She straightened her back with a wide smile on her lips and when she walked into the building of the company, Anna was certain she looked like the angel she was. She kept on waving and receiving greetings from whoever she knew, and she had to stop some few people from calling the CEO and telling him she would be there. Her excitement couldn’t be smothered, it was palpable and the only few people that knew about her and Nate could easily tell that she was there for him.
She was walked to their hall with confidence, and when she saw that they were in a serious meeting as though something had happened and from where she stood she could not even spot Nate, she walked directly to the CEO’s office and the secretary immediately ushered her in. Paul, the CEO stood up almost as immediately as he saw her and she smiled at him, “I’m sorry for coming in unannounced, Mr. Winthrop.” They shook hands and he shook his head as though to make sure he showed her how irrelevant her apology was.
“How could you say that, Miss Brayden? Of course, you’re always welcome in this company.” She sat down and smiled at him before he continued, “I hope I could be of help this time.”
Taking a chunk of her hair out of her chest, she nodded her head as she smiled at him, “Of course. I came here to see one of your employees, but it looks as though they’re in a meeting and I thought I should wait for him here, that’s the proper way after all.” She gave out a weird chuckle as though she hated the fact that she finally had to tell him of her relationship with Nate but then she wouldn’t mind if he would give her the chance to let everyone knew in the whole company about her relationship with Nate, she would love to have that chance.
“Oh, Miss Brayden, you should have just called, and we would have given him the day off to come and see you.”
“I would have sincerely appreciated that even as of now, Mr. Winthrop.” The thought of spending the whole day with Nate made her so excited that she couldn’t hide it on her face and Paul only smiled, she didn’t have to tell him what her relationship with Nate was, it was all overhear face.
“I’ll contact the HR of their department then. Which department does he work in and what’s his name?” He pulled out the landline while she tamed down her excitement by entwining both her names and after she made sure her face held a neutral expression even though the pink on her cheeks couldn’t be hidden, she answered.
“His name is Nate Clayton, and he works in the accounting department.” She patiently waited as he made the phone call while she sat and in a few seconds, he put the phone back and stared up at her.
“I have a meeting in only a few minutes, will it be okay if you have the office alone, Miss Brayden?”
“That would be highly appreciated too. I’m sorry for any inconvenience.” The smile on Paul’s face was enough to show her that there was not any inconvenience but still, she added, “My secretary will email you on our new partnership, thank you, Mr. Winthrop.” She took his extended hands, and the door was opened almost as immediately after he had stood up.
They all turned, and their gazes fell on a dumbstruck Nate, while she blushed harder and her whole body itched to ran and hug him, she composed herself until Paul smiled and pointed at Nate that couldn’t even took the next step. “I think it’s only perfect if I leave now. Thank you for your presence in our company, Miss Brayden.” She almost told him how he would be referring to her as Mrs. Clayton in just a few months for she would have already been married to Nate at the time. But instead, she smiled at him and nodded her while she watched Nate greeted him and the moment the door closed behind him, damn the ethics, she ran toward Nate and took him in an abrupt hug.
“Anna…” Nate said breathlessly as he hugged her back and she giggled while she lifted her face to have a better look of his face.
He looked surprised at seeing her, and if she could, pleased. That was the reaction she wanted to put up on his face and she knew that it was worth the wait to see him since when she landed yesterday. “Nate!” She said excitedly with a teenage giggle that she forced him to laugh at the way she sounded, “I’ve missed you so much, oh my god!” She hugged him back, this time tightly and warmly as though for the first time she was seeing him.
He held her warmly as he smiled, even though not as warmly as she though he would after she gave him a surprise visit. He broke their hug and cupped her face in his hands, “You’ve always been beautiful, Anna, but you look even more beautiful than the last time I’ve seen you.” She was grinning like a teenager in love. Even though she was 22 years old, she always felt young whenever she was together with Nate, his love was always special.
“And so are you, handsome as ever. Come over, let’s sit down for. Few minutes, I’ve asked the day off for you.” She pulled him to the sofas in the office and with a surprised and taken aback expression, he followed her to the sofas and sat down as she entwined their fingers while she flashed him a beautiful smile.
“You said the whole day, I thought you came here for a meeting and you’re going back today?” Something was off about Nate, she had realized. It disturbed her because it could be the slightest of changes in him, but nothing had ever gone unnoticed with her. Was it because she loved him so hard or was it because she didn’t have the time to think of anything but him whenever she was together with him? It was as though she studied each and every expression of his until it got carved into her memories, forever.
“You seem disturbed, Nate, are you alright?” She tried to palm his face and he immediately brush away her hands and instead, he took both hands in his and smiled at her, but that looked fake either. Was this the way Maya saw him smiled at that time? Because if it was, she was sure even she herself would have gotten fed up with it. It was beautiful, but never as beautiful as Nate’s real smile was.
“I’m fine, just disturbed a bit. I have too much work on my plate and our HR isn’t buying a word out of it, you know how he is.” From the creases on her forehead, he knew it was a bad idea for him to have mentioned anything about work when she could insist to go to their HR and speak for him. And he was sure everyone in their company will do whatever Miss Brayden wanted, their CEO included. “It’s nothing to worry about though,” Again, the fake smile, “Are you here for the meeting? When will be your flight back to California?” He looked as though if she said the very next minute, he would have appreciated that the best.
“Nate,” Realization began to hit her and she her shoulders slumped in defeat, “Are you eager to see me off? Don’t you remember what day it would be in just two days now? I came here for you!” She wanted to cry, why would he forget that? She thought he had forgotten or was it part of a plan? Maybe he wanted to prank her just like some other guys did in the proposal videos she had watched? They would begin to act weirdly in a few days and just when the lady is beginning to get tensed up with their behaviors, they will show her the ring and asked for eternal life with her. That made her smile.
“No!” He almost choked on his words, “How could I?” He immediately cupped her face and stared deeply into her eyes. What she had always wanted and died for, Nate cupping her face and staring deeply into her eyes, “How could I want to see you off? I just want to know if you’re leaving today so I could know how to organize our today’s activities, that’s all. And for what day it is in two days, I’ll never forget our anniversary, Anna.” He lightly kissed her forehead and she melted under his touch, this was the Nate she loved and wanted so badly to become hers in all ways possible.
She smiled widely at him, “I wanted us to spend our day together, not like last year when we were both busy with work and we couldn’t meet. So, I came here since yesterday, though I was jet lagged to let you see me,” she chuckled at the pained expression on his face, “Of course it’s nothing if you do that, but I wanted to see dumbstruck expression on your face when you first see, and if I had called you to the hotel yesterday, I wouldn’t have been able to see that because you won’t be surprised anymore when you arrive.”
“Always thoughtful.” He managed to flash her a real smile as he played with the necklace handing in the arc on her chest and she smiled sweetly at him.
“I haven’t had breakfast yet, can we leave?” She stood up and he wrapped his around her waist before he nodded his head.
“I haven’t seen Julia in the secretary’s office.”
She threw her head back and laughed, “That’s what makes this a better surprise visit, Mom was so angry that I travelled alone, I was sick on the plane but got helped by a very good woman, Rose. You don’t have to bother and stop giving me that look.” She grinned as she pulled him toward the door with their hands entwined. And when they were in the secretary’s office, Anna smiled at her, “Thank you for lending both your office and employee to me today, I’ll make sure to enjoy my day. Thank Mr. Winthrop for me when he comes back later, okay?”
“I will, Miss Brayden. Thank you for stopping by.” She almost corrected her that she would no longer be Miss Brayden in a few months but Mrs. Clayton. How good did that sound? Anna Clayton, beautiful as freak.
She was aware of how tensed Nate’s hand felt on hers as they walked past a lot of people in the company. She didn’t want to think that it was something because she knew he would be tensed when everyone saw them together with their hands entwined and the smile on her face told everyone that ‘Hey, this is my man and I love him so much.’ No one knew of their relationship, of course, she wanted to make that known so that the next time she came, everyone will know what brought her to the company.
When they got in front of the limo where Mark’s face immediately lit up when he saw her, she melted. Mark used to be her Father’s driver whenever he came to Florida, which he did on a weekly basis. He was a sweet man that even after her Father passed away, she kept him as his employee. And at the time, she didn’t have many reasons to come to Florida, but now that she did, she was glad she held onto him.
“Get in, Anna, I have to answer this call first.” Nate shoed her into the limo and she watched him through the mirror, he looked disturbed. As though answering questions he didn’t expect to be asked. Maybe it was the organizer he hired to plan the scene of their proposal? He didn’t know she would be here, so he had to make everything fast and it should as well, be perfect. Just like she was.
Nate hopped into the car with worry in his eyes but a wide smile on his lips and she wished she could take his mind off the proposal stress. It wasn’t possible, but she would have done that for them, and maybe she would, it depended on how things moved in the next two days. “Mark, take us to Nate’s favorite restaurant, we’re having a brunch.” She felt as Nate squeezed his hold on her and when she looked up at his beautiful face, she realized it was worth all the things she went through.
She smiled and sent a quick text to Maya, ‘I told you, girl, I love this man with all my soul. And soon, I’ll start calling him my husband.’