CHAPTER FOURTEEN- WRONG STATISTICS.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN- WRONG STATISTICS.

~MIRA’S POV~

The place was empty, I wondered but didn’t ask if he reserved the whole place for us. It wouldn’t surprise her if he did that.

A lady came out with trays of sweet smelling dishes she set on the table. I noticed Bethel was missing. And it made me relax, even Grey. He took off his jacket and I hid a smile when he removed his glasses. He was still sexy with it but I loved looking into his eyes without the obstruction of a lens. We dug into our meal in silence and I ate slowly.

“You don’t like the food?” Grey asked.

He was almost done with his plate and I had barely started eating mine. The chicken was spiced the way I liked it.

I finished chewing before I replied. “I do, Sir.”

“Grey!”

I didn’t understand but Grey smiled at my confusion.

“Call me, Grey whenever we are alone.”

My lips pulled into a pout. I forgot about that deal.

“Okay, Grey.

Grey chuckled. I smiled. I loved the sound of his laugh.

“Thank you for the food, Grey!”

“Thank you for joining me.”

I scoffed. “I didn’t have a choice.”

His smile was as playful as mine,he wiped his lips.

“It was the only way I could get you to come out.”

I pouted. Even if I explained, he would not understand. If they found out about us, everything I did would be deeply scrutinised. My achievements would be associated with him, not my hard work. I didn’t want that life.

“Cheer up, Mira.”

I tried to. And we enjoyed the rest of our meal in silence.The car stopped a few metres from the office complex. I looked at Grey for an explanation.

“You don’t want people to see us together, right?” my head automatically bobbed.

“You can get off here and walk the remaining distance to avoid any suspicions.”

I couldn’t consider it, a distance because it was less than five minutes on foot but I appreciated his thinking. We shared another glance, he wasn’t smiling but he wasn’t frowning so I did the unthinkable. I kissed him on his cheek.

“Thanks, Grey!”

My husband was stupefied. He blinked in shock, I giggled and closed the door. Payback for his morning kiss. My grin widened when I noted Bethel’s small smile.

I didn’t let the woman’s presence bother me. Grey already assured me so I had nothing to worry about.

I skipped the remaining distance to the office and my smile fell once I glimpsed the time. Five minutes more until my presentation. I rushed into my office to pick my things but Laura blocked me from leaving.

“Where were you?”

My location was none of Laura’s business. After all, Laura wasn’t in the office when I left. This presentation was supposed to be done by all three of us, Laura, Aurora and I but they backed out the minute Mercy mentioned only the project leader’s presence was needed.

“Laura, I don’t have time for this.”

I brushed past Laura and walked out of the office. At the door to the conference room, I took a deep breath to calm my nerves. I had done numerous presentations, this time would be no different. Yet, my hands shook. This was my first presentation before Grey. The former boss always found fault in my slides, I could only hope Grey was not the same.

Someone tapped me before I opened the door. A smile broke out on my lips when she saw Mercy. Knowing the good things mercy spoke about me to Grey, I appreciated the woman more than I already did.

“I saw you getting into the boss’s car,” Mercy spoke. Her eyes were hard and unfriendly as she stared into my eyes.

I was ready for the ground to swallow me. This was what I tried to avoid.

“Whatever thoughts of him you have in your head, erase them.” I forced down her words. “Our new boss is a married man.”

The former boss wasn’t and he frolicked with some of the staff, irrespective of the rule. I was among those who never fell for him.

“He asked me to join him,” I offered.

I didn’t want a misunderstanding to get in the way of my promotion. “There was no way I could say no to him.”

Mercy backed off. “That had better be the case.”

“It is.”

“Be careful.”

I was. But apparently, I wasn't careful enough.

“Good luck with your presentation.” Mercy left and I let out a breath. My forehead pressed to the door for some seconds while I tried to collect my thoughts. How many people saw me?

Grey was already seated when I entered inside. He frowned when he spotted me and I immediately knew why. I was ten minutes late. No one mentioned my lateness so I didn’t. Instead, I stepped to the front of the conference room to set up my laptop.

The presentation started off slow. Grey badgered me with questions that almost suffocated me. I did her best to answer but at some point, I was convinced he would reject the project. I was talking about the statistics of youths and supposed revenue from launching Stars Glow when he stopped me.

“Who compiled the numbers?”

Laura helped me with that but I didn’t vet it because the approval came in late. I looked to Bethel but the assistant stared at me blankly. The other lady by Bethel’s right and side never spoke a word and it heightened my anxiety. There were just four person in the room but it felt smaller than it was.

“I did,” I finally replied.

Grey picked a sheet from the file I had shared to all of them earlier and circled the numbers I generated in red ink. “This statistics is wrong.”

His face was expressionless. I didn't know if he was disappointed at me but I croaked out, “Sorry, Sir.”

“Fix it.” He commanded.

“Yes, Sir.”

We held each other’s gaze but I was the first one to break it. I moved to my laptop, unsure of my next step. There was no point continuing with the wrong data but I couldn’t leave until Grey said so.

As if reading my mind, he said, “You can leave.”

“Thank you, Sir.”

I cringed at the sound of my own voice. I was certain Grey noticed my nervousness too. His blank face was nothing to work with. What did this mean for Stars Glow? He didn’t suggest another meeting. I stopped at the door. Grey was talking to Bethel so he didn’t notice me. Whatever he was saying must have been very important, it had Bethel’s head bobbing.

I hated to interrupt their mini meeting but I needed to know the next plans for my future.

Our heads raised when I cleared my throat. Annoyance flashed across Grey’s face and I gulped. “Sir, are we going to meet again?”

“My assistant will communicate that with you.”

My heart rolled to my stomach, my head bowed as I took my leave. He didn’t outrightly dismiss me, so I stood another chance with him, right?

In a bad mood, I walked to my office floor.