EMMA

I opened the door to my apartment and as I entered, a mouth-watering smell engulfed me. My stomach grumbled just at the little sniff of it. Whatever Kate was making, it ought to be delicious. "I am home!"

"Emma! You are back!" Kate came out in the living room wearing an apron, her light blond hair tied up into a high bun, and her hand holding a spatula. "How was the day?"

A heck shitty day, I'd say.

"Later." I groaned, shaking my hand. I was in no spirit to relive the events of today by telling her what happened or who was my new boss. Not now. I was too tired for that.

"Not so good then," she said taking the hint. "Well, I hope you like Chinese."

"Chinese?"

"Because that's what's for dinner." She smiled rushing back to the kitchen. "Go freshen up! Dinner is almost ready!" Kate shouted from the kitchen.

Well, this was another plus point of living with Kate. Instead of take-outs, late-night deliveries, or the moments when I used to cook, I had more homemade meals with Kate than with Alice. She loved cooking and I believed by the mouth-watering smell, she had mastered different continental dishes as well. No doubt, her coffee was always tasty. Speaking of coffee, I had yet to visit CafeDelight to get my paycheck for the week. I should pay a visit this weekend.

After taking a shower, I headed towards the kitchen. Kate had already filled the plates with food which seemed like they were fried rice with chow-mein. I sat on the chair and took the first bite.

"Oh My God, Kate! You do know you are my favorite chef! Right?" I moaned, taking another spoonful of rice. "It's delicious!"

Kate chuckled. "You know, my mom was a chef. She loved Chinese," she sighed, looking at her plate. "She taught me everything." Her eyes filled up with tears as her voice lowered. I remembered Kate telling me how her mom died in a car crash eight years ago and Kate was only fifteen. She was so young and I couldn't even imagine what pain she suffered. After that, her father took care of her as much as he could but now, as he was not in his best health, Kate was trying her best to support him.

I wanted to say something. I wanted to stand up and hug her. I wanted to assure her that everything would be alright but that would be a lie. Her mother wouldn't be returning, her father was in hospital in need of money for his operation and here she was, trying her best to hold up. I wanted to do whatever I could to provide a sense of comfort to her, to say a miracle will happen but I couldn't. Someone who didn't believe in miracles or luck had no right to whisper that lie. I didn't believe in hope. That part of me died that night along with others. When I needed one the most.

"Enough with my sad drama," Kate cleared her throat when I took too long to reply.

I am sorry, Kate.

"So how was your day?" She asked the question again and I sighed. If answering this would divert her mind from the sad memories then this would be just a little comfort I could offer her.

"You wouldn't believe my bad luck." I stabbed my fork into my unfinished rice imagining it was my new boss's head. "The jerk who bumped into me and didn't apologize, you remember him?"

"Mr. Sexy Pants?" Kate's eyes shimmered with excitement as she inched closer.

"Yes." I rolled my eyes at the name she gave to that jerk.

"You met him again?" She asked with raised eyebrows and I nodded.

"Wait!" She gasped. "Don't tell me he works with you!

"Worse." My jaw clenched as I cut through the piece of chicken with a little too much force. I would have handled that if he just worked with me or if he was a colleague from another department. But this... I was trapped.

"Oh, God!" She placed a hand on her mouth. "Don't tell me. He's your... boss?"

I groaned in frustration as she continued, "That sexy, handsome guy is your boss?" I hated how she was describing him. He wasn't even that attractive.

I nodded and she started laughing. "Not funny." I rolled my eyes and her laughter died down to a grin. "So tell me about it."

I told her about the little contract, a bit about our second meet-up, and Violet and Kevin. I purposely omitted the little accident. It wasn't worth mentioning.

"Shit!" She smacked her hand on the table and I jolted a bit. "Now I remember who he is!"

"What?" I stared at her confused.

"He's Edan Wilton! The Edan Wilton!"

"I have been made aware of that." I rolled my eyes and took the last bite of my now cold food. Was that guy that famous?

"Emma! Do you know according to The Gossip Days, he's been-"

"Stop!" I knew where this conversation was headed. I had enough of that information for one day. "I am not interested in hearing about him," I said and thankfully, Kate simply nodded and didn't say anything.

Why in the hell did people even follow that ridiculous of a magazine? It was nothing but chit-chats about the new celebrities, the comebacks of old ones, and the new heart-throbs of the city. It wasn't anything important. I never read these types of magazines but for once, I regretted that. If I had been into that stuff, I might have read about him, might have recognized him.

I got up from the table and took the empty plates in my hands. "I'll wash the dishes."

-----------------

I stepped into the elevator and pressed the button to the thirtieth floor. The doors were about to close when a hand sneaked in, stopping them.

"Good Morning, sweetheart!" He smirked.

Just great! What a start to a good day!

He stepped in and it felt like his huge body just swallowed the entire space of the elevator and now, it was close enough to swallow me down his throat as well. Like his prey.

As usual, a black suit rested on his body or was it dark grey? Even if it was dark grey, it came under the shade of black, so not much different, I believed. However, the only difference I noted was no tie. The top two buttons of the white shirt were opened and I couldn't help but stare at his neck. Now I knew what he meant when he asked me to step up my game because no way in hell that long muscular neck of his would have been strangled by a single tie.

Lucky jerk!

I didn't know the mighty CEO takes the same elevator as his employees. Didn't he have a VIP elevator colored in black especially made for him? How could he be here in this well-lighted, white-walled room? Doesn't the white make my pricey boss's eyes hurt?

I wanted to mock him, say those words right on his face but the mere thought of engaging in a conversation with him was annoying enough. If I could see my expression, I was sure it'd be of contempt and hatred. And I would gladly show it to him.

I rolled my eyes and stepped back to a corner, trying my best to put on as much distance as possible. It was just the two of us in here and still the place looked too small to breathe. It was choking me. He was choking me.

The elevator stopped on a floor as people entered and he stepped closer. My breath halted as he turned towards me, blocking my view from the rest.

"What are-"

"Hush," he whispered and I didn't know what made me follow his order but I did. Maybe it was the way he whispered that or the way his body was so close to me that my mind was starting to show red danger signs. Whatever it was, it stopped me from talking. The remainder of my question hung on the tip of my tongue as I watched his next move. The elevator again stopped and more people stepped in. He took another step closer, entering my territory. His hands rested on both sides of my face and I was caught up again. But this time, it wasn't with him, it was between him.

His arms caged me into a corner. I stared at his chest, not his eyes, not his mouth but his well-hidden hard chest. My heart hammered against my ribcage and my breathing fastened. I should shove him away but my hands were busy holding the little distance that was left between him and me. I had my hands clenched in front of my chest, too afraid that if I opened them and touched his well-dressed muscles in front, it would burn me.

He wasn't touching me, I wasn't looking at his hypnotizing eyes and yet, my body shuddered. I hated this. I hated how his presence suffocated me, how his body made my lungs gasp for air, and how he made me feel weak. I had never felt this weak in front of any men in the past years. I promised I wouldn't let any other men hold the power over me and yet, here I was feeling the power of this jerk on me. The way his body covered me, screaming the authority it held, I hated it!

I hate him!

Just as I was about to push him away, the elevator stopped and with that, he stepped back. Turning around, he stepped out of the elevator. My heart tried to catch its lost beats and I glanced at the screen showing the thirtieth floor.

What the hell just happened?!

I inhaled a deep breath and exhaled it slowly trying to figure out what happened some moments ago. Why would he do that? But then again, in my few days of knowing him, the one thing I knew was he never needed a reason to do something. He just does it because he wants to. The question was, what he wanted from me?

"Calm down, Emma! Don't let him get to you." I whispered to myself and let out a long breath calming my running nerves and my weakling heart.

Stepping out of the elevator, I headed towards my office. A few minutes later, Taylor barged into my office holding a stack of papers in her hands. She dropped them on my table as some flew down on the floor while others scattered on my table.

"Arrange them according to the list and in fifteen minutes, you will accompany Mr. Wilton to the meeting room." She smashed the list on my table with a loud bang and I didn't miss the glare in her eyes. She walked out of my office, her nude heels clicking on the tiled floor as she slammed the door behind her.

What was her problem?

"Bitch!" I muttered under my breath as I gathered all the paper on my table into a stack. It was already two days and still, she hadn't once spoken to me nicely. We both worked in the same position and for the same person. I admitted she was a senior of mine but still, she had no right to treat me like that.

'I heard that Mr. Wilton and she spent the last weekend together in the hotel' Violet's words from yesterday came into my mind. Were they two dating? Was she afraid I'd try to make a move? Was she afraid that I'd take him away from her? I laughed. "Not even in my next life," I muttered.

She could have all of that jerk to herself. Date, get married, and have babies. I do not care! Once I would be done with this year, I wouldn't be stepping on this floor ever again. If I secure another job in some other company, I'd make sure I never see the face of that jerk again!

"That's right. I will make sure of it!" I smiled and stood up from my chair to gather the papers.

I bent down to collect them from the floor. Some flew beneath my desk and I had to crawl under my table, my hands reaching for the paper tucked in the corner.

"Got you." I grabbed the last page and crawled back. I instantly stood up bumping my head into something. But it wasn't the hard corner of the table, it was something a bit soft. I stopped as my face instantly turned around. My eyes traveled from long legs to his torso and then to his hand that was above my head. My heart jumped a rope. His hand shielded my head from the edge of the table before he slowly drew it back.

"Be careful next time." He straightened up as I stood up. My eyes looked at him and for the first time, they didn't hold hatred, they held a perplexed, bewildered look. Why was he here? And why did he do that?

"I never took you stupid enough to knock your head against the table." He sneered and turning around, went into his office through the connected door.

Stupid enough?

What the fuck!

The one moment I thought he showed something different than his smug expression, I was wrong. The one moment I thought, I might start to respect my boss, I was wrong. He was a born jerk, born to be hated forever!

"Jerk!" I shouted through the closed door and went back to my seat.

EDAN

"Jerk!" I heard her voice as a smile crept up my lips. No matter how many times she called me that, I couldn't seem to hate it, instead, it amused me further. She knew I was her boss, she knew who I was and what power I held on her and still, she didn't step back. She didn't stop. She didn't change.

I looked at the red mark on the back of my hand. I clenched and unclenched my hand to ease up the pain a bit. It wasn't much. I have had more in the past when I started boxing but still the corner of that wooden table was sharp enough to leave the mark on.

I didn't know what came over me and why the hell I even walked to her. I went there to inform her about tomorrow's meeting but when I opened the small door and saw her muttering something to herself, I stopped. She was talking to herself. I noticed as her face held an angered look and then the next moment, she laughed. The sound of her laughter was new to my ears. It was strange and it made something in my chest halt for a minute. I wanted to hear more of that. I wanted to see more of that. More of her's that side.

My eyes widened as she bent down on her knees and crawled under the table, her head buried beneath the table. The grey pencil skirt she wore was tight enough to see her ass on display and something stirred in my body. I wanted to have her right there, on that table.

Dammit!

The way she was crawling back, I knew she would hit the table and before I could think, I was there placing a hand just where she was about to hit her head. When I saw the shock in her eyes, I couldn't think of anything. I was as shocked as she was. My body moved on its own accord, without an order from my mind. This was strange. It was new and it never happened before.

Earlier, when I trapped her in the elevator, I wanted to stir up her nerves, mess them up and see what expression she would give. When I saw her enter the elevator, I knew I had to follow her. I had never rode one other than my private one but it was too good of a moment to leave her alone. The moment I stepped in, I felt her body on full alert. I looked into her eyes and felt walls built up around her. Walls meant to keep me away from her.

Too bad, her walls didn't know Edan Wilton yet.

I closed my eyes as her intoxicating scent registered back in my mind. The moment I had her confined in my arms, I wanted to touch her. To push her against the wall and fuck her hard. Hard enough to tell her she was no different than the other woman I had fucked around. But I stopped. I was never the one to stop but something in her stopped me. I went there to make a mess of her feelings but the way her petite figure stood there caged between me, messed up my brain. For the first time, my brain stopped me from kissing the life out of her. For the first time, my brain told me to wait and I listened. I listened as I stepped back without touching her. I listened as I walked into my office without looking back at her. I listened as my heart hammered in my ribcage.

But I don't think I'd be listening to it for a long time. I wasn't a man of patience.

And right now, I wanted her fucking out of my mind.

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So..... How was it?

I want to create a playlist for the novel too. If you have any song suggestions, please do share.

And let me know your thoughts. Pretty please?

Love,
Anna.