288 (Vagchen

    Chapter b295 /b

    David and Margie grinned.

    “That sounds lovely,” Marige agreed.

    A couple of the secretaries who liked my presentation and a few people from marketing joined us. The marketing manager chose a French bistro that was only five minutes away from the office. Over delicious dishes of bean stew, meat and veggie quiches, and ham and cheese sandwiches, we talked about work. Throughout the meal, my blush spread across my cheeks as everyone keptplimenting me on my work. I kept saying that I was merely an assistant, but everyone assured me that I was the real reason thepany kept running.

    Despite my protests, David and Margie said that they were going to split the bill. That was when I got a call from Alexander. I showed everyone my cell phone.

    “Uh–oh,” I joked. “It’s the boss.

    i” /i

    Everyone urged me to answer it, so I hurried outside and pressed my cell to my ear. “Hi, Mr. Green,” I said, just in case anyone from work had decided to join me outside. “I heard that you’re out at lunch,” he replied, his voice neutral.

    “Yes. With David and Margie, a few of the secretaries, and a couple of people from marketing.” I paused, and when he didn’t say anything, a spark of irritation lit within me.

    “No…there’s no problem with youworking,” he said shortly. “Just make sure to bring me back roasted chicken.”

    “Anything-”

    But the sound of silence greeted me. My mouth dropped open when I found out he had hung

    up on me.

    When I spun around, I jumped when I saw that David and Margie were standing behind me. I couldn’t interpret their secret smiles.

    “The president would like me to get him some lunch and then head back to the office,” I told

    them.

    b06:10 /b

    :

    288 Vouchers

    “Of course,” Margie said and held up thepany credit card. “Let’s go order it.”

    While we were waiting for my to–go order, Margie and David were whispering to each other and then shooting me secret looks. This made me shift uncasily on my feet.

    As we walked out of the restaurant, Margie smiled at me. “We should really do this again sometime. It’s nice to get out of the office.”

    David nodded in agreement.

    “Yeah, definitely,” I said, even though I still had an uneasy feeling from their whispering, but I just wrote it off as being paranoid.

    Once I was back in the office–holding a stic bag with Alexander’s meal inside of it–I looked for him in the break room, but I knew that was wishful thinking. I sighed and walked to his office. The back of my neck burned as apprehension flowed through me.

    As I knocked, I realized I was going to have to do exactly what I had been trying to avoid.

    Be alone with Alexander.

    *Olivia*

    “Come in,i” /iAlexander said.

    I took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. When I pushed open the door, I was momentarily shocked by the sight of him even though I’d seen him just this morning. He had his light blue tie thrown over his shoulder and was focused on hisputer. He didn’t even look up at me at first.

    I stood there breathless, my knees slightly trembling even though I told myself that was ridiculous. Usually, it was Gai who bought and served him all his meals, so I didn’t know the protocol exactly. I knew that Alexander asking me to bring him his lunch meant that he wanted to talk to me about something, but thinking about all the possibilities just made my stomach lurch.

    After a moment of silence and Alexander not even looking up from hisputer at me, I took matters into my own hands and set his lunch down on his desk.

    “Will you be eating in here?” I asked in a tense voice.