Chapter Eight

Zoe POV:

I had already taken a shower and changed into comfortable clothes. Aunt Emilia had called earlier to ask if we had gotten there safely.

My room was so nice and cozy. Philip had surely spent a lot of money on the interiors of the house.

I remembered the woman and had called him by his name and even hugged me. That was surprising, he knew Philip could be so nice and friendly with his workers.

It was so weird that she had mistaken me for his girlfriend and Philip didn't seem to be bothered about it.

I was very hungry, and I remembered Mary told me to come down for dinner when I was done bathing. I opened my door and checked the hallway. The coast was clear, I didn't want to bump into Philip. I went down the stairs and saw that Philip and Mark were already having dinner. Philip's eyes ran through my body in a swift movement, and I felt giddy.

"Zoe, what took you so long? I thought you probably fell asleep or something," Mary said.

I didn't know what to say so I smiled.

"Have your seat, dear."

I drew out the dining seat and plopped down on it. She helped me dish out my food.

Mary reminded of Aunt Emilia in some ways, they were so similar in stature and motherliness.

I ate my food, completely aware of the presence of my boss. There was an awkward silence until everybody finished eating.

I returned my plates to the kitchen to wash them, but Mary told me not to bother.

I returned to the living room and Mark was watching a movie while Philip typed into his laughter. I wondered what he was always typing, I was the one with the typing job, but he typed way more often than I did.

I plopped down on one of the couches and buried my face in my phone.

"Let's play a game," Mark said all of a sudden.

"A game?" Philip and I asked simultaneously, and we exchanged looks and looked away immediately.

"Yeah. I don't know about you guys, but I'm bored as hell."

"Mark, what game exactly do you want us to play?" Philip asked.

"Board games, PS, anything to relieve the tension in this room." He shrugged.

He was right. The tension in the room could cut through a knife.

"There used be chess and monopoly somewhere around the house," Mark said as he stood up and went up the stairs. He returned with the games and dropped them on the table. "So, which one?" He asked both of us.

I had never seen Mark like this, maybe he was like this with Philip because they were very close. Mark was one of his close friends and he didn't have that many friends.

We ended up playing monopoly and I got to see the other side of Philip. He wasn't stuck-up like he usually was. He had even laughed loudly a few times.

We had played monopoly well into the night until we all decided it was time to call it a day.

***

We had returned from the meeting with the British investors, and we had signed a deal with them.

Philip had a smug and satisfied look on his face throughout the ride back home. We arrived home and I was more than relieved to step out of my stilettos.

"Zoe, what are my plans for today?" Philip asked as he took off his tuxedo.

I looked through his schedule on my tab. "Nothing else, sir," I replied.

"Mark and I are going out to have dinner, would you like to join us?" He asked and my eyes widened. Was Philip asking me out, like not out, but like out?

"It's okay if you don't want to come," he said when I didn't reply.

"Oh no, sir. I would love to join. Do I have to wear anything fancy?" I asked.

"That's not necessary. We're only going to a restaurant or something," he replied and went up the stairs before I could ask any more questions.

***

Mark drove us to one of the best restaurants in town. Since Philip said we didn't have to wear anything fancy, I was dressed in matching joggers and T-shirt and white Nike Air Forces. I let my hair down, I had no makeup on, except a dark red lipstick.

Philip, on the other hand, looked like a complete snack in his black jeans, white T-shirt, and a blue denim jacket. I had never seen anyone looking this good in jeans. I tried so hard to keep my eyes off him.

We were taken to our VIP spot. The place was magnificent! Mark pulled out a chair for me.

"Thank you," I smiled at him.

"You're welcome," he smiled back.

I could swear that I saw a frown on Philip's face, but it disappeared as soon as it came.

I looked through the menu, only a few dishes looked familiar. The rest of them were typical British dishes.

"I don't know what to order," I said truthfully as I closed the menu.

“You could have Bubble and Squeak for appetizers, Bangers and Mash for the main dish and Battenberg cake for desserts,” Philip replied.

“Thank you,” I muttered, and I hoped he heard me.

The waitress came and took our order, she eyed Philip seductively as she jotted down our orders. Philip didn’t spare her a glance.

“Anything else, sir?” she asked Philip.

“No, that would be all,” he replied without looking up from his phone.

It took me a lot of self-control to stop myself from clawing at her throat. She left in frustration seeing as she couldn’t get Philip to look her way. I almost burst out laughing.

Our orders came in a few minutes later and we dove right in. The food tasted like heaven, and I was silently grateful to Philip for recommending the dishes to me. The dessert was another slice of heaven.

It was almost time to head back home, my stomach was so full, it was so hard to walk properly. So, this is what being madly rich felt like.

Philip signaled the waiter to come get the bills.

We walked out of the restaurant, and I heard Philip mutter, "Oh shit."

I looked at him, "Is there a problem, sir?" I asked him.

He grabbed my hand before I could say anything else. His hand was big and warm, and it entirely covered mine.

"Philip," I heard a nasal voice. It was a tall lady that looked awfully familiar. Wait…Kenzie Winston?

"Kenzie," Philip muttered with a lack of interest evident in his voice.

Kenzie looked at our joined hands and frowned. "Who is she?" She asked.

At that moment, I felt so little. Mark leaned on the car watching the drama, he seemed to find it amusing as there was a smile lurking in the corner of his lips.

"It's none of your business, Kenzie," Philip replied.

She snorted. "So, you left me for her?" She asked as she gave me a demeaning look.

"Don't disrespect my girl like that. Do you understand?" His tone was icy. My heart melted even though this was only pretense. My girl sounded like music to my ears.

It was time to play along. I wrapped my hand around his arm, marking my territory. "I see why he left you, Kenzie. I bet if you take that makeup off, you won't look the same."

Her eyes and her mouth widened. Mark and Philip tried so hard to keep that laughter in.

"Shall we, babe?" Philip asked with the sweetest smile on his face and my knees turned to jelly.

"Sure," I replied, and he placed a kiss on my forehead. I froze and my heart began to beat erratically.

He led us to the car and opened the door for me. I gave him an overly sweet smile. He got in a few seconds later. He and Mark burst into uncontrollable laughter.

What did I miss?

"What's so funny?" I asked.

"You really should consider acting. You should have seen the look on her face. Finally, somebody put that bitch in her place. Hi-five, Zoe," Mark turned around from his driver's seat and raised his palm and I hi-fived him.

"I'm sorry about that," Philip apologized.

"It's okay, sir," I replied.

Mark roared the car engine to life and drove us home.

We got home and I went up the stairs. I was on the last step when Philip said, "About what Kenzie said, don't listen to her. You're way prettier than her, with or without makeup." There was a serious look on his face as he said, Mark smiled

knowingly at him.

He walked away before I could say anything else.

Did my boss just call me pretty, more so, prettier than a freaking model?

I couldn't take the smile off my face the rest of the night before I fell asleep.

***

Zoe POV:

We had returned from our business trip, and I resumed work the following morning. Philip hadn't arrived yet and it was weird. His coffee was probably getting cold.

I settled in my seat and began to reply to the emails from job applicants and investors. One name caught my eye, Martin Conor.

"No way," I said unbelievably. "This has to be another Martin."

Martin had once told him his full name when we were telling each other about ourselves. I went through his CV and sent him a message saying he would get back to him. I never told him that I was a secretary at MacArthur Industries, this had to be pure coincidence. I heard a ding from the elevator and out came Philip looking like he had a rough night, but he still looked like a snack. His eyes looked very tired like he didn't sleep a wink the entire night. How could someone look this hot even in a tired state?

I went back to the computer pretending to be engrossed in it.

"Good morning, sir," I greeted him without looking up from the screen.

"No need to pretend like you weren't just ogling at me," he said and went straight into his office.

I could sense that my cheeks had already reddened from embarrassment. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, trying to stop myself from cussing at him.

"Zoe!" Philip barked from his office, and I sprang up to my feet and ran to his office.

"You called, sir?" I asked. I could see the fire in his tired eyes.

"This coffee is cold."

"I placed it there a while ago, I didn't know you were going to come in late," I replied. I had never seen him this mad before. He looked scary but hot at the same time.

"Make another."

I walked over his desk and took the cup. The coffee wasn't even that cold, it was warm. I wondered why he was being cranky about it. I made another one and placed it on his table.

I watched him as he took a sip, waiting for him to scold me but he didn't.

"What's my schedule for today?" He asked as he turned on his desktop.

"Umm, I'm not with my tab, sir. Let me go get it on my desk."

He closed his eyes and sighed. "You don't know it by heart? It's just a one-day schedule, can't you memorize it?"

I stood there like a chicken as he scolded me. "I'm sorry, sir."

"I really don't know why I hired you," he said with his eyes glued to the computer. He waved his hand in dismissal and I left his office feeling like the ground should open up and swallow him.

I plopped down on my seat and let the tears out. Why is he never satisfied with anything I do? What was I doing wrong?

I dried my tears and looked through his schedule.

I picked up my tab and went to his office. I knocked on his door and waited for his reply.

"Sir, you have a lunch meeting with Mrs. Alonso and her team at 1 p.m. You also have a meeting with your father at 11 a.m., which is…" I looked at my wristwatch. "About an hour from now."

He nodded and I walked out of his office.

I went back to replying to emails. I reviewed Martin's CV and every other CV before inviting them for interviews.

The elevator dinged and a middle-aged man walked out. Mark and one other hefty guy followed behind. I had never seen his face before.

"Good morning, sir."

"Good morning. Are you Zoe?" the man asked.

I frowned. How did he know my name?

Mark mouthed to me, "Philip’s father."

I sprang up to my feet. "Yes, sir."

"Oh no, that's not necessary. You can sit down. Philip and Mark talk about you a lot. They say you're the best he's ever had."

Me, I almost asked because a few minutes ago, it seemed liked Philip was regretting that he hired me.

I looked at Mark. He was looking up at the ceiling, trying to avoid my gaze. I almost burst into laughter.

Philip's door opened and he stared at his father then at me. "Dad," he simply said without a smile on his face.

"Son, I just met your secretary you seem to love so much," his father said with a smug smile. Philip stared at him with a blank face and went back into his office.

"Nice to meet you, Zoe." Philip's father extended his hand for a handshake, and I took it shyly.

"Nice to meet you too, sir."

I smiled wryly at Mark, and he rolled his eyes, and he took the seat across mine. Philip's father went into his son's office while the bodyguard stood by the door.

"Ignore whatever he said. It's not true," Mark defended.

"Yeah, sure." I nodded with a smile. "Isn't he going to take a seat?" I pointed to the other hefty man.

"He's doing his job, don't worry about him," Mark said and typed into his phone with a smile on his face.

"Oooh, that smile on your face. Who are you talking to?" I asked as I wiggled my brows.

"Nobody. I think I have to run since you keep bugging me with questions," he stood up and began to walk towards the elevator.

"I only asked two questions."

"That's too much," he said and got into the elevator.

I shook my head with a smile and went back to typing.