The video of working on the latest X-ray machine plays on the screen in front of me but I don't see any piece of information making its way into my brain. My mind keeps drifting back to the last night's incident. The embarrassing event of my shirt getting torn by a stupid lamp. And then I remember how Christopher pulled me towards him. I didn't expect him to do what he did next. The way he ripped apart the shirt and tied it into a knot. To be honest, It felt extremely hot at that moment that I can still feel my throat getting dried simply thinking about it.

I close my eyes and visualize the entire scene again. I imagine how his hands wrapped around my waist possessively. I remember the unambiguous desire burning in his eyes. The intensity with which he was looking at me. It still makes my knees wobbly. I grab the water bottle from the table and take a sip from it to erase the uneasiness forming in my throat. I start imagining weird things. How I wished he would have kissed me at that moment. How would have it felt to have his large hands roam all over my body? I clearly felt the spark between us but before anything can happen, I ran out to my room like a scared little kitten. What am I thinking? What the fuck, Nicole? Don't go there. Its dangerous territory. Don't even dare to think about it.

After that, I rarely held any conversation with Christopher. Maybe it's because of my fear of losing my senses around him. I don't feel like myself when I am around him, and it scares the shit out of me to think that I may lose my composure in such a way that I would regret it later. So, it's better to avoid seeing him or being near him. However, he was the one who dropped me at the clinic in the morning because he wouldn't accept my denial. Still, I managed to be silent during most of the ride, for my safer side. Christopher seemed to be irritated by my behavior, he knew that something was wrong with me but I am glad he didn't ask any questions.

Fuck! I need to concentrate on my work. I am still thinking about Christopher. I am not weak enough to lose my composure by the mere thoughts of a man. I try to steady my focus back on the screen. That's when the door of my clinic opens and I am surprised to see the arrival of a very happy Becky.

"Hey, Nikki! Wassup bitch?" she chirps excitedly. I roll my eyes at the way she addresses me.

"Says the one who left me alone for fucking five days without saying a word," I retort at her, narrowing my eyes.

"Oh Nikki, don't be so harsh on me." She plops on the seat in front of me. "I left you for a few days and you decided to move out of the house?" She says pouting at me dramatically.

"It's kind of a payback," I say proudly, leaning back in my chair. I switch off the laptop and close it.

"I didn't do that on purpose, girl." She shakes her head and groans in frustration. "My parents were so hellbent on seeing my face that I had to go." Her eyes roam over the desk saying that, picking out a paper from it, she pretends to be actually reading.

"Wait, why are you scolding me when I am the one who is mad at you." She blurts, snapping her eyes back at me.

"Becky, now don't get started with it again. I have already explained to you everything." I say massaging my temple in distress. I don't want to repeat my entire lie because if I do it now, I am sure that I would get caught. That's because I can never lie to someone looking right into their eyes. Thanks to my fucking conscience!

"Okay fine. So how is your friend doing?" She asks me purposely stressing on the word friend. She just has to bring it one way or another.

"She is fine," I tell her, standing up from my chair. I turn around and remove my coat, trying to avoid her gaze.

"Where does she works?" She asks keeping back the papers, after not finding anything interesting in it. Who would find medical reports interesting? unless you are a doctor or a vet like me.

"She works in an insurance company." I instantly come up with another lie. Crap! I was certainly not expecting her to ask that question. Why is she emphasizing it so much?

"That's cool, I am hoping to meet her soon. I am sure we'll get along well." She says in an enthusiastic tone.

"Ye....yeah."

She revolves in her chair to look at me and her eyes fall on the wall clock.

"Oh, my god! I am going to be fucking late for the interview." She says with a terrified expression.

"Come on Nikki, hurry up." She says which comes out more like a cry.

I roll my eyes at her overdramatic ass and say. "Yeah, let's go."

I wrap everything up in, and we make our way outside. I lock my clinic and then we walk towards Becky's car.

We get in the car and Becky begins to drive.

She looks at me and winks, switching on the music.

"Why are you applying for a new job?" I ask her as I look out through the window. The city looks lively like always with people walking over the streets. I see coffee shops occupied with teenagers chatting and laughing. It is around the break time so I see a lot of office employees having lunch too. The streets seem to be lit by the usual hustle-bustle around.

"I wasn't satisfied with the salary." She says looking at the road and taping on the steering wheel nervously.

"I thought you loved your job," I say, turning towards her. I am curious to know why would she leave it. It's it the case? When you love doing something, you would never try to switch over to another.

"Yeah, but the money wasn't enough for my needs." She says looking a little sad.

I keep my hand on her shoulder. "It's okay, Becky. By the way, where have you applied for?" I know how hard it can be if you couldn't earn enough to meet your needs.

"The Grand hotel. For the post of an accountant." She turns to look at me, her eyes shining with a new hope. "And their pay scale is also very good."

Grand Hotel, it sounds familiar to me. I have heard of it somewhere. Then it clicks to me that it is one of the famous hotels in the city. Oh, my god! Becky has applied to one of the top hotels in the city. I can't believe this. I have seen its advertisements a couple of times in the newspaper, but never did I get a chance to step in there for real.

We soon reach to our destination. Stepping out, we walk towards the hotel. The hotel looks beautiful from outside. I am amazed by the magnificent gate at the entrance. The name indeed suits the hotel. It appears luxurious, displaying the perfect combination of traditional grandeur and modern infrastructure. Looking at its beauty and class, I feel a bit out of the league to be entering into it. Before I can think anything, Becky drags me in along with her. Jesus, why is she acting so desperate? I know she is late but it's her fault. She should have kept an account of the time.

We get to the reception and Becky asks the lady about where the interview is going to be conducted. I look around and don't find words to describe how beautiful the hotel looks from inside. I am so star-struck by its architecture that my mouth hangs open.

The receptionist looks uninterested in our question, though she tells Becky something. Becky then nods to her and turns towards me.

"Nikki, you wait here. I am going for the interview inside." She says with a timid smile.

"I am sure you're going to rock it, girl. All the best!" I try to boost her confidence and hug her tightly. She smiles at me and makes her way towards the door behind the reception, signaling thumbs up to me.

I turn around and stroll towards the large beige colored sofa in front of my sight, sitting in the lobby. I take a seat on it carefully, not wanting to spoil anything. It shines perfectly and I suddenly develop a fear that I would stain it with my body. I admire the beauty of the magnificent chandelier right above my head as I see people making their way to the restaurant which is just to my left. Suddenly I feel very underdressed taking a look at the people who are walking in classy outfits. Calm your nervous ass down, Nicole and wait here patiently.

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

I look at my watch and see that it's been an hour since Becky went in, and I still  find myself waiting here. As I am trying to adjust my eyes to the sparkling glory of the hotel, I see a familiar face walk out of the door behind the reception. He gets to the desk and I see the receptionist flashing a super sweet smile and batting her eyelashes as the man asks her something. I roll my eyes. She wasn't like this when we asked her the way for the interview. 

He then looks around and his eyes fall on me, he leaves his conversation with her in middle and makes his way towards me. The receptionist behind him shoots an irritated glare in my direction, knowing that I just stole her spotlight. What? It isn't my fault that I am not bitchy like her. I recognize him when he approaches me and stands right in front of me. Its Peter Smith. I remember him bringing his dog to my clinic. But unlike the other day, he is wearing an executive black suit which is perfectly complimenting his muscular body. I see a few people glancing at us as they walk, probably due to the presence of Peter.

 His green eyes shine as his lips curve into a charming smile. When I look at him, I can't help myself from comparing him with Christopher. Peter is indeed handsome but he would still be a 99 before Christopher. I suddenly try to picture Christopher in a suit. I've never seen him in a suit, but I am damn sure that he would still look as sexy as always.

"Hey! Nicole, right?" He says smiling. I stand to greet him, shaking away Christopher's thoughts.

"Yes, Mr. Smith, How is Bruno doing?" I ask him in return.

"That's what came to your mind first, after seeing me?" He asks looking a little disappointed.

I laugh at his response. "Mr. Smith, apparently I tend to be more concerned about my patients than their owners."

"I am extremely offended by your answer." He says playfully shaking his head and I smile.

"So why do I find a beautiful lady without a company?" He asks looking around, confirming if anyone is there with me. "If you are alone here, then I am glad to accompany you for a lunch."

"No...no, I am here for an interview," I tell him. He knits his eyebrows in confusion, hearing my response.

"I mean, I am here for my friend's interview." I correct myself. "She applied for the job of an accountant here and she is having her interview." I signal back to the room where Becky went for the interview. Peter looks in the direction where I am gesturing and says.

" Oh, I see. I hope she gets the job so I can get to see you more often." He says with a smirk. This time I raise an eyebrow at him questioningly.

"I forgot to tell you, this comes under the chain of hotels my father owns." He shrugs, saying that. "So I go around, checking once in a while if everything is going well." He winks at me.

I look at him in shock. So this hotel is owned by smith industries. How the heck Becky applied here without knowing that it is owned by the smiths. I let out a nervous chuckle, trying to hide my bewilderment.

"That's great Mr. Smith."

"Stop making me feel old by calling that. You can call me just Peter." He says pretending to be a little upset.

"Okay...Peter." I say looking around nervously. There settles a moment of silence between us as I don't know what to talk about and after that, he continues.

"You know I wished to come to your clinic after that day." I look at him and he looks away not meeting my gaze. "I meant by just a regular checkup for Bruno, but I just caught up with my work, so I couldn't come." He says shyly.

I open my mouth to say something but before that a man interrupts in-between.

"Sir, we should get going now. You weren't picking your phone, so your father called me and said to inform you that you have a meeting in half an hour." The man says. From what he is saying, I make out that he is Peter's driver.

"You keep the car ready, I'll be there in a minute," Peter orders him as the man nods and leaves.

After the driver leaves Peter turns towards me. He keeps fiddling with his coat button, looking anxious as he speaks. "Sorry, I have to go. It was nice meeting you again, Nicole." He says smiling.

"Likewise, Peter." I return a smile to him.

He takes a step and then turns around.

"Can I...I have your number, please?" He says shyly fishing his phone out of his coat pocket. "I..I..mean if I want to consult you..." He stutters a little in embarrassment. "For Bruno."

He passes his phone towards me. I nod at him smiling awkwardly trying to hide the butterflies jumping in my stomach. I type my number in his phone and give it back to him. His eyes lighten up with happiness.

"Thank you, Nicole. See you soon." Saying so, he makes his way towards the exit. What did just happen? Did Peter smith ask me for my number? I can't believe this. I fucking can't believe this. As I keep staring at his retreating figure. I feel someone tap on my shoulder. I turn around and see Becky look over my head to see what I was looking at.

"Who was that hot piece of meat?" She says waggling her eyebrows.

"How is that you don't know the place where you are applying is owned by Peter Smith?" I ask her pursing my lips.

"Holy shit! I didn't know that." She exclaims. "So..wa..was it Peter?" She asks, popping her eyes out.

I nod at her agreeing. " Fuck, How the heck I missed a chance to meet him." She says making googly eyes.

I roll my eyes and try to change the subject. "So how was your interview?"

"It was pretty good. Now I have to wait for their mail to know whether I have been accepted or not."

"So, what were you guys talking about?" She asks me with a smirk.

"Nothing just random stuff and..." I trail it off thinking if I should tell her or not.

"And?" She looks at me curiously.

"He asked my number just if he had to consult for his dog, that's it."

"Holy fuck! Did he ask for your number? Girl, he totally likes you." She screams excitedly.

"Now you are exaggerating, Becky," I tell her. "If someone asks you your number, it doesn't mean they like you. Apart from that, it wasn't for personal use." I frown at her.

She rolls her eyes. "Is it so? I don't see millionaires like him going around asking for random people's number without any reason." She says. "I am sure something is definitely fishy." She says grinning widely.

I gently hit her shoulder. "Come one, let's go, I am starving." I pull her towards the door, already trying to avoid this conversation.

Soon after that, we go to a Chinese restaurant to get our stomachs filled. The whole time Becky keeps talking about Peter and how likely he is going to make a move on me. I regret telling her about him asking my number because she had been all over that little piece of information. I am pretty much sure she even decided on the names of the children that we are going to have in the future. Can someone just kick senses into her head? She is being extremely ridiculous about this. We have barely even met, and she already has decided a happily ever after for us.

And then in the evening after listening to her constant talking about my future plans with Peter, she finally drops me at my Clinic. I told her earlier that I would be working a little late tonight.

I go inside, placing my bag on the table, I flop onto my chair with a loud sigh. That's when my phone buzzes with a message notification. I open it and see an audio message. I wonder who could it be? The first name that comes to my mind is Christopher, but how did he get my number? When I click on it, I am surprised to find that it's an audio of a dog's barking. After a moment, I get a text message from the same number.

Bruno says hello to Nicole!🐶🐶

I smile knowing who it is. He is so cute!

After a minute another audio appears with again a dog barking. It's again Bruno's.

Bruno says that his dad wants to be friends with you.🐶🐶

I look at the text for a minute. At first, I felt disappointed to know that it wasn't Christopher. But then what Becky said earlier rings in my head. Maybe she was right. It might look like I am imagining things at a very early stage but I would like to have things work between me and Peter, if there is something like that in his mind. Peter seems to be a nice guy and moreover, this seems the easiest way to distract me from thinking about Christopher. Right? I need to get rid of these wild thoughts about Christopher and this seems the best possible way. With that in my mind, I type a reply to Peter and hit the send button.

A/N:

Peter comes back in the picture. Let me know your thoughts about this chapter.

I am really sad to tell you guys that I won't be able to update for a while from now as I am having my exams. I'll probably try updating in the first week of next month. I thank all you guys for reading this book, I hope you will be patient and bear with me until I come up with the next update.

If you like the story then please do vote and comment.

Thank you so much for reading!

Janny❤