near my office and has the most delicious food. 

After I am done with my lunch, I go back to the office. The floor I work on is the sixth. I see the elevator door closing in, and I rush towards it hoping that I can catch it in my heels. Maybe I am having a death wish. I am almost a few feet away from the damn elevator when a person comes in my way.

I try my best to stop myself from clashing with the person which results in me stumbling across the floor and knocking the person and the iPad he is carrying.

When my back hits the ground, I can feel the pain hit my ankle and shoulder. I hear a groan beside me.

I am mortified, but as I look at the person, I feel my heart sink.

Fuck my life!

It's Dexter. Out of all the people in the building, why did it have to be him?

Suddenly remembering that I should hide my face, I search for my mask and find it on my neck. I slide it to my face covering my mouth and nose. I get up really fast, ignoring the pain in my body. I see him getting up as he glares at me.

I think the universe really wants me to be miserable.

"Can't you watch where you are going?" He shouts at me.

Crap!

He looks around searching for something and both our eyes fall on the iPad which was lying on the ground and looks broken.

Double crap!

I am so done today.

"I am so sorry, sir-" He cuts me off.

"I don't want your sorry. I was in a meeting with important clients. How are you going to be responsible for this?" He grits out.

"I will apologize to the clients for my mistake sir, and you can cut the expenses of the iPad from my salary," I say. He fumes more at my words. I think I should keep my mouth shut.

How could I be so clumsy? At this point maybe I should just hand over my resignation letter to him seeing how much damage I am doing to him.

Finally, God took pity on me, and his secretary appeared and reminded him that an important client had come to visit him.

Dexter asks him to deal with me and leaves for his office.

The secretary asks me about the issue, and I tell him everything that happened today. He asks me to go back to work, and he is going to manage the boss. I guess he took pity on me.

With a huge sigh of relief, I go back to my work. As I resume my tasks, I can't help but feel that my day has been a rollercoaster of anxiety and embarrassment. 

The inevitable confrontation with Dexter seems closer than ever, and I can't help but worry about the consequences.

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With love,
flwenzi ♡