Quote of the day: Believe it or not you can make it happen😁.

  The day seemed to stretch on and on. Ashley got tired of the endless meetings she had to attend that day and the fact that Greg was there didn't ease her at all. She got unnecessarily jumpy whenever he calls her name, and she almost couldn't stop blushing with how many times she caught him staring at her, and he would just wink. She was quite uncomfortable with it, she knew a lot of people could notice the way he had been staring and winking.

  She so much wish he would go back to being hostile, just till this last meeting was done. Ashley tried her best to take note of things as much as she can, or as much as Greg's gaze would let her.

   "So Mr Marshall, what do you think?" She heard the company vice president Mr Stallone asking Greg. She looked up at Greg to see what his opinion on the issue would be. For her she thought it was a very stupid idea but she couldn't say so.

   "I really can't say...but...what do you think Miss wells?" Greg asked looking at her. Ashley was shocked because she was just a secretary. She was only supposed to take note of what is being discussed not give an opinion. And moreover the people in this meeting were all high ranked. "What do you have to say Ashley? Do you think it will be a good idea to not launch any product now and wait till next year and launch in commemoration of the company's twentieth anniversary?"

   Ashley saw that a lot of people were looking at her, it was very rare to see Greg asking for a person's opinion in times like this. Usually he would just downright disagree or say he would  think about it, moreover he was asking of a secretary's opinion. Ashley  saw that most of the directors in the room felt insulted, she wanted to just tell Greg to do whatever he wanted since it was his company, but he was asking of her opinion. So she decided she would say what she really thought about the issue and hope she impresses him.

    "I don't think it would be a good idea," Ashley said truthfully. She saw Greg's face spread into a smile, and she could see Mr Stallone giving her a glare but she continued all the same. "Postponing the launching of product could be quite damaging for the company, a lot of people are aware of our traditions and look forward to the launching of product around this time every three years. And I'm afraid if we don't do it their attention could be stolen by some other company who would take advantage of the situation."

    "That attention would be won back if we launch a better product next year, and such product would enjoy a lot of attention coupled with the whole twentieth year anniversary," Mr Stallone said giving her a hard glare.

   "Well we could still launch now, and create something better next year in commemoration of the twentieth anniversary," she said looking Mr Stallone square in the eye. Ashley actually hated it, she didn't like logging heads with a person of such high position in the company, he could get her sacked. But Greg had asked her so.

   "Well I also think not launching now would be a bad idea, but its nice to hear someone else's opinion," Greg said giving her a smile. "We will launch now as usual, at least its being prepared, and then we will find something to do for the anniversary next year." Ashley saw that a few of the directors agreed with the idea. She felt proud of herself, but she could feel Mr Stallone hatred from where she sat and she didn't care. "That being said I guess this meeting is over." Greg stood up and everyone else stood up. "Miss Wells." He called out to her and walked out of the conference room and she followed behind him.

   "Ashley please I will be really busy so cancel all my remaining appointments, and I don't want to see anybody okay," Greg said as they got to their floor. "And by the way I was really proud of you in there." He gave a smile filled with pride, he looked like a father whose child just won a competition.

   "Okay Mr Marshall, and thank you for giving me the chance," Ashley said with a smile of her own.

   "Stop calling me Mr Marshall its brutal when you do so," he said touching his heart.

   "Okay Mr Marshall."

"Oh goodness Ashley," Greg muttered and walked into his office. Ashley sat at her desk and got busy finishing some left over work she had before the series of meeting. She brought out phone and plugged in her earpiece, she played her favorite playlist and the song 'Rise by Katy perry' blasted into her ears. She continued with her work in a happy mood.

  Ashley was so much into the music and work that she hadn't heard when the elevator door opened and someone walked out of it. It wasn't until she felt a shadow come across her that she looked up to see Mr Alfred Marshall.

   The man looked older than the last time she had seen him, which was the day he had handed over the company to Greg. The man looked worn out, looking every bit like the fifty three year old he was, he used to look younger before, his hair had bits of white, his blue eyes were sad, and this touched her heart. But he was all the same still so handsome, no wonder Greg looks so good, he got good genes.

   "Good afternoon Mr Marshall," Ashley said taking out her earpiece and standing up in greeting.

  "Hello Miss Wells, is my son in?" he asked her pointing to Greg's office.
  
   "Yes sir he is," she said and wanted to add the fact that he was also busy and asked not to be disturbed but the sad look on the man face stopped her from doing so. He was his father anyway, he wouldn't be too busy for his own father, would he?

  Mr Marshall walked up to Greg's office and went in, she decided she would make herself useful by taking coffee in for them, she walked up to the coffee machine that was close to Greg's office.

  While she was making the coffee she heard the voices from inside, she hadn't meant to eavesdrop but she was close by and could hear everything.

   "What are you doing here?" She could hear Greg's voice from inside, she thought it was plain rude, he couldn't even greet his father.

   "Since you stopped coming home I decided I would come see you in the office," the older Marshall said in a pained voice.

  "What gave you the impression that I would like to see you? If I wanted to see you, I would have come check up on you," Greg said and all she wanted to do was go in and slap some sense into him.

   "The least you could do is hear the reason I came all the way here to see you," Mr Marshall said.

   "That's quite true, if you came all the way here it should be important, I'll give you five minutes I'm really busy as you can see, the company won't run itself," Greg said without an hint of emotion in his voice. She wanted to know why he was treating his father that way.

   "As I said I wanted to see my son, I missed you..."

  "Is that it, then I must say you have overstayed your...  "

  "I heard about a certain girl you have been giving a lot of attention  lately," Mr Marshall said with anger resonating in his thick baritone.

Damn was he talking about her? It couldn't be, he didn't give any sort of annoyed look when he had seen her, then who could he be referring to?

   "What girl father?" Greg asked. It was clear from his voice that he was irritated.

  "A certain girl that you have been hiding from me that is now in a mental institution," Mr Marshall said but Greg didn't answer. She knew now that she wasn't the one, she definitely wasn't in a mental institution. "A certain girl named Nora..."
 
  What was Nora doing in a mental institution?

   "How the heck did you find out about Nora?" Greg asked with anger. She wanted to know why he was so damn fixated on hiding this lady from the world.

   "Why are you this way Greg? Don't I deserve to know about her? Or even meet her," Mr Marshall said in an accusing voice. She was very interested now, who was this Nora?

   "You are the last person in this world who deserves to know or meet her," Greg said with so much hatred.  Ashley was shocked, she needed to know why he harbored so much hatred for his father.

   "I deserve to know Greg..." Mr Marshall said with pain, her heart went out to the man. "I deserve to know about my daughter in-law."

  Her heart dropped at this point, daughter in-law could only mean one thing.

   "Daughter in-law," Greg asked with amusement clear in his voice. She felt a bit relieved, if he was denying it then it could only mean Mr Marshall was wrong.

   "Yes Greg, when did you plan to tell me about her...when son...you don't even respect me enough to invite me to your wedding..."

  "Father... " Greg said in a warning voice.

   "She is Nora Marshall that can only mean one thing and that is, she is your wife," Mr Marshall said with hurt and she could testify right then that he wasn't the only one hurt. Ashley wanted to know, she was hurt that Greg had a wife, but more so she wanted to hear him say it himself.

   "So?" she heard Greg say breaking her already shattered heart. "So what if she is my wife? How is that any of your business?"

   Oh no, he had confirmed it. Nora was his wife, she felt her heart tighten within her chest. She should have known, he had always made her his priority, he never talked about her. But Nora hadn't been wearing a ring, she had even referred to herself as a 'fiancee,' and even then Greg had laughed. Why had he been so hell bent on hiding the fact that he was married?  He doesn't even wear a ring either, but she was Nora Marshall which could only mean one thing.

  That means he had played her, he had lead her on even though he had a wife, he had kissed her, he had made her heart flutter, he had done all this even though he had a wife.

  Ashley hated him, and she hated herself more, she shouldn't have eavesdropped. Chloe had always told her about how curiosity killed the cat, but she hadn't known that saying would come to pass with her.

   Chapter nineteen.
  Mary Aden.