Two-three months later

I sigh as I read the same sentences over and over in my head, again, again, and again, and yet I'm still not able to understand what I'm looking at. My arm is getting tired from holding the paper up to my face for so long.

Placing the paper down on my desk, I sigh again, maybe I'm just stressed about this meeting that's going to happen, I thought to myself, as this has been going on all morning. That's probably the reason.

I was just about to read the paperwork over again, but saved by the bell, there was a knock at the door, sounding urgent.

As I looked up towards the door, "Come in" I said to the person on the other side of the door, granting them permission to come in, I looked down at the paperwork again.

As the door opens, the person hurriedly rushes to my desk as she says, "Ms. Cantrell, about the upcoming meeting..." She pauses as if bracing for my reaction, "The mister decided to cancelled it last minute, due to a personal matter"

Look up, I sigh for the third time within a minute, I look up at the women as she's holding the company IPad in her hand, I instructed, "Do me a favor and cancel any future meeting with him, he always cancels or reschedule"

"Yes ma'am" She says as she takes notes on the IPad.

I crumbled the piece of paper that was containing partnership with the person I was supposed to have a meeting with in ten minutes, but I guess that will be over, including the deal we were supposed to have, considering they don't put their fair share of work in this deal. Ever.

It's pathetic honestly, I was trying to think about what I wanted to talk about in that meeting, I was trying to figure that out all morning. All that stress vanished, because someone doesn't know how to respect my time or my company's.

That is a pet peeve of mine.

"Ms. Cantrell" The woman said, catching my attention once more, "Will you be attending the meeting after? With the two ladies? Since you have a little more free time, did you want to keep the time the same or move the meeting up earlier? That way the meeting will be out of the way"

As I listened to her suggestions, I thought about it. I did have two meetings back to back and that is the way I usually like it. I sort of don't like having free time during working hours, that way I don't have to think, I can just... go.

And if I do think, I would most likely overthink about something and that would mess up my flow of my thoughts, then I would probably mess up or say the wrong thing and something more embarrassing that I won't be able to come back from.

The point being, I had a clear schedule in my head, to prepare for the first meeting this morning, then have a thirty second break, then get started on the next meeting. That was the schedule and yet someone had to mess it up by canceling at the last minute.

I felt as though I had wasted my whole morning, I mean, I didn't get up earlier for nothing.

Glancing at the time, it was a little after noon, which in turn, the meeting was supposed to start in a few minutes, but I guess that's not happening anymore.

Turning my chair towards the women, I give my answer, "You know what? Cancel the upcoming meeting, we'll have to reschedule that for another time" I continued to think about what the rest of the day would look like without the meetings, and when nothing came up in my mind, I added, "And while you're at it, might as well clear my schedule for the rest of the day, if anything is planned"

As expressed on her face, she is shocked but nods as she types on the IPad, the sound of her fingernails touching the ipad radically is the only thing I could focus on.

When she finished typing on the IPad, she suddenly asked, "May I ask, why the change of plans? I know that you've been preparing for the first meeting, but would it be beneficial if you were to go to the second meeting, just to take some pressure off in the future?"

I stand up in my chair as I gather my things together, which includes my bag, phone, wallet and anything else I would need for the rest of the day.

As I continued to pack my bag with all the necessary items, I then answer, saying, "I need a break anyways and plus, I will most likely be gone for the rest of the day"

Which is true, in my case, I have been working and working almost everyday this week, staying overtime and even started working from home on the weekends.

I promised myself and my mother, of course, that I will be chilling out with the whole 'working many hours' thing, but I just can't help it, sometimes, things will have to get done, and yes, sometimes, I go overboard.

To be honest, I have to quietly thank the person who cancelled the meeting, because I had the entire day planned out and the news of cancellation has messed up my flow. And now, I have an excuse to chill out.

That being said, this is a once in a while occurrence, I don't like my schedule changing up on me at the last minute, I know past me would rip me to shreds if I were to take the rest of the day off, but this is better than stressing myself out.

As I answered her, the woman nodded, looking at her IPad once more, "Since you're leaving, when did you want to reschedule the meeting for, we could do it tomorrow or sometime next week?"

Scratching my head, I wave that off, saying, "Don't worry about that right now, we can figure that out tomorrow"

She nodded again, closing the ipad as she hugs it to her chest, stepping aside as she waits for me so she can walk out of my office with me.

As I finished packing my bag, I nodded to her, giving her the signal that I'm ready. As we both walked out of my office, with her trailing closely behind me, we waited for the elevator.

Things around the office have practically stayed the same, it's only been two-three months since the product launch. As we got into the elevator, pressing the button to the lobby, a random employee hopped on the elevator with us.

He was panting loudly as if he was out of breath, I sigh in annoyance, he must've heard it because he turned around and looked straight at me–Registering who I am, he shockley look at me, doing a double take–And before the elevator doors closes, he quickly apologized and he rushes out. The door nearly caught him.

As the elevator begins to move seconds after, the woman giggles but covers it with a cough as she regains her composure. I had no reaction to that as it was the same thing everyday, another day of a CEO, I thought as I crossed my arms.

The elevator stops at the lobby floor, we walk towards the front doors, yielding past people, and as we stop right at the entrance, I turned towards the women behind me as I inform her, "You can take the rest of the day off, with paid leave of course, since I won't be in the office"

As soon as I said that, her eyes lit up as if receiving a miracle news, which is no big deal to me, it's just a few hours out of the day. I mean, to be honest, I would be receiving the news the same way if I was working under someone.

"Thank you, Ms. Cantrell" She said with much excitement, probably thinking about all the things she's going to do with the free time she got.

I nodded at her, not saying anything else, she stands at the entrance of the doors as she watches me leave.

As I head out the door, my driver is already waiting there.

Approaching the car, he opens the door, and as I get inside, I make sure that I have everything before giving the driver the signal to start driving.

The car travels down the busy street, following my instructions and as the driver is driving towards the destination, I sit back as I think about all the changes that occurred in the last few months.

Plus, I haven't really gotten the chance to think about all of it, since a lot has happened after the launch, and since traffic is busy, thinking makes the time pass by faster.

Starting off with Logan and Anne finally going to jail, after long hours of talking to the police and giving my statement and letting investigators confirm the story of Logan messing with the files and Anne being part of the plan, it was clear that the both of them aren't escaping this mess they created.

The judge decided that they had to pay for the damages they brought to the company, and thus, they had to pay their dues. It was a tough battle to be honest, with Logan's lawyers withdrawing from the case because of how much evidence is stacked against him and Anne, it made Logan and Anne's case much harder for them.

With that, they were forced to represent themselves, and safe to say, they didn't do a very good job at it, in fact–The judge and everyone in the courtroom believed they were guilty, so they plead guilty and were sentenced to prison on charges of sabotage and interfering with company files.

Long story short, they won't be seeing the outside world for a while. At least in seven years.

Second, after the surprise trip to New York, shortly after, Liam decided to take over his father's car dealership company, because he announced that he was retiring.

It did come as a shock to Liam since he thought his father would stay in the business for a little while and plus, growing up, his father expected him to take over the company when he was done with it.

At first, Liam thought he wasn't ready, he only worked at Cantrell Corporation for a good amount of time, but he didn't think he had enough experience or skills to maintain the company his father built.

Hearing the doubt that Liam had for himself, I told him that I would support his decision, whatever he chooses. That said, Liam spoke with his father about his concerns and after hours and endless talk with him, Liam decided that he would take over the company with the help of his father–Of course, guiding him, at least at the start.

And speaking of his father, Liam told his parents a few weeks after he took over the company that he was seeing me. Liam informed me that they were very surprised by the fact and started asking questions about how we came to be.

Anyways, I haven't had the time to meet his parents yet, and compared with Liam's now busy schedule, he hasn't found the time for us to meet either, but I'm hoping to in the future. \

Even though all the shady things his father did in the past with his business, I can look past that and get rid of all the assumptions I had against him.

Third, with Liam taking over the company, that led me to go without an assistant, so–Of course, HR had to hire another person, and with this one, I actually liked her from the very start. She's very qualified, smart, fast, and makes sure she gets any task I throw at her done.

She's a good fit for this company and I can see her being here for a while.

Fourth, with Liam telling his parents that we are together, it was only natural for us to break the news to the public, we both knew that we wanted to do it before anyone leaks anything.

And so, after two months of us officially being together, we decided to break the news through a publication, announcing that we are together.

We were only soft-launching though, showing only a bit of our relationship to the world, but keeping a lot of things private. Not too much and not too little, just enough for our businesses to keep a separate image from each other and to just let the media know about us.

Of course, the media and the public had mixed reactions about this, as some were confused about the nature of our relationship and how we got into the relationship. Some were questioning because of the position he had in the company as my assistant, they questioned whether something happened whilst he was working for me, which something did, but they don't need to know that.

And some were okay with it, they didn't see a problem with the relationship.

I do have to say, one of the best reactions was from Ruby herself, she congratulated the both of us when she heard the news. She expressed happiness and satisfaction, because she suspected something was going on between the two of us, which I don't doubt for a second because she has eyes and ears everywhere around the office.

Akako and Daphne were also satisfied by the fact that Liam and I went public with our relationship.

But regardless of people's opinion, I do have to say that me and Liam are happy with each other. If someone were to ask me if I am in a relationship with someone who worked for me at my company a year ago today, I would most likely laugh and deny the possibility.

Now, here I am, dating someone that makes me happy. Honesty, I think I'm more happy than I ever have been, and it's not just the relationship.

I feel like I have clarity in my life, more clarity than I ever had before. I guess before, I was just flying through life, getting an education, starting a business, being successful, being rich, retiring, then dying.

Like, I had to hit every milestone, everything must go according to the plan of life, and if something gets in the way or I don't achieve a milestone, then I'm a failure.

Of course, I want to have a plan for my life, but before, it felt like I was planning every second, no mistakes, no screw ups, no distractions from my goals. But what were my goals? I achieved them at a young age, but it wasn't enough, I needed more.

I wanted more, I wanted to be fulfilled, I didn't want to leave this earth without feeling like I didn't succeed within my life.

Now that I slowed things down, for the sake of myself. I felt like a forty year old in a twenty year old body, I felt that I missed so many things in my life, like actually enjoying it, all my life, it's work, work, work, work even harder, be better than everyone and succeed, even if it kills you.

I realized how many moments and memories I could've made, with my mother, Akako and Daphne and even myself. But I didn't because I was consumed with working and making sure everything I do was a success.

Even though I did succeed at my career, I didn't succeed at living life.

I wanted to start doing that now, even a few days ago, I deliberately slept in, doing nothing, but just staying in bed and eating in bed. It was definitely new and scary to me, but I did enjoy the relaxation. Even though I plan not to do it often, it gave me a new perspective about constantly doing or thinking about anything.

Just living.

As I was reflecting on all the changes that happened in my life, in the distance, a familiar building came into view that put an instant smile on my face, as it was Liam's office building. His building is quite a distance away from mine, but I don't mind it.

Getting out of the car, I practically skipped to the entrance of the building because of my excitement to see him. I haven't seen him in a while, even if it's just less than two weeks.

He's been working hard, I could tell, he's only been in the position for a few months, he's still trying to get the hang of it, but he's doing a good job maintaining it.

Walking straight into the building, I do have to pause because the layout of his building is fairly different from mine, so all the previous times, I have to focus and remember the directions to his office.

After remembering, I started to make my way to his office, passing through many employees, some of them not noticing me passing through and some of them looking at me curiously, maybe because I'm dating their boss.

With a short ride on the elevator and a fairly short walk, I reached his office, looking at him through the glass door. He doesn't seem to notice me standing there as he was radically typing on his computer, he looked so focused.

I smiled as I admired him, pushing the glass door open by the handle, I walked towards him, the typing of the keyboard becoming louder and louder, then suddenly stopping as he picked up a clipboard in front of him, still not noticing me. But, I push forward, approaching his desk.

Liam looked up as he spotted me, his then serious expression softened, he put the clipboard back down onto his desk, and as he's putting the clipboard down, I come behind his chair as my hands gently grab onto his shoulders, squeezing them softly.

I then ask, "What are you doing?" Curiously looking above his head as my eyes look across his desk.

He sighs as both of his hands grab my hands, rubbing his hands up and down my forearm, he tiredly states, "Just–Reading some new deals that are coming in, I have give my words if whether or not that I approve them" He then looks over his shoulder, directing his full attention at me, he curiously mentioned, "Wait, don't you have a meeting you need to attend? Shouldn't you get to that? I know you mention something about two meetings today this morning over the phone"

With the sting of questions emerging, I sigh, remembering the last minute changes, "Well, the first meeting cancelled, and so my mental schedule was messed up. So I decided to cancel the other one"

Squeezing his shoulder even more, "I spent the entire morning preparing for that meeting, just for the person to cancel. I canceled all upcoming or future meetings with that person, I can't stand a person who cancels last minute"

I had pleasantly more to say, but I decided to cut it short, not wanting to pile my stress onto Liam, because I know he's already dealing with work, as a new CEO.

Liam then takes my hand off of one of his shoulders, and for a second, I thought it was because I was probably squeezing his shoulder too hard, but he did something I didn't expect. He takes my hand and pushes it towards his mouth as he kisses it softly, then rubbing it gently.

"Well" He said contently, "Maybe it's fate, it brought you here"

I roll my eyes, even though Liam can't see it, as I said, "Sure"

There was a bit of silence between us, as Liam continued to gently my hand, smoothly my calmness but also making my heart flutter.

He then curiously asked, easing into the question, "So–How is your–You know–New assistant? I bet you miss me being by your side at the office" He chuckles as he gets cocky.

"She's more qualified than you" I quickly said, not holding back, and knowing how dramatic Liam can be, I was just wanting to see how he reacts.

Liam drops my hand as he crosses his arm. I exit from behind his chair to fully look at him, his smile that I saw, is dropped as he sarcastically says, "Wow, just wow" Looking away from me.

Wanting to laugh, I knew that I couldn't, instead I said, "Liam" Holding back a laughter that's about to come out of my mouth, "Don't worry, you were just as good as she is" Leaning onto his desk, I reassure him more, "But I have to admit, I do miss you around the office sometimes"

That seems to put a small smile on his face, he then sighs tiredly again as he looks at his watch, tilt his head back against the chair as he stares at the ceiling, as if talking to it, "I want this day to be over already", releasing his head as his hands come behind his head, resting it as he looks at me.

"Unless you want to stay here for a few more hours and watch me work, I'm afraid you'll be bored very quickly"

Hearing this complaint from Liam, I shrug as I easily said, "So, take the rest of the day off, you're the CEO, you can do everything you want, today's issues is tomorrow's problem"

He stares at me intensely as if I had said the wildest thing ever, resting his hands on his desk, Liam continues to stare at me.

I further explain, "I mean, I guess fate did bring us here, because you get to hang out with me. Unless you're busy working and you don't have the time–" I drag on.

Liam hops out of his chair quickly as he quickly says, "No! No–I can totally catch a break. It's just that I never hear you said the words, 'Take the rest of the day off', I'm not use to it"

"Well–" I shrug, "Everyone deserve a break from working, I rather not work myself to the bone"

He nods as he goes to shut his computer off, putting on his backpack. He grabs my hand as he intertwines them as he hurriedly walks to the door. I guess he was easily convinced by me, I thought.

And the thought put a smile on my face as I'm flattered by the possibility.

After he announces to his team that he'll be heading out early, he leads me towards the lobby as we both head out of the building, and all along, his hand intertwining with mine, but I didn't mind.

Heading towards his car, he opens the door for me as I hopped, shortly after, Liam climbs in, starting up the car. He then turns to me as he asks, "So where should we go?" Looking at me curiously.

I think for a second, since it's a little after noon, we practically have the entire rest of the day to do anything and everything, settling on an idea, I propose, "Maybe we can relax" Resting my head on the seat, leaning my body weight towards him, "Why not go to my house? I don't feel like going anywhere else"

He smiled at me as he nodded, "I think that a good idea" Quickly giving me a peck on the lips before backing out of the parking lot and driving off.

*

After we arrived at my house, we really didn't do anything, we were just lounging around the house, talking and laughing about everything and nothing. It was peaceful to say the least.

At the latest hour of the night, we ended up watching a movie. I don't think either one of us was actually paying attention to the movie or the plot even. Halfway through the movie, Liam ended up falling asleep.

Vaguely paying attention to the movie, my mind shifted somewhere else, thinking about all the changes in my life, especially with Liam, I would never have imagined it.

I smiled as my eyes looked towards something new in my room, a snow globe of the Statue of Liberty, as it was a gift from Liam from where we first went to New York, for the business meeting.

After he gave it to me, he informed me that he was keeping it for the longest time because he didn't know when was the right time.

Forcing my eyes off the gift, I look up at Liam's sleeping form, as the TV plays in the background, becoming muffled as the only thing I can think of is Liam. As he rested his head against the headboard, sleeping soundly, I smiled as I thought how peaceful he looks.

I pull the blanket up more so that it can cover him. Thinking about this moment and everything that happened between us, I thought about cherishing this moment for as long as I can, not wanting this to change, even if tomorrow awaits us.

THE END

Another book coming to a close?! OMG, I remember yesterday when I first started working on Office Playpen.
Thank you everyone for reading, supporting and encouraging with this book, I had so much fun writing Hailey and Liam's story. It's honestly amazing to see the end result of countless hours of writing and planning.
I don't know if there will be bonus chapters, it's 50/50, but let me know if that's something you guys would like to see.
Anyways you guys, love you and see you in the next book.

-Summer Roe