There was a stuffed unicorn sitting innocently on my desk on Monday. Smiling to myself, I picked it up and was instantly hit by a strong smell of chocolate and mint. It was a smell I could recognize anywhere.

Well, well, well. Looks like someone has habit of cuddling stuffed animals.

I picked up the card attached to it.

Bribe #26

In case you miss me too much ;)

P.S. I love you

I rolled my eyes. Leave it to the devil to be arrogantly sweet. Feeling giddy as a little girl on Christmas, I hugged the unicorn close to my chest and took a deep breath, the intoxicating scent filling my senses. I was enjoying the feel of the soft toy against me when a knock sounded on my door.

"Enter," I called out and watched with some amusement as Mark, my assistant for today walked in. I was leaving for France tomorrow and had given Leah off today to prepare. I didn't know if it was just me but she seemed to be lost in her own world recently. I felt like there was something wrong when she stopped being weird all of a sudden. To be honest, I was so used to her being weird and silly that seeing my assistant being un-weird made me feel concerned. I tried to ask her about it but she assured me that she was alright. Perhaps this little trip would do her some good.

So it was Mark, the errand boy who was filling her position today and he would be doing so for the next weeks while I'd be away. Mark was a young boy, of nineteen perhaps, and exceptionally shy. He was actually good in his work, being hired as the assistant of my finance head. But he seemed flushed and awkward most of the time despite me trying my best to relax him. He entered my office, adjusting his black-rimmed glasses that covered most of his face.

"Ms. White? Um... M-Mr. Stone is here to see you. S-Shall I... let him in?" His entire face was red as he looked anywhere but at me. I sighed. It looked like I was cursed with all bad lucks when it came to my assistants. Then I thought about what he said.

"Adrian? Lord knows why he asked for permission today. Sure, send him in." I waved my hand in dismissal before concentrating on the files I was trying to read. I didn't realize Mark was still there until he spoke again.

"It's um... Mr. D-Daniel Stone." He corrected in a shaky voice.

I looked up from my file and frowned in confusion. I recalled Mr. Stone trying to say something to me that day when Adrian took me to meet them. I didn't get to meet him later and Adrian informed me that his parents were gone to attend a relative's funeral the next week. When I didn't hear a word from him after their return, I assumed that whatever he had to say wasn't much important. Apparently I was wrong.

Remembering that Mark was still waiting for my response, I quickly gathered my thoughts and nodded to him with a slight smile. "Sure, thank you, Mark. You can send him in at once."

Mark nodded in response and hastily turned around to move, nearly knocking himself on the door. I watched warily as he tripped slightly over the doormat before moving out of my view.

In the meantime, I thought about all the things that Mr. Stone would possibly want to talk to me about. It must probably be something related to the collaboration between The Stones Inc. and Eva's and Co. Maybe he didn't want it anymore? Or perhaps he suspected there was something going on between me and Adrian and had come to warn me to stay away from him? I groaned silently and shook my head to get rid of all the thoughts that would most likely make me crazy if they keep moving inside my head in the same pace. I waited patiently for Mr. Stone to come inside.

I briefly remembered the day I met him for the first time in our grand meeting with The Stones Inc. Even then, I had thought him to be Adrian when Leah had announced me of t Mr. Stone's presence. He entered almost immediately after a soft knock. I found myself standing up from my desk and smiled at him, feeling nervous all of a sudden and beyond reason.

"Oh, Mr- I... I mean Daniel! Please have a seat." I slapped myself mentally for stuttering in front of him. I couldn't believe I was acting like Mark. Relax, Eve. This is only Mr. Stone- Daniel, or Danny as you used to call him. So what if he's the father of the man you love? Right now, he's just like one of your clients. Easy. I was startled when he spoke, effectively cutting off my mental pep talk.

"Hello, Eve. How have you been?" Daniel asked politely, his face holding an expression of deep concern, although, for what, I couldn't tell. I took my seat once he sat down, all the while feeling as if I was a schoolgirl who'd just been summoned to the principal's office.

"I've been fine, thank you. What about you?" I replied remembering his question.

He waved his hand in dismissal. "Oh, I'm as good as an old man like me can be. Anyways, I must apologize for showing up without notice. But I had the news that couldn't wait any longer than it already has."

I shook my head and smiled at him once again despite the uneasiness creeping into me slowly at his last sentence. Without waiting for a response, Daniel took out a manila folder from the inside pocket of his jacket. He looked hard at the folder before directing his gaze at me.

"Eve, there's something important I need to talk to you about. I'd hoped to catch you that day when Adrian brought you home but I couldn't. Then I had to..." He shook his head as if to clear out his thoughts before continuing. "Those are not important. Anyways, this is an important matter and I want you to listen carefully before saying anything and making any decision."

His grave tone worried me. I suddenly had a bad feeling about whatever he wanted to say. With great willpower, I forced myself to remain calm and let him continue.

Daniel took a deep breath before looking at me with what looked like guilt. "Eve, dear, there's something you don't know about. Trust me, I want nothing but the best for you and have only your best interest in my heart despite what you might think after hearing me. I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner but your fath-"

Both of us were startled when the door burst open all of a sudden, disrupting the eerie silence that had settled in the room. "Got my gif- dad?"

Adrian looked confused seeing his father in my office. He narrowed his eyes after casting a questioning glance in my direction. I shrugged subtly and he directed his attention to Daniel once more. "Dad? What are you doing here?"

Mr. Stone looked panicked for a moment- a gesture I couldn't understand but much like his son, he immediately schooled his features and raised an eyebrow at his son nonchalantly. "Oh, I'm here to talk some business with her. What I don't understand is why you are here? As far as I know, you don't have any meetings scheduled with the beautiful lady here. And don't you have an appointment with that Clarkson boy? What about the preparation for the annual meeting? I heard you still have to finalize the venue? Adrian, the meeting is in two days! You won't complete any of your tasks if you keep on frequenting silly gift shops in your office hour." For a moment, Daniel looked like a mother hen firing all those questions at him and I suppressed a smile. My smile immediately turned into a grimace when his last sentence registered in my brain.

"How on earth would you know about all that?" Adrian asked, his jaw hanging open in surprise. To be honest, he wasn't the only one surprised at the revelation. I briefly wondered with a blush staining my cheeks if Daniel was aware about my and Adrian's relationship status as well.

The old man only smirked in response. "Hear me, boy. I may be old, but I am still your father. Just because I have retired, it doesn't mean that I don't keep my eyes and ears open about the things going around the office. And that includes the comings and goings of you, as well."

Adrian pressed his lips together and crossed his arms against his chest, making him look like a defiant child. I personally found the gesture cute but kept the thought to myself. Besides, I was still trying to control my blushing mechanism. It was ridiculous, really- the way I reacted whenever the devil was concerned. The topic wasn't even about me here. Well, not directly about me.

"Whatever, dad. Now, if you're done talking business with Eve, may I borrow her for some time? There are some things I want her opinion about."

Daniel looked hesitant for a while, as if trying to decide between whether to continue what he was saying or not. I recalled his words earlier, how he said this was very important. So I looked at Adrian and said, "Can you not wait, Adrian? I believe Daniel was in the middle of saying something important."

Adrian raised an eyebrow at that before turning to his father. "Really? What is it, dad? If it's not as important as the sky falling off or aliens invading us, I think it can wait. But by a very rare chance that it is, surely I can hear it as well, or is it supposed to be a secret mission of some sort?"

Daniel cleared his throat, looking somewhat disturbed by Adrian's presence. But in the blink of an eye, his expression smoothed out and he smirked at his son. "Why, yes, of course. I did come here for a reason, didn't I? As much as I love you, son, this thing is between me and Eve here. So you better stay out of our secrets." He gave me a conspiring wink. I couldn't help but let out a small laugh at Adrian's pinched expression despite the strong feeling that something was definitely off about Daniel's behavior today.

Daniel stood up and gave me a smile that didn't reach his clear blue eyes. "I must get going now, since my son has decided to disrupt our meeting. Don't worry about it, though. I'll get back to you some other day. I might just have to lock my son up in his room before that since he has developed this habit of snooping around in your presence more often these days. Until later, sweetheart."

He turned to open my door but just before walking out, he turned slightly and smirked at his son. "Goodbye, Snoop. And wipe that scowl from your face. You're really dishonoring my genes. One would think I picked you up from the streets when you were little." With those final words, Daniel exited my office leaving Adrian shooting profanities to his back and me with a strong urge to run after him demand to complete what he was saying. Instead, I just sat there, going over his few words as Adrian occupied the seat his father had just been on.

"Well, that was weird. I wonder what has gotten into dad these days. He's been acting strange." Adrian thought aloud. I shrugged at him in response, mentally making a note to talk to Daniel the first thing I got back from my business. Which reminded me, I had yet to complete my work, go home, pack and be ready for my flight early tomorrow morning. I sighed.

"Why the long sigh? And what're you doing in the office today? Have you changed your mind about going to France?" He sounded too hopeful for my liking and I rolled my eyes.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but no, I haven't changed my mind. France is still on for tomorrow. I just had to close this file today since I won't be here for two weeks. Besides, I still need to make Mark clear about his responsibilities since he will be overseeing here while I take Leah with me." I explained, shaking my head at the small pout he made. I frowned as I realized something. "Adrian, how would you know that I'm working today? Don't tell you've been stalking me!"

It was his turn to roll his eyes. "I don't stalk people, love. It's the other way round. I was just checking in to see if you were here. Turns out, I'm in luck."

I merely raised my eyebrows at him, not really believing his words but deciding to let go. I had better things to do than decide if my boyfriend was a stalker.

"I can't believe that you're giving more attention to your work than to your man who has left everything behind to come meet you." Adrian spoke after quietly watching me work for some time. I ignored him completely and continued what I was working on. He sighed at my lack of response. "Come on, Eve. You're acting like this work is more important than me." He added, his voice coming out as a whine.

"I'm not acting like it, Adrian. This work is more important than you." I retorted without taking my eyes from the file despite failing to understand the words I'd been reading for eight times since the devil sat in front of me. Geez, Eve. You're affected by him even when he's not doing anything besides sitting in the same room as you. My subconscious mocked me.

I suppressed a smile when Adrian let out a groan and folded his arms, huffing loudly. When that didn't earn him a response either, he let out a long sigh once again and pretended to fall asleep on my desk.

Rolling my eyes at his childish antics, I threw the lid of my pen towards him, which bounced off after landing on his forehead. He let out a small 'ow' before jerking up and sitting upright once again. He opened his mouth- no doubt to shoot a string of refined curse words- but stopped once I gave him a baleful look. "Stop being a drama queen, Stone. I'm almost done. It's your own fault for coming here uninvited when I've got my own works to do."

He huffed in response but kept his colorful words to himself. I finally got my brain to comprehend the sentence I'd been reading since ages and started signing it, trying to ignore a certain pair of electric blue eyes following every of my actions.

"You know, I thought your signature quite unique when I first saw it. And now I know its secret. It doesn't seem too difficult to forge now." He pointed out after some time.

I glanced at him briefly before focusing back to my task. "I know. There is a reason I don't sign my documents in the presence of eyes I don't trust."

He was silent for a while. "So you trust me, huh?" He wiggled his eyebrows to act playful but I detected the intensity behind his words and the vulnerability his intense eyes held.

I returned the look. "You're more stupid than I thought if you still need to ask that question."

The intensity did not waver from his eyes. "I want to hear you say it. Eve, do you trust me?"

"I do. With all my life." I replied without a moment's hesitation. It was as close as I could come across expressing my feelings to him. I just hope he'd understand what a big deal it was for me to trust someone completely.

And looking at his response, I knew he understood everything I hadn't said. He smiled brightly, with a cute dimple showing itself shyly from his left cheek. His eyes sparkled with happiness and at that moment, he looked so good that my heart felt so full knowing he was mine and that he had chosen me. I was completely, madly, irrevocably in love with him.

"That means I'm doing something right, after all." He said.

Oh, you have no idea. I wanted to tell him he was doing everything right but stopped myself. Two more weeks, Adrian. Just be patient with me for two more weeks and when I return, I'm going to tell you how much I love you. I'm going to prove it to you every single day. Please, bear with me for a little longer now. I silently pleaded with him.

Deciding that the atmosphere had turned more serious than I was comfortable in, I changed the subject. "Wait, what do you mean, 'it doesn't seem difficult to forge'?" I narrowed my eyes at him. "Adrian Stone, don't tell me you've forged people's signatures!"

He rolled his eyes and raised his hands in surrender. "Gosh, Eve. Stop looking at me like my mother! I didn't say I've forged signatures. I'm just saying that I can forge them. It's one of my many talents." He tried to smirk at the last statements but it turned into a grimace at my unimpressed look.

"I'm sure you've used your talents somewhere?"

He grimaced and cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Well, perhaps once? No, twice... I mean a few times, I think. Hey! Don't look at me like that! You're making me feel like a criminal!" He crossed his arms defensively against his chest.

"You're not doing a good job in proving otherwise, Adrian." I pointed out.

He groaned. "You need to relax, love. I haven't made any illegal transactions or something drastic, if that's what you're thinking. I do fear the law, too. And besides, I have no need of forging signatures to do business."

I giggled softly at his indignant tone. "You need to relax, love," I threw his words back at him and blushed when his eyes turned dark at the use of that godforsaken endearment. I hadn't realized I'd said it until his reaction. "I never thought you were doing something illegal, Adrian. I know you are honest in your job. I just want to hear where exactly you've used that talent."

He suddenly grinned and his eyes held a faraway look like he was remembering something. "Oh, I've forged my parents' signature a few times when I was in middle school. The history teacher had it in for me just because his daughter was apparently smitten with me. He gave me an E in spite of my good answers. I was to make my dad sign it under the words 'I will ensure that my son will do whatever you ask to improve his grades'. As if. I knew dad's signature by then and with some practice, I could forge his handwriting too.

So I just wrote 'Dear Mr. Newman- ironic name for a history teacher, I know- I personally believe that my son is still better than all the other half-brained students you teach. So I don't see any reason he needs to do something to improve his grades. If you don't mind, I'd like to see his papers before deciding. For your information, I have done a major in history, too. So I am perfectly capable to seeing my son's capability and tutoring him as he requires. Thank you for your concern, however, I am a very busy man. It would be appreciated if you don't disturb me with such trivial matters."

I sat there dumbfounded as he completed his story with a proud grin. "You wrote all that? And the teacher didn't suspect a thing?"

He smirked. "Not a thing. To be honest, I think he had a little suspicion because I once saw him sitting alone on his desk after class with a magnifying glass as he compared the letters and dad's original writing in the parent's record book but in the end, he admitted defeat. Told you, I was perfect, still am, actually."

"What about your dad? Does he know?"

He shook his head immediately like a naughty schoolboy. "He doesn't. There was no way I'd tell him and it's not like Mr. Newman could contact dad when, in the letter, he had clearly asked not to be disturbed again. Besides, dad was one of the shareholders of the school and my teacher valued his job over his student. Nate is the only one who knows about it. Well, now you know it as well."

"I'm honored you deemed me worthy to divulge the secret," I commented sarcastically. "What are the other instances you forged the signatures? I don't believe it was the only time."

His lazy smile told me that indeed, it wasn't the only time. "Well, it was the only time I forged dad's signatures. I copied mom's a few times for some silly things like taking a leave from classes to go watch a soccer match with Nate, use our coach's signature to post a notice about cancelling the practice for a day, writing to Nate's mom inviting him for a sleepover and to my mom accepting the invitation, and stuffs like that. The best one was when I wrote to Nate's girlfriend in high school saying he wasn't interested in girls and that he was sorry for leading her on when it was actually her younger brother from middle school he was in love with."

I gasped and choked at that. "You wrote what?! Good lord! I'd hate to be Nate then. What happened after that?"

Adrian smirked and chuckled. "He was in quite a confusion when people kept on looking at him in the cafeteria the next day. The girl was quite a gossip so it was no surprise. The real surprise, however, was when the said brother, who was a twelve year old boy, came running to him and kissed him in front of the whole school when we about to head home. It was next day that Nate found out everything and gave me his first real punch square in my jaw."

I shook my head at him. Poor Nate. "You deserved it." I pointed out, to which he nodded with a wince, as if he was remembering the pain that came afterwards.

"Yeah, I did."

It took me some time to compare the boy he described to the man who was sitting before me and I decided that it shouldn't surprise me so. His blue eyes alone held an ocean of mischiefs he was capable of causing. I suddenly longed to remember what he was like when I knew him, when he was with me. Was he just as mischievous? Did he drag me into his schemes too?" Just then, an image appeared in my head, one where a little boy and a little girl were hiding behind a bush, throwing pebbles at a slightly older boy and erupting into fits of quiet giggles. But just as every other times, the image went away and I suppressed the urge to hit my head, wishing to see and remember everything clearly.

To get rid of those thoughts, I shook my head at the devil who was looking like he had just expounded a tale of his heroics. "You, Mr. Stone, are a very naughty boy. I can't believe you did all that."

He merely smirked in response. "Correction, love. I'm a man."

"Are you, though? Your actions don't give much evidence to that." I retorted but immediately realized my mistake when he stood up from his seat, rounded the table and came to stand directly in front of me, rotating my chair to face him.

"Do you want me to show some other actions to prove to you that I am, in every aspect, a man?" He whispered, leaning close to me, so close that I could smell the chocolaty whiff I'd smelt earlier in the unicorn. Suddenly remembering that, I smirked.

"Oh, then pray tell, Mr. Stone. Does a man love cuddling to a stuffed toy? A stuffed unicorn at that?"

This time, he didn't hold back on his well refined, colorful curses.

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Thoughts, please? And a little vote, if you will?