Jerald's POV
The file slammed against the table barely a second after I had gotten up. My hand ran across my ruffled hair, my eyes gazed at the infinity pool attached to the balcony, which I was trying so hard not to dive into because I still had work to do.
"You were with a nobody, do you know what exactly that means? The public will be keen to know about this. Do you know how much I had to pay to get this off your back?"
My hands wrapped around the coffee cup, which I brought to my lips after the machine had dinged.
Funny enough, I was thinking it would be one of those numerous nights where I would get the pleasure and take her off my mind, but somehow it was so difficult, the way she had clung onto me, her fingers dug so deep into my back, and down below, which had put me in the same problem still stood high.
"This isn't you." Max, my friend, said, pointing to my trousers. "What has gotten into you?"
"Why are you this tense? It was just a night."
" A good one, I suppose, seeing how you still have that in your trousers."
" It's normal, you know about that."
His hands palmed over his face before I asked. "Did you get the girl? Who might she be?"
" How am I supposed to do that? We should be glad that somehow she wouldn't be able to get whoever it was she had a one-night stand with, and now you want me to probe so she can be suspicious?"
" She wouldn't be."
"She might press charges. What were you doing there in the first place?"
I plopped down into the seat, my hands tightened on the cup. "Wales."
"Your kid brother, Wales? What's wrong?"
"I went there searching for him, I know I shouldn't have, but I had to make sure everything was intact before we had the contract running.''
"Are you certain about selling that software? I mean, it is practically going to make you a multimillionaire, but even at that, don't you think it will do more?"
" I think I am making the right choice, Max," I said, knowing fully well I was right.
I haven't told him about another that I hoped to build soon, and maybe that would be a better sample than the one I already have.
"You should stop messing around. We can't afford a scandal at the moment."
"It isn't like I had expected. It was all to keep Wales in check, you know, he has been off the grid recently, and even his gf doesn't seem to be doing so much work. I wonder how she copes with him. I mean, with him cheating all the time."
"She might not know, and I think it will be better if I keep you in check instead, seeing how it seems you are so keen on rubbing the name of the company in mud. It was a first, Jerald, and it shouldn't happen again." He warned sternly.
I muffled in a cackle at his tone before nodding to his words. He could be a worrywart when it wasn't even needed most times, but he meant well, so the least I could do was go along with it.
" I have a busy day today, you should leave. I have to make the right choice, you know, the intern who will be here soon."
"Are you sure you don't need my help?"
I shook my head to his question. " I can do this, I would like to do it myself as well."
His eyes ran through my outfit. "With you dressed this way?"
"Yap, this way."
"It is dangling; you should head up and get dressed, or you might end up frightening the girl."
"Well, it isn't like there's much to see."
The look on his face told me he wasn't having it any other way, and left with no choice, I knew I had to change.
Placing the coffee cup on the marble glass which stood in the living room, I strutted across the room, slipping my leg into something proper before heading back.
"That's better. If you don't mind, I will send them up now."
"Them?" I was left perplexed because I had been told it was just a person.
"Them." He repeated, walking away.
My hands ran through my hair while I walked barefoot to the window, peering right outside the busy street.
A closer glance gave me the world I was trying everything to escape from, the one where I had to work hard enough to make myself seen.
"Good morning," the voice greeted me, and I held myself back from flipping my head over in that moment, wanting to believe I had conjured that up because there was no way that voice would have been hers; I had it imprinted in me already.
"Mr. Jerald?" It came through again, making me swirl my feet around, peering at her. I swallowed, last night racing in so fast that it had me clenching my fist.
What was the possibility that she was here for the job I had placed out there? It was difficult to believe that she was here to blackmail me for what had happened last night.
"You are zoning out." I gulped in, edging closer until I was just a step away from her.
" I am Claire," her tone coated as velvety ran across at me. "I am here in respect of the job vacancy. I know I don't look like it, but I am..."
"The best in your department," I added before she could.
" I asked for just the best in each department, so I know that."
My hands folded underneath my chest, while I gazed at her. Was this an act? Or could it be that she doesn't recognize me? Was she really here for the job, or was it something else? It was difficult to fathom what it was.
A text to Max would have him racing down here just to have her removed, but I didn't want that.
I needed to know why I was drawn to her.
"Well, I am good enough. I know you keep to time, and I was here just in time, also..."
"Why should I hire you?" I asked, and a finger went underneath my chin, watching her closely.
I listened to her as she rambled on and on, citing reasons why she would be the perfect fit even when she didn't need to. Her lilac fitted top sat over a black skirt, and a black shoe to match. I forced down the lump with a swallow before saying.
"You are hired, Claire."
Her face morphed into a smile that was the most beautiful one I had seen. "Really?" Her hands clapped while her eyes shimmered.
"Yes, you have a meeting to attend with me in the next twenty minutes, and I hope you will do your best. This..." I pointed to the floor where we stood.
"Is the office? Your cubicle is just beside my office. My bedroom is just above this floor, and you aren't allowed to go above this floor unless I ask you to, which I won't. Welcome to Maclina Tech."
